BY JOSH DAVIDSON
Staff Writer
The Center for World War II Studies and Conflict Resolution at Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, paid tribute to local World War II veterans for their bravery during the Allied attack on the German forces in France on June 6, 1944.
The event, held at the college May 20, honored D-Day veterans Peter Rubino, Leonard "Bud" Lomell, John Campbell, Al Meserlin and Freeholder Theodore Narozanick, and commemorated the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
To honor the veterans, area students and relatives read statements prepared by the veterans describing their D-Day experiences.
U.S. Army veteran Lomell’s statement was read by his niece Corinne DiCorcia, who attends Georgian Court University, in Lakewood.
Lomell landed on Omaha Beach on the coast of France at 6:30 a.m. on D-Day.
"Shot through my right side as I led the men ashore, I suddenly disappeared in water over my head as I stepped off the ramp [of a landing craft]," according to his statement. "I came out of the water, cold and wet, my right side hurting, with my arms still full of combat gear, with the help of my men. We hurriedly headed for the nearest rope, and up we went as fast as we could climb. The Germans were waiting for us on the top of the cliffs. They were waiting to cut our ropes, drop grenades on us and shoot us coming up the cliff. We could not shoot back or defend ourselves very well as we were climbing. We were seriously outnumbered, but we prevailed."
Lomell, of Toms River, and 22 soldiers went up the cliff in 15 minutes.
The men went on to take part in more combat missions as they searched for three German artillery guns they expected to find when they first arrived.
"Ten of the original 22 rangers in my boat team had been killed or were very badly wounded," he said. "We were surrounded and greatly outnumbered by German troops in broad daylight. Fortunately, the Germans had no idea we were in their midst."
Lomell and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jack Kuhn eventually found five German artillery guns aimed at allied soldiers on Utah Beach.
"The five big guns were located a little over a mile from where we had landed," he said. "About 100 yards away, a German officer was talking to about 75 men that we believed to be his gun crews."
The two soldiers used grenades and their gun butts to put the big guns out of commission.
"We luckily managed to do our job quickly and escaped without being discovered," he said.
For those actions, Lomell was awarded the Army’s highest decoration, the Distinguished Service Cross.
Some of the soldiers honored at Brookdale this year, along with other area veterans, will celebrate the D-Day anniversary in France.
Sol Lazinger, a World War II veteran from Lakewood, will visit the United Kingdom, France and Germany, beginning June 2. His trip will include an interview with Andy Rooney for the CBS program "60 Minutes."
Lazinger, 79, who joined the Army in 1943, said he was sent to France on a British destroyer ship.
He said he traveled with a group of soldiers through extremely rough waters to join the Allied attack on D-Day.
"We landed off-shore at Omaha Beach to absolute carnage," he said. "It was almost impossible to walk/tread our way to the beach with the waves, let alone with the shots being fired on us from land."
Lazinger then joined a company of soldiers fighting inland, as a replacement.
Through tough hand-to-hand combat, the company fought its way through the region, he said. Thick hedgerows worsened fighting conditions for the Allies, providing ample hiding places for the enemy, he said.
Lazinger and the other soldiers chased German soldiers through hundreds of miles in the region, making their way to Germany in September 1944, he said. Lazinger lost all sense of time during the long foot battle.
Lazinger was discharged from the Army on Oct. 4, 1944, after his leg was badly wounded in Ubach, Germany. While lying in a hospital bed there, he said he heard doctors talk about amputating his injured leg. But one doctor decided to try to save Lazinger’s leg, and the treatment was successful.
He traveled back to the United States on the S.S. Richardson, a British hospital ship. He was released to a hospital in Staten Island, N.Y., after spending about five months overseas.
"My own father didn’t recognize me when I came to the hospital," he said. "I had to call out to him because I was in such poor shape."
"The event which lingers with me most, is the night being shelled in the forests with wounded American soldiers," Lazinger said. He said he remembers soldiers crying out "mama" or "medic."
"They [the wounded soldiers] could not be found or helped at night, and were dead by morning," he said.
American soldiers fought against ruthless and more experienced German professional soldiers on D-Day, he said.
"The American soldiers did their job well," he said. "I never witnessed anyone running away, no matter how terrible and deadly the situation became. There were dead, dying, wounded buddies who served with honor and never served discreditably."
Lazinger said he believes each soldier set an example for the others by not running from battle. He still remembers the stories of his fellow soldiers, like Ben Nachelsky, his 19-year-old close friend from Ohio.
"[Nachelsky] was killed directly behind me on the Seigfried Line. He died with a telegram received that same day from the Red Cross, hanging out of his pocket, announcing that his wife had given birth to a son. It was a very sad letter that I sent to his wife."
Lazinger was grateful to come home and create a life for himself, he said.
"My heart still cries for the boys who did not make it home and never had a chance to grow up and have a life," he said.
Paul Zigo, the center’s coordinator, said that having young students read the veterans’ statements was the idea of Tara Bascom, a student at Ocean Township High School.
"We wanted to show everyone that there are real people with real stories who had real families behind everything we learn in textbooks," Bascom said. "If it wasn’t for their bravery, I know we wouldn’t be here now. Let them inspire you. These are your real-life heroes. These are the people we read about in books and see in movies."
The event also featured World War II-era musical selections performed by the Jackson Memorial Jazz Band. Kevin Coyne, author of "Marching Home: To War and Back Again With the Men of One American Town," was the keynote speaker.