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May 8, 1958
Colonel U.G. Gibbons
G3 Office
Headquarters United States Army,Pacific
APO 958, San Francisco, California
Dear Colonel Gibbons:
Thank yon so very much for your recent letter and for your
seeming interest in Cornelius Ryan' book about D-Day. We are especi-
ally delighted to hear from someone who went Into Utah Beach with the
artillery; this a phase of the operation with which we are so far rela-
tively unfamiliar. This book will not be another strategic history but
a story of the twenty-four hours of D-Day as men lived them and remembered
them. For this, we can only go to the men who were there, and if they
are willing, share their memories. We hope very much, hen, that you will
be willing to bear with us further.

Mr. Ryan is presently away, working on the project in Europe;
and he asked me to write you in his absence concerning the present phases
of the project. Since we are dealing with so many hundreds of people,
we are finding it necessary to keep an individual file on each person
who agrees to contribute to the book. The enclosed questions represent
a considerable amount of thought and the belief that it is necessary to
give you some idea of the sort of information which we are seeking.
Ordinarily, If you were in the country, I should write, asking that you
answer these questions only as fully as your convenience permits. However, since your APO address Indicates that you will probably not be
available for interview in this country during the next few months, we
shall have to depend on these questions or on observations developed
from them for your story of D-Day; and so I am especially hopeful that
you will view this procedure with good will.

We will look forward very eagerly to your reply. Thank you so
very much, sir, for any further help which you can give us.

Sincerely yours,
Frances Ward
Research Department

FW:LL
Enc.