211786 Angelo Marsella United States Navy LST-281 from:Philadelphia, PA Angelo Marsella was a 19-year-old seaman first class fresh from High school, he was part of the deck gang on LST-281, a transport ship large enough to load up tanks and trucks and deliver them right to the beach through large bow doors. For the invasion LST-281 was carrying underwater demolition teams and engineers. The ship let off the demolition teams about seven miles off Utah Beach so they could sneak in ahead of the main invasion and blow up obstacles the Germans had planted.
Later, about 7 a.m., LST-281 approached the beach. "That's when we saw the horrors of war," he recalled. "All the wreckage and all the bodies floating around." He suspects that many of the dead were from the underwater demolition team that had climbed over the side on nets a few hours earlier.
He saw it all from his battle station at a 20 mm gun on the large transport's front port side, where he remained for more than a day. He contributed his own share to the fireworks, blazing away at the halfl-dozen or so German fighters that roared low over the beaches, strafing troops and the ships that brought them in. A year later, he would be on the asame LST-281, battling kamikazes off Okinawa.
After unloading on D-Day, LST-281 was converted into an auxiliary hospital ship, with doctors and a crew of pharmcists' mates onboard. He moved from his gun position to help with the wounded. He recalled holding blood plasma bottles, with a doctor admonishing him, "Marsellam, hold those bottles up hight." LST-281 subsequently returned to England, where the wounded were transferred to hospitals.
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