Met Four "REAL" American Heroes Yesterday

[3fan4life]

Yesterday four veterans of the D Day invasion gathered together at the D Day memorial in Bedford, VA to share their stories with others.

I more or less stumbled into this event and I am very glad that I did.

These four Heroes are still very sharp for their age and recount the memories of that day well. None of them will call their self a hero and will quickly correct you if you refer to them as one. But, make no mistake about it they are heroes. They will say that they were simply doing their job. This is true, but what a job it was!



(L to R) Carter Fisher, William Overstreet, Charles Shaeff, Evelyn Kowalchuk






Charles "Buster" Shaeff was a sailor assigned to LST 290 and on D Day he found himself tasked with the job of ferrying troops onto the beach.



He ferried three boatloads of troops to the beach before hitting a hedgehog and tearing a hole in the bottom of his boat. That ended the day for him and his crew. But as he said, the navy figured on losing some of the boats so they brought extras. The next day he was in another boat and back to ferrying troops ashore. He would continue to ferry troops onto the beach for nearly a month.

While officially assigned to an LST Buster was actually ferrying the troops with a much smaller LCVP. If you have seen "Band of Brothers" (and if you haven't you should) there are some dramatic scenes where they are coming onto the beach in LCVP's under fire.      



LCVP's in action





Carter Fisher also a sailor was a member of the gun crew for the #1 main gun on the USS Arkansas (BB-33). On D Day he found himself 4,000 yards off the beach, deep inside the turret shelling Cherbourg France. He and his crew would be inside that turret for hours upon hours firing shell after shell. He said that they couldn't leave the turret, and that Bologna sandwiches were brought to them. He tells that one of the men complained about the bologna and was told that if he wanted something better that he could go to the beach and get it.  What Carter Fisher didn't tell was that later in the war he would also find himself inside that same turret firing shells at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.  


USS Arkansas on D Day.



Evelyn "Chappy" Kowalchuk wouldn't find herself on the beaches of Normandy until D+3. That however in NO way diminishes her contribution to D Day.



Lt Kowalchuk was a flight nurse assigned to the 818th Air Evacuation Squadron. She would attend to hundreds of badly wounded soldiers while evacuating them back to England in C46 and C47 cargo planes. Because the planes were also used to bring ammo and supplies back to France they weren't marked with a Red Cross and many were shot down, some while transporting wounded soldiers.

Evelyn would also evacuate wounded soldiers from Northern France, The Rhineland reigon of Germany and the Ardennes.  

Evelyn is now 92 years old and still very sharp. As she says, "I still have my mind and I still have my mouth".  This lady is wonderful; I can only imagine what a "Fireball" that she was in her younger days.



Evelyn "Chappy" Kowalchuk (back row far left) pictured with the 24 nurses that she served with. Some of these women were killed in the line of duty, and sadly 3 of them would commit suicide after the war.  When Evelyn and the others signed up for this experimental program no one knew what a flight nurse was. Together these women forged new ground and laid the foundation for a program that continues to save the lives of American soldiers.  



C47 Medicvac's


http://www.315group.org/nurses.htm    
History of the 818th Air Evacuation Squadron





William "Bill" Overstreet was flying 20,000 feet above Normandy France on D-Day.  



As a pilot of the U.S. Army Air Forces' 357th Fighter Group he spent eight hours flying over Normandy in his P51 Mustang before returning to England to refuel.  In his words for him, "there wasn't much to do that day". It turns out that the Germans weren't able to get planes into the air over Normandy that day.

Bill Overstreet would find "plenty" to do in the war.  He flew over 100 missions and was shot down three times.  He is credited with downing 10 German fighters, he says that it was "probably" more but 10 was all he could verify. He explained that many times when in a dogfight once a pilot had inflicted serious damage on his opponent he would peel off to help a friend in trouble or pursue another enemy aircraft. He said that in either case the pilot never knew if the plane that he had crippled, crashed or limped home.

Bill Overstreet is an extremely modest man. He greatly downplays his efforts and exploits during the war. He is quick to name fellow pilots that didn't make it home from the war and will adamantly tell you that they were the "real" heroes.

However, his own exploits are legendary. The most infamous of which is his chasing a German ME109 Messerschmitt under the Eiffel tower to shoot it down.
   


He talks about the dogfight in great detail and as if it were "No Big Deal". He says:

"I had followed this 109 from the bombers when most of the German fighters left. We had a running dogfight and I got some hits about 1500 feet, He then led me over Paris where Many guns were aimed at me. As soon as he was disabled, I ducked down just over the river (smaller target for the Germans ). Followed the river until I was away from Paris."

He states that while he was stationed in San Francisco he and other pilots would do "training loops" around the Golden Gate Bridge. He says that there was "plenty" of room under the Eiffel Tower for his plane and that once the German went under it he knew that he had him, because the German pilot had limited himself.

On one of the occasions that he was shot down behind enemy lines Bill Overstreet not only managed to get away from his captors, he stole a German plane and flew it back to England. He explains his decision to take the German aircraft simply by saying, "I figured that it was the best way to get home".

People that know him have tried for years to get Bill Overstreet to write a book about his WWII exploits. He has been adamantly opposed to it, he simply doesn't see anything that he did as a "Big Deal". That is truly a shame because William "Bill" Overstreet and his Berlin Express have some incredible stories to tell.    

When, I got the chance to thank him for his service. I told him that no matter how much he downplayed it, that chasing a German fighter underneath the Eiffel Tower to shoot it down was a "Very Cool" thing to do. He didn't say anything, but he did break out into an ear to ear grin.

Bill Overstreet remained an active pilot after the war and has just recently quit flying his own aircraft. His friends are seeing to it that he continues to get the opportunity to fly and have flights in several vintage WWII aircraft lined up for him this summer.    


http://www.cebudanderson.com/overstreet.htm  
Bio of Cpt William Overstreet



An RC model of Cpt William Overstreet's P51 Fighter "Berlin Express"


Below are links to local news coverage and video of yesterday's presentation:

http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-dday-veterans-share-wartime-stories-at-event-in-bedford-20130212,0,5950747.story

http://www.wset.com/story/21139438/four-veterans-share-their-d-day-stories-in-bedford



Getting the opportunity to hear the stories that these people have to tell and then to meet and speak with each one of them was an incredible opportunity.

They truly are from America's GREATEST Generation.

[old2soon]

With out these four wonderful American people and COUNTLESS others like them we could have very well been speaking German and Japanese. And if you don't believe me-brush up on your WW II history. Thanks for that post. I treasure the moments i was able to talk with the WW II vets i was fortunate enough to know. GOD bless everyone of them.  RIDE SAFE.

[czuch]

WOW!!! Lucky you.
I've heard of Bill Overstreet before. These "No big deal, non heros" really need to get over that and come clean. These stories really need to be told. The way history is being rewritten these HEROS need their exploits known. Its awesome to stumble on these affairs. Flying under the Eiffel tower in occupied France while your getting shot at is a damn big deal.
So is Flight Nurse. Cherish that day.

[Popeye]

Thanks for taking the time to see them and listen to their stories and sharing with us.  WWII guys are an amazing group.

[Patrick]

What a day you had, hell of a story. Nice.

[Rocketman]

I would love to have been there to hear them speak as well.

Mark

[3fan4life]

Thanks for the replies.

I am glad to share the stories of these GREAT men and women with my VRCC bretheren.

I know that many of you appreciate these American Heroes as well.

[DIGGER]

about 7 or 8 yrs ago I was on a fishing trip in Cabo San Lucas and at the hotel We met 4 old guys there on a fishing trip also.    I got to talking with one of them and he was 90+ in age and he said he made his living makeing speeches.   I asked about what and he said during Pearl Harbor he was in the crows nest of I think it was the USS Pennsylvania in dry dock and watched the whole show from there.  He had made a career telling about the attack in speeches across the world.   Quite an honor meeting him in person

[PAVALKER]

Thanks for the replies.

I am glad to share the stories of these GREAT men and women with my VRCC bretheren.

I know that many of you appreciate these American Heroes as well.

Yes.... Thank you for sharing.  I do appreciate reading those types of posts here.   

[3fan4life]

Just learned that Evelyn "Chappy" Kowalchuk died today.  



http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-decorated-wwii-lieutenant-and-army-flight-nurse-dies--20130409,0,6796999.story

These Heroes are passing away every day.

I sure am glad that I got to meet her.

Rest in Peace "Chappy".

[saddlesore]

Thanks for posting. Brought a tear or two to my eyes.

I wish we still had hero's like them to take this country back.

[MarkT]

I would have loved to meet them and hear their tales.  Awesome.  And so modest, it's hard to get them to open up.  I hope somebody writes down Bill's stories (and the others) for post-mortem publication, if they don't want the attention now.

[alph]

upon the death of my wifes grandfather, i learned that he landed in Normandy during D-day serving under General Patton himself.  he was a water engineer and his job was to find water for the troops.   never knew it until i read a brief autobiography.

wish i could have talked to him about it before he died.

[wiggydotcom]

Thanks so much for sharing that, 3fan4life. They are heroes and heroines, no matter how they view themselves. Unfortunately, there aren't many left. We owe generations of gratitude to those who served-no matter the time, war, or conflict.

[old2soon]

Found out after this WWII hero died what he had done in Europe. He was on a Bazooka team killing German tanks-for over a year and a half. He for sure never talked about it when he was alive. One of his friends told me after he was gone. And no-he never got it written down. His exact words were-didn't want to put someone to the trouble. R I P Uncle Dave.

[BF]

I used to live across the street from an old warrior that flew those glider planes in on D-Day.  He's passed now, but I felt honored to know him. 

[pitbull]

My Father landed on D-Day on Gold Beach (Arromanche), he was just 17 at the time. He never really spoke about the war. He did tell me that he threw his medals away because he didn't want some "bits of tin" reminding him of all the freinds he saw get killed.

Sadly, my Dad died from a heart attack 20 years ago, still miss him now.

[old2soon]

Doing some quick math tells us the why of WWII vets passing. IF they joined up in 1944 at age 17 puts them at 86 this year. Even the youngest Korean War vets are in their late 70s early 80s. Time is doing to our vets what the enemy damn sure couldn't. And when the last of our WWII vets finally pass we will have lost a true National Treasure.  Which B T W can never be replaced.  To our TRUE National Treasure-THANK YOU Ladies and Gentlemen.

[bscrive]

These people and other WW2 veterans in many countries are heroes.  Great posting.

[old2soon]

My Father landed on D-Day on Gold Beach (Arromanche), he was just 17 at the time. He never really spoke about the war. He did tell me that he threw his medals away because he didn't want some "bits of tin" reminding him of all the freinds he saw get killed.

Sadly, my Dad died from a heart attack 20 years ago, still miss him now.

Sometimes-we-as Americans tend to forget-unintentionally-that a LOT of other Countries helped in the winning of WWII. It was by no means just an American operation. I wish there was a way for me to thank your Father in person. So i'll have to tell the son instead-thank you for your Fathers sacrifice. RIDE SAFE.

[lonewolf/va]

thanks for posting Mark , they are heros .

[Charlie McCready]

3fan4life, and all of ya..... the several times I've been to the D-Day Memorial there in Bedford, VA I always pay the extra ($3 I think it is) and ride the golf carts driven by WWII vets who tell of the happenings there on DDay.......it's well worth all that cash ($3---remember) to hear their stories. Thanks Mark for posting this.  Go there everyone when you can and hear it from those who were there or in service somewhere at the time.

[pitbull]

In 2010 I went to Arromanches (Gold Beach), because thats where Dad landed on D-Day. It wasn't what I expected, it was very commercialised. It felt so strange seeing all the people on the beach doing what people "normally" do on a beach.
I had intended on visiting all of the D-Day beaches but time was limited as we only had a couple of days in the area before moving on.
I'm hoping to go back at the end of the summer for a bit longer.
We camped in a village called St Martin-des-Besace, which unbeknown to me was the first village the British liberated.
A couple of pictures from Gold Beach, there's lots of equipment used on D-Day that is on display all around the area.


Parts of the Mulberry Harbour are still at sea


And one of the memorials, I'm not a religous person but I did stop here and say a quiet "Thank You" as Dad was in the Royal Engineers



Another memorial