my dad is 92 and served with 1259th Combat Engr Bn, 18th airborne corp, flying dragons in Marseilles and Oise Intermediate Sector , eto hdqts us army, camp lucky strike near LeHavre and Rouen and Paris. Pattons 3r army cleared out zone around lucky strike which was surrounded by v-1 rocket launchers that rained on London.
dad moved from camp pickett to naval amphibious base ft. pierce fl to ft jackson sc to camp miles standish ny just outside nyc and sailed by statue of liberty for england in large convoy that included a ship of russian nurses headed back to eto. departure was top secret as dads unit did not know destination was pacific or eto until 3 days out to sea. 2 navy destroyers met convoy off continental shelf to escort convoy to eto. 2 destroyers constantly circled convoy during 12 days to england to protect vs uboats. dad said approaching england on channel side his ship hit many mines. dads unit left england for lehavre landing. dad headed to lucky strike.