[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 24074-24075]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF MR. PETE MANETTO'S SERVICE TO OUR NATION DURING D-DAY 1945

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACK KINGSTON

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 17, 2004

  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, Pete Manetto served in 1st Signal Company, 
1st Infantry Division, the Big Red One during the D-Day invasion (Red 
One). He shares his D-Day memories for the Congressional Record:


[[Page 24075]]

       I remember the stormy sea at 0600, as I climbed down the 
     rope ladder of the U.S.S. Chase. I struggled with my balance 
     nearly falling into the water, but managed to land in the 
     landing craft. The sight of the armada on that morning was 
     one of the most impressive, that I could recall. I turned and 
     caught the sight of a nervous expression on the face of the 
     coxswain as he pushed away from the beach. Shortly after this 
     the craft was hit with enemy fire.
       There we were on the beach with no one in control of us. We 
     were met with the sight of rows of dead GIs; among them was a 
     member of the MP, who I remember being very jovial the night 
     before. There were many who were wounded, and the scene of 
     the beach caused fear to appear on the faces of many of my 
     acquaintances. I cannot remember being fired upon at this 
     point, but remember one of my company fellows, named Bush, 
     going into the water to retrieve some valuable equipment.
       It was around noon when BG Andrews of the 5th Artillery was 
     passing the silent 88mm emplacement. The General was forced 
     to take shelter with a couple of GIs and myself, who were 
     attached to the 36th infantry unit. As the enemy fire rained 
     down on our position, SGT Tate, our wire chief sergeant, 
     spotted us and approached our position. We were lying in 
     front of our fox trench hole, while SGT Tate was providing us 
     with news, encouragement, and instructions. Sergeant Tate was 
     not able to finish, because a tremendous, noisy, whirlwind 
     came upon us. When I was able to recover, I noticed SGT Tate 
     on the ground in agony, after receiving a wound just below 
     the shoulder. We called for medics and in minutes SGT Tate 
     was taken away. This was the last time I saw SGT Tate during 
     the war.
       Shortly after this I was ordered to run my assault wire to 
     the Juno or English beach to link up with the infantry. Along 
     my way I encountered more realities of the battle, I saw a 
     wounded pathfinder officer who was comatose, and being cared 
     for by two GIs. I continued to move down the beach. About a 
     mile from the pathfinder officer, I came across two medics 
     who were drained mentally. They requested any information 
     that I could offer them to help. The next time I saw these 
     men was on my return trip after completing my assignment. 
     They were victims of an apparent mortar attack, which I 
     surely would have been part of if I had stayed much longer 
     than I had. When I returned, I learned that headquarters was 
     up a hill. As I climbed the hill, the first line of walking 
     wounded was descending the hill. I saw wounds of all sorts, 
     from wounded arms and legs, to those who suffered serious eye 
     injuries. As I approached the command post two more sights 
     served as educating reminders: two GIs were laid on the 
     ground facing skyward. One of them was missing the middle of 
     his torso, the other was beheaded.
       Once I completed the setup of the communication line, I was 
     given the first accumulation of information that was obtained 
     from captured prisoners. After giving this information to the 
     general officer, I was chastised for my lack of protocol for 
     saluting a superior, which was a great hazard, because of 
     possible snipers, and observing enemy intelligence. All that 
     day and night I felt as though I was in a dwarfed position, 
     as we continued to troubleshoot problems with the 
     telecommunication lines. COL Picket's command post was to my 
     left. Colonel Picket was sitting on the ground gathering and 
     relaying information on the failed landing of amphibious 
     vehicles to the high seas. As we sat on the ground working on 
     the gathered information, we heard the sound of oncoming 
     planes. The famous duo of German planes came over the 
     horizon, and began to strafe our position. I hugged the 
     ground as bullets hit the ground near me, but thankfully far 
     enough away. Besides the ammunition from the German aircraft, 
     we were in danger of being hit from our own anti-aircraft 
     ammunition, because we were aiming at the low flying planes.
       This was my true baptism of fire. I was a real GI by June 
     7th 1944. In retrospect, these 24 hours were to make me a 
     mature GI! June 6th 1944, what a memory.

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