Jake Larson & Carlisle Salapare on D-Day

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT, YOU KNOW, MAKING IT ON TO THE BEACH?

WELL, I REMEMBER -- WHEN I HIT THE BEACH, MACHINE GUNS WERE OPENING UP AND FIRING AT ME, AND I FOUND THIS LITTLE WHAT I CALL A BERM OF SAND, KIND OF LIMESTONE THAT SITS -- AND IT WAS SIX TO EIGHT INCHES HIGH AND IT WAS A PROTECTION FROM THOSE MACHINE GUNS, SO I LAY BEHIND IT THINKING HOW AM I GOING TO GET OUT OF THIS THING WITHOUT BEING SHOT AT ME?

SO I REACHED IN MY POCKET AND GOT A CIGARETTE OUT OF A WATERPROOF CIGARETTE HOLDER, AND I REACHED FOR A MATCH, AND THE MATCHES WERE WET.

I LOOKED OVER MY LEFT SHOULDER AND THERE WAS A G.I. SITTING THERE, NOT THREE AND A HALF FEET BEHIND ME LAYING AND I SAID HEY, BUDDY, HAVE YOU GOT A MATCH?

NO ANSWER.

I LOOKED AGAIN, UNDER THE HELMET WAS NO HEAD.

OH, MY GOODNESS.

SO THIS MAN HAD BEEN KILLED.

HE HAD BEEN KILLED!

AND AT THAT INSTANCE I THANKED HIS SOUL TO BEAT IT TO THE CLIFF AND I GOT UP BETWEEN THE MACHINE GUNS THAT WERE SHOOTING FROM TWO DIFFERENT ANGLES OVER AND DOWN AT ME.

I MADE IT TO THE CLIFF WITHOUT A SCRATCH.

WOW.

THAT IS JUST UNBELIEVABLE.

WE HAVE A REALLY YOUNG GUY SITTING RIGHT HERE NEXT TO YOU, CARLISLE.

HE'S 17 AND A STUDENT FROM SOUTH CAROLINA.

CARLISLE, YOU ARE HERE BECAUSE YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTED IN THIS PART OF WORLD WAR II HISTORY.

YES, MA'AM.

YES, MA'AM.

HOW?

WHAT?

THIS IS LIVING HISTORY HERE, CARLISLE.

I KNOW, IN SCHOOL THEY ALWAYS TEACH US ABOUT WORLD WAR II AND THE POLITICIANS AND THE OPERATIONAL OVERLORD, D-DAY, BUT SEEING HERE, SEEING THE BEACHES AND THE GREAT MEN WHO FOUGHT AND DIED FOR FREEDOM AND LIBERTY AND TO SEE YOU HERE, MR. LARSON, IT'S JUST AMAZING.

I'M SPEECHLESS.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUNG PEOPLE, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE YOUNG PEOPLE LIKE CARLISLE TO REMEMBER AND TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT YOU AND YOUR BAND OF BROTHERS DID?

LET'S TALK ABOUT OUR FREEDOM.

WE'RE SO BLESSED.

WE'RE SO BLESSED WE DON'T REALIZE HOW BLESSED WE ARE.