Advertisement

newsFrom the Archives

Remembering D-Day: a hard-fought turning point during World War II

D-FW writers, veterans and locals share their reflections on the tense Allied invasion.

Editor’s note: Take a look back into The Dallas Morning News Archives.

D-Day, the largest land, sea and water military operation in history, represented a moment when the world froze in anticipation of what would happen next. The Allied forces’ mission: to gain a foothold over Europe, starting from its westernmost shores and moving eastward to defeat Nazi Germany.

Memories of the thousands of Allied soldiers who fought in this gruesome battle on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, live on in veterans’ stories, often relayed to their loved ones. In honor of these brave soldiers’ service, we sifted through The News’ archives to spotlight local residents’ reflections of D-Day over the decades.

Advertisement

1940s

Breaking News

Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond.

Or with:

Headline and excerpt from a story published on July 14, 1944.
Headline and excerpt from a story published on July 14, 1944.(The Dallas Morning News)

Interviewed weeks after D-Day about his experience as a C-47 aircraft pilot, 1st Lt. LeRoy Bryant of Dallas responded, “On looking back, I still don’t see how we got out of it with so little damage. … We could also see fires below us, and at us came more machine-gun fire and flak than I have ever seen. It was a monstrous exhibition, except that I kept realizing that this was the real thing.”

Advertisement
Headline of a story published on June 6, 1945.
Headline of a story published on June 6, 1945.(The Dallas Morning News)

On the one-year anniversary of D-Day, News writer Allen Duckworth posed this question: “Is there not a single Texan who did not share, with varying degrees, the nervousness over the success of the operation?”

Highlighting the contributions of Dallasites and Texans on the Normandy beach battlefront, Duckworth wrote, “The list of Dallas and Texas heroes grew as the beachheads were made secure days later and the Army had time to communicate the names of those who had distinguished themselves. Hundreds no longer were of the quick; many others were maimed; still more received their decorations, only to die in the struggles ahead.”

Advertisement

1950s

A photograph accompanying the story “Mother Gets British Book Honoring Son, War Victims,”...
A photograph accompanying the story “Mother Gets British Book Honoring Son, War Victims,” published on Feb. 12, 1954.(The Dallas Morning News)

In 1954, a News article described Dallasite Lily V. Leonard brandishing a book she received from London dedicated to her son, 1st Lt. Turney Leonard, who was posthumously awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for his leadership of his platoon. This blue-bound book bore a gold inscription of the lieutenant’s name on the front cover, and it related the details of Britain’s permanent memorial to American war dead who were stationed in England.

“The Medal of Honor was presented to [Turney’s] mother in a ceremony in Dallas for action in Kommerscheidt, Germany, on November 4-6, 1944. Fighting with a mangled left hand, he destroyed a German artillery post with hand-grenades. He was killed two weeks later.”

1960s

In 1962, The Longest Day — film director Darryl Zanuck’s adaptation of Cornelius Ryan’s best-selling book about the D-Day invasion — debuted in Dallas. A group of Dallas veterans that included News photographer John Flynn was invited to not only watch the movie before its public premiere but to also share their experiences about the day the Allies landed on the French coast.

A group of Dallas D-Day veterans, including DMN photographer John Flynn at lower right,...
A group of Dallas D-Day veterans, including DMN photographer John Flynn at lower right, huddle around a paper advertising the film "The Longest Day." Photograph published in The Dallas Morning News on Oct. 19, 1962.(The Dallas Morning News)

In his article, William Payne reported, “It is surprising that what these men did and what they saw on that day could be recalled so clearly more than 18 years after these events took place. Most believed that it was the confusion of the beachhead fighting itself and stark violence of the struggle to gain a land foothold that etched these events so vividly on their memories.”

1970s

A photograph of D-Day veterans Alex Grote and Robert Stephens reminiscing on their times in...
A photograph of D-Day veterans Alex Grote and Robert Stephens reminiscing on their times in combat, published on July 19, 1970.(Joe Laird)

At a 1970 reunion in Richardson, D-Day veterans Alex Grote and Robert Stephens bonded over a scrapbook containing photos of Gen. George Patton. Fighting as part of reconnaissance troops who plod ahead of other platoons, Stephens recalled, “We went in two days after D-Day and hit Utah Beach.” When the “‘breakthrough” came out of Normandy, the troops pushed on as “the eyes and ears of the division.”

“It was miserably cold. I remember nights when the temperature was 20 below zero. Your shoes got wet and you couldn’t dry out,” Grote remarked on the harsh conditions out on the frontlines. “Except for turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas, a hot meal was unknown.”

1980s

Headline of a story published on June 6, 1984.
Headline of a story published on June 6, 1984.(The Dallas Morning News)

In his reflection on the historic day, News writer David Casstevens observed the difference between those born after the war versus those who lived through the war in how they relate to D-Day.

As a young boy, Casstevens used the battle as a backdrop while playing with GI Joe. “To me, D-Day was [actor] Red Buttons, the plucky GI, wide-eyed in horror as he hung from a church belfry, a marionette dangling helplessly from the strings of his snagged parachute.” He contrasts this with the experience of those alive during this tense episode in American history, when every family in the States was glued to their radio, “cheering every little foot [the Allies] gained over there.”

Advertisement

1990s

World War II veteran Ernest Raxter holding a 1944 picture of himself.  He is flanked by his...
World War II veteran Ernest Raxter holding a 1944 picture of himself. He is flanked by his dog Scotty as they sit outside Raxter's home in Athens, Texas. Photograph published on May 29, 1994.(The Dallas Morning News)

On the 50th anniversary of D-Day, Ernest Raxter of Athens, Texas, parachuted along with 37 other World War II veterans into Normandy. Incapacitated by an ankle he broke during a practice jump days before the official D-Day operation, Raxter was unable to fight alongside his fellow paratroopers on that fateful day — watching instead from his hospital window.

Raxter went on to receive a Purple Heart from the Army for his broken ankle, but Raxter rejected it, saying, “It didn’t draw blood, so I didn’t deserve it.”

Advertisement

Mr. Raxter’s ankle recovered shortly after D-Day, and he fought in the historic Battle of the Bulge and later served during the Korean War. In looking back on his life, Mr. Raxter remarked, “If I had it to do over, I’d do it all again. ... But the real good thing is that, after 50 years, I get to make the jump I got beat out of.”

2000s

A photograph of Les Young and Aaron Seamster dressed up as World War II soldiers at the...
A photograph of Les Young and Aaron Seamster dressed up as World War II soldiers at the Frontiers of Flight Museum, published on June 7, 2009.(Mona Reeder)

In 2009, the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas hosted a D-Day homage, inviting a fighter pilot, a code breaker and a D-Day bomber to share their wartime experiences amid the museum’s war memorabilia.

One of the veterans in attendance, Robert Lee Swofford, was a bomber who fought on that destructive day, and he described the sights he encountered: “I’ve seen the greatest air armada the world will ever see. You saw swarms of planes just like swarms of bees. ... It was a privilege. I was young and the world is a big adventure.”

Advertisement

2010s

Ann McFeatters’ father fought on D-Day. However, it wasn’t until decades after the battle that her father opened up about what he saw that day.

An American soldier wades through water under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire to reach...
An American soldier wades through water under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire to reach the beach on the Normandy coast of France, June 6, 1944. It turned out to be the biggest and most important Allied amphibious operation of World War II.(Robert Capa)

He witnessed “the horror of watching men laden with heavy packs and weapons drowning because they couldn’t swim in the frigid, churning water. He also talked about the grit, bravery and determination of the young Allied soldiers as they struggled to regroup and head up the beaches dodging staccato bursts of deadly German fire,” McFeatters wrote in a column for The News.

This bestowed McFeatters with an appreciation for the bravado on display that day and through the remainder of the war. In the column, she mused on the difficulty for those who weren’t alive on D-Day to imagine the gravity of that moment: “It’s hard for us today to realize how electrifying the news of the D-Day invasion was on the home front, how dreadful it would have been if the invasion had failed.”

Advertisement

Interested in learning more about local history? Become a Dallas Morning News subscriber at dallasnews.com/archives.