Posted on 06/04/2004 10:10:13 AM PDT by Born Conservative
A Carbondale native will receive France's highest honor for his part in the D-Day invasion that led to the country's liberation from the Nazis and marked the beginning of the end of World War II in Europe.
On Sunday's 60th anniversary of the invasion, the French government will award the Legion of Honor to retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Alvin Ungerleider, 82, who led a platoon on Normandy's Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.
"I yelled out, 'Step where I step!'" Gen. Ungerleider remembered in a Tuesday telephone interview from his home in Virginia. A lieutenant and platoon leader at the time, he was leading his men through land mines.
"I was hoping everyone got the message," he said, "and they did except one guy behind me. He stepped on a land mine and killed him and the guy next to him."
Second honoree
Gen. Ungerleider joins Scranton resident Abe Plotkin in receiving France's highest accolade. Mr. Plotkin, 90, helped fought in the Battle of the Bulge and later helped liberate two Nazi concentration camps.
Born and raised in Carbondale, Gen. Ungerleider was 21 when he was drafted into the Army's 29th Infantry Division. He was 22 when he ran ashore at Omaha. Nearly 7,000 U.S. soldiers died in the invasion. Gen. Ungerleider said his platoon lost four men -- two to land mines and another pair to German snipers.
The Legion of Honor was established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. It is given to men and women of any nationality for outstanding achievements in military and civilian life.
Gen. Ungerleider was wounded twice while serving a tour that included the liberation of prisoners of Nazi death camps at Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen. He made the Army his career, serving in the Korean and Vietnam wars before retiring a colonel in 1978. He was later promoted to brigadier general.
Gen. Ungerleider has returned to Normandy many times. This week, he will be accompanied by Ruth, his wife of 48 years.
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