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| USS Nevada at Normandy |
June 6 was the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Under General
Dwight D. Eisenhower, over 160,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of
Normandy, France, to gain the European foothold in Europe that led to the
defeat of Germany a year later. History tells that more than 5,000 ships and 13,000
aircraft supported the invasion. Of the landed troops, more than 9,000 were
killed or wounded. Cousin Cal was there and said some drowned jumping from the Higgins boats into the rough
surf as the heavy packs pulled men under. Whether it helped
if one could swim, Cal didn't think so. Men died in the water and as soon as they hit the beach. That was from fire. The dying continued.
D-Day – or any other war or invasion – just didn’t happen “over
there.” Kewaunee County has been touched by all the wars. Even the War of 1812.
Then British sloops Felicity and Archangel were patrolling Lake
Michigan to keep an eye on the French and alliances they might be forming with
the Indians. Joseph McCormick who first visited the area in 1834 came out of
that war with the rank of Major. He is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery. Civil
War veterans were buried in Ahnapee/Algoma before McCormick, but his service
was the earliest. Algoma men were among the Kewaunee County men who served, and
Algoma men were at Normandy too.
During late summer 1944, Algoma Record Herald carried a
reprint from Canton Repository. The article looked back at D-Day saying
that America was not then fighting with money and material, but with thousands
of lives. The Repository said that until war struck home, it was
estimated, but not understood. It was happening daily with telegrams from the
Secretary of War saying he “regrets to announce…..” or “he died heroically.”
The article went on to say that survivors paid in sorrow for the sacrifice of
the dead and only survivors were qualified to speak of the war.
This 75th anniversary marks the last time World
War ll veterans will be in attendance. For the next big anniversary event, the
100th anniversary, there won't be any veterans left and few who lived through World War ll will be alive by then. Who
will begin to understand the sacrifices made at Normandy and all over the
world?
Algoma men wee among the over 156,000 U.S. men who stormed Normandy beaches where more
than 4,000 lost their lives. Thousands more were wounded or were missing.
U.S Navy Seaman Melvin F. Lessmiller was one who took part
in the invasion of Iwo Jima and in the invasion of the Philippine Islands. He
also took part in D-Day aboard the Texas. Another was Pharmacist’s Mate
3c Melvin Nessinger who was aboard the battleship Nevada, the Texas’
sister ship. Gunner’s Mate Ray Gerhart was another Algoma man on the Nevada
that day. When Pfc. Thomas Kaye returned to Algoma, the Record Herald noted his
certificate from his commanding general, Maj. Gen. Charles H. Gerhardt, who
recognized the unusual fighting toughness of his 29th Infantry
Division at Normandy. All participants of Normandy were entitled to one star on
their theater ribbons.
When Melvin Nessinger wrote from the Nevada to his
parents, he told them D-Day was something Hollywood could never reproduce. He
said several hours before H-hour, the sky was lit with dropping shells, but the
men didn’t know whose shells they were. He said their minds were torn by what
they’d find, and the mines that lined roads. Nessinger told how the ship
vibrated in the drone of over 800 bombers and shells hitting an 8-mile stretch
of beach, while contrasting the tracers’ beautiful patterns across the sky.
Shore batteries were firing on the invasion fleet when just
after dawn Messerschmitts came out of a cloud bank to meet tracer fire. For
Nessinger, hours melted into days and nights, and during the days, one could
see Allied transports from horizon to horizon as bombers and fighters worked to
find enemy positions. Melvin thanked folks for their letters and the prayers which
he said were being heard. Melvin was proud to be serving on the ship and glad
his parents had heard how well the men on the Nevada accounted for
themselves. The Nevada set new records for accuracy that day.
Lessmiller was both at Iwo Jima and Normandy and told his
parents that the Marines have “what it takes, and they take what they land on,
no matter what.” Nessinger and Gerhart went on to remind Algoma residents to
keep buying war bonds because on D-Day alone the Nevada presented “the
Germans with a gift of a million and a half dollars in ammunition alone.”
The Nevada was the only ship present at both Pearl
Harbor and Normandy, and Gerhart was aboard. Being launched in 1914 and serving
in World War l, the old battleship was the flagship at the Utah Beach landing. Hit
by 7 bombs and 2 torpedoes at Pearl Harbor, the ship lost 120 men.
Judge Donald Gleason spoke at Algoma’s commencement,
offering graduates advice and encouragement. He referenced the war and D-Day
saying the graduates would never forget their “graduation and D-Day – the day
of the European invasion.” It is doubtful that any ever did.
A week of two later, the Record Herald editorialized about
the thousands and thousands of “American boys” were giving their lives to “erase
Nazi tyranny from the face of this globe.” The paper pointed out that such
tragedy stirred others and how a steady flow of war materials was necessary.
The paper went on to say that maybe production wasn’t as dramatic as men
struggling against machine guns but production was imperative. It opined
that one day Algoma residents might learn that Algoma-made airplane and glider
parts played a role in the invasion of Europe. Residents did indeed learn the
role of Algoma Plywood made pieces.
And the U.S.S. Nevada? Wikipedia tells us that Nessinger
and Gerhart served aboard the 2nd U.S. Navy ship to be named for the
36th state. Launched in 1914, it was the lead ship of two
Nevada-class battleships and the first of the “standard-type” battleships.
Trapped at Pearl Harbor during the attack on December 7, it was the only
battleship to get underway during the attack. The damaged ship was salvaged and
modernized to serve in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. When the war was over,
the old battleship was used for atomic bomb practice. It was decommissioned in
August 1946 and later sunk for naval gunfire practice.
Nessinger, Gerhart and Lessmiller told some of their D-Day
stories. Stangelville’s James Steinberger never did. He was one of the
thousands killed at D-Day. The Record Herald said that “up and down the quiet
streets of this country and along rural highways, the homes of America were
paying the price for D-Day.” Casualty lists were beginning to catch up.
Raymond Julius Gerhart was born in Algoma on September 4,
1921 and died on October 15, 1979 in San Diego, California. He is buried in El
Camino Memorial Park.
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| Melvin Nessinger's stone in Pioneer Cemetery, Shortsville, New York |
Photos: Naval vessels online; Find a Grave.
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