Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
:45 | Ed Pepping, a combat medic, describes what it was like to be under enemy fire.
Choosing to be a World War II paratrooper came quite naturally to Ed Pepping. He tells how he decided to take on the challenge.
Training as a paratrooper presented physical challenges that Ed Pepping says he embraced. Here he describes what he faced before heading to Europe.
Unsure if he could actually shoot another human being, paratrooper Ed Pepping shares why he became a medic while diligently preparing for war.
Believing he was part of an elite group, Ed Pepping describes how he embraced the physical and mental training for D-Day and the strong-willed attitudes of his fellow paratroopers.
Ed Pepping describes D-Day and landing from 300 feet at 160 miles per hour. He recalls bullets bursting through his plane and a life saving incident that baffles him to this day.
Jumping out of a plane on D-Day and landing backwards, Ed Pepping was badly injured. He remembers a dramatic explosion days later, ending up in the hospital and never finding out why.
Ed Pepping expresses his surprise at not being shot as he walked past a German with a machine gun. He then describes the gruesome scene involving a fellow medic.
Caught in a German crossfire, Medic Ed Pepping risks his life to save an officer and friend. In this dramatic account he tells how he received a Bronze Star and why he never felt like a hero.
During D-Day, Medic Ed Pepping took wounded Americans to a famous church to treat them. In this chilling story, he describes blood stains on the pews and a frightening explosion.
U.S. Medic Ed Pepping remembers sharing a little house with German medics. He describes firepower bursting in the sky as the Germans "threw everything" they had at American forces.
Ed Pepping reflects back on his job as a Medic in Normandy and treating a badly wounded soldier. He describes a "close call" during a German attack.
Remembering good friends who were gunned down by the Germans, Ed Pepping relives what happened. He describes how he and his comrades prevailed to do their jobs.
It was a scary moment when Medic Ed Pepping was hit unexpectedly. He describes what could've happened after he wandered off in the middle of that night.
Cracked vertebrae, a concussion and leg injuries couldn't stop Medic Ed Pepping from escaping from a hospital. He remembers the pranks that he and a friend pulled as the "Band Aid Bandits."
In the first week of training, Ed Pepping humorously describes how one unpopular officer used spaghetti to prepare his men for the battlefield.
Ed shares some comical details about his days as a Medic, vividly recalling how he and a friend stole a refrigerator from an infantry camp and performed "fake"surgery (with sutures) on a commanding officer.
Ed laughs while recalling another comic episode that led to stealing food. On a serious note, he reflects on why he and his company did what they did for us.
Ed Pepping describes how the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) would shoot at medics during World War II.
Ed Pepping talks about a particularly nasty type of mine used by German troops called the "castrator."
