my dad was in 210th mp co, assigned to 5th amphib engr bde, 1944-45. he went to england in 2/44 as a branch immaterial replacement. he and some other replacements were screened and picked to be an mp in england because of their over 6’ height and some university studies. his 1st plt assaulted easy red sector, omaha beach, normandy on 6/6/44 at about 0930, 2nd plt landed on following afternoon. his lcvp was 1/2 mp and 1/2 signal troops. they came under fire, a nearby lci was hit and set alight, and his boat dropped them too early into 6’ deep water. my dad got inland ok but he had no ammo left for his carbine and he had no memory of shooting it. he survived the war physically intact seeing little action later, except for driving over a land mine in an armored scout car in 2/45. no purple heart because it was determined to be a “friendly” unmarked mine field left over from the battle of the bulge. most of his unit’s time was spent in northern france and belgium on counter-blackmarket activites. he dealt often with segregated black quartermaster (truck and supply) and general service (labor) engineer units, many were decent enough guys but too many were true felons, with rape, assault and theft big problems. final assignments were as rural constabulary & game wardens in occupied southern germany until 11/45. he felt alot of sympathy for simple german soldiers, and german, french, belgian civilians, not so much sympathy for many so-called resistance fighters who were often bullies and only appeared after the fighting. in 6/45 he declined an offer to attend ocs in reims france because he knew it meant a ticket to the invasion of japan and he had used up all his luck on 6/6/44. the violence and gore that he saw on 6/6/44 stayed locked with him his whole life in a dark way, sadly. returning to normandy in 1991 helped greatly.
good video, when i was at Ft. Ord Cali in 1969 they had an MP school there
my dad was in 210th mp co, assigned to 5th amphib engr bde, 1944-45. he went to england in 2/44 as a branch immaterial replacement. he and some other replacements were screened and picked to be an mp in england because of their over 6’ height and some university studies. his 1st plt assaulted easy red sector, omaha beach, normandy on 6/6/44 at about 0930, 2nd plt landed on following afternoon. his lcvp was 1/2 mp and 1/2 signal troops. they came under fire, a nearby lci was hit and set alight, and his boat dropped them too early into 6’ deep water. my dad got inland ok but he had no ammo left for his carbine and he had no memory of shooting it. he survived the war physically intact seeing little action later, except for driving over a land mine in an armored scout car in 2/45. no purple heart because it was determined to be a “friendly” unmarked mine field left over from the battle of the bulge. most of his unit’s time was spent in northern france and belgium on counter-blackmarket activites. he dealt often with segregated black quartermaster (truck and supply) and general service (labor) engineer units, many were decent enough guys but too many were true felons, with rape, assault and theft big problems. final assignments were as rural constabulary & game wardens in occupied southern germany until 11/45. he felt alot of sympathy for simple german soldiers, and german, french, belgian civilians, not so much sympathy for many so-called resistance fighters who were often bullies and only appeared after the fighting. in 6/45 he declined an offer to attend ocs in reims france because he knew it meant a ticket to the invasion of japan and he had used up all his luck on 6/6/44. the violence and gore that he saw on 6/6/44 stayed locked with him his whole life in a dark way, sadly. returning to normandy in 1991 helped greatly.