Omaha Beach

After 63 years, I decided to return. A year ago June, my son and I traveled to Paris and Normandy, including stops at Omaha Beach, Rouen, Caen, and Le Havre, where I served in 1944 and 1945. I was with the Navy Ship Salvage Unit Foxy 29. I landed on Omaha Beach at the end of June 1944 on the LST-291 with a cargo of tanks for the Army. Our mission was to clear the heavily mined ports of Cherbourg and Le Havre of ships and cranes that the Germans had sunk to impede our supply ships.

As Frank L. Davis watched the movie Saving Private Ryan, he felt the pain of 54 years being peeled from his life. Suddenly he was 21 again, a sergeant in the 101st Airborne dodging bullets near Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The first time around, he had been too busy fighting to absorb the horrors of battle or to let terror grip him. The reliving was, in its way, worse. Virtually from the film's start, the bloody panorama of the Normandy invasion produced "one hell of a tightening in my chest, and I couldn't breathe and I shed a lot of tears," said a shaken Davis, of Stanton, Del. "It felt like I was right there again.

Fifty years ago today, at 4:15 a.m., a command was given that would change the lives of many thousands of men, including hundreds from this area. "OK, we'll go!" With those words, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, launched the greatest amphibious operation the world had ever seen. A vast armada of ships carried the assault troops across the English Channel to the beaches of Normandy. Aboard these ships were three Montgomery County men who now have journeyed back to France, to take part in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of D-Day - June 6, 1944.

Fifty years ago, Sid Saloman scaled the cliffs of Omaha Beach on D-Day. Last month, at age 81, he did it again during anniversary celebrations. Yesterday, he rowed 1,000 meters as a member of a composite crew from several clubs of Boathouse Row in the master eight-oared race of the Independence Day Regatta. His crew finished fifth in 4 minutes, 4.42 seconds. Potomac Boat Club was the winner in 3:13.92. The Independence Day Regatta winds up on the Schuylkill today.

ANDREW W. NIX JR. used to say that he fought two enemies in World War II: Nazism and racism. After the war began, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Andrew tried to enlist in the Marine Corps. He was turned down because he was black. When he finally entered the Army, he was assigned to a service battalion because the military brass believed that blacks couldn't fight, even though they had been fighting for their country since the Revolution. Despite constant episodes of racism during his Army career, Andrew Nix, who came home to Philadelphia to found a prominent funeral home, saw more than his share of combat and returned with a chest full of medals.

Nearly 67 years after coming home from war, Vincent Benedict was overcome with emotion Wednesday when an Army officer presented him with a long-delayed Prisoner of War Medal. "I am not worried about being a POW; I'm worried about the guys who died," Benedict said amid tears during the surprise medal presentation at his Bryn Mawr home, set up by his family with the aid of Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.). Benedict, who will turn 100 on July 4, suffers from some of the infirmities of advanced age. His hearing is poor, and he has problems with short-term memory.

After planning since the end of World War II, I finally made the trip to visit my brother's grave in Normandy. Jack Byrne, a foot soldier with the U.S. 1st Army's 30th Infantry Division, was killed on July 30, 1944, five days after the breakthrough at St. Lo. Before the war, Jack was a star player for Girard Estates, an outstanding semi-pro baseball team in Philadelphia. In the Army, he played third base for the 26th Division team, which won the Southern Army championship. The night before the trip to St. Laurent Cemetery at Omaha Beach, I had dinner with a friend in a little cafe in Paris.

Joseph Potamkin, 87, of Marlton, a machine gunner who landed on Omaha Beach at dawn on D-Day and was captured by the Germans a day later, died Thursday at West Jersey Hospital Marlton. Mr. Potamkin, a native of Philadelphia, stormed Omaha Beach with the 29th Infantry Division about 6 a.m. June 6, 1944. Although more than 90 percent of the unit became casualties, Mr. Potamkin was not injured in the landing and the battle for control of the beach and the area above it, said his son-in-law, Herbert Rennie.

Virginia L. Van Dyke Roscoe, 90, of Newtown Square, an Army nurse in World War II, died of heart failure Thursday, Sept. 29, at St. Mary's Medical Center in Langhorne. A native of Grand Rapids, Mich., Mrs. Roscoe graduated from Blodgett Hospital School of Nursing in June 1941. She wanted to join the Army Nurse Corps, but had to wait  to enlist until her 21st birthday in January, 1942,  a son, John, said.  Serving with the 29th Army Field Hospital, Mrs. Roscoe was one of 18 nurses to land on Omaha Beach days after the Normandy invasion.

"Blog" is short for Web log: a diary on the Internet. A recent survey found 1.9 million blogs, 1.2 million of them in English. Blogs can be self-indulgent and endless - or immediate, thoughtful and challenging. "Blog Cabin" offers a selection from recent high-profile blogs. International Herald Tribune Online http://www.iht.com The D-Day ceremonies on June 6 opened in the American military cemetery over Omaha Beach and ended at the Peace Memorial in Caen. The first event was Franco-American and was dominated by the presence of World War II veterans.

Achille Joseph Vicoli, 88, of Newtown Square, a businessman and decorated World War II veteran, died Saturday, March 30, of cardiac arrest at Delaware County Memorial Hospital. Mr. Vicoli was a first-generation American born to Nicholas and Antonette Lonzi Vicoli from Montenero di Bisaccio in Italy. He grew up in South Philadelphia and was a member of St. Monica's Parish. By age 18, Mr. Vicoli managed the construction of airplane wings for the riveting department of Keller Autogyro, an aviation company in Philadelphia.

Nearly 67 years after coming home from war, Vincent Benedict was overcome with emotion Wednesday when an Army officer presented him with a long-delayed Prisoner of War Medal. "I am not worried about being a POW; I'm worried about the guys who died," Benedict said amid tears during the surprise medal presentation at his Bryn Mawr home, set up by his family with the aid of Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.). Benedict, who will turn 100 on July 4, suffers from some of the infirmities of advanced age. His hearing is poor, and he has problems with short-term memory.

Harry Kale, a retired architect, died of Alzheimer's disease at Rydal Park retirement community Monday, Nov. 7, three days before his 91st birthday. After serving in the Army, Mr. Kale earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating magna cum laude in 1950, he was an associate with the architectural firm of Harbeson, Hough, Livingston & Larson in Philadelphia. In 1953, he became a partner with the firm of Eshbach, Glass & Kale in Philadelphia.

Virginia L. Van Dyke Roscoe, 90, of Newtown Square, an Army nurse in World War II, died of heart failure Thursday, Sept. 29, at St. Mary's Medical Center in Langhorne. A native of Grand Rapids, Mich., Mrs. Roscoe graduated from Blodgett Hospital School of Nursing in June 1941. She wanted to join the Army Nurse Corps, but had to wait  to enlist until her 21st birthday in January, 1942,  a son, John, said.  Serving with the 29th Army Field Hospital, Mrs. Roscoe was one of 18 nurses to land on Omaha Beach days after the Normandy invasion.

ANDREW W. NIX JR. used to say that he fought two enemies in World War II: Nazism and racism. After the war began, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Andrew tried to enlist in the Marine Corps. He was turned down because he was black. When he finally entered the Army, he was assigned to a service battalion because the military brass believed that blacks couldn't fight, even though they had been fighting for their country since the Revolution. Despite constant episodes of racism during his Army career, Andrew Nix, who came home to Philadelphia to found a prominent funeral home, saw more than his share of combat and returned with a chest full of medals.

Andrew W. Nix Jr., 88, of Wyncote, a funeral director and decorated World War II veteran, died of cancer Thursday, June 16, at home. Mr. Nix graduated from Eckels Mortuary College and then served an apprenticeship at Hunt Funeral Home in Chester. In 1954, he opened a storefront funeral home in North Philadelphia. The business eventually expanded to five buildings. He and his wife, Dorothy, also owned White Chapel Memorial Park in Feasterville. Mr. Nix received his most challenging assignment in 1978, when he and his staff prepared the more than 900 people who died in the Jonestown Massacre for burial.

FLORENCE - As we head for a tour of the Tuscan countryside, our guide announces that we will be making an unscheduled stop. "I think you will appreciate it," is all Paolo Santioli will say. Soon, our bus pulls into the Florence American Cemetery, proceeding up the wooded hillside to the memorial pylon towering over countless rows of pristine white grave markers. We get off the bus and walk the grounds where 4,402 American men and women killed in World War II are buried. Some of us quietly make our way around the reflecting pools and marble maps indicating the battles fought, while others wander silently among the manicured graves.

Zeney E. Sucharski, a World War II veteran and an ardent patriot, was born in 1921 on Armistice Day - Nov. 11 - at 11 a.m. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month commemorates the day and time when an armistice ended World War I in 1918. Mr. Sucharski, 88, died on Flag Day, Monday, June 14, from complications of a stroke, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. During World War II, he served as a medic with the First Infantry Division, nicknamed the Big Red One for its distinctive shoulder patch.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he witnessed that day. Arthur Seltzer is still processing it 66 years later and "will be until the end. " He recalls his Higgins landing craft splashing across the waves toward the Normandy beaches on D-Day, then jumping - with comrades - into water over his head. "It was a mess, a bloody, gory mess," said Seltzer, 86, of Cherry Hill. "You saw sights you never want to see again. " Bodies were tossed by waves dyed red with blood.

After 63 years, I decided to return. A year ago June, my son and I traveled to Paris and Normandy, including stops at Omaha Beach, Rouen, Caen, and Le Havre, where I served in 1944 and 1945. I was with the Navy Ship Salvage Unit Foxy 29. I landed on Omaha Beach at the end of June 1944 on the LST-291 with a cargo of tanks for the Army. Our mission was to clear the heavily mined ports of Cherbourg and Le Havre of ships and cranes that the Germans had sunk to impede our supply ships.