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12 - We Were There at the Normandy Invasion by Clayton Knight · We Were There at the Normandy Invasion

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And the trumpet. Slim leaned forward, intently, staring at a
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: thicket to one side. Who are you come? Our hands up?
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: He shouted, Get back kid. A voice said it is
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: not necessary. I wish to give myself up willingly. A
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: young German airman stepped from behind the litter of broken
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: cherry branches. Where do you come from? Slim demanded, keep
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: those hands on your head. I know who he is.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Andre cried then to the stranger. You're zippelettu jump from
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: the Messerschmidt, aren't you. The German nodded, I wish to
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: make no trouble. Please take my gun A luger only
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: into holster. Slim snapped out the pistol. Listen. He demanded,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: what gives here? The German said, I wanted to give
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: up for a long time. Now I am glad you
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: have come. Well, Slim shrugged. Maybe you can explain that
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: to the captain. Come out, march ahead and meet at
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: our school house yonder. When they reached the food dump,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: the prisoner was put under guard. Meanwhile, Slim carried out
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the captain's orders for food supplies. Slim pointed to the
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: stacked cartains he had piled in the corner of the schoolhouse.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: See nobody lays a hand on that jib will be
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: over to pick it up within an hour, he told
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  Speaker 1: the commissary sergeant. He also asked for an extra guard
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: to accompany them back to the captain. He says he
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: wants to give hisself up, Slim said, But how do
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: we know is on the level drawing his own gun,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Slim added to Andrea as he led the way. Well,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: now flat gun is like good, look at this Luftwaffe fellow.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: The prisoner smiled wryly. Your flat guns already have seen me,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: he said, satisfy, I am here. Upon the return, Captain
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Doby greeted the German with surprising enthusiasm. I am delighted
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: to see you, he said. You had us worried. I
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: thus verged myself, Sir, the pilot replied. A few minutes later,
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  Speaker 1: the prisoner was despatched to an interrogation center by jeep
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: with Weller and a guard. Captain Doby suggested that Andrea
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: find Monsieur Blanc and tell him that the village could
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: forget about that particular German pilot. Glad to have him
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  Speaker 1: off my mind, the captain added, Andrea found Monsieur Blanc
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: consulting with Victor near the end of the village, and
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: gave them the captain's good news and rode home through
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: the fields. Andrea found an almost undamaged yellow parachute. How
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: beautiful Marie will be in the dress of yellow silk,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: he thought, and he folded it carefully, tucking the bulk
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: he load under his arm. That evening, after supper, Andrea
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: took his trumpet into the kitchen. He gathered cleaning rags
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: and polish, and rubbed and cleaned the brass of the horn.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: When the tubes had been cleared and the metal gleams,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: he piped a little twill of lonely notes. They made
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: him feel no better, and he tried in Normandy dance tune.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: He heard the clump of feet behind him in Slim's voice,
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  Speaker 1: Holy cow, where'd you get that horn? Andre put the
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: trumpet down shyly. Slim picked it up carefully and rubbed
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: the mouthpiece with his sleeve. Can you play you a trumpet?
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: Andrea asked curiously. Well, I used to pray some and
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: skill bound and bake his texas it matter of fact,
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: that's pretty good. Shall I give her try? Andre jumped
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: when a ringing peal of notes rose from the brass
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: to the rafters. The note slided down the scale, and
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Slim broke loudly into Turkey in the straw Weller's bellow
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: rose even above the music's vibrations. Stop that racket. Slim
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: guiltily took the horn from his lips. The sergeant shouted,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: CAB's on the phone headquarters. Tell you what, Andrea, Slim whispered,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Suppose we go out and try this somewhere. For the
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: next hour in the dimly lit spring house, Andrea enjoyed
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: himself more than he had for weeks, and when Slim
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: said time for bed now, Andrea had learned half of
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Slim's pet song, which was something about Texas. Next morning,
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  Speaker 1: Andrea found that a thick fog, almost a drizzle, hung
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  Speaker 1: over the treetops. The soft gray mist hid the harsh
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  Speaker 1: destruction of the landscape. Andrea went out to find Raoul
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  Speaker 1: at work patching the cody roof. As you heard me
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  Speaker 1: with this satch, will you, Raoul called. Andrea gladly climbed
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  Speaker 1: up the old ladder with an armful of straw while
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Raoul chattered, But a moment later he stopped listening to
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Raoul's talk. Somewhere in the fog, he had detected the
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  Speaker 1: uncertain throbbing of a plane's engine. He sat still to
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: follow the sound. The plane was flying in wide circles,
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  Speaker 1: steadily coming in lower in a drift of the mist.
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  Speaker 1: Andrea caught his glimpse of the markings a white star.
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  Speaker 1: He's a trouble as as an American plaine, Andre cried,
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  Speaker 1: How could he be in trouble? Raoul objected, he still
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  Speaker 1: ends the sky as you not. But listening closely, he
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: too heard the engine sputter. As at the engine the
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: needs appears, he declared, disapprovingly. Hastily, Andre shouted duck. Their
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  Speaker 1: heads went down as the plane's wings, trailing wisps of fog,
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  Speaker 1: swept close overhead. Andrea had just time to make out
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  Speaker 1: a high wing monoplane with patches and holes and his
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  Speaker 1: fabric covering. The plane banked, sailed over a field behind
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  Speaker 1: the Cody House, and was set down expertly. Andrea was
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: already scrambling down the ladder. He pelted across the meadow
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: with no thought of danger, racing toward the plain. He
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: thought only that the pilot might be hurt. Through the
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: plexiglass enclosure of the little ship, Andrea saw a blond
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: young fellow in an odd peaked cap. At the sound
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: of pounding footsteps, the pilot whirled and automatic suddenly in
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  Speaker 1: his hand and pointed to Andrea. End of Chapter twelve.