Anne SnabesThe Detroit News
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Grosse Pointe Woods ― Though World War II veteran Larry Bennett didn't participate in the D-Day landings in Normandy, he and other American troops landed on the beaches of southern France in August 1944 ― more than two months after D-Day.
He was part of the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division, which helped to liberate southern France. After landing just east of the city of Marseille, the division walked northward along the Rhône River valley. Bennett said civilians in each of the towns they liberated were glad to see the Americans.
"People were overjoyed to see us and tossed flowers as we battle-marched through these towns," he said.
Bennett, a 100-year-old resident of Grosse Pointe Woods, is scheduled to attend a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday at The War Memorial in Grosse Pointe Farms. It will include remarks by a brigadier general, an air show and a 1940's-era USO concert.
"I think that the younger generation should know what happened in those early days so they can continue on and make a better living for everybody," Bennett said.
D-Day ― June 6, 1944 ― was the day when Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy and began their invasion of France, the first wedge in the fight to regain the country and that would result less than a year later in the surrender of Nazi Germany.
Veterans and other residents of Metro Detroit are planning to commemorate the day by participating in one of several ceremonies taking place across the region Thursday. The Michigan World War II Legacy Memorial in Royal Oak is having a ceremony midday Thursday, and the Packard Proving Grounds Historic Site in Shelby Township is holding a commemorative event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Judy Maten, a board member of the Michigan World War II Legacy Memorial, said her organization works closely with living World War II veterans, and it also honors deceased D-Day veterans (among other warfront and home front heroes) in the "Walk of Honor" at the memorial.
"It's important for us to remember and to honor them, but also to pay tribute to those veterans that are still with us," Maten said. "And so any chance we get to do that, we will."
Events planned for D-Day
The War Memorial in Grosse Pointe Farms will hold a D-Day ceremony at 6 p.m. Thursday (the grounds open at 5 p.m.). The ceremony will take place front of the memorial's sculpture, called "Les Braves II: At Water's Edge." Brett Pulte, the memorial's director of marketing and communications, said the sculpture is the only reproduction of the original "Les Braves" sculpture, which was made for the 60th anniversary of D-Day and stands on Omaha Beach in Normandy.
During Thursday's ceremony, Brig. Gen.Michael B.Lalor, who is the commanding general of U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, will give an address. The event also will include an air show over Lake St. Clair by the The Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum and a USO show by the Rhythm Society Orchestra.
Pulte estimated that around 800 people will attend the ceremony. He said his organization wants it to be an "uplifting and memorable" experience for everyone who attends.
In Shelby Township, the Packard Proving Grounds Historic Site is holding a "D-Day + 80 Years" event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday. Deborah Remer, a trustee for the Packard Motor Car Foundation, which runs the historic site on Van Dyke Avenue between 22 Mile and 23 Mile, said the free D-Day event will begin with a flag raising ceremony, followed by a flag folding ceremony and then lectures about D-Day and the Packard Proving Grounds' connection to the war. The proving grounds became a tank arsenal proving ground during World War II, where tanks and other vehicles were tested.
In Royal Oak, the Michigan World War II Legacy Memorial is holding an event from noon to 5 p.m. Thursday. The memorial honors World War II veterans and "Rosie the Riveters" from across the state, and the first phase of it was dedicated last August.
Military vehicles will be on display at the memorial Thursday, a rifle collector will bring some of his collection of Japanese rifles and Mission BBQ will provide food. The day will include a short ceremony at 12:30 p.m. to commemorate D-Day, featuring a speech by Royal Oak resident Neil Sobeck, the grandson of a D-Day veteran.
Sobeck said his grandfather, who served in the U.S. Navy from 1943-46, piloted boats that landed on the Normandy beaches, dropping off the troops. Sobeck said he will share some of his grandfather's stories in his speech.
"I think this World War II Memorial, in particular, in Royal Oak helps to bring light to the sacrifices that people gave and really helps future generations to learn about the World War II and how important it was in our nation's history," said Sobeck, 45.
World War II veterans to attend events
The last remaining World War II veterans are now in their 90s or older. The National WWII Museum in New Orleans says 119,550 American World War II veterans were alive as of 2023, including 4,400 in Michigan, according to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs statistics.
One such veteran is Art Fishman, 97, of Oak Park who served in the Navy from 1945-1946 after doing military training in high school. He plans to attend the ceremony at the Michigan World War II Legacy Memorial on Thursday.
Fishman worked as an engineer for the Navy, which involved watching the gauges for the engines on the ship. He said he was "below deck." The ship traveled to Guam, the Philippines, Iwo Jima and other locations.
"Did I see 'em all? No," Fishman said. "Even when I went to Panama Canal, I was on duty for 12 hours straight, saw nothing. ... When you're on duty, you don't move, unless you get replaced by somebody, and we were short at that time."
Fishman said days like D-Day aren't for remembering the date of the event, but for remembering "the people that made this day an event."
"That's the purpose of that is to remember the guys that gave all there is," he said. "There wasn't more for them to give. They're no longer alive."
Bennett, the veteran in Grosse Pointe Woods, is set to attend the event at The War Memorial on Thursday evening. A tribute video will be shown during the ceremony featuring interviews with some World War II veterans like Bennett.
Bennett said American service members in World War II felt they were "saving the world so that people could live free again."
"I think modern-day people should know exactly what we fought for," he said.
asnabes@detroitnews.com
