Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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JUNE 18-24, 2014 UCW 5 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM D-Day commemorations have always had special meaning for me. I was not there during that fateful and historic time, of course, but my father was. A veteran of one year of medical school, he was an Army medic who arrived on D-Day 4 or 5. I am hazy on the details, because like many survivors of Allies' stunning assault on Normandy beaches, he never spoke of it to my mother, my sister or me. He did, however, tell us about his friends with whom he shared bonds we could only imagine. Proof of those friendships were found in most of the family trips we took when I was a child. All of them that were not to a North Carolina beach involved a 30th Infantry Division gathering of one sort or another throughout the United States. His friends were people he never would have known outside the U.S. Army, and he loved them dearly. The young men whose baby faces and lean, muscular bodies we see in World War II news reels are old men now, in their 80s and 90s, and we are losing them daily. So, the 70th anniversary of D-Day commemorated earlier this month seemed especially poignant as I poured over accounts of stooped, white-haired men embracing each other all across our country and Europe and especially at Normandy itself. Some of them will never see each other again, and they know it. My favorite story of this year's D-Day commemorations is a happy one. Bernard Jordan, an Englishman a week or so shy of his 90th birthday, was determined to go to the 70th anniversary ceremonies at Normandy. And why not? He had attended the 50th and 60th commemorations and saw no reason he should not go this year. But his senior care facility, the Pines in Sussex, either could not or perhaps did not, get him signed up for a group trip in a timely manner, so Jordan simply took matters into his own very capable hands. The Royal Navy veteran and former mayor of his city apparently pinned his World War II medals to his chest, donned a raincoat to cover the evidence, and took off. By the time the Pines realized Jordan had not returned from what staff assumed was his regular trip to town, he had fallen in with a group of other veterans on their way to Normandy and was well into the six hour or so bus ride to Normandy via the Chunnel. By the time staff and local police figured out where he was, Jordan was ensconced in a Normandy hotel resting up to attend the D-Day ceremonies. Meanwhile, back at the Pines, Irene, his wife of nearly 70 years, owned up to knowing about her husband's plan but kept her lips zipped so he could make his get away. Jordan had a grand time on his adventure and returned several days later on-a cross channel ferry where he gobbled up a breakfast of bacon, fried eggs, sausage, orange juice and coffee. British newspapers abounded with photographs of people who wanted to have their pictures taken with a grinning Jordan, more than a few of them attractive young women. A spokesman for the ferry line said Jordan could travel with them without charge for life. News outlets around the world have dubbed Jordan the "D-Day Runaway" and termed his trip to Normandy "The Great Escape." It is both charming and amusing to think of him bucking the authorities in his life at the nursing home and setting out solo. The word "plucky" comes to mind. So does the strength and determination of the thousands of Allied troops who swallowed their fear, crossed the beaches and scaled the cliffs of Normandy 70 years ago. These men are first among the people Tom Brokow dubbed "The Greatest Generation," and their bravery altered the course of history. Like my father, though, Jordan was not talking about that. Jordan continues to look ahead, not backwards. Speaking to a British broadcaster, Jordan summed up his D-Day adventure this way. "Because I wanted to go to this show here that was on today, that was the main reason I came over here. It was a first-class show because I have been here last year and I have been here obviously this time and I'm going to — touch wood I am still with us — try next year's as well." My father is long gone, and I am so glad I now know Bernard Jordan even at a distance. Our Heroes by MARGARET DICKSON MARGARET DICKSON, Contributing Writer, COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com.. 910.484.6200. Contest&RequestLine: 910-764-1073 www.christian107.com KeepingtheMainThing...theMainThing. visitusonline FocusontheFamily 20Countdown Magazine Adventures in Odyssey Serving Fayetteville Over 50 Years! 484-0261 1304 Morganton Rd. Mon-Sat: 6am-10pm Sun: 7am-2:30 pm Daily Specials • Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner Fresh Seafood • Hand Cut Steaks • Homemade Desserts • Italian & Greek • Children's Menu Banquet rooms available up to 100 guests Bernard Jordan, pictured above, caught the world's attention when he made his way to Normandy for the D-Day Commemoration. The World War II vet made headlines for his "escape" from his nursing home.