Indianapolis Coast Guard Hero in Hail of Nazi Invasion Fire Loses Only Seat of His Pants. Swimming in the surf through a hail of Nazi machinegun fire to carry a lifeline from his Coast Guard-manned landing craft to the Normandy beach, Coast Guardsman Gene E. Oxley, of Indianapolis, Indiana, was one of the Coast Guard heroes of the D-Day invasion of France. Standing on the beach in the hum of bullets, he held the rope while 36 soldier invaders attempted to follow the line to the shore--only six made it. On that memorable morning, Oxley was aboard three landing craft that were battered by German
Indianapolis Coast Guard Hero in Hail of Nazi Invasion Fire Loses Only Seat of His Pants. Swimming in the surf through a hail of Nazi machinegun fire to carry a lifeline from his Coast Guard-manned landing craft to the Normandy beach, Coast Guardsman Gene E. Oxley, of Indianapolis, Indiana, was one of the Coast Guard heroes of the D-Day invasion of France. Standing on the beach in the hum of bullets, he held the rope while 36 soldier invaders attempted to follow the line to the shore--only six made it. On that memorable morning, Oxley was aboard three landing craft that were battered by German shellfire. He lay for hours in a shallow foxhole on the beach. The 20-year-old Indianapolis boy escaped wounds, but the seat of his pants was shot off. Back in England, he remarked "I guess I was just lucky," and his shipmates promptly called him "Lucky Ox.".
Size: 4832px × 5617px
Photo credit: © NB/USC / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 17-a2-218, 26-, coast, guard, history, job, rdss, rg
