August 18, 1939
I was notified today that I had been accepted into the French Army, to help in the war effort against Germany. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I’m excited to help my country… But I am also scared. From what I have heard about the Germans, they inhumanely murder everything that crosses their path. I have heard stories from friends that they are wild beasts when it comes to war. If they caught you they would torture you in cruel ways, or send you to the concentration camps where they would gas you. The hardest thing for me to do will be to leave my family, and my mechanics business that I have worked so hard to create. I have finally made a reputation as a man here in Paris and it pains me to leave all of that behind. Tomorrow I leave for training and I don’t what will happen next for me, but I pray that I will stay safe and be able to return to my family en bonne forme. (in good health)
May 27, 1940
It’s been the first time I’ve had time to write for almost a year. There is no way I can possibly write down everything that has gone on during the last months. Right now I am on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean. Me and thousands of other men have just been saved on the beaches of Dunkirk. The Germans had us trapped in a corner with nowhere to go. The night before we slept on the beaches, in the freezing cold. It was the longest night of my life. We didn’t know how far away the Germans were, they could have ambushed us at any minute.
As dawn broke over the horizon, I saw the silhouttes of hundreds of ship vessels coming our way. Never had I been more relieved in my life. Literally all types of boats came to our rescue-- canoes, rowboats, leisure motorboats, and even commercial liners-- thousands of lives were saved that day. Unfortunately now I have been seperated from my platoon of my fellow french-men. I am on an English ship headed to Great Britain and I doubt I will be reunited with my commanding officer for a while. From what I can pick up from their language, it seems like the Allies are planning a huge attack on Germany around the beaches of Normandy. They are going to attempt to liberate France! Well, that’s all for now, our ship has finally landed here in Britain. Au revoir pour l’instant. (Goodbye for now)
June 12, 1944
The war has ended. France is Free. I have reunited with my family. So many emotions have been flowing through me for the last 6 days. My world has been absolutely turned upside down. I was part of the single largest battle of WWII, D-Day as they call it. I will never forget that day. I was part of the second wave of men coming off the boats storming the beaches of my home soil. We sprinted together through thigh-deep water for hundreds of yards before we reached dry ground. People were dieing left and right of me. Falling like dominoes were these men. On the beach Germans had bunkers set up with hundreds of machine guns mowing everyone down in sight. They set up barbed wire funces and boobie traps in a desperate attempt to slow us down. It took long, long hours, but eventually we overpowered those damn Nazis, and took back my homeland. I will never know how I survived that day. It seemed like almost everyone I knew died that day. I was the only one from my ship to make it. I am happy that we won, but at what cost? Thousands of men lay dead on the beach, never being able to experience the sweet taste of victory. As life in France returns back to normal, I realize that WWII is exactly the type of event that needs to be prevented at all costs in the coming years. Maintenant, nous besoin de piece. (For now, we need peace)
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