D-Day

DAV member recalls landing with the second wave at Omaha Beach

Louis Palermo was merely a teenager when he stormed Omaha Beach on D- Day, and 72 years later the impact of his experiences still lingers.

While many 18-year-olds can be caught daydreaming about summer and enjoying local beaches with friends and loved ones, Louis Palermo’s experience on the beach in 1944 was unforgettable.

This June marked 72 years since WWII veteran Louis Palermo was among thousands of soldiers who stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

It was the first combat experience for the teenager, and he was in the middle of the deadliest sector of the largest amphibious military assault in history.

Palermo was part of the assault’s second wave, after the first wave had been mostly decimated by German artillery, mortar and machine gun fire. Palermo plunged into the water when the ramp of the Higgins boat he was on dropped open. Palermo said it felt like an eternity, but it only took him about 10 minutes to get to the beach.

The second wave started landing around 7 a.m., a half hour after the first, and found much of the same situation. Palermo said, as more and more personnel and equipment landed, the beach got more and more crowded.

Palermo said very little progress had been made since the first wave landed and little to nothing had been done to slow down he enemies’ artillery. He added that companies had landed so far from their intended targets and were so intermixed, that organization was poor.

“The shingle was nearly completely occupied and those coming in had to remain on the open beach,” said Palermo, 90, of DAV Chapter 145 in Valley Stream, N.Y. “A lot of my comrades got killed. The Germans were throwing everything at us.”

The constant fire coming from the bunkers in front of him was too intense for him to get off a shot, so he burrowed down in the sand to try and avoid the German artillery raining down.

“I was just laying there,” said Palermo. “Just hoping that a bullet wouldn’t go through me.”

He stayed flat for an hour while rounds whistled by him and explosions just missed him. Then Palermo remembers hearing the order to move up as American artillery had entrenched itself on the beachhead, and heavy fire was finally being directed at the German bunkers.

“We knew that once we were established, the war would be ended,” said Palermo.

By the time Omaha Beach was under Allied control, 2,500 soldiers lay dead in the surf and on the sand, and about 1,000 more were wounded.

Living in foxholes, Palermo remained with the Allied forces after they gained control of the beaches and bluffs as they pushed across France toward Germany. Six months after surviving the chaos of Normandy, Palermo was at the Battle of the Bulge. During the battle, he was nicked by shrapnel from a German artillery shell near his shoulder blade, and was patched up and sent back to his post.

Palermo received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star from his wartime experiences and has always been devoted to veterans. He represents DAV and his fellow veterans at area high schools where he teaches young people about the realities of war. This volunteerism played a role in his recognition as Nassau County’s Senior Man of the Year award in 2014.

“I enjoy being active and helping people,” said Palermo. “The greatest reward is to brighten someone’s day. I feel it is important for veterans to know how much we appreciate them.”

“To have a man of Mr. Palermo’s caliber amongst our ranks is truly a blessing,” said DAV National Membership Director Doug Wells. “He is a leader, a hero and a prime example of why his generation is referred to as the ‘greatest generation.’”

After the war, Palermo returned home to Brooklyn. He married in 1958, and he and his wife, Norma, had two children, John and Joan. They now have four grandchildren.

“His memories left him with a deep appreciation for the liberties he was able to come home to,” said his wife Norma Palermo.

“I just hope we don’t get into another war,” he said. “I don’t want to see the younger generations go into combat anymore.”

If it were up to him, he said, stores would be closed on Memorial Day and a national moment of silence would be observed. “The heroes are the guys that got killed over there, that are buried,” he said. “They sacrificed their lives.”