Free Republic

<p>RANVILLE, France (AP) — More than 20 British World War II veterans gathered Sunday near Pegasus Bridge in northwestern France, one of the first sites liberated by Allied forces from Nazi Germany, for commemorations honoring the nearly 160,000 troops from Britain, the U.S., Canada and other nations who landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944.</p>

Hal Baumgarten was a 19 year old private on D-Day. Jewish and originally from NYC, Baumgarten was in Company B of the 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th. He landed in the 2nd wave on Omaha Beach in one of the most heavily defended parts of Omaha, the Dog Green sector below the village of Vierville-sur-Mer (as depicted in the movie Saving Private Ryan). Hal was wounded 3 times on D-Day and twice more on June 7th. He had 23 surgeries after June 6, 1944, to repair wounds suffered on the Normandy coast of France. Hal has written several books...