Pages That Need Review
Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 017, folder 22: Clarence Adelbert Shoop
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- for Cornelius Ryan 2 - Your name Clarence A. Shoop
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? None kept.
Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? None.
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? None
Were you wounded? Not wounded.
Do you remember what it was like--that is, do you remember whether you felt any pain or were you so surprised that you felt nothing?
Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it did not, of course, seem amusing at the time? No.
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? After photographing the actual beach areas and landing operations, we covered the glider landing areas and were greatly impressed by the sight of the gliders in their small landing areas and with so many of them disintegrated. While fly- ing back toward the coast from inland we were greatly surprised by the amount of flack from the airport at Caen. Can remember worrying seriously about the trajectory of the shells when watching the Navy ships firing inland and the Germans firing to sea while we were flying between the sources of fire. Saw one P-51 disintegrate--hit by large caliber ground fire.
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- for Cornelius Ryan 3 - Your name Clarence A. Shoop
In times of great crisis, people generally show either great ingenuity or self-reliance; others do incredibly stupid things. Do you remember any examples of either? No.
Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? Mount Farm Air Base
Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? Mount Farm Air Base
Do you know of anybody else who landed within those 24 hours (midnight June 5 to midnight June 6) as infantry, glider or airborne troops, or who took part in the air and sea operations, whom we should write to? Possibly these officers landed on D-Day: General William H. Sands, Norfolk, Virginia, and Jim Dan Hill.
PLEASE LET US HAVE THIS QUESTIONNAIRE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, SO THAT WE CAN INCLUDE YOUR EXPERIENCES IN THE BOOK. WE HOPE THAT YOU WILL CONTINUE YOUR STORY ON SEPARATE SHEETS IF WE HAVE NOT LEFT SUFFICIENT ROOM. FULL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WILL BE GIVEN IN A CHAPTER CALLED "WHERE THEY ARE NOW; YOUR NAME AND VOCATION OR OCCUPATION WILL BE LISTED.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP.
Cornelius Ryan
Frances Ward Research, The Reader's Digest
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Mr. Cornelius Ryan c/o Readers Digest 1300 Connecticut Ave. Washington, D.C.
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May 16,1958
Dear General Shoop:
Thank you very much for your letter of April 13th, and for your interest in Cornelius Ryan’s book about D-Day. I hope you’ll forgive my long delay in replying to your message; I can only say, by way of apology, that we are really inundated at the moment with a very gratifying volume of mail received as a result of Army and Air Force requests for information. By way of explanation, let me say that this book will not be another strategic history of the invasion operation, but rather a story of the twenty-four hours of D-Day as men lived them and remembered them. We should like very much to add your recollections of the day to our story, if you are willing to bear with us.
As the Air Force Times' article probably stated, Mr. Ryan hopes to interview many of the people who agree to contribute to the book, and I should like very much to know, for his information, whether or not you would be available for interview in California during the next few months of this year. In the meantime, since we are dealing with literally hundreds of men, we are finding it necessary to keep an individual file on each of the persons who agree to help us, and so I enclose the questionnaire which we have developed as an indication of the kind of information which we are seeking. This may be of interest or some use, as you wish, if you would be willing to complete this record and return it to me, as a basic record of vital statistics and as an indication of the salient incidents which we will want to pick up later.
You speak in your letter of "some material" which you have available, and we should be delighted to have access to some of this material if you think it would serve our purposes well. We should certainly care for it and use it with the utmost descretion -- but its possible usefulness in the context of the nature of our project, we must leave to your good judgment.
We will look forward to your reply with great anticipation. Thank you so much for any help you can give us.
Respectfully yours,
Frances Ward Research Department
Major General Clarence A. Shoop Vice President Hughes Aircraft Company Culver City, California
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EXBROOK 8-2711 TEXAS 0-7111
HUGHES AIRCRAFT COMPANY CULVER CITY CALIFORNIA
CLARENCE A. SHOOP VICE-PRESIDENT
May 22, 1958
Miss Frances Ward Research Department The Reader's Digest Pleasantville, New York
Dear Miss Ward:
Thank you very much for your letter of May 16. The question- naire is enclosed with some of the pertinent information requested. The material which I mentioned in my letter consists of numerous newspaper articles, including British and American, as well as house organs, mission map, liquor ration certificate, etc. I still have some of my aerial photographs of the invasion, but I imagine you will have access to an adequate supply of these from the Air Force; if not, I would be happy to have Mr. Ryan see mine.
If Mr. Ryan is going to be in this area I would be very happy to give him any further information I have which may be of interest. The only time between now and October when I will be away from the office for over a week is for a two week period in August when I will be in Honolulu. There are several other individual weeks that I will be at various Air Force bases, but not for extended periods.
Incidentally, I was a member of the National Guard D-Day Commission and participated in the observancees of the tenth anniver- sary of D-Day in England and France in 1954. I have some copies of this press coverage available.
Yours very truly, Clarence A. Shoop Clarence A. Shoop
CAS:hb
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July 1, 1958
Mr. Dale L. Shoop 571 S. Main Street Chambersburg Pennsylvania
Dear Mr. Shoop:
Thank you very much for your letter and for your willingness to help us with Cornelius Ryan's book about D-Day. Also thank you for your generous offer to let us borrow your copy of DANGER FORWARD. However, we have been most fortunate in securing the book from someone here in New York. If in the future we should have need of your copy, we shall certainly look forward to being in touch with you. I hope you will forgive the delay in replying to your kind offer of assistance; we are gratified, but somewhat overwhelmed, by the wonderful response which we are getting as a result of our requests for information.
During the next few months, both in this country and in Europe, Mr. Ryan will be interviewing many of the D-Day participants who agree to contribute to the book. Very probably, he will wish to talk with you during that period. In the meantime, since we are dealing with so many people, we have found it necessary to develop an individual file on each person who agrees to help us. Therefore, we hope you will com- plete the enclosed record and return it to me at your earliest conven- ience. We truly believe that these questions will serve you, as well as us, if they can help to crystallize some hazy memories and to in- dicate the sort of information which we are seeking.
I should be most grateful to know as soon as possible when and if you will be available for interview. We want very much to tell the story of your unit, and in order to do that we need the personal accounts of the men who were there. We particularly look forward to your reply.
Sincerely yours,
Frances Ward Research Department
FW:LL Enclosure