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by Robert Amich (Author), Catherine Boern (Author)
Robert G. Behee had a front-row seat to some of the most consequential battles during WWII, and he wrote it all down in his diary. He fought at "Omaha Beach," in France in the Battle of D-Day on a barge called a "Rhino." He received a Purple Heart after stepping on a mine that exploded a buried bomb, which threw him to safety. He was "rewarded" for surviving D-Day by being sent to the South Pacific to prepare for the Invasion of Japan.
July 9, 1944: ACHTUNG MINEN! [German for "Attention Mines"]. At 6:00 PM today, "I heard Gabriel's horn." After they found that German in the pillbox, my friend Zel and I decided to see if we could find any more hidden pillboxes within the cliffs. After a lengthy search, the only thing of note we found was a rotten Nazi arm on the ground. We had a little trouble tracing our way down the cliff. As I stepped onto a path, there was a terrific explosion. One that was strong enough to knock us both to the ground. I knew we had set off a mine. I felt a burning sensation in my right leg. I kept my eyes closed because I was sure if I looked, I would see that my leg was blown off. I have seen the effects that mines have on people, and most of the time, they are torn apart. As I opened my eyes, I was able to see that, miraculously, I seemed to be in one piece. As I picked myself up, I saw Zel next to me with blood streaming down his face. He was crawling and trying to get to his feet. Both of us looked at each other with a dazed look. I asked him if he was hurt. He replied that he had got it in his legs. Before I could respond to Zel, the ground began to tremble. A noise, too loud for me to perceive, thundered in my ears. Then, I was shot up into the air and flung by the concussion of the blast into a trench some ten feet away. When I opened my eyes this time, I saw that Zel had been thrown into the trench with me. Both of us were both bruised and battered but very much alive!
