A combat newbie, Private Benjamin Alvarado was part of the second wave of troops to arrive on D-Day, landing on the Easy Red section of Omaha Beach. In his memoir, he described the adrenaline-filled first moments of the invasion. Continuing into the French countryside with the First Infantry Division, he witnessed tank battles, atrocities committed against French civilians by the Germans, and the sense of relief that permeated the American troops when Paris was liberated. Wounded on September 26th, 1944, he was evacuated from the field; looking in the mirror in the hospital, he at first didn’t recognize himself.
We honor you, Benjamin Alvarado.
(#Repost @Veteran’s History Project)