April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
WORLD WAR II
Amsterdam vet honored at 70th anniversary of D-Day
Describes storming beach at Normandy, life in POW camp
The first wave of Americans to land on the beaches of Normandy, France, faced significant odds, including high tide and better-equipped German soldiers. Mr. Trzaskos was part of the second wave as a member of the 29th Infantry Division.
"We saw all our dead American soldiers there," he said. "The officer said, 'C'mon. Do you want to die, too?'
"The guy who went in front of me stepped on a land mine," he added. "The Germans killed our Catholic priest, Father O'Grady.
"I had my First Communion rosary with me, [and] I had my faith."
Captured
After four sleepless nights, the surviving soldiers were finally trying to get some rest when Germans captured 58 Americans, including Mr. Trzaskos. He was a prisoner of war for 11 months.
This June, Mr. Trzaskos and his family traveled to France for six days of memorials and celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of D-Day with other surviving World War II veterans.
He had gone back to France with his wife, Florence, 15 years ago, but this time was special.
"The next 10 years, everybody will be over 100 years old, so there won't be any of us around," he said. "It was something that I'm still alive. It's something that I'll never forget."
International media showered the American veterans with interview requests. American and French leaders showed up for the ceremonies. The French people showed gratitude around every corner.
"Small children were coming up to my father, giving him paintings and asking for his autograph," said Mr. Trzaskos' daughter, Christine. "Every little town we went to was like that. They celebrate their liberation every year. That was a surprise.
Thank you, sir
"It's very gratifying to see the acknowledgement," she added. "[My father] had his own suffering as a prisoner, but the soldiers in his division kept fighting. The sacrifice was enormous. The French still realize it, [but] I think it's fading from memory as these veterans pass on" in the U.S.
Mr. Trzaskos said the French people treated the veterans "royally" as they visited historical monuments, sites and cemeteries and handed out American flags to excited children. He and his family spent another leg of their trip visiting cathedrals, artist Claude Monet's gardens and other attractions.
Mr. Trzaskos accepted the attention he received around the anniversary of D-Day, though he does want to "close the door" on that chapter of his life. He generally doesn't talk about the war much.
"He never wore it on his sleeve," Ms. Trzaskos said. After newscaster Tom Brokaw's book "The Greatest Generation" came out, "he started telling more stories. But he never bragged about it."
Wartime memories
Mr. Trzaskos, an Amsterdam native, worked at GE for three months after high school in 1942 before being drafted as a private in the U.S. Army. He never got a furlough after basic training in Macon, Ga., but was shipped to England, where he spent 11 months waiting for the invasion.
"They were laughing at us that we were protecting the British troops doing the fighting," he said.
Two days before D-Day, he was on guard duty when an officer approached him.
"I said, 'Halt, who goes there?' He said, 'General Eisenhower.' I said, 'Advance and be recognized.' He came over and said, 'Good work, soldier.'
"He was having tea and crumpets with his lady friend," he said with a laugh.
The next day, the soldiers in Mr. Trzaskos' division got a real breakfast - not the powdered food they had been eating prior to that. He would appreciate that breakfast even more after being captured by the Germans.
"They put us on a bus and drove us to Paris to show the civilians that the invasion failed," he remembered. "The French would give us the V sign."
The Germans put the POWs in boxcars, at least 50 to a car, for a three- or four-day trek to Czechoslovakia - slowed down by American planes' attempts to take out the train's engine. They had to dig holes in the train cars to create latrines.
Life for 11 months in Czechoslovakia was spent doing manual labor, often among international civilians, who were "mistreated - hit with shovels," Mr. Trzaskos said. The soldiers were not abused, but could rarely rest. They slept on bags filled with straw, and "while you were sleeping, the bedbugs would come out and bite you."
POW life
The POWs got two meals a day of black bread and grits; on Sundays, they ate horse meat. Mr. Trzaskos recalls receiving seven packages of canned ham, cheeses and American cigarettes from the International Red Cross.
He said he never came across a "real Nazi.
"The Germans took everything I had, but they gave me back the rosary," he said. "That rosary got me through. I told my wife to put it in my casket."
The day before the war ended, the Germans running the camp killed a chicken and fed the soldiers a real meal. Back home, Mr. Trzaskos had to be fed in slowly increased amounts to ease his body back into a normal diet.
He said some American soldiers were livid when they saw that German POWs at a stateside demobilization center looked healthy: "One of our guys jumped the counter and grabbed one of them by the throat and said, 'You guys get treated like kings!'"
Mr. and Mrs.
The line for returning veterans trying to get work at GE was too long, so Mr. Trzaskos lived with his parents and said he had fun for a year as part of the "52/20 club," receiving $20 a week. He met Mrs. Trzaskos at a New Year's Eve dance around 1947.
"I wasn't much of a dancer," he said. "She could dance with high heels."
Florence Trzaskos had done her part to keep him safe before they even met: "All of us girls used to go to novena every Thursday to pray for the people over there," she said.
Mr. Trzaskos spent four decades as a firefighter with the Amsterdam Fire Department. He and his wife enjoyed traveling the world and the country until age slowed them down. They still enjoy senior center events, dining out and seeing ballets and orchestras. [[In-content Ad]]
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