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Marion Leventhal was 19 when she heard the crackling voice of Winston Churchill over the radio announcing perhaps the most momentous news of World War II the Allies successfully launched a European invasion on the shores of Normandy.
We were all sitting around and listening to the wireless, and the war ended in a very horrible way, I think, because we lost many, many good young men, said Leventhal, who grew up in Essex, England and survived the Battle of Britain. As far as 44, it was quite a day we all had knowing what was going on from the wireless (radio). It was good news, but it wasnt good news for families who had lost young men.
Monday marked the 67th anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of Normandy by the Allied Troops. Arthur Scarcia arrived at the beaches of Normandy five days after D-Day to clean up the bodies, piles of them. Scarcia, who was born and raised in New Rochelle, served under General Patton for most of World War II.
There were bodies all over, said Scarcia. A lot of lives were lost. It was more than people thought, and even today, I dont think we know how bad it really was.
New Rochelle resident Barbara Carlo was 10 years old on D-Day. At the time, she didnt know what the invasion meant for the war or for people whose families were serving. Her mother shed tears of joy to hear that a massive invasion could finally put an end to the war.
I remember coming home on D-Day, and my mother was screaming all over the house, said Carlo. She was so happy that the war was coming to an end..
On Monday Leventhal sat calmly at a table in the Hugh A. Doyle Senior Center. She thought back 67 years to the day that changed the course of the war. For her, the news brought a glimmer of hope that the war would soon be over.
It was good news because we felt as though we were going to be safe again.
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