Chapter 1

I SURVIVED THE BATTLE OF D-DAY, 1944

CHAPTER 1 TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1944 THE CLIFFS ABOVE OMAHA BEACH NORMANDY, FRANCE AROUND 1:00 A.M. Eleven-year-old Paul Colbert was running for his life. It was D-Day, one of the bloodiest days of World War II. More than 150,000 soldiers from

America, England, and Canada were invading France. They had sailed across the sea on seven thousand ships, creeping through the dark of night. Their mission: to free France from the brutal grip of Nazi Germany. It was time to crush the Nazis, and end the war. In the minutes before the ships arrived, Paul was crouched on a cliff above the beach. He was trying to escape before the battle began. But now warplanes were zooming through the sky. And suddenly there was a shattering blast. Kaboom! Paul looked up in horror and saw that a plane was now in flames. And it was in a fiery death spiral, heading right for him. Paul ran wildly as the burning plane fell from the sky. The air filled with the gagging stench of burning metal and melting rubber. The engine

screamed and moaned. It sounded like a giant beast bellowing in pain. No matter where Paul went, the dying plane seemed to be following him, like it wanted Paul to die, too. And then, smack! Something hit Paul on the head. His skull seemed to explode in pain. Paul fell to the ground as the burning wreckage came crashing down. For four long years, Paul had been praying for this day — for the war to end, for France to be finally free from the Nazis. But now, it seemed, this day would be his last.