War Diaries (September 16) (nonfiction)
War Diary quotations for September 16
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Diaries
Duane Nelson: September 16, 1944
Duane "Swede" Nelson served in the Marines from 1943 to February 1946, and he participated in some of the biggest and bloodiest battles of the Pacific theater. He kept three small diaries documenting his experiences.
We tried to go ashore (at Peleliu) late Friday the 15th but mortar fire was pretty heavy, so half of the fellows transferred to the L.S.T. for the night. Several wounded men were loaded onto our boat that night. Before chow I went upstairs to try to help with the wounded. They brought in a rack of 9 soldiers. When I reached out to help, I found that all 9 of them were dead. A cold shudder went over my body because they were like brothers to me. We got into the L.C.M. about 5:30 am and took off to find the rest of our group. We had to wade about 400 yards in the water up to our chest with mortar fire landing close.
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External links
- Excerpts from the Diaries of Renia Spiegel @ Smithsonian Magazine
- Excerpts from Nelson’s WWII diaries @ spokesman.com