SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — This week will mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day — an invasion that changed the tides of World War II.
Those who fought and survived, and are still with us, are few and far between. One of these survivors is living in Suffolk and is continuing to tell his story.
Jack Ewald was only 19 when he landed on the beaches of Normandy.
Now at 94 years-old, he says he still remembers a lot about what happened, especially those he fought alongside with that day.
“I could sit here and tell you all day long about things that happened but you don’t want to hear that,” Ewald said.
We do, but there’s not enough time to tell you all the heroic things he did — like fighting on Omaha Beach, surviving it only to get captured by the Germans and then escaping that camp to flee the Russians.
“It didn’t change me. I’m still me,” Ewald said. “After the war, I didn’t talk about it much. I don’t think many guys did.”
He’s now ready to return to where it all happened.
“I’ve got enough now to cover anything and I’m not worried about it,” Ewald said. “Managed to do it by myself, which I wanted to do.”
And his family will go with him.
Ewald says it’s an honor to be there while so many others lost their lives in the battle and along the way. It’s something he recalled when French President Emmanuel Macron awarded him the Legion of Honor last April.
Ewald said, “(Macron) was trying to pin it through my pocket. I said, ‘Do you need any help?’ He said, ‘No! I got it!”
Macron also invited him to his speech to Congress.
Ewald wasn’t prepared for that reception.
“All of congress stood up and gave me a round of ovation,” Ewald said. “I said, ‘Gosh they’re applauding me! How does this happen?’ You know? I’m nobody special. I went through the same thing a lot of guys did. Maybe it’s because I lived so long. I hope it kinda represents all those guys that just didn’t make it.”
That’s why Ewald is so eager to return — to visit the graves of lost friends and brothers.
Ewald leaves for his trip on Tuesday, June 4, and will be back on Saturday, June 8. He plans on taking plenty of pictures and videos.
We will share those with you when we get them.