By Danielle DeSimone

There was a time when it was relatively easy to hear a D-Day veteran’s story first-hand. All you had to do was ask your neighbor, uncle, grandpa or dad.

Now, however, with all surviving World War II in their 90s or older, many veterans have passed away. In fact, only around 119,550 of the 16 million Americans who served in WWII are still alive today. As a result, the stories of those who were at the beaches in Normandy are becoming harder and harder to find.

As the anniversary of D-Day and the Normandy invasions approaches, here are the memories of four World War II veterans from that historic day and the months that followed.

Photo credit USO/Sandi Gohn

Robert Fischman at the 75th anniversary of D-Day at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. in May 2019.

Robert Fischman

Robert Fischman was 18 years old when he was aboard the USS Texas, a Navy battleship from World War I that was utilized during the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944.

The USS Texas fired over 250 rounds of 14-inch shells on German positions along Omaha Beach in just 34 minutes. It also provided cover for the stranded U.S. Ranger battalion at Pointe du Hoc, all while receiving return fire from Germans positioned on the cliffs. The ship was hit three times.

I didn’t know what was happening,“ Robert said. "I only knew I had to do what I had to do.

While all this was going on, Robert was tasked with rescuing and retrieving Rangers from the choppy waters beneath the cliffs as well as on Omaha Beach from a small rescue boat. In the end, the USS Texas, Robert and his men rescued 93 Army Rangers.

“I learned a lot when I was just eighteen,” Robert said.

Photo credit USO/Sandi Gohn

Vernon Foster at the 75th anniversary of D-Day at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. in May 2019.

Vernon Foster

Vernon Foster arrived on the shores of Normandy a few months following D-Day and made his way inland into France with the Army 714th Tank Battalion. His M-4 Sherman tank, named “Dottie” after his wife, was part of the 12th Armored Division and was briefly attached to General Patton’s command.

I never cried, but I cried that day,” Vernon said. “Three of my men were injured, and there I was – needing a whole new crew of sergeants – and that day I cried, I never cried before or since. Tough day.

Vernon – then a lieutenant – fought in the Battle of the Bulge and also made his way deep into Germany, fighting Nazis in Herrlisheim and Ludwigshafen. When recalling the Army’s efforts in liberating France, Fernon has fond memories of the kindness of the French and how they would offer American soldiers home-cooked meals – a welcome respite from GI food.

“They were kind to us,” Foster said. “And we worked hard for them.”

Photo credit USO/Sandi Gohn

Frank Kaszuba, Sr. at the 75th anniversary of D-Day at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. in May 2019.

Frank Kaszuba, Sr.

“I’m one of the fortunate ones. I know it, and I don’t try to take advantage of it. But somebody had to do it.”

Frank Kaszuba, Sr. arrived in the fourth wave of the Normandy landings, just a few weeks after D-Day, as part of the 28th Infantry Division.

And after that,” Frank said. “It was hell all over.

The division would make its way across France and into Germany, where Frank would be captured and held as a prisoner of war in a German concentration camp for 6 months. He was 22 years old.

Photo credit French Embassy in the U.S.

John T. Siewert, Sr. at the 75th anniversary of D-Day at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. in May 2019.

John T. Siewert

John T. Siewert enlisted in the Navy at age 18 and would go on to serve on the USS Satterlee on D-Day, which, after escorting minesweepers along Omaha Beach, bombarded the German-occupied coastlines to break up the enemy line.

We were all kids between the ages of 17 and 24 … and instead of a rowboat put on a small lake, I was trained to steer a destroyer,” John said. “And it was like a movie … the horizon just erupted.

USS Satterlee specifically provided gunfire support for the famous 200 U.S. Army Rangers who scaled the sheer cliffs of Pointe du Hoc throughout the entire day of June 6, 1944. John spent the next 40 days defending the beaches of Normandy, eventually serving 20 months in the Atlantic and 10 months in the Pacific.

“It was an adventure,” John said, when asked how he remembered feeling on D-Day. “We were trained to do something, and we knew that if every man did his job, then everything was going to be okay.”

* * *

In May 2019, on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, Robert Fischman, Vernon Foster and Frank Kaszuba, Sr., were recognized by the Republic of France and awarded the French Legion of Honor, the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, for their actions on D-Day and in World War II. John T. Siewert had already been presented with the French Legion of Honor in 1944.

Since the publication of this story in 2019, all four of these World War II veterans have passed away. Our thoughts are with their loved ones, and we thank these service members - and all those who were on the front lines of this momentous day in history - for their tremendous service and sacrifice.

-This story originally appeared on USO.org in 2019. It has been updated in 2024.