75 years later, memories of D-Day still fresh for Quincy veteran

June 06-- Jun. 6--QUINCY - Robert Smith can still imitate the sounds of the shells whizzing overhead when he landed on Utah Beach as part of the D-Day invasion 75 years ago today, on June 6, 1944.

Smith, who was 19, was the bow gunner on a Sherman tank crew, tank B, Company B of the 746th Tank Battalion, whose mission was to support infantry troops in the invasion of Europe.

"I sure was scared that day," Smith wrote in a letter to his parents a month after the invasion. "My mouth was dry, knees shaking and a general weak feeling all over."

D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare, with 160,000 troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and other allies landing in Normandy, France. In addition to those who stormed the shore at five beaches, other troops, in gliders and parachutes, landed inland.

Smith's tank was part of the 23rd wave of landings that took place that morning. Utah Beach was crowded with equipment and vehicles when he got there. He wrote that it took a half hour to get the tanks from his landing craft/tank off the beach.

He later headed toward Cherbourg, helping to liberate that city on the French coast. Smith recalled going into a warehouse filled with duffel bags containing items German troops had looted from French civilians.

During an interview Wednesday at his North Quincy home, questions about D-Day seemed to stir Smith's memory and brought tears to his eyes. But those memories were ones he chose not to share. He said some keep him from sleeping, three-quarters of a century later.

The ones he did share of his time in Europe included the time he was sleeping under his tank and a German plane dropped a bomb nearby. The bomb did not explode, making it just one of the many close calls he said he experienced.

He also recalled having to take cover during shelling.

"I took a dive, hit the ground and landed right on a cowpie," he said.

He described passing areas where gliders transporting troops crashed into obstacles fixed to prevent them from landing, killing those on board.

"You never want to see anything like that," Smith said.

The citation for his Bronze Star speaks for itself.

"His was one of the first tanks to penetrate the Siegfried Line," the defenses along the German border, the citation read.

"On one occasion, when his tank was temporarily disabled by enemy action, he dismounted and crawled under heavy fire for approximately one mile to contact his platoon leader and secure another tank," the citation said. His tank was later towed to safety.

Smith, now 94, keeps the citation in a three-ring binder with other records of his military service. Other keepsakes, including his medals and a small container of sand from a Normandy beach, are kept in a metal box that originally stored .50 caliber ammunition for a machine gun.

D-Day was just the beginning of 11 months Smith spent in action. He was at the Battle of the Bulge and the capture of the Remagen Bridge over the Rhine. He had a front-row seat for the bombing of Cologne, and helped liberate the Nordhausen death camp.

"For two months, we were the furthest unit into Germany," he said. "That was the worst time of my life."

After the war, Smith spent 18 years in the National Guard. He said he sent his military pay to the family of a friend who was killed in Europe.

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