TRANSLATOR / EDITOR'S NOTE Cover Page Table of Contents Excerpts       It is my privilege to bring to you the memoirs of my long-time dear friend, Armand Idrac. As he states in the Preface, sharing the memorable events and the humor in his life inspired these efforts. His life was defined by humor and all its positive forces, by energy, curiosity, love of learning and adventure, and the desire to help others. Armand needed encouragement to recount the painful memories of being in the midst of World War II as a teenager.       Armand has verified this entire translation. He reads English quite well, and found some of his amusing stories all the more amusing in a foreign language! Explanatory footnotes are a combination of my own background as a teacher of French, verification with resources, and the wealth of knowledge that Armand so readily supplied in person and by e-mail, in answer to my queries. The Reference section combines my sources with materials that the reader can pursue for further information.       I thank my family for their patience and support during the project. Special thanks to my husband Ron for bringing me up to snuff on the Allies during the two world wars. Thank you to Dr. Dona De Sanctis and Cynthia Lyman for their proofreading of Italian. Thank you to my mother, Catherine Lloyd, for her proofreading and comments. She bore me one month after Hitler marched into Poland, and kept me safe until my Dad returned from the war. Thank you to my sister, Rexanne Morrow, for her proofreading and lively comments.       I lovingly dedicate this translation to my father, Rex Beach Lloyd, a Navy medic among the Americans who landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when Armand was fifteen years old.

Joanne Shoestock Silver February 19, 2003