Not many of those heroes left, I can’t imagine the hell they went through....
I had a neighbor in the 70’s that was part of the first landing group. He made it off the beach and a couple of miles inland before he caught a machine gun bullet in the shin. His war was over. He always wore shorts in the summer and wore his wound like a badge of honor. Tough old guy.
All the dads in my neighborhood were either WW2 or Korea vets. A bunch of hard asses, but it made us better kids.
All the dads in my neighborhood were either WW2 or Korea vets. A bunch of hard asses, but it made us better kids.
I’m 84, and we had one more group of Vets besides your 2,
watching over us.
Many were WWI vets and many were like my Dad, disabled. Often, they were hard asses and led by example.
15 years or so ago I visited a man and wife, shut-ins from our church. The wife was chatty but the man just sat quietly in his chair, hardly paying any attention to me or the conversation.
I saw his tattoo on his arm, a globe and anchor iirc and commented “Oh - were you in the Navy?”
Wife: “Yes - he drove a landing craft.”
Me: “Oh - a Higgin’s boat!?”
Man: “Heh - I’m surprised you’ve heard of them. Not many people do.”
Me: “Well, just a little bit.”
Wife: “Harry drove one on D-Day!”
I could tell by his look that he didn’t like that, and I didn’t know what to do. I just got up and shook his hand and said something like “I just wanted to shake your hand again - you’re a real hero. So - these pictures on the wall must be your children?”
The man took over the conversation describing his kids (obviously proud of them), his business ventures after the war, etc.
I am still in awe to have met someone that was at D-Day.