D-Day
Remembering those who didn't come home
On the 81st Anniversary of D-Day,
Remembering those who didn't come home
Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach - D-Day
On June 6, 1941, while still working at Bethlehem Steel, Walter Geldon married Anna Hitcho in Freemansburg.
That made D-Day his third anniversary day. His mates helped him celebrate it as they were jammed shoulder to shoulder in their amphibious landing craft as they crossed the English Channel and approached Omaha Beach. The band of hardened Army Rangers sang "Happy Anniversary" to him. Within seconds of hitting Omaha Beach, 23-year-old Geldon was dead.
"I remember dropping three different times. Each time I did, machine guns burst in front of my face in the sand. I didn't stop because I knew what was coming; I saw Walter Geldon with his hand raised asking for help. Walter never made it. He died on his third wedding anniversary." Sgt. Donald Scribner, 2nd Rangers, Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944
One-third of the company would be killed, and another third wounded on the blood-soaked sands of Omaha Beach.
Steven Spielberg based the gruesome introduction to the movie "Saving Private Ryan" on the Ranger battalion, one of the first to hit the beaches on D-Day.
