Local men attend 80th anniversary ceremonies of the D-Day invasion
Two men, two different life experiences evolved in Europe because of World War II.
Yet, for both Army soldier Anthony “Tony” Pagano of Sparks and Holocaust survivor Leon Malmed of South Lake Tahoe, California, their worlds intersected on June 6 at the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, which severely diminished the Germans’ stronghold in northern France.
The 98-year-old Pagano and 86-year-old Malmed were the only two local men with ties to World War II flown to Normandy and 68 other men and women for the week by American Airlines. They returned to the Reno-Tahoe International Airport on June 8 to a group of well-wishers holding signs and waving small American flags.
On May 30, Pagano and Malmed joined other veterans or civilians who contributed to the war effort. Their whirlwind week first took them to Dallas, home of American Airlines, for dinner and entertainment from a big band playing all the familiar tunes from the 1940s and the Victory Belles, who perform at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The following day, the group left for Paris to begin their week in France, culminating with the journey’s final leg at the beaches of Normandy.
“Wonderful. It was an exciting itinerary,” Pagano proclaimed Saturday after returning to Reno.
A Normandy reunion
Malmed, a young child during the war, said he was grateful for the various welcoming comments from dignitaries and the appreciation expressed by the French people.
“It was very, very emotional of a speech given by President Emmanuel Macron of France,” Malmed noted. “It was nice to see the people have not forgotten.”
Malmed, born in France, said the people showed their appreciation for the veterans and others who contributed to the war effort. One ceremony in Paris specifically resonated with Malmed, who later served in the French Air Force for four years beginning in the late 1950s. He had been drafted during the French-Algerian war and trained as an airplane mechanic.
The group also visited the iconic Eiffel Tower and participated in le Ravivage de la Flamme, which honors fallen French service members at the Arc de Triomphe. Another show of reverence came at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Suresnes American Cemetery, the final resting place for 1,541 American soldiers killed in World War I.
Pagano reflected on their visits to both the City of Lights and Normandy, where thousands of American soldiers are buried.
“There’s a lot of sadness at the cemeteries,” Pagano added, hesitating to say more.
Likewise, the sorrows of 80 years ago also caused Malmed to return to his youth. As a young boy, his family lived outside of Paris. When the Nazis stormed into France in 1940 and marched down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Malmed was a young 4-year-old boy. Less than a year later, the Nazis arrested his parents and deported them to Auschwitz, a concentration camp in Poland. He and his sister Rachel listened to lies perpetuated by their German aggressors.
“At the time, our father, a small man, and mother were taken away,” Malmed recalled.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” his father replied as he was being taken away.
“I remember seeing these Stars of David. These were friends of mine.”
Malmed, though, distinctly remembers a Nazi soldier assuring them not to worry that their captors would take good care of their parents.
“They never came back,” Malmed said.
Their 5-year-old cousin and more than 260 children were also deported to Auschwitz, and like Malmed’s parents, they never returned.
Malmed and his sister miraculously survived, although they were hidden by other family members and friends and moved around to avoid the Nazis’ detection.
Leaving Paris, Pagano, Malmed, his wife Patricia, and the other travelers saw the pastoral countryside that continually reminded the older French generations of an idyllic life before the Germans invaded their country 84 years ago. For many, though, the D-Day invasion and prolonged watch of the Normandy beaches represented a turning point in the war.
Different paths in life
Malmed immigrated to the United States 60 years ago with his first wife and an 18-month-old child. He later studied at UCLA and Stanford University. He lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 30 years, holding positions in the chemical engineering field, before relocating to Lake Tahoe.
Malmed, who won national cycling titles in 2002 by competing in the 85-89-year-old division, also penned “We Survived … At Last, I Speak,” a memoir of his life.
Pagano, who enlisted in the Army on Nov. 15, 1943, said he traveled to Fort Benning (now Fort Moore), Georgia, for specialized training in combat engineering before the Army suspended the program. Once he finished his training, the Army transferred Pagano to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, before his unit shipped out to Europe months after D-Day, arriving at Normandy in October 1944. The New Jersey native, who left the service with the rank of staff sergeant, was assigned to the 87th Infantry Division. He then became a combat engineer in the 1255th Engineer Battalion, and according to records, only four engineers, including Pagano, remain alive. Lt. Gen. George Patton commanded The Third Army.
“I had stayed at Omaha Beach for two days, but I had to go to Cherbourg to pick up my Jeep,” Pagano pointed out.
Days after the soldiers landed in Normandy, the different units began to spread out in France. The Third Army remained in northern France and slowly began its trek toward Belgium and to an eventual Battle of the Bulge or the Ardennes Offensive that occurred from Dec. 16 to Jan. 25, 1945. More than 19,000 men died, many of whom froze to death before they were rescued, and another 75,000 were wounded in the densely forested region between Belgium and Luxembourg. The Battle of the Bulge has been called the deadliest single World War II battle for American troops.
Pagano’s battalion eventually liberated the last town in Luxembourg, but the overall toll was high, especially emotionally, for the New Jersey native. He also picked up fellow wounded soldiers in his Jeep despite the constant barrage of German artillery fire.
“There was lots of sadness,” said Pagano, then 19 years old. “I remember seeing these Stars of David. These were friends of mine.”
Twelve of his buddies, many of whom Pagano had known in high school, were killed and buried at the 50-acre Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial, the same graveyard where Patton is buried. The cemetery serves as the final resting place for 5,074 Americans, including the medics whom Pagano called heroes because of the stress they faced to survive.
Pagano, who studied medicine after the war and became a physician, reflected on the heroism of the medics, who put their lives on the line to save others. He said 12 of his friends — all medics — were killed. He said people don’t realize the highest rate of deaths in the Army involved the medics.
Never forgetting
As the veterans spent several days at the Normandy coast, Pagano said he met a colleague, and they shared stories. Pagano said he hasn’t forgotten what happened 80 years ago and never did those who attended the remembrance ceremony.
“I think of the mortality,” Pagano said, his voice becoming softer.
Of the 4,414 Allied troops killed on that day, 2,501 were Americans. Thousands of people from different generations remembered the fallen during the week with words and buglers playing Taps, a final call for the veterans.
“That’s a big emotional thing when they play Taps at the cemetery,” Pagano added.
The D-Day invasion was only the beginning for the Allies. Pagano’s unit slowly marched eastward into Germany, and on May 7, 1945, near Gotha, they heard the German Third Reich unconditionally surrendered. Pagano, though, didn’t return home until February 1946 and was discharged a month later.
Even 80 years later, Pagano offered additional reflections on the fallen warriors who never returned. Pagano paused, his eyes welling up with tears. His voice grew softer, a little more unsteady.
Said Pagano, “Young people don’t think about death, but they think of the young men who died.”
