An elderly friend of mine answered final roll call this weekend. Frank was a member of a small and elite group of remaining veterans who were part of the first wave landing in Normandy 6/6/44. I don't know how small that group might be now, but out of an original group of, what, 100,000? there couldn't be many of those guys left standing.
Frank was a member of the 294th Combat Engineer Battalion. He told me he was in the water at 0600, wading toward the Utah beachhead. He never would talk much about it, other than to say he was scared to death and that the opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan" was so realistic it nearly scared him to death again. He did reveal that he took out a German pillbox with a grenade that morning. He went on to participate in the succeeding invasion campaigns, including five major battles for which he earned battle stars. A warrior on the battlefield, he was a gentle, kind, peaceful man in real life. I'm sorry he's gone.
Frank was a member of the 294th Combat Engineer Battalion. He told me he was in the water at 0600, wading toward the Utah beachhead. He never would talk much about it, other than to say he was scared to death and that the opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan" was so realistic it nearly scared him to death again. He did reveal that he took out a German pillbox with a grenade that morning. He went on to participate in the succeeding invasion campaigns, including five major battles for which he earned battle stars. A warrior on the battlefield, he was a gentle, kind, peaceful man in real life. I'm sorry he's gone.
