Omaha Beach

Charles H. "Harry" Heinlein, a young Army machine-gunner who survived the D-Day landing on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, and returned 60 years later, died Saturday of pneumonia at Stella Maris Hospice. The longtime Violetville resident was 90. Mr. Heinlein was a 22-year-old private from Baltimore attached to the famed 29th Division when he landed on Omaha Beach at 7:40 a.m. June 6, 1944, as part of what Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower called the "Great Crusade" that would eventually liberate Europe's millions from the domination of Adolf Hitler.

Charles H. "Harry" Heinlein, a young Army machine-gunner who survived the D-Day landing on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, and returned 60 years later, died Saturday of pneumonia at Stella Maris Hospice. The longtime Violetville resident was 90. Mr. Heinlein was a 22-year-old private from Baltimore attached to the famed 29th Division when he landed on Omaha Beach at 7:40 a.m. June 6, 1944, as part of what Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower called the "Great Crusade" that would eventually liberate Europe's millions from the domination of Adolf Hitler.

James F. Barlow, a retired masonry contractor who drove a weapon carrier at Omaha Beach during the World War II Allied invasion, died Sept. 1 at St. Agnes Medical Center after suffering a fractured hip at his Academy Heights home. He was 87. Mr. Barlow was co-grand marshal of this year's Catonsville July 4th parade and was the commander of two veterans posts. He also led the parade in 1994 for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Born in Baltimore and raised near Union Square, he attended 14 Holy Martyrs School and was a 1942 graduate of St. Martin's High School, where he was the center on the school's basketball team.

James F. Barlow, a retired masonry contractor who drove a weapon carrier at Omaha Beach during the World War II Allied invasion, died Sept. 1 at St. Agnes Medical Center after suffering a fractured hip at his Academy Heights home. He was 87. Mr. Barlow was co-grand marshal of this year's Catonsville July 4th parade and was the commander of two veterans posts. He also led the parade in 1994 for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Born in Baltimore and raised near Union Square, he attended 14 Holy Martyrs School and was a 1942 graduate of St. Martin's High School, where he was the center on the school's basketball team.

John George Grosskopf, a retired machinist and World War II veteran who landed at Normandy on D-Day and was later decorated for valor, died Nov. 1, his 90th birthday, of complications from an infection at Franklin Square Hospital Center. Born in Baltimore and raised on North Kenwood Avenue, Mr. Grosskopf was a graduate of Samuel Gompers General Vocational School and was working for General Elevator Co. when he was drafted in 1941. He was sent to England aboard the Queen Mary as part of the 115th Infantry of the 29th Division, which was to be part of the D-Day invasion.

On a warm spring day in Emporia, Va., it's not hard to find the home of William "Daddy" Rowell. Down Main Street, right around the corner, past a few bungalows and off to the side, you see a sedan the neighbors all know. The plates read "D-Day Veteran." Potted chrysanthemums and a U.S. flag adorn a tidy porch. He opens the door, grinning like a granddad whose kids may come by a little too rarely. The albums are ready - pictures and clippings, saved over 50-some years, a thousand snapshots of a life that brings together two star-spangled themes in a way few men's ever have.

John Polyniak, a World War II veteran who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and later was severely wounded during the battle for St. Lo, died June 7 of heart failure at the Encore at Turf Valley assisted-living facility in Ellicott City. Mr. Polyniak's death at 92 came 67 years and a day after he stormed ashore in France with his comrades of Company C, 116th Infantry, of the 29th Division, in the first frenetic predawn moments of the D-Day invasion. "This was a big day in my life," he wrote in an unpublished account of the invasion.

Albert Raim, my father, grew up on Lombard Street. By the end of World War II he had trained the crews who dropped the atomic bombs on Japan in how to fly their B-29s by instruments. Martin Klein, my father-in-law, grew up on Smallwood Street. He was one of the few unwounded soldiers in the first wave to make it to Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944 — D-Day. I still find it amazing that these otherwise ordinary men had such a direct impact on two of the most monumental events in world history.

SOUTHAMPTON, England -- On the night of June 5, 1944, about the time that Allied paratroopers were landing behind German lines in Normandy and several hours after the largest invasion force in history had set out across the English Channel, a fleet of civilian-operated U.S. Army tugs pulled away from the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England.Their mission was to guide selected U.S. merchant ships into positions off Omaha Beach, where they would be intentionally sunk to create a breakwater.

Within 48 hours after the first assault wave hit Normandy on June 6, 1944, Allied forces had secured the beachhead and Hitler's Atlantic Wall began to crumble. But for the soldiers who survived D-Day and for the tens of thousands who who followed them, the battle for Europe had just begun.The 29th Division would not take its key objective in France, the town of St. Lo, until July 18. For the rest of the year, the battle raged across France, into Belgium and the Netherlands and finally into Germany.

Charles Alego "Charlie" Wilson Jr., retired owner of a Baltimore stationery company, died Tuesday from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at his Easton home. The former Stevenson resident was 91. Mr. Wilson was born in Baltimore and spent his early years on Kathland Avenue before moving with his family in the 1930s to the Greenspring Valley. After graduating from McDonogh School in 1939, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1943 from the Johns Hopkins University.

John Polyniak, a World War II veteran who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and later was severely wounded during the battle for St. Lo, died June 7 of heart failure at the Encore at Turf Valley assisted-living facility in Ellicott City. Mr. Polyniak's death at 92 came 67 years and a day after he stormed ashore in France with his comrades of Company C, 116th Infantry, of the 29th Division, in the first frenetic predawn moments of the D-Day invasion. "This was a big day in my life," he wrote in an unpublished account of the invasion.

This June marks the 67th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy, and the beginning of the end of World War II. The last great D-Day commemorations were held two years ago, as there likely won't be many veterans alive for the 70th. But Normandy's inhabitants haven't forgotten what the British, Canadian and American troops and their families sacrificed all those years ago. When I was on the small main square of a town in Normandy, an elderly Frenchman approached me and sang a few bars of "The Star-Spangled Banner.

Albert Raim, my father, grew up on Lombard Street. By the end of World War II he had trained the crews who dropped the atomic bombs on Japan in how to fly their B-29s by instruments. Martin Klein, my father-in-law, grew up on Smallwood Street. He was one of the few unwounded soldiers in the first wave to make it to Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944 — D-Day. I still find it amazing that these otherwise ordinary men had such a direct impact on two of the most monumental events in world history.

Holbrook "Hobey" Bradley, The Sun's last surviving World War II correspondent, who covered the 29th Infantry Division from D-Day to the German surrender and later wrote of his wartime experiences, died Saturday of bladder cancer at a daughter's home in Encinitas, Calif. He was 93. "Bradley was very much a flamboyant devil-may-care guy who courted danger. He made it a habit of always being on the front lines," said Joseph R.L. Sterne, former editorial page editor of The Sun, whose book, "Combat Correspondents: The Baltimore Sun in World War II," was published last year.

John George Grosskopf, a retired machinist and World War II veteran who landed at Normandy on D-Day and was later decorated for valor, died Nov. 1, his 90th birthday, of complications from an infection at Franklin Square Hospital Center. Born in Baltimore and raised on North Kenwood Avenue, Mr. Grosskopf was a graduate of Samuel Gompers General Vocational School and was working for General Elevator Co. when he was drafted in 1941. He was sent to England aboard the Queen Mary as part of the 115th Infantry of the 29th Division, which was to be part of the D-Day invasion.

Charles Alego "Charlie" Wilson Jr., retired owner of a Baltimore stationery company, died Tuesday from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at his Easton home. The former Stevenson resident was 91. Mr. Wilson was born in Baltimore and spent his early years on Kathland Avenue before moving with his family in the 1930s to the Greenspring Valley. After graduating from McDonogh School in 1939, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1943 from the Johns Hopkins University.

My Best Shot June Ray Smith, Shrewsbury, Pa. The beaches of Normandy Last summer I was taken with the tranquillity of this sunny beach and its lone, bright yellow umbrella standing in such stark contrast to the scene played out at that very site on June 6, 1944 - Omaha Beach, Normandy, France. A Memorable Place The enduring allure of ancient Greece Steven Speaks SPECIAL TO THE SUN I have never been much for traveling, which probably explains why it took me a full year to decide to leave Baltimore and move to Belgium to pursue a Ph.D.