Making History Project – Veteran Oral History Preserving Veterans’ Stories
US Combat Engineer – 249th Engineer Combat Battalion
Veteran Oral History interview for WWII Veteran Robert Shelato is now available.
We conducted this interview on June 4, 2014, in St. Mere Eglise, Normandy, France. St. Mere Eglise is a small village in Normandy where paratroopers landed early during the D-Day invasion. St. Mere Eglise presently houses an impressive Airborne Museum dedicated to the D-Day invasion.
Robert is an American Combat Engineer from the 249th Engineer Combat Battalion. Robert was born in Indiana and was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II. As a Sergeant during WWII, Robert served in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany.
During the interview, Robert describes some of the incidents involving mines and booby traps that he had to handle as a combat engineer, as well as his encounter with a German dive bomber.
