A Coast Guard assault transport which landed American soldiers on the coast of France during the invasion of the continent is now pressed into action to remove the wounded Americans from the beaches for transportation to another port for medical attention.

Removing the wounded

 Coast guardsmen line the rails to give a hand to GI Joes coming up over the side of a Coast Guard-manned assault transport for last-minute invasion maneuvers somewhere off the coast of England. Helmeted and carrying fighting equipment, the American soldiers are on their way to practice amphibious landing in preparation for the invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europe. Coast Guardsmen manned these landing crafts in the battle drills and in the D-Day assaults.

PRELUDE TO THE INVASION

Anti-aircraft gun on a US Coast Guard transport during the landing in Normandy, France; June 1944.