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D-Day remembered
As veterans of "Operation Overlord" reunite this week in France, one participant in the invasion reflects on his lucky life
By Anne Sutherland Special to the Kansan
Luck, it would seem, has always been in Jim Clark's favor. He's been lucky at business with his car dealership. Lucky in love and family with his wife, Jannene, and with his four children and numerous grandchildren.
At 74, Jim Clark can look back and say, "I've been the luckiest guy all my life. I've had help from people and friends when I've needed it, and it's always gotten me by."
Sitting in his office in the basement of his spacious home, Clark can reflect on the experiences — especially those during World War II — that have made him such a lucky person.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of D-Day, Clark, his son and four of his granddaughters are going back to France to see the area where the Allies established their first toe-hold on the European continent. Clark and his family will meet other veterans of his division in Periers, France.
Fifty years ago, Clark was a captain in the 3rd Battalion when the U.S. Army invaded the coast of Normandy. The boat he traveled on, the U.S.S. Susan B. Anthony, was the only boat to sink on the
first day. One of the last of the 3200 soldiers to evacuate the ship, Clark jumped into the English Channel, leaving his heavy army boots behind. He was picked up by a British battle carrier and was among the first wave of soldiers that set foot on Utah beach during the invasion.
Clark didn't remain shoeless for long.
"Pretty soon there were a lot of guys who didn't need their shoes anymore," Clark said with a look of sad irony on his face.
Clark had been sent ahead to scout logistics for his troop which was planning to land the next day. He staked out a 40-acre stretch of land that his troop was to land on. Once the troop had arrived, he discovered that the nearby farmhouse was full of German soldiers waiting to surrender.
"They didn't want to surrender to just one guy, so they waited for more to show up," he said. "They were from Georgia, which had been captured by Germany, and had been forced into the army. They couldn't wait to give up."
Clark's memory of his first days of combat in World War II are very detailed. Even though it's been 50 years, he can recall the exact roads and details of the landscape in a country thousands of rules away.
"It was so different from anything I'd ever experienced. We were trained but it was just so." he said, his voice trailing off as he searched the single most memorable experience of his life. "It was an indelible experience."
trapped in the tributary of Normandy during WWII, the Allies tried to break through the German lines at Priers. The town had been bombarded by American planes for two straight hours. Clark was instructed to accompany Bob Cappa, aphotographer, and an Associated Press reporter into the city to see the destruction. They had walked three blocks into the city when Clark sensed German soldiers looking out from the surrounding bombed buildings. He insisted that they turn around, and all three made it back unharmed. Forty years later, Clark was honored as the premiere American to enter Periers, and a new subdivision of the town was named in his honor. It would seem that luck was once again on his side.
Lucky to have survived only a single battle injury during his three-month tour of duty, Clark returned to the United States and was awarded a Purple Heart. He graduated from Drake University, attended law school for awhile, then opened a car dealership in Lawrence.
During his stay in Perters, Clark and the other veterans of his troop visiting France will stay with French citizens with similar occupations. Because of his honor, Clark will have a special place in the town.
"They're putting doctors with doctors and so forth," he said. "I'll be staying with the mayor."
Source: Staff Research
Dave Campbell / KANSAN, Ed Walker, Seattle Times, Knight-Ridder Tribun
Veterans parachute into Normandy
Jim Clark, Lawrence resident and army captain durin D-Day, says he has had a lucky life, even in war.
The Associated Press
CAEN, France — Five D-Day veterans who parachuted into Normandy nursed minor injuries Monday, with one hospitalized for tests for back pains.
Earl W. Draper, 70, of Inverness, Fla, had a rough landing near Sainte-Mère-Eglise on Sunday after his main parachute tangled and he was forced to use a smaller emergency chute.
"He doesn't have any fractures," said Guy Adam, a hospital spokesman in Caen. "He's suffering from trauma to the spinal column, but he doesn't have any neurological problems."
After a long debate with French and American officials, 41 D-Day veterans were allowed to jump from two vintage planes Sunday before a cheering crowd.
Many of them were among the 13,000 American paratroopers who jumped near Sainte-Mere-Eglise before dawn on June 6, 1944, taking the town and blocking German reinforcements from the Normandy landing beaches.
Clinton honors WWII veterans
The Associated Press
OFF THE SHORE OF NORMANDY
— On a gray, misty morning off the shore of the once-bloodied Normandy beaches, President Clinton paid tribute Monday to the D-Day invaders of 50 years ago and their "raw courage and love of freedom and country."
"This new and historically accurate dawn reminds us of that dawn 60 years ago that brought us a new era." Clinton said from the deck of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington.
With the ship anchored in choppy English Channel waters, Clinton and Navy officers dropped a large wreath over the side of the carrier in honor of sailors who perished at sea during the Allied invasion.
Clinton called the Normandy landing "the pivot point of the war, and perhaps the pivot point of the century."
In emotional remarks, the president evoked memories of that day, calling it "a scene of terrible carnage."
Boarding the carrier Sunday, Clinton recalled the servicemen who embarked a half century ago, borne by thousands of ships, in the invasion that foretold the defeat of Nazi Germany.
"Iimagine how they must have felt, in choppy seas and bad weather," he told the crew. "Imagine how they must have looked to the enemy when they came across the horizon."
The lesson for today, he said, is that "if the Allies would stay together and stay strong, we would never need
another D-Day."
With leaders from other World War II Allied nations, Clinton joined in pageantry and ritual aboard the royal yacht, Britannia, then reviewed ships at anchor in sunny, windy Portsmouth Harbor. An armada of small boats joined the procession, hundreds of them churning a lacework of wakes across the choppy Solent, the outer harbor.
The Britannia sailed past 23 ships in the harbor procession, Queen Elizabeth II and her guests taking their salutes. British sailors lined their rails with white hats in outstretched hands, to shout hoorays in unison as the royal vessel passed.
More than 100 warplanes roared overhead in a massive flyby, modern jets from 12 nations, World War II fighters and bombers from the United States and Britain.
"We're here with these sporting vessels because of what we did 50 years ago," Clinton said later. "Our system and our values prevailed."
When the Britannia raced past the George Washington, U.S. sailors tipped their hats and cheered in the British manner. "Hip, hip, hip," came the voice on the loudspeaker. "Hooray," the sailors shouted together.
On the deck, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Christian took the opportunity to talk with Clinton about issues involving their two governments. "We talked about wheat and fish and Bosnia," he said later. "While looking, we talked shop, business. It's a pleasant way to work."
A volunteer crew, ages 19 to 78, sailed the O'Brien from San Francisco to Portsmouth for the D-Day anniversary. The new U.S. Merchant Marine flag was hoisted for the first time at sea after the president boarded. "It's the greatest day in my 51 years in the service," said retired Rear Adm. Thomas Patterson, who escorted the Clintons.
After the review, the president and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton transferred to a U.S. Navy launch, not a simple undertaking in the choppy waters, to board the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a World War II Liberty ship that made 11 shuttle voyages to the Normandy beachheads after the invasion. Mothballed after the war, the O'Brien was reconditioned by volunteers 15 years ago and became a national liberty ship memorial, the only one still sailing.
Then they boarded the George Washington for the five-hour voyage to an anchorage off the French coast, for D-Day ceremonies at the invasion beaches and the American cemetery at Colleville.
"As we honor those who served in World War II, we must also honor those of you who serve now, who are continuing the legacy they left us." Clinton said in his address to the George Washington crew.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — It took nearly 50 years, a random photograph and a wild series of coincidences for the family of Pfc. Andrew Relosky to learn that he died on D-Day, storming the beaches of Normandy.
"... Even though the Cold War is over, we are still on the eve of great endeavors — not to turn back armies of oppression which threaten our very existence, but to protect our safety and security and to expand the blessings of liberty," he said.
Coincidences lead to D-Day revelation
For decades, the family knew only that the 25-year-old died in World War II. No one knew where, when or how.
Until Albert Menno, a Buffalo doctor and amateur photographer, visited France in the fall of 1992, and the coincidences began.
The Associated Press
Menno walked among the 10,000 white marble grave markers at Omaha Beach and at random took a photo of a marker reading: "Andrew J. Belosky, P.F.C., June 6, 1944."
The picture was one of 600 Menno took on vacation and one of three he chose for a physicians' photo show about a year ago at Sisters Hospital. By chance, a nurse glanced at the photo — one of 75 at the show — and recognized the name; she knew a part-time nurse at Sisters named Julie Belosky.
The nurse suggested that Mrs. Relosky take a look. Mrs. Relosky called her husband's mother in Pittsburgh. They discovered that Andrew Relosky was the mother's brother-in-law.
"The odds against this are immense," Memno said. "I happened to be there. I happened to take a picture of that grave site. That picture happened to be chosen for the show. That happened to be the most readable marker."
On the 50th anniversary of the Normandy invasion, the Relosky family remains grateful that the mystery is solved: Andrew Relosky was killed on the bloodiest beach during the Allies' assault that started the fall of the Nazis. "It puts to rest any question of what finally happened to him," said Frank Relosky, Andrew Relosky's nephew.
People and places at the University of Kansas.
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SUMMER ON THE HILL
students who are high on stress and low on cash need not worry.
for the fourth year, Student Union Activities and the Association of University Residence Halls are offering "Summer on the Hill," inexpensive breaks from summer school stress on Thursday nights.
TOMORROW:
JUNE 16
The reggae band, Caribe, and Folklore Venezuela will be playing from 7 to 9:30 p.m., next to Lot 91 behind the Kansas Union.
Movie: "Reality Bites" at 9 p.m.
Movie: "E.T." at 9 p.m.
Concert: L.A. Ramblers and Shallow play at 9 p.m.
All shows are free. For more information, call 864-
SHOW or the SUA office at 864-3477.
EXHIBITS
From June 6 to June 18, the Lawrence Art Guild Association exhibit — a mixture of paintings, pottery, sculpture and other mixed media - will be in the Kansas Union Gallery on level 4. Hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The second Guild Association exhibit runs from June 23 through July 9.
The Lawrence Community Theatre will present "I Hate Hamlet" by Paul Rudnick on Thursday June 16 through Sunday June 19. Showtimes are at 8 p.m.
Thursday through Saturday. The Sunday matinee is at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 on Friday and Saturday,
and $8 on Thursday and Sunday. Senior and student tickets are available. The theatre is located at 1501 New Hampshire. Call 843-SHOW for tickets.
THEATER
COMEDY
East Side Comedy Shop will perform from June 17 to June 25 at the Renegade Theatre at 518 E. 8th St. Showtimes are Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tickets may be purchased for $6. For more information, call 842-8808.
Imagination Workshop, the award-winning comedy series produced by KANU-FM, will be presented at 8 p.m. on June 18 in Liberty Hall at 642 Massachusetts. Southeast Eighth Street in Topeka. Tickets may be purchased at the box office at 8th and Quincy in downtown Topeka. Prices range from $15 to $22. Phone orders may be placed at 1-291-9000 or 1-800-949-8722.
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