It was amazing to hear the stories recently of two men who made history.
Marshall Smith and Ernest Goodman served during the invasion of Normandy, which began 65 years ago Saturday with D-Day.
All told, about 2 million Allied soldiers kicked the German Army out of northwestern France, paving the way to eventual peace. But their ranks are getting thinner every day.
Smith, 83, and Goodman, 84, have spoken with The Daily Star for other D-Day and World War II anniversary stories. I thank these men for sitting down with The Daily Star and sharing their experiences yet again.
I never really had the chance to hear what exactly my own grandfather went through as a soldier in the Philippines. Hospice began caring for him in the fall of 2005. During this time, my father asked me to interview my grandfather, but I never got the chance. He died a couple months later.
Clifford Palmateer would talk about the war in snippets here and there over the years _ about how hot it was in the Pacific Theater. But he never talked about the actual fighting. When he died, my family sat together and went through an old box filled with mementos, photographs and his Bronze Star citation.
On July 4, 1945, my grandfather was in a small patrol through dense bamboo thickets on Luzon when it was ambushed. The lead scout was seriously wounded by a Japanese machine gun nest. But my grandfather and two other soldiers were able to maneuver on the enemy position, eliminate it and carry their comrade to safety.
My mother made a small display case that included the citation, photographs and mementos. At my grandfather’s wake, many of my relatives and friends seemed surprised to learn the details of the Bronze Star.
I know my grandfather never considered himself a hero. But he was.
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In researching for the story in Smith and Goodman’s experiences, I was reminded how vast World War II really was in terms of places, events and people.
Much of what we know about World War II comes from the hundreds of movies produced, many while the war still raged. Such movies are still being made today.
Often, it seems the crisis of conscience that many of the combatants experienced is glossed over by Hollywood. But there was a large culture of pacifism in the United States leading up to and during the war. Some of this was based on religious beliefs, and some of it was for political reasons.
Smith touched on this while I interviewed him at his Nader Towers apartment.
Many men would seek advice from chaplains, Smith said.
The chaplains, he recalled, would say, “Kill or be killed. God will forgive you.”
About six months before D-Day, Smith sailed to England aboard his minesweeper. He seemed to fondly remember his time there before the invasion.
After D-Day, he never saw England again.
That winter, his minesweeper left France for San Diego and then Hawaii. Having served in the invasion of Normandy, Smith was allowed the chance to avoid service in the Pacific Theater, he recalled.
But Smith said he wasn’t going to leave the YMS-349.
“I knew every inch of this ship, I’m staying aboard it,” he said.
While stationed in Hawaii, Smith noticed the Navy began putting restrictions on personnel similar to what occurred prior to D-Day. The Navy was gearing up for an invasion of Japan. But not long after that, the Japanese surrendered. With that, a war that affected every corner of the globe and resulted in the deaths of more than 70 million people was over.
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Staff Writer Jake Palmateer covers Oneonta City Hall and police and fire departments.
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