The longest day — 70 years later

Seventy years ago today, June 6, 1944, at 6:30 a.m. the first of the American, British, and Canadian assault troops landed on Normandy beaches with the code names Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. All hell broke loose as the beach real estate was paid for in our boys’ blood.

Second Lieutenant Leonard Anker’s face was wet from ocean spray as the second wave sped to Omaha Beach. Chewing his gum rapidly, he looked overhead to see a B-26 squadron with a yellow horizontal strip on the tail of the Marauders, the 386th Bomber Group. One of the pilots, Capt. Hale Bennett, tipped his wings to signal, “We’re going to soften up the Nazis for you.”

In less than five minutes, they had dropped their bombs. “We were accurate putting bombs in the end of rail tunnels. So we took out all railroad bridges, took out all the tunnels, started taking out (Nazi) housing,” Bennett told the Appeal last year.

Some 7,000 miles to the west in Lovelock, Nev., Leonard’s older sister, Staff Sgt. Phyllis Anker, one of General Marshall’s WACs, was visiting her parents. Most Americans at the Home Front listened to their radios, “Allies invaded France!” Phyllis and her mother did what hundreds of thousands of Americans did on June 6; they attended church to pray for their loved ones and for all our boys to return home safely.

As soon as his landing craft hit a sand bar, the front ramp dropped. Leonard led his men through waist high red sea water. They pushed a path through the bodies of 18 and 19 year old GIs floating face down. Leonard yelled orders to his sergeants to have his men take cover while moving through the chaos, destruction and death that littered “Bloody Omaha.”

Heavy seas in the English Channel had sunk 27 of the 29 Duplex Drive Sherman tanks assigned to the 116th Infantry Regiment. Instead of the Calvary, it was ‘damn the torpedoes’ for the US Navy! Lt. Commander James L. Semmes ordered his helmsmen to bring DD-497, the USS Frankford, a Gleaves class destroyer to within 1,000 yards of the Omaha Beach. Her four guns rapidly fired at Nazi pillboxes with extreme prejudice. The USS Frankford more than made up for the 27 lost tanks.

His mother and sister’s prayers protected and aided Leonard in his recovery from being wounded three times as the 29th Division crossed France into Germany. He was awarded a Distinguish Service Cross, three Purple Hearts and three Bronze Star medals before Germany surrendered, May 8, 1945.

Anker was honorably discharged in May 1946. He lost no time marrying his college sweetheart, Frances Helen Burke. They settled in Minden and had four children, Claudia, Shirley, Alton and Beverly. He became a successful rancher, businessman and an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Carson Valley.

Bennett returned to Seattle and wed Marge Perkins in 1951. Two years later, Marge gave birth to Lynne, their only child, Hale’s favorite daughter. Marge lost her battle with cancer in 1982. Hale married fellow Carson Hospital Board member and Carson City Supervisor, Kay, in 1988.

The actor/song writer, Paul Anka played the part of a Ranger in the movie, “The Longest Day.” He wrote the music and lyrics for the song. Here are the first two stanzas to The Longest Day.

“Many men came here as soldiers

Many men will pass this way

Many men will count the hours

As they live the longest day

Many men are tired and weary

Many men are here to stay

Many men won’t see the sunset

When it ends the longest day”

Seventy years later, above the peaceful bluffs of Omaha Beach, there are the names of 9,387 of our boys carved into white marble grave markers in a sea of manicured verdant grass. “Thank you 16,000,000 American men and women.” This is written in English.

Ken Beaton of Carson City contributes periodically to the Nevada Appeal.