For Army Sgt. Frank Kocinski of Sylvania Township, who earned a Silver Star for valor on D-Day, the years of meticulous planning by the brass fell apart before he even set foot on Omaha Beach.
It was 70 years ago, June 6, 1944, that Allied Forces staged the largest military land, sea and air operation of all time. D-Day, code-named Operation Overlord, involved more than 5,000 ships, 11,000 planes, and 150,000 servicemen storming the Nazi-held beaches in northern France.
Kocinski, then 21 years old, was an amphibious engineer who was in the first wave aboard LCI-99 (Landing Craft Infantry No. 99), a steel transport ship that could land up to 200 troops directly on the beach.
He had been in the ship’s forward hole with scores of seasick soldiers when he went above deck to get some fresh air. A lieutenant told him to get back down, and he tried but was repelled by the smell of vomit. “I turned around and slammed the door shut—and that’s when the shell hit the hole,” he said. “Killed every person in there.”
Ramps blown off the ship
The LCI had ramps on each side that were raised during transport and lowered for beach landings. “Before we could stop, the Germans blew the ramps off with 88s [88mm guns],” Kocinski said as he and his wife of 67 years, Zelah, looked over a scrapbook of his Army days.
A platoon sergeant in the 147th Engineering Battalion, he was to lead 44 men onto the beach. Machine-gun bullets were zipping past the ship. “I had to dive into the ocean and get the heck out of there before we would get shot up by the Germans.”
He was carrying two bands of ammunition over his shoulders, seven hand grenades, and 40 pounds of explosives. A floating gas mask held his head up but his “Mae West” life vest couldn’t handle the weight, so he had to discard the gear and swim to shore.
“By the time I got halfway to the beach, the ship caught fire from front to back,” Kocinski said. “Most of the guys got off of there pretty healthy, but some of them got burnt pretty seriously.” The cause of the ship fire was never determined, he added.
Once he reached the beach, his platoon was targeted by Nazi machine guns.
“I think I lost 16 men right off the bat, and it was very disorganized with all this going on. I’d been machine-gunned about seven or eight times going across that beach and they missed me every time,” Kocinski said.
They didn’t miss by much.
“I had a bullet go through the webbing on my helmet. I had one bullet flip my first-aid pack upside down. I got one through the sole of my boot,” he said.
Pulled a soldier to safety
He saw a soldier floating in the waves, blood turning the water red. “I jumped up and swam out there and grabbed him by the collar and drug him to safety,” Kocinski said. The funny thing, he added, was that the soldier once threatened to shoot Kocinski for putting him on KP duty.
He sprinted toward the dunes as Nazi gunners strafed the beach, splashing sand into his eyes. It took 15 to 20 minutes from the time he dived into the sea until he reached the dunes, where he teamed up with another soldier, both of them cold and shaking but ready for the next challenge.
“I says, ‘You know we are going to go nuts sitting over here. Let’s get over the hill and do something,’” he said.
They broke into a house the Germans had just abandoned and found a cache of rifle grenades. “I took the rifle grenades … and I shot my way back through the tunnels, and we would blow the Germans out of them,” Kocinski said.
His Silver Star commendation cited his “personal bravery and valor” for volunteering to clear the tunnels of Nazi snipers.
Kocinski, who has been to France three times for D-Day anniversaries, said he just did what he had to do.
“You get seriously scared and you can’t control your emotions. I mean, you didn’t just sit there and cry,” he said.
Now 91, Kocinski’s memory remains razor-sharp although his body is wearing out. A retired millwright, he’s had five hip replacements and has trouble with his knees—but still bowls every week. “I won four games yesterday,” he said with a smile.
Zelah smiled and patted his arm.
“We’re very proud of him,” she said. “I think he’s one awesome dude.”
