On July 25, I departed to London with Viking River cruises to celebrate the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France and to honor my paratrooper dad, Lt. Kenneth E. Marsh.
This journey was a year in the making and I followed in the footsteps of my parents and brother’s family as they had journeyed to Normandy in the past to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this auspicious occasion.
My companion Jim Lowe, a Navy veteran, was also very excited about the journey, even though he had only seen pictures of my dad and heard many stories about his time in Normandy and Holland as a paratrooper in the 82nd airborne division. And so, we were off.
While in London we visited many of the famous World War II British locales, including the Golden Lion Pub where Churchill and Montgomery shared a beer and the Churchill War Rooms, an intricate underground bunker filled with code rooms and secret passages.
Then on to France on the Chunnel, the train under the English Channel. What a ride, with blinding speed and in the dark. There were so many excursions tailored to the passengers but the most memorable to me was our time spent at Utah beach and the Airborne Museum. I remember my mom telling us about visiting Omaha beach in 1994 when Ronald Reagan was in attendance and her wearing a long red coat. We had watched the proceedings on TV and found her red coat.
Like most veterans of ‘The Greatest Generation,’ my dad did not talk about his time in the military until he started going to conventions where he reminisced with his paratrooper friends. When asked why he had become a paratrooper, he said it was about the pay.
“Fifty dollars more was a lot of money,” he would respond.
It was at the Airborne Museum where the emotions began to flow. Tears welled in my eyes as I watched spellbound a mannikin of a paratrooper suspended inside the dark museum amidst the deafening sound of gunfire and bombs. Another throat clenching moment occurred as I observed rows of men lined up inside a plane, ready to STAND UP and HOOK UP.
The horrors of war were many but even that emotion can be dispelled with a canine companion and dad told us of dogs that became airborne mascots. I have a picture of my dad in his uniform with a small white dog and he may not have been a mascot but there were many who made jumps along with their masters during the war.
Our time in Normandy will be a journey I will not soon forget as there will not be many of ‘The Greatest Generation’ left after the 80th year, so it is with fond heartfelt memories that I wish to thank all veterans everywhere for their service to our country and may we never forget.
In honor of my father, Kenneth E. Marsh, I have written a fiction children’s book about a little white dog who is passionate about protecting his small master. ‘Earthbound to Airborne’ may become a book soon.
McManis, from Conroe, is the author of the children’s books “Ima and the Great Texas Ostrich Race,” “The Wild Texas Stampede” “Ole, Cinco de Mayo” and her most recent effort “The Ham Grenade Holiday” about a holiday dinner gone wrong.
See more about her books at momomcmanis.com.
McManis will also have a booth at the First Baptist Church Christmas Bazaar in October.