· RUEL SK

The Preparation
31
Rock had a Bugs Bunny riding a high eXl'losive bomb painted on both sides. Some guys lit
up a cigarette and talked over the mission, agreeing it would not be so bad.
On" this Wednesday, September 27, Lt. Dimick had planned a party in a small local
pub, the Greyhound. "At five '0 clock this afternoon I would start my twentieth year of
existence on planet earth. A couple of days before I had purchased two fifths of very good
scotch from the officers club. It was 'black market' booze and the going price was about 18
a bottle. I had a date with an English girl, enlisted in the RAF. We had to be careful
around the main streets of Norwich. Officers were not allowed to go with enlisted
personnel. The Military Police seemed to take great pleasure in harassing us when caught
together and we had already been warned a couple oftimes. However we were not deterred
by regulations."
Others set their minds to more serious concerns. Sergeant Boldt thought of his
daughter, born about twelve days after he left the States, on July 10, 1944. "Although two
emergency telegrams were sent through the Red Cross, I did not get them till the middle of
September. By then I had received pictures through regular mail. My wife had sent me my
daughter's booties and I always carried them along with a lace garter of my wife'S, a small
Bible, and a Saint Christopher MedaL"
He was not the only one to wear such a precious and personal reminder. Sergeant
John Ray Lemons carried his son's baby shoes around his neck along with his dog tags.