elsie item issue 67 - USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association

The last two sailors to get off LCI 553 wereElectricians Mate 2nd Class John Buckla followedby Seaman Robert “Bobby” Marker. SeamanMarker hesitated and Buckla called up to him toget off the ship. Marker ran down the ramp andjust as he cleared it, an artillery round struckand knocked him off his feet. Buckla, who wasonly a few yards ahead of “Bobby” Marker wasuninjured. He and other shipmates ran back toMarker and discovered that he was severelywounded. The Pharmacist Mate was there withinseconds to treat his wounds.Unarmed, the crew of LCI 553 dug into the beachwhile being pounded by artillery and mortar fire.They did their best to dig foxholes with only theirhands and helmets. Seaman Earl Phifer took inthe horrific scene around him – sights never to beforgotten. The water was “pink” from blood.Soldiers were screaming in anguish for medics totreat their grotesque wounds. The falling tide lefta line of dead soldiers on the beach. Prone andshoulder to shoulder, they all faced the enemy.Chief Signalman Class Roy Stone attempted toborrow an entrenching tool from a soldier sittingnearby but the soldier appeared to be in shockand did not seem to hear a word that Stone said.One LCIer apparently did not dig his hole deepenough and he was struck in the buttocks withshrapnel. Both he and the severely wounded,“Bobby” Marker were evacuated from the beachin an LCVP.During the previous few hours, at least 5,000troops had assaulted “Easy Red” including the115th Regiment, 29th Infantry Division and the18th Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. They weremixed together on the beach. “Easy Red”became the most congested beach sector onOmaha but it became the primary springboard forthe invasion. Stone observed that as the afternoonwore on, there was a “sea of brown” infront of him. John Buckla noted the regular intervalsin which the Germans fired a salvo ofartillery rounds along the beach. Roy Stoneobserved that when allied planes flew over, theGerman firing would cease for a brief time.Amidst the firing, the brave Beach Master ran upand down the shore as if he was oblivious to danger.Dubrul requested welding equipment torepair his damaged vessel from the Beach Masterbut there was none available. In late afternoon,a Landing Craft Tank (LCT), carrying ammunitionwas hit with a resultant spectacular explosionthat caused further damage to the stricken LCI553. The day wore on with incessant artilleryand mortar fire, testing the nerves of those huddledon the shore.By 10:00 PM, it seemed hopeless that theseverely damaged LCI 553 could be re-floatedand the Beach Master instructed Dubrul to evacuatehis men from the beach. They were takento Landing Ship Tank (LST) 510 by an LCVP. Thehorrors were not yet over. Exhausted and withkidneys aching from the repeated concussions ofartillery strikes, the crew of LCI 553 had toendure the screams of the wounded onboard theLST and witness amputations of limbs performedon soldiers and sailors by surgeons onboard. AsRoy Stone faded in his exhaustion, he heard hisno-nonsense Skipper Don Dubrul tell a crewmanof LST 510, “Don’t baby these guys”.The Outcome of Lindsay Henry’s DecisionWhen a soldier or sailor disobeys orders during abattle and fails in the fight, he is likely to be subjectedto a court martial. However, history is fullof examples of those who disobeyed orders yetprevailed in battle. Members of this fraternity ofthe bold are often praised for their initiative andawarded the laurels of victory. Such was thecase with Lindsay Henry, commander of LCIGroup 34. He ignored his instructions to “wait”and instead, redirected 2,400 fresh troops to aplace and time where they were desperatelyneeded. For this, he helped shape history andwas awarded the Silver Star. He shares thishonor with all LCIers of Group 34 who bravelydelivered the 115th RCT to Omaha Beach.21