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WWII veteran celebrates Memorial Day with Sabers

  • Published
  • By Ashley Mangin
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office Volunteer
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, GERMANY --  Memorial Day weekend is not just for barbecues. This year, Spangdahlem hosted a distinguished visitor to help kick-off the spirit of the weekend. 

World War II veteran 1st Lt. Frank Towers spoke to Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps members at Bitburg High School, and then to the public and a First Term Airman Class at the Willkommen Center May 24. 

"Memorial weekend is a weekend to commemorate Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines," said Chief Warrant Officer Third Heath Hielsberg, who is a member of the European Military History Group and responsible for putting the event together. 

Mr. Towers held a presentation open to the public in the afternoon. Era-inspired music accompanied a slideshow of war images before the presentation began, welcoming those interested in hearing Mr. Towers' stories. Mr. Towers was tapping his feet to the familiar songs as he gazed at the images of his past. 

As a part of the 30th Infantry Division, Mr. Towers was involved in several of the noted events in World War II. He has vivid recollections of the invasion of Normandy. 

"We heard a thunderous roar and we knew the invasion was on," Mr. Towers said about hearing the planes carrying paratroopers to Normandy flying overhead. 

His battalion was intended to land at Omaha Beach, but through a fluke, sailed to Utah Beach. Once there, they were ordered to leave. 

"We had the dubious honor of being the only battalion to land on both beaches during combat," Mr. Towers said. "The reason I remember so many details is because that was my birthday." 

Throughout the war, supplies became scarce on both sides. Mr. Towers remembered a German convoy using cattle and other farm animals to tow their vehicles that had run out of gas. There were two columns in the road and a plane spotted them. The pilot flattened the group, and many of the German soldiers and animals died. The native Belgians began to cut up the animals for food since they had been living in poverty under Nazi control. 

Mr. Towers said that they did not have anything to do with that, but they were happy for the Belgians for getting something to eat. 

Mr. Towers was also in the Battle of the Bulge, and saw Berlin fall. He recalled that they were ordered for political reasons not to advance on Berlin even though they could have walked there easily without firing a shot. He said that they had to sit and wait and then watch the Russians come in and take Berlin. 

The 30th Infantry Division was deactivated in November 1945. 

Mr. Towers was joined in the presentation by Roger Feller, who was a boy when Mr. Towers' battalion liberated his town in Luxembourg. 

Mr. Feller told many stories of his liberation, mainly about the new foods he was given by the Americans. He told a story about his first slice of American-style loaves of bread. 

"He gave me a slice, and I tried it," Mr. Eller said. "Well, I ate it in a few seconds because I was so hungry. I ran home to my mother and said, 'The Americans don't have bread. They only have cake,' because it was sweet, soft and white. We had bread, but you could use it as a weapon. I had never had anything like that before." 

Mr. Feller spoke with the bright eyes and excitement of the eight-year-old boy who was liberated as he thanked Mr. Towers and everyone in the room. 

"Thank you for what you did, and for what you are doing in Iraq," Mr. Feller said. 

"I had a wonderful life because of what you did," he said to his hero, Mr. Towers. 

Even now, after 63 years, Mr. Towers is still receiving thanks from people he knows, and from complete strangers, even those who speak a different language.
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