Then we
were supposed to be on our way. The channel was rough. And all we could
see for miles around was vessels and landing craft. I was sitting on a
circuit because I was a radioman and I had a code sheet. And I wasn't getting
anything out of that circuit until all of a sudden three digits came over. I
looked at my code sheet, and I said, "Oh my God." It was to delay operations
24 hours so we immediately got word out and all of a sudden I remember
thinking, "Good gracious, I hope I got it right." Finally, they sent a
repeat saying the same thing.
The next
day, June 6, we went out again and we were all at our duty stations and
about 6 a.m. in the morning there was a terrific explosion on the Corry. We
had hit a mine and lost power immediately. So we turned on the emergency
lights and I took one guy named Benny, a radioman also, who was cut up on
the knees to the wardroom. And by the time I bandaged him up and came out,
the water was running across the deck. So I went down on the port side and
there was a life raft there and it was underwater, but it was still tied to
the ship. And a bunch of my shipmates were in there, and I took my knife and
cut the raft loose and then got into it. Well, we were being shelled from
the beach and we had one fellow from Chicago and he was right there beside
me, and we got smashed by one of these shells and the shrapnel flew and it
hit him in the head. He died instantly. And they continued to shell and it
looked like we were going toward the beach, so I got off the raft and went
back to the ship, where I crossed over to the side and went off into the
water again. I was alone, and I thank the Lord for my life belt because I
stayed there until the Fitch came in and I remember very much that the water
was so cold and it was such a dreary, gloomy day. I was so weak from
struggling out there that I couldn’t pull myself into this life boat and my
good buddy from Pittsburgh, Elmer Maurer, he reached me and got me by the
belt. And we are still good buddies today.
When we
went aboard the ship, I won’t forget our Dr. Howard Andersen. He was
checking to see if everyone was OK. I said that I thought I was but I
thought my feet were frozen. We went below deck and we went over to this
transport ship, a hospital. Then they brought us back to England.
This made
me appreciate life a lot more. We were young people and I certainly was
saddened by the loss of the Corry because we had grown to love it.
It was everything to us. And me and my shipmates had been on it together for
several years and it was just a terrible loss. Then when we got back to the
States, we were all split up.
But I
think one of the greatest experiences in my life has been with our ship’s
reunion, which started back in 1974. We had 23 survivors who attended that
first reunion. And now, 16 of those are deceased. But we look forward to it
every year, and we are just like a family. We have gotten closer together.
Our children go with us, and some of their grandchildren come. Our crowd is
getting smaller but we’ve looked forward to going every year. (2002)
Lloyd "Red” Brantley
Radioman, 2nd class, USS Corry (DD-463)
I remember we were supposed to go on the invasion on June 5, and on the fourth
of June Captain Hoffman called the crew and stepped back on the fantail of
the USS Corry, and was telling us where we were headed. And I will never
forget that he said we were going to Utah Beach, and we are going to be
marked expendable. After that, I remember that people were kind of in shock
and we went down and had a meal, like a holiday meal. And of course the boys
were kidding one another, "Eat good boys, eat good because this might be
your last meal."
Lloyd "Red” Brantley
Radioman,
2nd class
USS Corry (DD-463)