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An unassuming American hero
This weekend has had me thinking about military history and the one man I have met who was there when it was chronicled in blood.
When I met Frank Nelson of Roanoke Rapids 10 years ago, I never would have suspected he was anything more than a quick-to-smile grandfather. He was as easy-going on Memorial Day weekend in 1999 as any other fellow. But an interview with him revealed an unassuming American hero.
Nelson was a member of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, which helped storm Omaha Beach, the toughest-held of the five sectors the Allies seized in the invasion of France on D-Day, June 6, 1944. By his account, he was in the midst of the battle for a strip of land that some have come to call “Bloody Omaha.”
Nelson spoke quietly of the fighting and the other horrors he saw in the war. When his landing craft floundered offshore, he found himself wading through chest-deep water to get into battle. Once there, he and the other soldiers fought their way up narrow passes from the beach to the tops of overlooking cliffs. One time, he helped set an explosive charge that blew a German pillbox from a cliff’s face into the surf below.
From the story I wrote for the June 6, 1999, edition of the Telegram:
“Reactions drilled into him by training took over as war raged up close and personal around Nelson. But two thoughts were running through his mind.
“‘You think, “This is the last day of my life. I might as well do things because this is the last day of my life,”’ he explained.”
The war exacted its toll on Nelson. Eventually, he was captured by the Germans after a firefight. He saw two badly wounded men, who also were captured with him, executed by the Germans. He later was forced to work in a coal mine while a prisoner.
All of these things added up, leaving Nelson eventually to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. When I met him 55 years after D-Day, he still found it too painful to watch ceremonies marking the event or popular attractions such as the movie “Saving Private Ryan.” He participated in a psychiatrist-led support group for former prisoners of war.
Again, from the Telegram profile:
“‘I don’t pity myself,’ he said, sitting forward in his chair to make the point. ‘That was a duty I was supposed to have. What was so bad was the guys I was with are still over there.’”
Please share your stories about the veterans you know by commenting on this blog or by e-mailing Ross.
Comments
By Hazel Rawls Carr
October 6, 2009 12:02 PM | Link to this
Ross……the pictures arrived today. Thanks for returning them. Hope you enjoyed seeing some of “back when” of Rocky Mount. Don’t forget that Rocky MounD….. (notice spelling D instead of T) really began at the mound of Rocks out at the dam near the R M Mills.
Hazel Rawls Carr