Destroyer Combat: Knocking Out German Bunkers on D-Day | Vaughn Collicott

Video Description

Vaughn Collicott enlisted in the United States Navy shortly after the Japanese attacks at Pearl Harbor. After completing basic training at Naval Station Great Lakes he was eventually assigned to the USS Meredith (DD-726), a Sumner-class destroyer. Collicott and the Meredith would participate in the D-Day invasion, escorting LSTs to both Omaha and Utah beach. Collicott stationed in the Meredith's I.C. Room directed fire control of the ship's six 5-inch guns, destroying German pillboxes along the Normandy coastline. In the early morning hours of June 7, the USS Meredith got hit. The history books say the ship stumbled upon an underwater mine. Collicott has a different memory of what happened though, saying it was actually a German plane that hit the ship with a bomb. Severely damaged, with a loss of seven killed and over 50 wounded and missing, Meredith was being towed to anchorage when her seams were further opened by an enemy bombing raid and shortly after she broke in two without warning and sank. 163 survivors would be pulled from the water. Interview recorded on May 25, 2025 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Support the American Veterans Center's mission to preserve the legacy and history of our heroes by making a tax-deductible donation today: https://americanveteranscenter.org/donation-form/ Learn more about the American Veterans Center: http://www.americanveteranscenter.org/ Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americanveteranscenter/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AVCupdate Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/americanveteranscenter/ Subscribe to the Veterans Chronicles podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/americanveteranscenter?sid=youtubedescription ---------------------------------------------------------------- Video Credits: Interviewer - Greg Corombos Director of Photography - Jon Hambacker Editor - Daniel Taksas