D DAY REMEMBRANCE

After I found out several years ago about my uncle's military record , and particularly his part in D Day, June 6, 1944, I had a new appreciation of the importance of this day in the history of World War II. My uncle, Ross Cody, was with the 101st Airborne which parachuted behind enemy lines in France to cause a distraction for the Normandy landing and also to destroy some routes and protect others. Watching the movie "The Longest Day" provided a new insight into what it was like on that day when 160,000 Allied soldiers stormed the French coast and dropped inland. It was only in the last five years that I found out about Ross' exemplary service in the war and the medals he has to prove it. On special days remembering servicemen I make a special effort to call him in Ashland, Ohio, and let him know how proud of him I am.

Here's how Ross described his D Day experience in an interview in the Mansfield (OH) NewsJournal which reported that he went into D Day in a glider filled with explosives and weaponry.

"They sent us in with a bomber group headed for Berlin, but once we were over the coast of France the bombers left and we went in to land about 30 miles inland from the beaches"

"Our job was to make as much noise and cause enough explosions to make the Germans pull way from the beaches."

"We were lucky. We make it into a field. You're scared, of course. You don't know where you will land or how you will ever get out."

"We managed to blow up a lot of German artillery and houses, too. At first there weren't many Germans, but when they came there was a fight."

Ross Cody then fought throughout Europe including the famous Battle of the Bulge. During his service he was awarded two Purple Hearts, a Combat Infantry Badge and a Silver Star.