"It felt so surreal ― like something you'd see in a movie, only you couldn't close your eyes at the parts you didn't like ― not if you wanted to stay alive!"
I'll never forget the sound of shots flying all around us, slamming into planes as we flew on the Atlantic side of Normandy. I jumped, and it wasn't five minutes later we walked smack dab into the German machine guns, killing two of my friends. With some help from my friends, I finally got back to my platoon.
I was bandaged up and still able to stay in the fight, until Carentan .
That's where I got blown up by a couple of 88 shells, landing me in the hospital in England for about 6 months. That was the end of fighting for me. But it wasn't the last time I jumped ― that would come a few decades later, when some of the guys had the wild idea to go to Normandy and jump to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the invasion.
Some of the big shots said we were too old and we'd get hurt .
But that just made me want to do it even more. My wife even said I'd never get enough guys to do it. I got 19 of them. The only problem was we didn't have a plane or parachutes. And that's when one of the guys wrote a letter to Bill Clinton and handed it to his bodyguard, telling him how we wanted to go back and jump. The oldest was 83, and youngest was 68 or 69, but Bill still said, "Let 'em jump."
And none of it would have been possible without support from our friends .
One of the guys contacted the parachute club in Paris, and they donated the parachutes. A travel agent in San Diego convinced the president of Continental Airlines to give us free airfare. It was nice to see that sort of "friends helping friends" thing in action again.
And I guess that's why I'm telling you this story ― to remind you of how much the little things add up for guys like me. It's not easy to ask for help, yet that's exactly what we need to get the benefits we earned.
Thanks to loyal folks like you, the DAV is able to help other guys get the benefits they deserve . so they don't have to wait 37 years like I did. I hope you know how much you matter to us, and that you can find a way to help some of these younger guys get the help they need.
Friends helping friends ― does it really get any more American than that?
Sincerely,
Robert Williams
WWII Veteran
506 Parachute Regiment - Normandy
P.S. Many of us are dealing with injuries that we can't afford to pay for ― like the shots for the degeneration in my right eye ― that's $3,000. There's no way I could pay for that on my own . but thanks to loyal folks like you I was able to get the benefits I earned. | 
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