#jenneth moore
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humble-army-wife · 6 years ago
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As we pray and remember the 75th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy in WWII, I want to share a remarkable story a battlefield guide told me about the events that occurred on D-Day 1944 in the small medieval church of Angloville-au-Plain:
Kenneth Moore and Robert Wright, who were both medics with the 101st Airborne Division that had parachuted behind Utah Beach, set up a makeshift hospital in the 11th century Angoville Church to provide medical care for Allied and German troops during the fighting. For three days, the two doctors braved open countryside in search of the injured. Any soldier, regardless of nationality, was taken back to the church and given medical attention. With only the pews of the church available to serve as operation tables, the pair of medics provided care for soldiers from both sides with only one stipulation: no weapons could enter the church.
Bitter fighting raged in the surrounding countryside and by the evening of June 6, the medics had over 75 wounded in the church. The local American commander came to inform them that they were unable to hold the tiny village any longer. Faced with the decision to stay and face the oncoming Germans or leave with their unit, both medics agreed to continue caring for the wounded. A German Officer soon arrived and asked if they could tend to his wounded too, and they accepted.
During the night the churchyard was the scene of another battle. Despite the onslaught, the brave young medics tirelessly continued their mission, working day and night to save the lives of the fallen soldiers. In one instance, German troops forced their way into the church, but quickly withdrew when they realized that injured soldiers from both sides were being treated.
Even after a mortar shell crashed through the ceiling, cracking the floor below, the surgeons continued their efforts to save lives. Although it surely should have killed some or all of those in the tiny church, miraculously, the shell did not explode.
By the time the village was finally taken back permanently by the Americans, Wright and Moore had saved the lives of over 80 wounded from both sides, losing only two of their casualties.
The scars of the those three days still linger in the Angoville Church—not in graves or memorials, but in the bloodstained pews that are a permanent reminder of what occurred there in June of 1944.
Inside the church, commemorative stained glass windows honor the two medics and the 101st Airborne Division parachutists.
The Angloville church is fittingly dedicated to Sts. Cosmas and Damian—two martyrs who were physicians.
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