Chapter 1

I SURVIVED THE BATTLE OF D-DAY, 1944

我在1944年的诺曼底登陆战役中幸存下来

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

第一章1944年6月6日星期二凌晨1点左右，法国诺曼底奥马哈海滩上的悬崖 11岁的保罗·科尔伯特正在逃命。 这是诺曼底登陆日，二战中最血腥的日子之一。 超过15万名士兵

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

美国、英国和加拿大正在入侵法国。 他们乘着七千艘船，在漆黑的夜里航行过大海。 他们的使命是把法国从纳粹德国的残暴统治下解放出来。 是时候粉碎纳粹，结束战争了。 在船到达前几分钟，保罗蹲在海滩上的悬崖上。 他试图在战斗开始前逃跑。 但现在，战机在天空中呼啸而过。 突然，一声巨响。 大爆炸!保罗惊恐地抬起头，看见一架飞机着火了。 那是一场火热的死亡漩涡，正朝着他而来。 当燃烧的飞机从空中坠落时，保罗疯狂地跑着。 空气中弥漫着金属燃烧和橡胶融化的恶臭。 引擎

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.

尖叫和呻吟。听起来就像一只巨大的野兽在痛苦地吼叫。 无论保罗走到哪里，那架垂死的飞机似乎都在跟着他，好像它也想让保罗死一样。 然后，啪！有东西砸了保罗的头。 他的头骨似乎痛得要爆炸了。 当燃烧的残骸轰然落下时，保罗倒在地上。 在漫长的四年里，保罗一直在祈祷这一天的到来——希望战争结束，希望法国最终摆脱纳粹的统治。 但现在看来，这将是他的最后一天。