In the early morning of June 6, 1944 Dal Estes, Orval Monson and members of the 467th AAA Automatic Weapons Squad helped take out this German bunker, WN65, guarding a key exit off of Omaha Beach. They returned 50 years later to return the Nazi flag taken from inside the bunker to the people of France. It is now in the Musee Omaha 6 Juin in St. Laurent sur Mer, France. A plaque now commemorates their unit"s heroic actions on D-Day.
Orval Monson is our family patriarch and lives in Bonney Lake, Washington outside of Seattle. He is a gentle, mild mannered, humble man and we can only imagine his feelings at finding himself a soldier with a gun in his hands facing a ruthless enemy. We are very proud of the wonderful person he has always been and for his courage in taking up arms in the service of his country. We are grateful he is still with us.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. It was my honor to meet Orval in Normandy at the home of Daniel Lebrec when I travelled to France with my sister Lisa and my dad. We have every reason to be proud and grateful for these men. I work at the War Museum three days a week and enjoy speaking about these heroes of Normandy and beyond. Their legacy will never be forgotten!
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