Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 5, 1994                   TAG: 9406070003
SECTION: THE GREAT CRUSADE                    PAGE: D-DAY4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LATER, WHEN SGT. SLAUGHTER LOOKED, HE REALIZED THE HOLES IN HIS COAT WERE

Slaughter was a 19-year-old sergeant in D Company of the 29th Infantry Division's 116th Regimental Combat Team. He was a member of a 30-man boat team that landed on the Easy Green sector of Omaha Beach 40 minutes behind the first assault wave.

On the ride in, even the roar of the landing craft's diesel engine failed to muffle the heavy Navy guns bombarding the beach. The soldiers could see the 2,000-pound artillery rounds fired by the battleship Texas tumbling to their targets on land.

As the steel ramp to his landing craft was lowered, Slaughter jumped into chest-deep water that was turning red from the blood of those who had landed before. The rattle of machine guns and explosions from naval artillery surrounded him. "There were dead men in the water and live men acting dead. Screams for help came from men hit and drowning under ponderous loads."

Forced from the water by machine gun fire and exploding mortar shells, Slaughter crouched to make his 6-foot-5 body less of a target and ran for a seawall 100 yards away.

At the wall he removed his heavy assault jacket and spread out his raincoat to make a place to clean his sand-clogged rifle. He found bullet holes in the jacket and the coat.

Slaughter and the men with him stayed at the wall long enough to compose themselves and then made their way to the base of the bluff overlooking the beach, out of the way of small arms fire. Col. Charlie Caham, commander of the 116th, found the men there. Canham, wounded in his right arm, held a Colt .45 in his left hand and shouted orders to get the men off the beach.

"Later that afternoon, we still hadn't gotten farther than the top of the hill."