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Tom Cash

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Tom Cash recounts the heart wrenching losses suffered in the Hurtgen Forest. In one day, his unit was reduced to less than a fourth of its strength. Many were killed with a baiting tactic involving tracer bullets. Then it was close combat, with bayonets and grenades. (6:45)

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He slept in a cold foxhole most of the time. Tom Cash was near the Siegfried Line in the Hurtgen Forest, where the fighting was fierce. A tree burst from German artillery stuck down his sergeant and soon he was wounded as well. (4:13)

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Tom Cash learned the techniques of mortar targeting in basic training, but in combat, they were quickly modified. The mortermen in his unit were so efficient in firing that captured German soldiers were asking to see the automatic mortar. Once he was given a riskier task, night patrol behind enemy lines. (5:20)

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Wounded in the Hurtgen Forest, Tom Cash was sent to Miami for rehabilitation. Then it was on to Texas where he trained inductees, sharing insights gained in his recent combat. After one last assignment at the chemical warfare school, he finally had enough points for discharge. (2:41)

Tom Dill

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It was a rough time getting through the end of the Depression, but Tom Dill was lucky enough to go to college after graduating in 1939. After being an alternate for an appointment to Annapolis, he went ahead and joined the Navy, anyway, in 1943. (3:58)

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When Tom Dill joined the Navy in 1943, the first stop was Northwestern University for three months of midshipman's training. He was next sent to the Small Craft Center in Miami and, finally, to Long Beach to await assignment. He became an officer on an LST, a new type of ship that became a vital part of amphibious warfare. (5:45)

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LST-340 had been fully repaired and headed for Hawaii with new officer Tom Dill on board. He participated in some landing exercises on Maui in preparation for the Mariana Islands operations. While staging in the Marshall Islands, which had already been secured, a party from the ship went ashore for some recreation and encountered a stray Japanese soldier. (3:30)

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The men of LST-340 thought it must be more LST's in one place than ever as they assembled for the landings on Saipan. Then they found out about Normandy, which was happening at roughly the same time. Ship's officer Tom Dill describes his vessels cargo. LVT's, which were carrying Marine artillery, and a few "Ducks." (4:37)

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After Saipan, the next landing was Tinian, coveted for its airfields. LST ship's officer Tom Dill recalls how the beachmaster, a Naval officer in charge of operations during an amphibious attack, refused his captain's request to move his ship because of rough water. This led to a sticky situation. (7:18)

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After his LST was grounded and abandoned, Tom Dill was sent to Virginia where he finally got training as an LST officer. This was after serving as one in combat. His next ship was a brand new LST that set out downriver from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. This trip was not without drama. (4:18)