WWII Veteran recalls landing on Utah Beach in Normandy
'We came in on a landing craft with the front down, and we jumped into the water,' Army veteran Don Parker recalled of landing on Utah Beach a few days later. 'They had some – we'll call them cannons, they may have been 88s. That's what finally hit me. Well, it wasn't exactly comfortable, I don't know how else to describe it. It was bloody, it was messy.'
Landing in Normandy is something most people read about in history books, but Parker lived it.
'We crawled in front of Patton's tanks, and we probed with our bayonets to get the pressure bombs that were down under there. We had to get and disable the bombs,' he said. 'Patton brought his tanks across after that… He didn't lose any tanks there anyway.'
The rifleman remembers capturing a German outpost and earning a Bronze Star.
'I didn't think the choices were very good, but I had enough patriotism that it had to be done,' he said. 'It was necessary. That's about the only sensible thing to say. We had to do it and we did it.'
PREVIOUS STORY: World War II Army veteran celebrates 100th birthday
He said there is a mix of emotions about his time in the 79th Division during WWII.
'I was in college, I wanted to stay there. But when they drafted me, I didn't run to Canada,' he said. 'They want me? I'll go. And I went.'
Parker was later injured, almost losing his foot to gangrene.
'I was digging a foxhole, and a shell come in and [my feet were in fragments]. And then when they got me back to the surgeon, he looks at me and puts his hand on my shoulder and says, 'I'm sorry, son, but I have to cut off your left foot,'' Parker recalled. 'They were right, I was going to die, but I mean the timing was wrong because I've still got the foot and that was some years ago.'
SEE MORE: Abingdon veteran celebrates 100th birthday
And the 101-year-old has a message for those who are now the 'boots on the ground.'
'We did our best, that's what we'd want to see of the young soldiers now,' he said.
'D-Day | The Greatest Victory' is airing on WJHL+ at 9 p.m. on Friday to mark the 81st anniversary.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
a day ago
- UPI
Watch: Dog rescued from canal reunites with family after 6-year absence
FLFR Engine 47 rescued this sweet German shepherd from a canal early this morning. They brought her to the fire house where they fed her. FLPD tracked down her owners - all the way in St Cloud, FL. They say they're on the way to claim her! FLFR PIO (@FLFR411) August 5, 2025 Aug. 18 (UPI) -- A German shepherd rescued from a canal by Florida firefighters was reunited with her family -- who said the pet had been missing for six years. The Fort Lauderdale Fire Department said crews responded to a 911 call Aug. 5 and ended up fishing the canine, named Bella, out of a canal. "Our crew from Engine 47 responded to the scene and safely removed her from the water. Luckily, she was standing on a ledge and only partially submerged, making the grab easy," Frank Guzman, the department's Public Information officer, told "After the crew brought Bella to their fire house, she was given food and water and allowed to rest." Bella was scanned for a microchip, and officials discovered she had been adopted from Broward Animal Care and Adoption by the Nicholson family in 2018. The family said they were forced to temporarily move into a hotel when their house caught fire some time later, and Bella was placed into the care of a family friend, who gave the dog away without the family's knowledge or permission. Lisa and Jason Nicholson made the 200-mile drive from their St. Cloud home to Fort Lauderdale with daughters Jaylianna, 11, and Liberty, 18, in tow. The family had an emotional reunion with their long-lost pet at a Fort Lauderdale park. "Hugging Bella again felt like our family was made whole again -- like being reunited with a long-lost friend," Lisa Nicholson said. "We had a welcome party with a bunch of doggie treats and new toys. We gave her a steak and she loved it! She also got a new doggie bed." Nicholson said she hopes Bella's story will inspire other families to have their pets microchipped. "Bella was microchipped. And so anybody out there that does not believe that they work, they truly, truly work," she told ABC News.
Vogue
a day ago
- Vogue
I Hired a Top Celebrity Dog Trainer—Here's Everything I Learned
When people find out you're having a baby, you hear a lot of 'Congratulations!' and 'Mazel tov!' I heard a lot of: 'How is Marvin ever going to cope?' It was a reasonable question. Marvin is our dog—adorable, affectionate, anxious, liberally medicated. We rescued him during the pandemic, and he has earned more than his fair share of press—including in Dogue and the New York Post, the two true papers of record—for the heart-warming tale of his Upper West Side confab with the sons we at the time didn't know he had. His children turned out to have also made the trek from a shelter in Texas to New York, and were placed with new owners who lived within 20 blocks of us. CBS News filmed their reunion. Unaware of his fame, Marvin soon settled into a nice uptown life, barking at teenagers on skateboards, women with backpacks whom he deemed suspicious, Fresh Direct drivers, German shepherds, and several inanimate objects. After a period of crippling separation anxiety, he got on Prozac and an expensive speciality diet, submitted to some basic training so that he could handle the elevator, and seemed to acclimate relatively well to metropolitan life. He would never be an 'off-leash' dog, so we sometimes had to banish him to our bedroom when our parents came over after he developed strangely durable grudges against both of our moms. So what! We managed. But then we decided to have a baby, and Marvin—with his history of yelping at our doormen, scratching at innocent visitors, and generally causing mayhem—was put on notice. At least, I was putting him on notice. At the same time, my husband was testing out different coping mechanisms to deal with this imminent disruption in our lives and his—like telling people that he was sure it would all be fine while looking vaguely stricken, or googling 'anxious dog newborn' and then slamming his laptop shut.
Newsweek
a day ago
- Newsweek
China's Military Prepares to Show Off Huge Submarine Drones
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. China is set to debut at least two of its unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) during a military parade as the country's sea power gap with the United States continues to narrow. Why It Matters The preparations come as the People's Liberation Army Navy, the world's largest by hull count, steps up efforts to challenge U.S. primacy in the Western Pacific. Washington and its allies fear China will increasingly threaten freedom of navigation and raise the risk of an attack against Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory. Newsweek reached out to the Pentagon and the Chinese Defense Ministry via email for comment. A boy sits in front of a mural showing a People's Liberation Army Navy submarine in Qingdao, China, on April 20, 2024. A boy sits in front of a mural showing a People's Liberation Army Navy submarine in Qingdao, China, on April 20, To Know Naval News, a specialty outlet focused on naval technology, has identified at least two types of extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles (XLUUVs) in photos from rehearsals for the September 3 military parade in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, which marks the 80th anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender. Roughly 60 feet in length, the vessels barely fit onto the tank transporters seen carrying them. Their torpedo-shaped hull and pump-jet propulsion systems suggest stealth was at the core of the design. One of the subs, dubbed the AJX002 based on the markings observed on its hull in previous imagery. The other type has only been photographed while covered. Of the six seen during the rehearsal, four appeared to be AJX002 units and two a slightly larger type. Four lifting lugs along the AJX002's hull suggest it can be launched by crane, while a close-set pair of lugs midship indicates the hull can be separated for transport. Naval News added that China now runs the world's largest XLUUV program, with at least five types already "in the water" over the past several years, and the parade will be the first public showcase of these systems. Chinese President Xi Jinping has set the goal of completing China's military modernization by 2035. Undated image showing a submarine drone being transported in Beijing amid preparations for the September 3, 2025, military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia. Undated image showing a submarine drone being transported in Beijing amid preparations for the September 3, 2025, military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia. Weibo What People Are Saying Speaking with reporters in June, Wu Zeke, a senior officer on the Chinese Communist Party's Central Military Commission, hailed the PLA for overcoming technological hurdles and fielding cutting-edge platforms from aircraft carriers to strategic missiles and drones. "This has given our military greater confidence in its ability to fight and win," he said, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency. What Happens Next This progress has been particularly visible at sea. The People's Liberation Army Navy has poured resources into its submarine fleet, which the Pentagon expects to reach 65 boats this year—just shy of 71 the U.S. Navy subs operating worldwide—though China still trails its U.S. rival in terms of naval technology. The fleet includes about 12 nuclear-powered submarines, including six ballistic-missile boats, with the remainder being diesel-electric. Chinese military commentators have raised concerns over the PLAN's vulnerabilities to the U.S. undersea surveillance architecture in the western Pacific, exposing PLAN submarines to detection and targeting in a crisis, Ryan Martinson, an assistant professor at the U.S. Naval War College's China Maritime Studies Institute, wrote in an analysis of a November 2023 article in the Chinese journal Military Art.
