Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:08 | As the landing craft neared Omaha Beach, fear gripped many of the men, but Art Staymates was determined to get ashore. Seeing that the boat was being strafed, he took them over the side instead of lowering the ramp in the face of the fire. The water was deep, and heavy packs weighed the men down. And once you could keep your head above water, there were the bullets.
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He knew he would be going in the service, so Art Staymates asked a friend who became a recruiter how he could get in the Air Corps. Ask for the infantry, he was told, because everybody asks for the Air Corps. Do well and they will transfer you. So he tried that.
It ws great soft duty. After his infantry training, Art Staymates was sent to train Air Force recruits and medics in small arms. His unit deployed in the meantime, so after a queasy Atlantic crossing, he became a replacement in the 1st Division and started training for the Normandy invasion. Not so soft.
Once you were off the boat and managed not to drown, there were 300 yards of beach to get across with heavy machine gun fire. Ships were pounding the bluffs above and the 101st Airborne dropped in behind them. Art Staymates made it from the water almost to the top of the hill when he ran up against a tangle of barbed wire. (Caution: Graphic Content)
The Germans had the best artillery and tanks, but the Americans had the best small arms and were too stupid to quit, says Art Staymates who had reached the top of the bluffs at Omaha Beach. Then there were the hedgerows, which were a whole new challenge. He was never comfortable among the French, but the Belgians were wonderful.
France was tough, but Belgium was totally different. Art Staymates trusted the Belgians so he accepted the food offered by an old woman. It was the best thing he had ever tasted. They helped the Americans in other ways and their gratitude lasted down through the generations, as Art would discover years later.
The 1st Division had thousands of casualties in the frigid cold at the Ardennes and in the Hurtgen Forest. After 171 days on the front line, Art Staymates headed to the rear for some hot food and a shower and a trip to Paris. He got the first two, then a little problem came up at Bastogne.
The war was over and the men piled into the trucks. Art Staymates asked the driver if they were going to Bremerhaven. That's where the ships were. No such luck. The 1st Division was to train replacements and prepare for Japan, but three companies were selected for a special task in Nuremberg.
As the commander of the guards at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, Art Staymates got to know the notorious prisoners including Hermann Goring. On his first day in the assignment, Goring tested his resolve.
After he posted his guards every morning at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, Art Staymates would often travel through the town in his jeep. One day he saw a sign for a cafe and was curious because there really wasn't much food available to the civilians anywhere. What he found inside made the whole war worth it.
