Trial by Combat

Normandy now appears to be a crash course in land warfare, cops and robbers style, even cowboys and Indians.  We never knew when one of us was going to get it.

First Sergeant Marshal Buckridge had just called me forward for instructions because we were very low on ammunition and unable to sustain extended combat.  I told him that I would get the ammunition but he said, “No you don’t , get a volunteer.” 

I returned to the squad by crawling in the hedgerow ditch and asked for squad volunteers.  Frank Ficarrota, after a long silence, was the first to grasp the seriousness of the situation; he shrugged and volunteered to get the ammunition. He backed to the end of the hedgerow and exited at a gate. He was now on a road that paralleled the hedgerow.  At the next intersection he climbed through the break in the hedgerow and was followed by Lt. Ed Jansen.  They both crouched on top of the hedgerow for a moment; it was like a situation without due caution that I had just experienced.  Frank Ficarotta was shot in the head as he crouched on the high point of the hedgerow for too long a time. His lifeless body tumbled down the slope and he uttered not a word. He was dead. His face was purple. Tony Das, upon hearing of Frank Ficarotta’s death said, “ Oh Frankie boy.” They were the best of friends. Infantry soldiers have little time to mourn. There were no more words to be said. Infantry soldiers can’t,” heave their heart into their mouth.”

Lt .Jansen was right behind him and the shot hit him in the stomach. Lt. Ed. Jansen recovered to return to combat in the Operation Market-Garden in Holland, but he was wounded in the leg as the aircraft came under direct fire from the Germans.  He jumped in spite of his wound which ultimately led to amputation and his death in 1994.