Jeff Goranson of West Peoria submitted the following story about his father, World War II veteran Ralph Goranson.
Some years back, while being interviewed about his participation in the Normandy Invasion, more commonly known as D-Day, my father Ralph Goranson told a reporter that "everybody had his own individual hell that day going across the beach".
On the morning of June 6, 1944, Dad was a 22 year old company commander of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, C Company of the U.S. Army. They were to land on Omaha's Dog Green Beach. Their orders were to take out the German cannon position at Pointe de la Percee, thus preventing the Germans from stopping the 29th Infantry Division's efforts. General Eisenhower had hoped this plan would enable the 29th Infantry Division to take control of the vital Vierville Draw further down the beach. The Vierville Draw was a small valley that provided an ideal route for Allied forces to move trucks and tanks inland from the beach. However, not all went as planned.
Due to bad weather prior to the invasion, the air force was not able to bomb the beaches or soften up the German positions as hoped. Dad said that as they approached the beach, heavy fire rained over their landing craft. His craft was hit twice, with the second hit blowing off the landing door. He was tossed into neck deep water but was able to get to shore. Once on shore, things went from bad to worse. Without the planned bombardment, there were no craters in the sand for the Rangers to shelter them from the heavy German firepower coming at them from the cliffs above. Dad said, "The only way to escape the firepower was to get under those cliffs". By the time Dad and the remnants of C company got to the base of the cliffs, there were only 29 men left from the original 68 that began the mission, the others were either wounded or dead. "I just got undressed by bullets. I lost all my extra ammo, my gear, my canteen, my rations-everything was shot off my back. I even had a bullet ding off my helmet but somehow I never got a scratch," he said. My father then ordered three of his men to scale the cliffs. The three Rangers climbed about a 100 foot cliff with Dad and the remaining men giving them cover fire from down below to keep the Germans from stopping their climb. The last ten or fifteen feet they chinned themselves up with their bayonets to pull themselves to the top, where they hooked up a rope so the others could follow. Once they reached the top, Dad and his men (now down to 21) cleared out a maze of German defensive positions. Although none knew it at the time, they were the first U.S. troops to fight their way off Omaha Beach and assault the German defenses!
Details of what my father and his fellow Rangers experienced got their own chapter in the late historian Steven Ambrose's book, D-Day, June 6,1944: The Climatic Battle of World War II. And Dad is the man whom actor Tom Hanks' character in the movie Saving Private Ryan is loosely based on. In fact, the opening scenes of the movie focus on C Company on D-Day with Hank's portraying Captain John Miller-my father's real life assignment as commanding officer. Dad saw the movie and said it was somewhat realistic but that nothing can accurately describe what he experienced. "It was worse, much worse," he said at the time. As he said then, "I don't like to talk about it. It was a long time ago. It's over."
Dad has returned twice to Normandy. The first time was for the 40th anniversary of the landing in 1984 when he revisited France with my mother. During the ceremony at Pointe du Hoc, my Dad got to shake hands with President Ronald Reagan, who had come to speak at the event. I remember seeing the handshake live on TV. I couldn't believe I was seeing my Dad on CNN as I ate lunch that day at the Old Silver Bullet. That was wild! Dad also went back in 2004 for the 60th anniversary, traveling with my brother and two of my nephews. They had a great trip and the boys came back with an even greater respect for their Grandpa Ralph.
My father never did talk about his war experience much with myself or any of my siblings. Most of what we know we had to discover on our own. He never talked about his medals which include the Distinguished Service Cross, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. And with all the to-do about D-Day, it is easy to forget that after Normandy, Dad was in four other major European battles, including the December Ardennes Offensive (the Battle of the Bulge). Sadly, my Dad, who turned 91 on the Fourth of July, currently suffers from dementia and his memories of that "dreamlike day" are probably lost. And perhaps, that is a good thing. I'm proud that my father was a part of the "greatest generation".
