First off, Thank you to all who serve & have served to keep me & my family free. My father Michael George Gilara served in 5 battles in WW II. Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Battle of Ardennes & Central Europe. He was in the first wave in Normandy--the Big Red One. He was a mine detector. Coming ashore in the Higgins boats he was pushed out, could not swim with water over his head, had to let go of his weapons anything that weighted him down but a buddy pushed him to shore. On patrol, he came across 3 young german boys who asked him for cigarettes of which my dad gave them each one. The next day, he found the 3 boys shot to death right where he had given them the cigarettes. This always bothered dad. Dad said they dug holes and lined side of the dugout for sleep quarters with cardboard and slept like that. He awoke to his buddies gone & guns pointed at him. Dad was taken prisoner of war for 2 weeks until the war ended. He said the germans treated him nice. His POW papers were lost in the fire at headquarters. My husband who is a retired LTC was reading his Military officer magazine and found a link to a website & long story short dad received a $100 monthly check until he died in 2001. My dad was a brave man and I miss him very very much. Nancy
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