Yesterday a friend of mine knowing my Missouri roots sent me an article about an 102 year old D Day survivor from Missouri that he thought I might be interested in. Boy, was I. Incredibly, the gentleman is a distant cousin on my mother’s side. He was turned down by the Marines and the Navy because of an enlarged heart from childhood rheumatic fever but the Coast Guard accepted him. His unit of “Matchbox” cutters were 83’ wooden boats that were loaded onto Liberty Ships and taken to England. They had no idea what was about to happen. His group of 15 boats was assigned to Omaha beach and their assignment was the rescue of injured men in the water. Because he was one of the two rescue swimmers on his cutter he was in and out of the frigid water all day. (Turns out there was no reason to doubt his heart - both its capacity and its character). His only equipment was a line tied around his waist that his mates used to pull him back to the boat. Together their entire group of 60 cutters saved 1486 injured men and one lady nurse. He readily admits that he was scared to death the whole day with bullets striking the water all around but he said he just kept focusing on swimming to the next wounded man.
One of a group of ordinary men who rose to extraordinary heights of sacrifice and dedication and bravery.
Last edited by FallCreekFan; 06/09/24 08:18 AM.
