Photographs by Dominique Potier About 610,000 American forces took part in the battle, which was later known as the Battle of the Bulge. Of the conflict’s 89,000 casualties, 19,000 were killed. It would go down in history as the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II. I know all this now because my Dad, upon receiving an invitation to return to France to take part in the 70th Anniversary ceremonies of D-Day, began to open up about his wartime experiences, recalling names, serial numbers, weather conditions, feelings and even sights, some horrific, all heartrending and long buried, that he revealed with incredible clarity and emotion. His time in Europe took him from Belgium to the Ardennes, across Germany to Czechoslovakia and Central Europe where he crossed the Moselle and Rhine Rivers in dangerous conditions, braving unrelenting enemy fire and subzero temperatures that added to the perils of war. Through it all he remained steadfast to the cause, dedicated to his battalion and selfless in his actions of courage and valor that included saving the life of one of his fellow soldiers in battle. I asked him about the man he saved and he shrugged it off like it was no big deal. After all, these young men became a band of brothers. There was nothing they wouldn’t do for one another, including facing snipers to rescue and carry a fallen comrade. I sensed that he wished he could have saved more soldiers when he told me about a camp he and his men came upon in the middle of an iceencrusted wooded site. Everything in that forest graveyard, men included, was
Clockwise from top left, Annette Thomas, Matthew Sturtevant, Tracey Thomas and Bob Thomas at the Utah Beach, D-Day Ceremony where Bob received his presigious Legion of Honor Award. Bob Thomas and Valerie Cardin at the Utah Beach, D-Day Ceremony. Ceremony at the Memorial of Airborne and US Air Force, in Picauville, France. WW II Veterans with students at the Normandy American Cemetery in Collevillesur-Mer, France. Legion of Honor Awards for the Utah Beach, D-Day Ceremony - Bob Thomas was a recipient!
frozen in place; most, if not all, had died from bullets and shrapnel that hit them where they stood. They had no place to hide. Warfare and the winter weather were merciless he said. As he talked, he told me how cold it was then, how frozen feet impeded their progress as they walked through the battle-scarred landscapes on their arduous mission. But he made it across the rivers, the hills, the forests and farmyards, pressing on farther and farther into enemy territory until the Allied Forces drove the Germans from their posts. In the two years my father served, he was awarded the Army of Occupation Medal, the Eame Campaign Medal, a Good Conduct Medal, a World War II Victory Medal and an American Campaign Medal, as well as earning three Battle Stars in Central Europe, the Rhineland and the Ardennes. Now he was going back again with his wife Annette as an honored guest of a group of Europeans who remain ever grateful for the American GIs who sacrificed so much for their freedom. Before making their way to Normandy, France, they attended Memorial Day ceremonies in the Netherlands, including stopping at the World War II Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in the village of Margraten with their Dutch hosts, Ralph Peeters and his parents. Once in Normandy, they were escorted to D-Day ceremonies in St. Mere Eglise, home of the Airborne Museum dedicated to American paratroopers of 82nd and 101st Airborne Division engaged in Normandy in the context of Operation Overlord in June 1944; in the village of Ravenoville where a WWII memorial was unveiled in commemoration of D-Day in June, 2014; and other hallowed places by a team of angel emissaries. The lovely Normandy resident Valerie Cardin made the entire dream trip possible, orchestrating my Dad’s entire itinerary, opening her home to my family, and, enlisting friends to make sure all of my Dad’s needs were met. They included Ralph Peeters and his parents, their quintessential hosts from Brunssum, Holland; Dominique Potier from Liege, Belgium, who literally served as my father’s personal attaché during his entire trip along with David Clare from New York – a true collaboration of “allies” who embodied the shared commitment of Europeans 70 years ago and today to make the world a better place for everyone. A highlight of his 2014 “tour of duty” was assisting Walter Benjamin of the Brittany American Ceremony to lower and fold the flag. That flag was presented to my father and now holds a place of honor in his Connecticut home. Unlike his initial introduction to the Europe 70 years ago, the weather, like the people he engaged with the second time around, was warm and welcoming. Everywhere he went, my Dad was treated like a rock star. How cool is that! My father did not know that I had arranged to be present at the Utah Beach ceremony where he and his fellow World War II veterans were to be honored for their role in the French liberation. But moments like these come around only once in a lifetime and I was not about to miss it. There are no words to describe the pride we shared and the love we felt when my Dad saw my husband and me walk into the house where he was staying. You could virtually see the years and infirmities of age melt away as he was transported back in time to the days when he stood strong and brave and whole in Europe, undeterred on his mission to save those who needed his help. His transformation to hero American GI continued to inspire all of us who witnessed him receiving the prestigious Legion of Honor Award Medal in Normandy, France at Utah Beach on the 70th Anniversary of D-Day celebrations. He’s a bonafide WWII hero, but he’s always been that and more to me. Thank you Dad. 70 years ago, on June 6, 1944, some 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of beaches in Normandy, France, where they turned the tide of history. More than 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and, by day’s end, the Allies gained a foothold in Normandy. More than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded on D-Day, but more than 100,000 soldiers, my father, Robert E. Thomas among them, began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler and pave the way for an Allied victory.
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