[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 91 (Thursday, June 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3655-S3656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO ROBERT L. WILLIAMS
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, for several years now I have had the
distinct pleasure of knowing Robert L. ``Bob'' Williams. Bob hails from
Independence, KY, and is a member of our Nation's Greatest Generation.
Like so many in that generation, he answered the call of duty and
fought valiantly in the Second World War. I rise today to honor his
service to this country.
Early on the morning of June 6, 1941, Bob was among the first Allied
paratroopers dropped into Normandy as a part of Operation Overlord, on
the historic day of D-day. Several hours later, the largest amphibious
assault in the history of war would commence. For the time being,
however, Bob and his fellow paratroopers fought behind enemy lines,
securing the roads and bridges that were vital to the operation's
success. You could say that these men constituted the tip of the
sharpest sword this Nation has ever thrust into battle.
The airborne soldiers' mission that day was extremely dangerous--
simply making it to the battlefield through the barrage of German anti-
aircraft fire was a feat in itself--yet Bob displayed remarkable
courage under fire. Upon landing, an enemy machine-gunner placed 12
bullet holes in his baggy pants pockets. Undeterred, Bob continued to
fight that day, and for 10 more days until he was seriously wounded on
June 16.
Since the war's conclusion, Bob has done his part to keep alive the
memory of those who served. On the 50th anniversary of the D-day
invasion, he joined 18 fellow veterans in re-creating their parachute
jump into Normandy. He has also written a book containing his, and
other veterans' stories from the war. Most recently, Bob was honored to
be inducted into the Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame in March of this
year.
As the Second World War drifts further and further into the past, it
becomes increasingly important that we remember the sacrifices made to
secure victory. So today, I ask that my U.S. Senate colleagues join me
in honoring Robert L. Williams and his service to his country during
the great battle to make the world safe for democracy that was World
War II.
Mr. President, the Lexington Herald-Leader recently published an
article detailing Bob Williams' and other Kentucky World War II
veterans' stories
[[Page S3656]]
from the war. I ask unanimous consent that the full article be printed
in the Record.
There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Lexington Herald-Leader, June 5, 2014]
Veterans from Lexington, Louisville Areas Mark D-day Anniversary This
Weekend
(By Jim Warren)
On D-day morning, 70 years ago Friday, Winchester's Jonah
Thomas was an Army combat engineer in one of the first
landing craft to hit Omaha Beach.
German shells obliterated the boat almost the instant it
touched the sand.
``I didn't see anybody else there when we hit the beach, so
maybe they didn't have anybody else to shoot at,'' Thomas
recalled. ``They blew that boat to smithereens.''
A soldier in front of Thomas was struck in the face. Thomas
was covered with his blood.
``I would have been hit if he hadn't been there,'' Thomas
said. ``There were 44 men crammed in that boat, and hardly
anybody survived.''
Thomas, now 89, was one of the few who did.
He'll be among about 80 veterans from the Lexington and
Louisville areas who are flying to Washington early Friday,
the 70th anniversary of D-day. They'll visit the Korean War
Veterans Memorial, the Iwo Jima Monument, and the National
World War II Memorial before returning Friday evening. A
public welcome is planned at Blue Grass Airport when they
return.
D-day, June 6, 1944, was when roughly 160,000 American,
British and other Allied troops stormed into Nazi-held France
along a 50-mile stretch of beaches in Normandy.
It was one of history's biggest military operations. More
than 5,000 ships and 11,000 planes supported the landings,
which launched the final campaigns that ended World War II in
Europe in May 1945.
Within five days after D-day, more than 300,000 soldiers,
54,000 vehicles and 104,000 tons of supplies had come ashore.
But for the first few hours, the D-day invaders struggled
just to survive a wave of bullets and shells from German
guns. About 12,000 Allied soldiers were killed, wounded or
captured, including roughly 6,000 Americans.
London's Owen Edwards, then 18, was a Navy coxswain,
steering one of the landing boats headed for Omaha. His job--
delivering a 20-man medical team to the beach--looked
impossible.
``Eighty-eight millimeter shells were hitting so close they
were throwing water into the boat,'' Edwards remembers. ``It
was so intense, that I finally turned the boat toward another
part of the beach where the shelling wasn't as heavy. I
probably wouldn't have made it if I hadn't done that.''
Edwards, now 88, is another veteran who'll be making the
trip to Washington Friday. He eventually landed the medical
team safely on Omaha, one of two runs he made to the beach
that day.
``It was complete chaos,'' Thomas said. ``There were bodies
everywhere, wrecked equipment, tanks that never made it,
soldiers that drowned going in. It's a miracle that we took
that beach.''
Thomas visited Omaha Beach in 1993, and stood on the spot
where he landed his boat.
``The beach was so quiet and peaceful then, but I could
visualize what it was like on June 6, 1944,'' he said. ``It
was pretty emotional.''
The French invited Robert L. Williams to visit Normandy for
the 70th D-day anniversary. But Williams, 91, decided to stay
home in Kenton County.
``I'm getting too old for nine hours on an airplane,'' he
said. ``Besides, I've been there and done that.''
Williams, a 101st Airborne Division paratrooper, had one of
D-day's most dangerous jobs. He was among about 13,000 Allied
paratroopers who parachuted into Normandy to seize and hold
strategic roads and bridges before the invasion.
Williams survived days of heavy fighting in Normandy, but
was seriously wounded on June 16, 1944.
Fifty years later, he helped organize a re-creation of the
original parachute jump for the 50th D-day anniversary on
June 6, 1994. Williams and 18 other original D-day
paratroopers parachuted into Normandy from a World War II era
C-47.
``The government said, `There's no way we're going to let
you do that, you're all too old,' '' Williams recalls. ``We
did it anyway.''
He says the 1994 jump was one of the most satisfying things
he's ever done.
``People were beginning to forget about World War II back
then,'' Williams said. ``I think that jump kind of brought it
all back. To me, it was more exciting than D-day.''
The boat carrying Lexington infantryman John A. Palumbo was
blown out of the water 100 yards off Omaha Beach on D-day. It
was his first taste of combat.
Palumbo splashed shore. But a bullet destroyed his BAR
light machine gun and left shrapnel in his right arm.
Eventually, he hooked up with some more experienced
soldiers, helped them get through a minefield, and found
cover on a bluff behind the beach. He never fired a shot on
D-day, but saw much heavy fighting later.
Palumbo, now 93, landed on a sector of Omaha Beach code-
named ``Easy Red.''
``There was nothing easy about what we went through
there,'' he recalls. ``No one on that beach was rear-echelon.
Everybody was a front-line soldier on D-day. Period.''
Palumbo often says that every day of his life since D-day
has been a bonus, because he didn't expect to survive.
``I'm glad I went through it,'' he said, ``rather than
having any of my heirs go through it.''
Ray Swafford, now 88, of Manchester, was a sailor on the
minesweeper YMS-247, destroying underwater mines to clear a
safe path for ships taking troops to Normandy.
It was dangerous work. The night before D-day, another
minesweeper hit a mine and exploded.
``We had to leave the survivors in the water, and that hurt
real bad,'' Swafford remembers.
After clearing mines, Swafford's ship spent D-day guiding
landing craft toward shore, picking up survivors, even trying
to draw German gunfire away from soldiers on the beach. They
also went to assist the destroyer USS Corry, which was
sinking.
But Swafford was most unnerved by German ``E-boats,'' small
fast craft that fired torpedoes.
``We couldn't shoot back at them because we might hit our
own ships,'' he said. ``Those torpedoes still bother me
today. I really don't like to think about it.''
Swafford isn't going on Friday's Washington trip, but he
said he might mark the 70th anniversary by cooking out with
some friends.
``The captain of my ship stopped here to visit me once
about 20 years ago,'' Swafford said. ``He asked what I
thought about D-day, and I said, `It seems like a bad dream.'
''
``He said, `That's the way it seems to me too.'''
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