On D-Day all the soldiers fought bravely. Many knew that they would most likely die, yet they did not back down. Since the invasion took place on a beach, it was cold, wet, and muddy. Weighed down by all the gear they would have been wearing it would be extremely uncomfortable if you survived.
"We were taking water from the rough sea over the bow, and we were bailing to try to keep afloat...As we got in to one thousand yards offshore, we started taking some mortar shells and some artillery. They were just over our bow and exploding off to our side, and we could also hear the small arms as we got in a little closer -- the small arms were firing at us."
-Bob Slaughter, Squad Leader, 116th Infantry
"There was a rather wide expanse of beach, and the Germans were not to be seen at all, but they were firing at us, rapidly, with a great deal of small-arm fire. As we came down the ramp, we were in water about knee high, and we started to do what we were trained to do -- move forward, and then crouch and fire. One of the problems was we didn't quite know what to fire at."
-Thomas Valence, Rifle Sergeant, 116th Infantry