On board the battleship Texas, Rear Admiral C.F. Byrant exhorted gun crews on his ships over the radio: "Get on them, men! Get on them! They're raising hell with the men on the beach, and we can't have any more of that!" The destroyers swept in close to the beach, some coming into waters so shoal that only a few inches separated keel and bottom. All morning they fired, and well into the afternoon. Their sterns occasionally touched the sandy bottom as they came in and turned to deliver their salvos. Their fire was almost the only artillery support most of the troops saw that day, and it filled the gap caused by the loss of many of the DD tanks and the DUK-Ws carrying the Army guns.
Posted by floridacracker at June 6, 2004 09:36 PM