D-Day Anniversary

Today is the 80th anniversary of the Normandy D-Day landing. Many of the heroes of the Greatest generation traveled back to Normandy for a final visit. All are over 90 years old, many over 100.

When I was growing up, everyone I knew had a relative who had been killed during World War II. Many of them were killed during the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. Operation Overlord was the largest amphibious invasion in history, and was the beginning of the rescue of Europe from the Nazis. It was only the beginning. The war in Europe continued for another 11 months.

I had known that my cousin Herman was killed in Normandy. For years, I assumed he had been killed during the invasion on June 6. Recently, I discovered a web page that covered Herman Cohen’s service, and learned that he had survived the landing at Utah Beach, and was killed in battle 5 weeks later. During the invasion, he was a Private First Class. As senior soldiers were killed, he was promoted to Sergeant.

In the photos on the website, Private Cohen looks like a young kid before the invasion. In the photo taken shortly before his death, Sergeant Cohen looks like a battle-hardened soldier.

Here is the website telling Herman Cohen’s story:

https://delawarewwiifallen.com/2022/01/24/sergeant-herman-cohen/

Many of the soldiers in the landing craft would sign “short snorter” one-dollar bills. They would each pass a bill around to get everyone’s signature on it, hoping to survive with a souvenir.

Every June 6th I go to Youtube to watch the 10-minute D-Day invasion scene in Saving Private Ryan.