D-Day has been one of my favorite days of the year for as long as I can remember.
The Greatest Generation accomplished one of the most unbelievable military victories in history.
The odds were stacked against them, facing certain death. The Allies had 160,000 troops, 5,000 ships, and 13,000 aircraft.
The Germans reinforced the beaches with massive weapons and artillery, despite numerous miscalculations and the absence of Erwin Rommel, which hindered their efforts.
But those brave men marched onto those boats, sailed through the channel, and faced gunfire head-on. Peter Donovan Crean Sr., vice president for education and access at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, said it best:
“They knew they were in the presence of history. Soldiers, sailors, Marines − they knew what they were doing was going to go down in history, which also meant they knew the danger involved.”Guys who were 18, 19, 20 years old were faced with the possibility of their death, but they did it anyway.”
We owe them everything. Without their bravery, the Allies would not have won Europe.
The Allies had one chance to stop an evil the world hadn’t seen before.
They did it. They pulled it off. They conquered the Normandy beaches.
Our troops never expected recognition or praise. They didn’t want to be propped on a pedestal or treated like heroes.
To them, it was their duty to fight. They weren’t doing anything special.
USA Today spoke to Normandy veteran Tolley Fletcher, who was only 19 at the time. He is now 100 years old:
Tolley Fletcher, at the time a 19-year-old Navy gunner’s mate, remembered the rough seas and the treacherous landing troops at Utah Beach had to make in 3- to 4-foot waves, each carrying about 60 pounds of gear on their backs and descending on rope ladders from larger ships onto smaller landing crafts.”I felt for those soldiers,” Fletcher, now 100 years old, told USA TODAY. “In my mind, that was the worst part, other than people getting hurt.”Fletcher, who joined the Navy at 17 in late December 1941, said he and his shipmates were fortunate to be mostly out of the line of fire. “There was some shelling, not really a lot, and luckily we didn’t get hit.”Maybe halfway in, we started seeing lots of bodies in the water,” said Fletcher, who now lives in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area. “I was asked (later) what we did about it. We didn’t do anything about it − we had a job: to escort those troops to the beach.”
Fletcher told USA Today it makes him uncomfortable for people to consider him a hero:
Asked about his role in history, he said, “I really didn’t think about it then, and I don’t think about it now, though it’s been impressed upon me quite a bit.”When I think about what I went through, and what all the Army and the other men who were mixed up in really tough situations, it makes me feel a little bit guilty.”
Mr. Fletcher, you are a hero. You helped save the world.
Wally Mattison, also 100, told his great-grandchild Taylor Burke of KOLO TV:
My great-grandfather, Wally Mattison, is 100 years old, and a World War II veteran who stormed Omaha Beach in the second wave on June 6, 1944. Many never made it home. One who did is still here to tell the story, 80 years later.Wally remembers that morning like it was yesterday.“We were waiting and resting. It was quiet as a mouse,” he told me. “Then something hit me in the back of the head. I looked and it was a German. He hit me and I hit him, then we both pulled out our revolvers and started shooting. With all that commotion, that was the end of the resting.”He downplays it now, but the danger was very real. After the fight broke out, Wally climbed out of a tank trap, a deep ditch used to stop armored vehicles, to see what was happening. As he reached the top of the ladder, that’s when he was shot in the back.“There was one time I could say I was really scared to death,” Wally said.
Mattison is humble like Fletcher: “I’m no war hero. I’m just a dumb Vermonter.”
I cannot embed the video, but you can watch it here: D-Day, 80 years later: A hero’s story close to home.
The Cincinnati Enquirer checked in with veteran Richard Stewart, who is now 104.
Stewart went to Normandy in 2024 to mark the 80th anniversary, where he received the French Legion of Honour from French President Emmanuel Macron.
Stewart told photographer Liz Dufour:
Stewart, a Lincoln Heights resident, is now 104. He remembers working in the field, inspecting a line when a bomb hit.“The earth shook, as if an earthquake had hit us,” he told Dufour.During the war, the U.S. military segregated African Americans from their White counterparts, and they were assigned noncombat roles. “They underestimated us,” he said.Stewart’s unit served in France, Belgium and Germany until he was discharged Nov. 13, 1945.As he reflects on his wartime experience, he said, “I’m so thankful. The Lord took us over and the Lord brought us back.”And I’m still here.”
You can read the 2023 interview here: ‘I live one day at a time.’ WWII veteran Richard Stewart, 102, inspires all walks of life.
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