This D-Day Veterans In Trucking Is Remembering those on the frontlines of freeing the world from tyranny and oppression. We wanted our audience to hear from the Allied Heroes in their words:
Capt. George Montgomery, with the 82nd Airborne, wrote about his D-Day experiences to his fiancée Arline:
Arline Dearest…
My chute was on fire from tracer bullets when I landed — right in front of a machine gun emplacement. I cut out of my harness & crawled for a couple of hours with bullets whistling past my ears, coming from seemingly every direction….
We have had mail brought to us twice and have been permitted to write twice. Both mail calls brought me letters from you Arline — & I could have wept with joy & relief to hear from you & that you were still of a mind to be Mrs. G. Montgomery one of these days.
- Montgomery returned home to Iowa after the war and married Arline in 1946.
Shortly before D-Day, 2nd Lt. Jack Lundberg Wrote A Good Bye Letter to His Parents telling them that the fight is worth the sacrifice for the United States:
Now that I am actually here, I see that the chances of my returning to all of you are quite slim, therefore I want to write this letter now while I am yet able.
I want you to know how much I love each of you. You mean everything to me, and it is the realization of your love that gives me the courage to continue…. I have requested that this letter be forwarded only in the event I do not return.
You have had many times more than your share of illness and deaths in the family — still you have continued to exemplify what true parents should.
I am sorry to add to your grief — but at all times, realize that my thoughts are of you constantly and that I feel that in some small way I am helping to bring this wasteful war to a conclusion. We of the United States have something to fight for — never more fully have I realized that. There just is no other country with comparable wealth, advancement, or standard of living. The U.S.A. is worth a sacrifice! Remember always that I love you each most fervently and I am proud of you. Consider Mary, my wife, as having taken my place in the family circle and watch over each other.
Love to my family, Jack
- Two and a half weeks after D-Day, Lundberg was the lead navigator on a B-17 flying over Abbeville, France, that was hit by German anti-aircraft fire, burst into flames and crashed. Lundberg was killed.
P-47 pilot Capt. George Rarey found out before D-Day that he was a father, and wrote this letter:
Junie!… Got back from a mission at 4 o’clock this afternoon & … what did I see? The Deacon waving at me as I walked up the road to the shack. A small yellow envelope — I thought it was a little early, but I quit breathing completely until the wonderful news unfolded — A Son! Darling, Junie! … I’m so proud of you, I’m beside myself….
Junie, if this letter makes no sense forget it — I’m sort of delirious. This iron hut looks like a castle — I’m a father. I have a son!
- Rarey’s P-47 was shot down a couple weeks after D-Day while supporting ground troops. He died without seeing his son.
