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HaroldEisenhauerJimMurrayFrance HonorsD-Day VeteransTwo hundred and thirty-one veterans of this area were honored in a ceremony conducted at the NIACC auditorium in Mason City. The occasion was in remembrance of their efforts in liberating France during WWII and the fact that the French people wanted to express their appreciations to these veterans for their roles in the Normandy Invasion June 6, 1944.The presentation was made by Stephane Catta, Deputy Consul General, Consulat General DeFrance with assistance from local and area people. In June 1994, 34,000 United States and Canadian veterans returned to Normandy, France where they were honored in ceremonies commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the invasion by the French government. These are our area veterans and their comments on remembering June 6, 1944, and the Libcny Medal each received in Mason City:CARL BRECKUNITCH 728th Ry, Opn. Bn.Embarked from England cn route to France, does not recall an exact date, but moved around and entered the country more in the southern part where they reassembled their forces after the Southern France invasion, regrouping before moving on to the north to hook up with other United States forces for the advance into Germany.ALOYSIUS (AL) F. DUDDING HqHq Co., 563rd Sig. A W Bn.At the time of the invasion we were sitting out in the middle of theEnglish Channel acting as a relay station from England to France. We Were in Southhampton, England when Gen. Ike Eisenhower and his staff visited us to inquire about our communication system. He asked if it would work and we assured him it would perform as it is supposed to, so we ran a test to prove it. Itworked. His remark was, 'Well, IT1be d !' Later we were reattachedto our outfit in France and were with the advance into Germany, following Gen. George S. Patton.TEN VETERANS WHO HAD A... connection with D-Day — June 6, 1944 —■ the invasion of France by Allied Forces at the beaches of Normandy and points in southern France, are shown in this Tribune photo as they assembled at Mr. K's Saturday afternoon, June 7 for a coffee sponsored by the Tribune and to comment on their receiving the Liberty Medal from France in the ceremony at NIACC in Mason City Friday, June 6, 1997, fifty-three years after France was invaded. From the left around the table, seated, are: Carl Breckunitch, Robert Edwards, Leon Ites, Harland Johnson of Thompson, and Al Dudding. In the back row, same order: Ted Vera, Martin Krai, Thompson; Marion Hagenson, Thompson; Julian Peterson and Steve Waite. Not present for the picture were Clarence Garst, Harold Eisenhauer and Jim Murray.HAROLD A. EISENHAUER Hq. Co. 3rd Bn. 331st Inf.Arrived in France on D-Day+30 and American forces were just a few miles inland at the time. We were an infantry outfit. From where welanded our outfit went all the way through into Germany and crossed the Elbe River where we had to wait until die Russians got there. Shortly after we hooked up with the Russians, the war was over. But we had to wait for ships and I returned to the States in November 1945.CLARENCE E. GARST 53rd General Hospital (Certificate only)LEON R. ITES 4th Inf. I)iv. 22nd Co.1 landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy. We left our ship headed for the beach at 7:00 a.m. We had to jump into the water waist high to go in. The wall was supposed to have had a large hold blown in it but the hole wasn't there, so we had to climb over the wall going in. We were in the first wave to go ashore. We were given 5 battle stars and helped capture Luxembourg. The German Zicgfricd Line was lough as we fought their pillboxes and other armament on the way into die country. We stayed with it until the war was over in 1945.JAMES R. MURRAY Co. L. 109th Red., 28th Inf. Div.On D-Day 1944 1 was in California and on D-Day+40 I landed in France at Omaha Beach as an infantry replacement. We carried 150 pound packs on our backs of ammunition and equipment up the hill where we delivered it. From there I went on through to Germany where the Nazis surrendered on VE-Day May 5, 1945. 1 came home later on furlough headed for Japan but the war ended in die Pacific and 1 joined the 2nd Infantry, the first infantry outfit transferred into the Regular Army. 1 was discharged in May 1946.ANDREW C. OLSON (Las Vegas, Nevada)' Hq. Co. 2nd Bn. 414th Inf.Not present, medal accepted in his stead by Justice Sullivan.ROBERT R. EDWARDS 207th Signal Depot Co.When the invasion of France began at Normandy, we were in North Africa after landing al Casablanca March 5, 1943. He was stationed in Tunisia 18 months, then moved to Oran where his outfit prepared for the invasion of Southern France August 18, 1944. Our first stop was at Chernobyl, and assignment to Gen. Patch's 7th' Anny. We continued on into Frankfort, Germany, crossed the Rhine River at Worms. Our farthest advance was to Mannheim, Germany before the war ended. Edwards left France at LeHarve October 1, 1945 headed back home.JULIAN L. PETERSON HS Engr. Mtz. Bn.We were in Northern Ireland and left by barge headed for France, landing at Omaha Beach about 30 hours after the first troops went in. We were engineers attached to the infantry. We moved toward Saint Lo and went in after it was bombed for three straight hours, until it was leveled. As we moved out we met Gen. George S. Patton and his tank columns, his jump off place into Germany.THEODORE VERAHq. Co. 3rd Bn. 315th Inf.1 landed at Utah Beach, water up to my chest and carrying my rifle over my head. This was June 9, 1944. Omaha Beach claimed the lives of 5,000 men the first day. Our objective was to go in and capture Cherbourg. We did and moved on into Germany after that.STEPHEN J. WAITE USS LaffcyI was on the Destroyed USS Laffcy out in the English Channel off Omaha Beach providing fire support after the troops landed and startedmoving inland, plus being able todirect our fire on their planes, but there weren't too many German planes left in the vicinity by June 6, 1944.MARION W. HAGENSON 818th AAF Base UnitI was in Ramsberry, England from where we flew paratroopers and towed gliders across the English Channel into France. We began our trips oil D-Day; the sky was absolutely black with airplanes, all going to France. There were bombers first and then the troop carriers all provided fighter plane support. I'll never forget that day.HARLAND E. JOHNSON SS Jim BridgerI was in the Coast Guard at the time of D-Day and we made nine trips across the English Channel ferrying troops and equipment to Omaha Beach and Utah Beach. We sailed from South Hampton and Plymouth, England. Johnson received four discharges; from the Anny, Navy, Merchant Marine and Coast Guard.MARTIN A. KRAL Co. F 66th Armd. Kegt.,2nd Armd. Div.We landed at Cherbourg, France on D-Day+1. We were a tank outfit and most of the fighting was in the hedgerows as we moved inland into France proper.Seek Entries forFair's Prince andPrincess ContestEntries are being taken for th« Prince and Princess Contest whicl will be held at the Winnebago Count; Fair in Thompson. An entry blani and contest rules appear in ai advertisement in this issue of thi Tribune. Pre-registration deadline fo submitting entries to Thelma Adams phone 584-2427 at Thompson, i: Wednesday, June 25.Any boy or girl attending a public or private school in Winnebago County and who has finished the first grade and is entering the second grade this fall is eligible to participate. The contest will be held Thursday, June 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the Girls' 4-H building on the fairgrounds at Thompson. All contestants are to be at the 4-H building by 6:15 p.m. in preparation for the contest and be accompanied by an adult.Each entrant will model a school or nice outfit, answer simple questions about the fair and have a two-minute interview. Following their coronation they will be introduced at the grandstand. The Prince and Princess will have simple duties during the fair and will also ride in the fair parade Sunday, June 29,
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