Remembering the boys that stormed the beaches of Normandy | ABC30 Fresno

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By ABC30

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Bob Sales, D-Day Veteran said, "When I was 15 and a half years old I wanted to join the National Guard, the man asked me if i was 18 and i said yeah! He said here are some papers."

Bob Sales enlisted in the army: Lynchburg, Virginia's Company B. Soon after, the company found itself off the coast of France.

"Six o'clock. D-Day, Landing time for the first beachhead boats. This is it. "

Bob Sales has quite a story to tell. From sinking to the bottom of the ocean from all the weight he was carrying, to the stranger who took off his jacket and saved his life.

Bob Sales, D-Day Veteran said, "I was the only one who got off that boat alive."

"Commence bombardment. Sweep the beaches."

He watched his dear friend get shot in the head right in front of him and crawled through gunfire towards a wall on the beach.

Bob Sales, D-Day Veteran said, "I didn't give up, just keep my face down in the sand, crawling, body parts. It was just unbelievable.

On that fateful day, more than 20,000 Americans landed on Utah Beach. More than 30,000 on Omaha Beach. 2,500 Americans are believed to have lost their lives in the invasion.

Their final resting place: the American War Cemetery above Omaha Beach.

President George W. Bush said in June 2004, "We pray in the peace of this cemetery that they have reached the far shore of god's mercy."

President Reagan, June 6, 1984, said, "These are the heroes who helped end a war. "

Ever since, presidents have come here to pay their respects.

President Obama will visit the graves along with French President sarkozy on the 65th anniversary of D-Day.

Today, 83 year-old Bob Sales is only one of two surviving members of Company B.

That's why he continues educating anyone who's interested.

Bob Sales, D-Day Veteran said, "I think we've done a pretty good job of explaining WWII to the ones coming on, and you'd be surprised the patriotism that we've got. "

Soon, the tales of D-Day will be told only by newsreels and history books.