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| 60th Anniversary of D-Day |
June 03, 2004 |
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60 years ago Sunday, June 6, 1944 was the day the Allied forces attacked German-held France. After years of preparation, 150,000 soldiers descended on the beaches of Normandy. Under the cover of night and intense bombings by air and sea, these young men fought to get a foothold in mainland Europe.
Albuquerque resident Charles Reule was one of those soldiers. Congresswoman Heather Wilson recently presented to him the Bronze Star, the Good Conduct Medal, and, among others, the Medal of the Jubilee of Liberty for his service in Normandy.
The young Charles Reule landed at Omaha beach a few days after the initial attack. There was much speculation amongst the troops as they waited for their turn to cross into France from England. The night before, he says, he had been issued a bandoleer of ammunition and another of hand grenades. “That night I really got homesick,” he relates, “I came unglued. It all became very real.”
As he crossed the English Channel he didn’t know what to expect. He was on an LST (Landing Ship Tank), which is about the size of a football field. It carried tanks, jeeps, and other vehicles. They received no fire as they landed on the beach. They were dropped into cold water up to their armpits, Reule says with a shiver, and they made their way to the beach. 
Five months later, Reule was stationed at Allied headquarters, where General Patton oversaw operations.
One night, while standing guard Mr. Reule heard a loud, pulsating sound.
“It sounded like a really big vacuum cleaner,” he says.
It was a railroad gun that the Germans had set up some distance away. The shot had barely missed the top of the headquarters, hitting a building across the street. Reule went to investigate and, seeing a gaping hole, crawled in. Once inside he heard moaning and a baby crying. He went back to the headquarters, Patton was there and asked him what had happened. They then went together to see the building. Patton told Reule to crawl back in the hole.
“Then General Patton told me to come out. Hold [the flashlight] he told me, and then he climbed in.” Reule said, choking up.
Patton ordered Reule to get everyone from the headquarters, generals and officers included, over there “on the double.” They were able to rescue an older gentleman, a young woman and her baby.
Scott Griffin is studying Computer Science at the University of New Mexico. He is working as an intern during the summer semester in Congresswoman Heather Wilson’s Albuquerque office. He hopes to attend to law school after his undergraduate studies are finished.
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