Article March 10, 1945 Issue

Signs of the Times

"My presence shall go with thee"

L. Lydel Sims with contributions from Jack Harding, William A. Caldwell

Extracts from letter written to his sister by a young U. S. Commander
Stockton Record, California

it wasn't so long after D-day and we were huddled together off one of the beaches over here. I say huddled together instead of anchored, because that is exactly what you do when there are hundreds of you, ships of all sizes and types lying together off an enemy coast. You feel so exposed. You want to hide, but all you see is that broad expanse of water.... P/>It was a night in which you could count every star, and what is more, the moon was coming up and it was getting lighter and lighter every minute. You could look around you and see every black detail of the silhouettes on the silvery tablecloth.

Then it came—the "red" alert followed by the signal to make smoke. The alarm bell rang and we all took to our "general quarters stations" on the double.

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