Reporter's Notebook: Recalling an American WWII hero who helped fight off Nazi forces during Normandy invasion
The 81st anniversary of the famous U.S.-led D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, was recently commemorated.
Less well-known are the battles during the days and weeks that followed in Normandy, which helped secure the massive beachhead, so the allies could go on and defeat Nazi Germany in World II.
One of those clashes was at a bridge over a small river near the town of Sainte-Mère-Église. Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division landed near there early on the morning of June 6, 1944.
They had to hold the position against Germans threatening American forces who came ashore at Utah beach, one of the main landing sites.
One of those was Iowa-born 31-year-old U.S. Army Staff Sgt. William Owens. For three days, as his unit was cut down in combat from 45 to just 12 men, he bravely helped fight off the Germans.
He fired from three different machine gun positions, threw hand grenades, commanded bazooka teams and moved from foxhole to foxhole, coordinating action. The actions of him and his men eventually knocked out four German tanks, killed 275 German soldiers and stopped the Nazis dead in their tracks. It was hailed by historians as a key battle of the Normandy invasion.
On a recent day alongside the river in the now green and peaceful countryside, after years of research and lobbying at the Pentagon and in Congress, Owens was recognized for his valor in a ceremony during which his honors were upgraded to Distinguished Service Cross, the second most important medal the Army can bestow.
Chris Donahue, the commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa, told Fox News Owens' actions were "incredibly important. What Owens did is the exact model that all of us try to live up to."
Owens died at the age of 54 in 1967. His youngest daughter, British-raised Susan Marrow, said, "I don't have words to describe how full my heart is and how much it means to me."
His great-grandson, Harris Morales, was also proud to be there, saying, "without a doubt," Owens was a brave guy. As for the new recognition of Owens, he added, "It means everything, and I still don't believe it. It's still not real for me yet."
This comes at a time the world remains in turmoil from Ukraine to the Mideast and beyond. While 81 years seems like a long time ago, the heroism and inventiveness displayed by Owens then is still seen as relevant today.
"It is important," Morales said. "I don't think 81 years or any time is too long."
Speaking from a military standpoint, Gen. Donahue noted, "We're in the middle of a transformation, and we're going to continue to do that so we live up to what they have done."
As for lessons learned then, Owens' daughter had a simple answer, saying, "Do unto others as you would have them do onto you."
Sometimes, as in the case of Staff Sgt. William Owens, the dangerous behavior of "others" means acting with the greatest and sometimes brutal gallantry.
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Fatherhood in the US has evolved since the days of the breadwinner archetype. Changes in the economy led to changing gender roles in parenting. Today, fathers spend more time nurturing their children than ever before. A century ago, fatherhood often meant long hours at work to put bread on the table … and not spending much time with your children. By contrast, some fathers today get parental leave and have a more hands-on approach, from changing diapers to reading bedtime stories. Fatherhood looks different for every father, with factors like culture, finances, and family structures creating a unique experience for every dad. It's also a role that has changed over the past century. Shifts in gender dynamics and the workforce have impacted parenting and the roles of mothers and fathers. Events like the Great Depression, World War II, the 2008 crisis, and COVID-19 have all left a mark on parenting dynamics. Today, more fathers stay at home and nurture their children than ever before. This Father's Day, take a look back at how fatherhood has changed over the last 100 years, from the effects of industrialization to the rise of stay-at-home dads. In the pre-industrial days, a child's behavior was seen as a reflection of their father's raising. Before the industrialization of the US, and going back to the colonial period, fathers were seen as directly responsible for their children's upbringing. "If the children 'went bad,' it was blamed on the father," Regina Morantz-Sanchez, a history professor at the University of Michigan, told the university. This social standard meant fathers often took an active role in shaping a child. For many, especially in rural areas, this also meant training their children in skills needed to contribute to their communities, such as farming or hunting. Industrialization put the financial burden on fathers, who were expected to be breadwinners. The rise in industrial jobs, which were predominantly taken up by men, led to a change in social dynamics, where fathers now faced the financial responsibility of feeding their families, leading to the rise of the "breadwinner" trope. "The new economic structure separated the home and the workplace, which led to a new fatherly ideal," Morantz-Sanchez said. "The men became the breadwinners, and the women stayed at home. This took child-rearing out of the traditional male role." Amid the Great Depression, Father's Day honored dads and the different ways they supported their families. Although it didn't become a national holiday until 1972, Father's Day was first marked in the early 1900s. It began being more widely celebrated in the 1920s after the Great Depression, a time when many men spent long hours away from their families, while other men had faced the challenges of losing their jobs. The Great Depression also promoted Father's Day as a gifting holiday, as reported by the Old Farmer's Almanac, as this helped stimulate the economy. Drafts put a strain on fatherhood as men left their families for war. As World War II escalated in Europe by 1940, America implemented a draft that, initially, didn't include married men, leading to a "marriage boom," as reported by the Oregon Secretary of State. By 1943, fathers became eligible for the draft, and many men had to leave their families as they went off to war, continuing a trend of absent fatherhood in American society, whether it was caused by economic dynamics or, in this instance, a draft. After the war, many women stayed in the labor force, which began to shift parenting dynamics. After WW2, when women largely joined the workforce, working mothers became a more familiar concept for American society. By the 1960s, more married women worked than ever before in American history, as reported by PBS. Having two working parents became more typical, and with that came a heavier burden on housework and childcare. While mothers continued to serve as the main caregivers even while working themselves, some men began "helping" mothers, as reported in a 2009 report from the National Council on Family Relations. By the 1970s, some fathers began being more involved in their children's childcare. A new type of fatherhood began to emerge in the 1970s as men took on more of a nurturing role in their children's upbringing. This new archetype, named "the new nurturant father" at the time, as noted in a Cornell University study, was used to describe fathers who, although still serving as the main breadwinner of the house, also took on an active role in the emotional development of their children. Part of this came as a response to a rise in absent fathers after no-fault divorce began being legalized by 1969, which drew much criticism from the growing feminist movement as well as scrutiny from the psychological community. It was a time of shifting attitudes toward parenting, as feminists highlighted the invisible labor traditionally done by mothers, and as fathering researchers studied the effects of emotional detachment from absent fathers on both the children and the fathers themselves. A movement for "new fatherhood" began emerging in the 1980s as fathers continued to become more involved in their children's lives, as reported by Psychology Today. At the turn of the 20th century, more dads were staying home with their kids. Between 2003 and 2006, the rate of stay-at-home dads increased by 50%, as reported by the American Psychological Association. This aligned with the rise in women's wages, along with a growing sentiment of not wanting someone else to raise their children, per APA. Despite their growing presence in childcare, stay-at-home dads also reported feeling isolated from other stay-at-home parents, who were predominantly women. The trend continued after the 2008 economic crash. While rates of stay-at-home dads have fluctuated over the past 50 years, they have consistently increased during periods of high unemployment, per the Pew Research Center. After the 2008 financial crisis, many men stayed at home and provided childcare for their children. "In the aftermath of the Great Recession, we saw the share of all stay-at-home parents go up by several percentage points to about 29%," Pew Research Center's director of social trends research, Kim Parker, told CNBC in 2021. Still, the rates of stay-at-home have remained low — around 7% in 2021 — and their reasons to stay home differ from stay-at-home moms, with more men staying at home because of disability, retirement, inability to find a job, or going to school, according to the Pew Research Center. Rates of stay-at-home dads went up further after the COVID-19 pandemic, and time spent with children has remained at a historic high. As people left the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic, many men were presented with the opportunity to stay home with their children. As many as 7 million men between 25 and 54 did not return to the workforce after the pandemic, as reported by The Spectator. Today, per The New York Times, fathers spend more time with their children than previous generations, and parenting trends continue to shift toward a more balanced version of parenthood, where mothers and fathers share more of the responsibilities and joys of raising a child.
