[drew1]

I posted the following in PARF and with post again in remberence of a man I knew.

The scene in the movie Private Ryan is just like Omaha beach on June 6. I bought one of 150 prints of a painting made by an artist? Detrick?, of the Beach that day, for my wife's classroom. It was painted from the description of the men there that day. It is signed by the artist and Francis Dawson, whose part Tom Hanks portrayed in the D Day scene. It shows the tank shooting in the air and everything, the movie people maybe used this in setting the movie up.

I was acquainted with COL Dawson, and in the 90s interviewed him for a paper while going for an Associate Degree. Then, D Day, he was 1LT Frank Dawson of D Co, 5th Ranger Bat. In HS in SC he had been in something like ROTC, so WW II found him commissioned in the Army. In England, he was assigned to a logistics outfit. The 5th Ranger Bat which was trained and formed at Camp Forrest, TN, but now being trained by British Commandos in Scotland. More personnel were needed and he volunteered. He had to go before a board and was asked one question, "Why do you want to be in the Rangers?" He said that he was assigned to Logistics but he was from SC and if he was in a war he wanted to fight. Late one afternoon, he found himself walking up a mountain in Scotland where everybody was training. When he got to his company it was explained that they were doing demolition training and it was the end of the day so they were blowing the rest so they could knock off. He said it was like the whole mountain was coming down.

D Day was Dawson's first combat, probably like most on D Day. As pointed out, by another everything did not go as planned. On Day, they were sitting off the Point de Hoc in landing craft waiting for a signal to to land just east at Point de Preece and support or link up with 2nd Rangers who had been assigned to climb the cliffs and take out the big guns there. The signal never came so COL Schnieder, directed the craft to Omaha Beach, their alternate site. I forget which sector. Stumbling and tripping over equipment under water they made the way past they carnage on the beach to an empty place in the sea wall. Dawson said he did not see or hear Gen Cota? of 29 Inf Div?, who seemed to be calming walking the beach. Others tell him you had to have. Cota asked, "What unit is this?" and was told, " We're Rangers". Cota's answer, "We've got to get off this beach, Rangers, lead the way." This gave the motto, "Rangers Lead the Way."

When his CO ordered move out, Dawson, sent his bangalore torpedo men over the wall to blow the concertina and barb wire they hooked them together but one did not go off. So they had to go over the wall taking fire and do it again. Dawson told me the two good naturedly argued over whose did not go off close to 50 years later.. It went this time and Dawson's plt sgt and another man hooked their hands to give him a boost. Over the wall he went zig zagging like they teach in training until he got to a trench at the crest. There he took his BAR and got a couple of Germans and headed toward a bunker with a machine gun, which he cleared. Another poster mentioned short rounds from supporting ships. One of these may have helped, for smoke kept enemy fire from concentrating on Dawson. It was after taking out the Bunker that Dawson realized his platoon was not with him. Then here they came coughing and ripping off gas masks. They thought the smoke was gas and the masks did not filter the smoke. Dawson and his men cleared trenches and bunkers. They were lucky to have reached the crest for Dawson said there were signs in German ACTUNG and he didn't know the next word which was mines. The 5th Rangers fought their way through hedgerows hoping to find a road to the east towards Point de HOC

With heavy fighting they took the town of Vierville with its intersections and a road to the east to get to the Point de Hoc area. Plans changed again. Schnieder was ordered to hold the town to secure the beachhead. Dawson told me that he and a LT Parker received Silver Stars for their contributions on D Day. Parker led his platoon over the crest to a designated assembly area at a chateau, but no Rangers were there so he continued to Point de Hoc where the 2nd Rangers there running low on ammo were in need of help. According to records on D+1, 5th Rangers had taken about 30% casualties. 2nd Rangers which successfully took Point de Hoc and found the guns gone, but took 75%.

Dawson is in the Ranger Hall of Fame.
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drew1