S1c Richard Coombs: Crawling Through the Sands of Omaha

Warriors In Their Own Words | First Person War Stories

Robert Kirk

History

4.6 • 675 Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Seaman First Class Richard Coombs served in World War II as a Navy Seabee. He fought in the first wave of the Invasion of Normandy, where he was a part of the Naval Combat Demolition Unit. In the interview, he says his about crawling up the entire beach: “If you were to stand up, you're dead, you would've got hit for sure. I never knew there was so much firepower like that. You can't imagine, bullets hitting the sand, 88s going over your head and explosions here. And it smelled like death. You heard moaning, guys screaming, smell of gunpowder in the air. It was a very bleak, stormy day. How we ever accomplished and got in there, I don't know, but we did it.” The Naval Construction Battalions, which quickly became known as the Seabees due to their abbreviation (CBs), were formed at the beginning of American involvement in World War II. They were created as an amphibious force to construct advanced bases in combat zones. Many Seabees volunteered to join Navy Combat Demolition Units (NCDUs), who were tasked with destroying obstacles in an advance of amphibious assaults. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:30.1	The autopilot order. Now, informal, the strong urge felt at the ordering kiosk or drive-through
0:35.7	that takes over the entire body and mind
0:37.8	and results in a person ordering a Big Mac without even having to think. Related phrases,
0:42.6	looks like I've ordered a Big Mac again. The autopilot order at McDonald's.
0:47.8	Serves from 11am, subject to availability.
0:50.2	Hi, quick message from the team. This interview is a visceral recounting of the invasion of Normandy.
0:56.4	It follows a boy as he crawls up the beach past the chaos and destruction in one of the most pivotal moments of American military history.
1:04.8	We believe this is one of our most powerful interviews yet, but there are brief mentions of gore, so listener discretion is advised.
1:12.7	I have a quick message before we start the show. We just recently got in touch with the Veterans
1:18.4	History Project at the Library of Congress. Just like we do on our show, they collect, preserve,
1:23.9	and make accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans so that future
1:29.0	generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did, and felt
1:34.4	during their service. Tomorrow, September 15th, on National P.O.W.MIA Recognition Day,
1:40.2	the Veterans History Project is asking veterans and veterans family members to contribute
1:45.0	their or their loved one story to the POWMIA collection at the Library of Congress.
1:50.7	Visit l.oc.gov slash vets to learn how to contribute your oral history, original photographs, and documents,
1:57.7	or explore the collection of more than 100,000 veteran stories.
	...

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