NEW ULM -Bombs exploded and the ground shook like an earthquake as B-26 bombers completely destroyed St. Lo, France, not long after D-Day on June 6, 1944.
Germany fired radio-beam-guided, 500-pound V1 "Buzz" bombs day and night at southern England.
Hundreds of twin-engine, P-38 U.S. fighter planes flew wing-to-wing at 1,500 feet in an effort to shoot down the big bombs that resembled airplanes.
General George Patton's Third Army tried to break through German defenses, but met heavy resistance. Air strikes were ordered.
As the 65th anniversary of D-Day approaches on Saturday, Willis Havemeier reflected on his Army experience following the day the Allies invaded Europe during World War II.
Havemeier, who was a sergeant, served in the U.S. Army's 843rd Engineer Aviation Battalion that helped build airfields for U.S. fighter planes.
Soldiers constructed the airfields the old fashioned way - with blood, sweat and tears and not much modern machinery.
Less than a month after the D-Day Invasion of France that began June 6, 1944, Havemeier boarded a U.S. Navy troop and equipment transport ship at Southampton, England and crossed the English Channel to Omaha Beach, Normandy, France.
Because there were no piers remaining on which to unload, the two Navy ships stopped just off shore, in about 6 feet of water.
"We were part of the invasion force, things were still not very secure," Havemeier wrote in his memoirs about his arrival in Normandy.
His unit cleared future air strip land of unexploded ammunition including hand grenades, mines, live rifle shells and other German and American explosives.
After trees, brush and hedge rows were cleared, mile-long runways were water-proofed with diesel fuel, tar and roofing material that came in 400-pound rolls.
Soldiers worked up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week. The intense work schedule allowed air bases to be ready in just 21 days.
Havemeier was sergeant of arms for guard duty, in charge of eight soldiers who helped protect the airfield while it was being built.
"Not much rest or much food, K rations in cardboard boxes at first," Havemeier said. "No running water or toilets. We were lucky if we got drinking water. Showers and clothes washing was done from water stored in your helmet, if you got any."
When he suffered an appendicitis attack, he rode an ambulance to a field hospital where he waited for surgery, lying on a stretcher in a tent.
"There were many combat casualties at this hospital. Thousands of men went through much more wartime hell that I did, losing arms and legs," Havemeier added. "When I saw them, I didn't complain about anything."
He later learned that a close childhood friend of his - U.S. Army infantry soldier Eldor Wieland of New Ulm - died in the D-Day Invasion. Wieland is buried in a cemetery with more than 9,000 U.S. soldiers in Normandy.
Havemeier received a letter of appreciation from Commanding Lt. Col. George P. Munson, Jr of the 843rd Engineer Aviation Battalion.
"Each of you can carry with you as long as you live the satisfaction of knowing you had and active and important part in the achievement of this great victory...in the world's greatest conflict," Munson wrote.
"In spite of repeated danger from enemy action, continual rain, icy, mud, sleet and snow, you never failed to accomplish a mission assigned to you," Munson added. "You are a living example of the reason America can never be beaten in war or surpassed in peace."
Like most war veterans, Havemeier had some fun before he was shipped overseas.
Visiting New York City, he went to the top of the Empire State Building, enjoyed a $1.75 glass of beer at Jack Dempsey's bar.
Soldiers went to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel to see Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians Dance Band, but the doorman wouldn't let them in since it was off limits to military members at the time.
Riding an overcrowded cargo ship across the Atlantic on their way home from war, soldiers celebrated Thanksgiving Day with a turkey dinner. However, the meat was spoiled and hundreds of soldiers got dysentery besides being sea sick.
"They were relieving themselves all over the top deck," he added. "Ship's deckhands washed the ship down with fire hoses. Then a terrible storm tossed us around for five days and nights. I didn't think we'd make it."
Havemeier was credited with serving in four battle campaigns - Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland and Central Europe.
Several years ago, he received the Jubilee of Liberty Medal for fighting in Normandy to restore freedom to the French people.
(Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).
