A D-Day week to remember

A brilliant and moving story for D-Day – be sure to watch the video short.

This is Veteran Jim “Pee Wee” Martin.

He is ninety-two years old.

He arrived in England from Ohio, America, last weekend to begin his three-week Trip of Remembrance through Europe, visiting the places he encountered during WW2. He is travelling with his companion, Doug Barber, a history teacher, also from Ohio. Our son (the Sofa Loafer), met them at Heathrow and drove them to Wiltshire, where they revisited places Jim remembers from 1943. He had a reunion with Rosemary, a young girl he met in the village of Ramsbury, where he was billeted prior to the Normandy Invasion. They have corresponded ever since, know all about each other’s lives and families, but this was their first meeting in almost seventy years.

One of Jim’s ambitions was realised when, on the way back to Surrey to stay over at Chez Pellett, they made a detour to take in Stonehenge. After walking all around…

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4 thoughts on “A D-Day week to remember”

Jill Weatherholt said:

June 8, 2013 at 12:10 am

Thanks for sharing this incredible story, Roy. I’m ashamed to admit, yesterday I heard very little from our media about D-Day. We can’t forget such a significant day in history.

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- Roy McCarthy said:
  
  June 8, 2013 at 6:45 am
  
  Thanks Jill, remarkable indeed. Had the Allies been thrown back that day we might be living in quite a different world.
  
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Browsing the Atlas said:

June 11, 2013 at 2:25 pm

Thanks for sharing this. I think it’s so important to listen to the tales of WWII survivors while we can. Their numbers are diminshing and soon those stories will only be found in history books.

Sometimes I look through the letters my grandfather sent my grandmother while he was off fighting. Unfortunately, she suffers from dementia and can’t remember anything about her life back then. I’m glad we asked her about it while we had the chance.

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- Roy McCarthy said:
  
  June 11, 2013 at 5:25 pm
  
  You have the letters Juliann – that is something at least. It’s hard to imagine the anxiety of those left behind, often followed by grim but not unexpected news. And the survivors were rarely the same again even if they came home.
  
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