Indiana Coast Guardsman is Hero of Normandy Beachhead. Twenty-year-old Coast Guardsman Gene Oxley, coxswain, of Indianapolis, Indiana, performed one of the outstanding deeds of valor in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, when he swam through a Hell of machinegun and mortar fire, carrying a guide line from his LCI to the beach. Then he wrapped the end of the line around his waist and served as a human anchor while 39 Yankee soldiers attempted to follow it through a choppy surf to shore. Only six of the soldiers made it. Coast Guardsman Oxley previously had carried in the guide line through the sur
Indiana Coast Guardsman is Hero of Normandy Beachhead. Twenty-year-old Coast Guardsman Gene Oxley, coxswain, of Indianapolis, Indiana, performed one of the outstanding deeds of valor in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, when he swam through a Hell of machinegun and mortar fire, carrying a guide line from his LCI to the beach. Then he wrapped the end of the line around his waist and served as a human anchor while 39 Yankee soldiers attempted to follow it through a choppy surf to shore. Only six of the soldiers made it. Coast Guardsman Oxley previously had carried in the guide line through the surf at bloody Salerno. A four-invasion veteran, the youthful Hoosier participated in the landings on North Africa and Sicily, as well as Salerno and Normandy. He is back in the United States on temporary duty. Oxley's mother, Mrs. Hazel L. Oxley, lives on R. R. 16, Indianapolis, Indiana.
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Keywords: 17-a2-218, 26-, coast, guard, history, job, rdss, rg
