Page 15 - AHATA

Ayo & Casibari: Aruba’s

famous rock formations Aruba’s cultural and
literary development:
Then and now

Page 7 Page 11

Sole Mare Ristorante Italiano; A
Traditional Family Restaurant
Tuesday
June 6, 2023
T: 582-7800
www.arubatoday.com
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Aruba’s ONLY English newspaper
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‘It was tough’: World War II veterans return to Utah Beach
By SYLVIE CORBET and JEFFREY SCHAEFFER
Associated Press
ON UTAH BEACH, France (AP) — World War II veterans
shared vivid memories of D-Day and the fighting as
dozens returned to Normandy beaches and key battle
sites to mark the 79th anniversary of the decisive assault
that led to the liberation of France and Western Europe
from Nazi control.
Looking at the vastness of Utah Beach, its sand blowing
in strong wind and bright sunshine, 99-year-old Robert
Gibson remembered: “it was tough.”
Gibson landed there on June 6, 1944 alongside more
than 150,000 other Allied troops.
He said there were “lots of casualties. We had almost run
over bodies to get in the beach. Never forget we were
only 18, 19 years old. ... I’m glad I made it.”
The first job of his battalion, he said, was “to guard an
ammunition dump and the first night it got struck. You
didn’t know where you were to go. Bullets were going all
over the place. But we ducked it.” World War II veteran Britain’s Bill Gladden, left, speaks with U.S WWII veteran Jack M. Larson in the
Pegasus Bridge memorial in Benouville, Normandy, Monday June 5, 2023.
Continued on Page 2 Associated Press