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D-Day anniversary honored at annual Veterans Day celebration
The D-Day invasion’s role in changing the course of World War II was the focus of this year’s Veterans Day celebration at the Gig Harbor Aero Museum.
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June marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II. Speakers at the celebration gave detailed information about the significance of D-Day, known as Operation Overlord.
Around 400 people attended the event, billed as the largest indoor Veterans Day event in the state. Every branch of the military was represented. A brass band played patriotic songs and vocalists Kacey Mason and John Sharrett sang a couple of numbers. Mason also performed “The Star Spangled Banner.”
An enormous flag covered the wall at the Gig Harbor Aero Museum for the annual Veterans Day celebration on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. Retired military service members of every branch of service attended. More than 400 attended the event, which is billed as the largest indoor Veterans Day celebration in the state. Photo by Marsha Hart
Role of special operations
Retired U.S. Army Col. Rick Thomas, former commander of the 1st Special Forces Group, spoke on the role special operations forces played during the D-Day invasion and the liberation of France. His powerpoint slides gave a deeper look at how the U.S. Office of Strategic Services, established in 1942, used unconventional warfare with small multinational teams.
Some of the names Thomas mentioned were familiar but unexpected. William Colby, director of the CIA from 1973 to 1976; William Casey, director of the CIA from 1981 to 1987; and television cooking personality Julia Child were on the list of OSS operatives who helped with the resistance.
Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, who served for 37 years in the Army and is now the director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany, said that one of the most important figures in the D-Day invasion was Theodore Roosevelt Jr. A brigadier general at that time, the namesake son of the 26th president was the only general to land by sea with the first wave of troops.
He was 56 years old and walked with a cane when he landed on Utah Beach, Dayton said. Dayton gave detailed information about each of the five beaches that troops crossed; 2,501 Americans died in Normandy that day.
Rangers lead the way
The Army Rangers were tasked with climbing a 100-foot cliff at Pointe Du Hoc, between Utah and Omaha beaches. Col. Carl Hicks illustrated the difficulty of the job by explaining that there was no logical way for this to be successful. Germans were atop the cliff, waiting for Allied forces. There were no footholds or paths up — just a cliff.
Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower gave the 2nd and 5th Army Ranger battalions the mission. (The 2nd Ranger Battalion is now based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord; it was activated in 1943 at Camp Nathan Bedford Forrest in Tullahoma, Tenn.)
The 2nd Ranger Battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. James E. Rudder, led the way. Assault teams came ashore, bringing with them amphibious vehicles with ladders from the London Fire Department. The Rangers used ropes — slippery and wet from the trip across the English Channel — and rocket-fired grapnel. Germans cut the ropes and fired on the Rangers, but the Rangers kept coming.
The first Ranger got to the top of Pointe Du Hoc within 12 minutes, Hicks said. “Rangers lead the way” became the motto of the Army Rangers.
Each attendee received a commemorative coin marking this year’s Veterans Day. Photo by Marsha Hart
Two-legged and four-legged veterans
Other speakers at the event highlighted local programs that are helping veterans, including canine veterans. The Gig Harbor-based Permission to Start Dreaming Foundation helps veterans transform post-traumatic stress disorder into post traumatic growth by providing programs that help unlock their potential.
Ryan Sharpe is a kennel master at Insight K-9 Solutions. He and his dog are both veterans who served in Afghanistan.
He said the military spent billions of dollars trying to find a way to detect bombs before learning the answer was, and still is, dogs. Handlers and their dogs have played a vital role in saving the lives of military members in every war since the Revolutionary War, he said.
The Veterans Day celebration is organized and orchestrated by a group of volunteers and sponsored by local groups and businesses. On-site volunteers came from the Kiwanis Club of Gig Harbor, Navy Junior ROTC and the 201st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade.
World War II clickers were a crowd favorite during the Veterans Day celebration at the Gig Harbor Aero Museum. Keynote speaker retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton said Allied soldiers used the devices to communicate. If one soldier clicked once, and another responded with two clicks, they knew they were friendly. Photo by Marsha Hart