http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/ci_4553627
French bring Normandy Badge to veteran
By Marisa Donelan
Sentinel & Enterprise
Article Launched:10/26/2006 11:02:28 AM EDT
LEOMINSTER -- John O'Day couldn't make it to a Boston ceremony last December, when the French Consulate General awarded seven New England veterans of World War II with the Normandy Badge.
So on Wednesday, the French came to him.
"We learned of Mr. O'Day and decided to honor him with the Normandy Badge for his service," Alexis Berthier, the press and public affairs attaché for the Consulate General of France in Boston said Wednesday. "We thought he deserved, more than greatly, the recognition of the French people."
Berthier gave O'Day, 82, a medal depicting the Allied forces' victorious invasion of the beach at Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944 -- D-Day -- and a framed certificate honoring O'Day's service in the United States Army during the battle.
O'Day could not attend the Dec. 21 ceremony at the Statehouse because of an illness in his family, he told the Sentinel & Enterprise last winter.
More than 30 people attended Wednesday's event, including several city officials and residents of the Sunrise Assisted Living Center, where O'Day and his wife, Irene, live.
Berthier said the medal is a way for the French people to thank American servicemen for liberating France, saying his grandmother -- who lived in the Brittany province -- always considered them heroes.
"She said she noticed at the time all these very young and handsome American men," he said. "Not only were they handsome, they also freed her."
O'Day served in the Company B, 158th Combat Engineer Battalion in the invasion on Utah Beach.
He said after Wednesday's ceremony that 35 to 50 of the men in his unit died that day.
"It's something you don't ever want to see too much of," O'Day said. "If you go down on the beach and see the sites, you think of the people who were killed next to you."
Berthier said the Normandy Badge is intended to recognize the living veterans of the war, as well as those who died for the cause.
"It was a battle that was defining, a battle that was very hard for those who fought it," he said. "While we honor those who are still with us today, we honor those who never left Normandy."
Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella also gave O'Day a certificate from the city.
"John isn't the type of guy who likes to talk about the fact that he's a hero," he said.
Mazzarella said O'Day served Leominster after returning from war, acting for years on city economic development boards and helping businesses set up shop in the city.
"John was fortunate. He came back," Mazzarella said. "A lot of people didn't. And we're very lucky to have him."
O'Day appeared emotionally stirred by the awards, thanking Mazzarella and Berthier and saying, "I am very, very happy to be here."
Leominster Veterans Services Director Richard Voutour said the French Consulate's office went out of their way to honor O'Day.
"We don't have two many World War II veterans remaining," Voutour said. "It's nice to honor the ones who are still here with us."
French bring Normandy Badge to veteran
By Marisa Donelan
Sentinel & Enterprise
Article Launched:10/26/2006 11:02:28 AM EDT
LEOMINSTER -- John O'Day couldn't make it to a Boston ceremony last December, when the French Consulate General awarded seven New England veterans of World War II with the Normandy Badge.
So on Wednesday, the French came to him.
"We learned of Mr. O'Day and decided to honor him with the Normandy Badge for his service," Alexis Berthier, the press and public affairs attaché for the Consulate General of France in Boston said Wednesday. "We thought he deserved, more than greatly, the recognition of the French people."
Berthier gave O'Day, 82, a medal depicting the Allied forces' victorious invasion of the beach at Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944 -- D-Day -- and a framed certificate honoring O'Day's service in the United States Army during the battle.
O'Day could not attend the Dec. 21 ceremony at the Statehouse because of an illness in his family, he told the Sentinel & Enterprise last winter.
More than 30 people attended Wednesday's event, including several city officials and residents of the Sunrise Assisted Living Center, where O'Day and his wife, Irene, live.
Berthier said the medal is a way for the French people to thank American servicemen for liberating France, saying his grandmother -- who lived in the Brittany province -- always considered them heroes.
"She said she noticed at the time all these very young and handsome American men," he said. "Not only were they handsome, they also freed her."
O'Day served in the Company B, 158th Combat Engineer Battalion in the invasion on Utah Beach.
He said after Wednesday's ceremony that 35 to 50 of the men in his unit died that day.
"It's something you don't ever want to see too much of," O'Day said. "If you go down on the beach and see the sites, you think of the people who were killed next to you."
Berthier said the Normandy Badge is intended to recognize the living veterans of the war, as well as those who died for the cause.
"It was a battle that was defining, a battle that was very hard for those who fought it," he said. "While we honor those who are still with us today, we honor those who never left Normandy."
Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella also gave O'Day a certificate from the city.
"John isn't the type of guy who likes to talk about the fact that he's a hero," he said.
Mazzarella said O'Day served Leominster after returning from war, acting for years on city economic development boards and helping businesses set up shop in the city.
"John was fortunate. He came back," Mazzarella said. "A lot of people didn't. And we're very lucky to have him."
O'Day appeared emotionally stirred by the awards, thanking Mazzarella and Berthier and saying, "I am very, very happy to be here."
Leominster Veterans Services Director Richard Voutour said the French Consulate's office went out of their way to honor O'Day.
"We don't have two many World War II veterans remaining," Voutour said. "It's nice to honor the ones who are still here with us."
