‘Glad to be alive’: WWII vet recalls D-Day on Omaha Beach

By Jerry Turnquist

Daily Herald correspondent

One of the most difficult tasks facing the United States and its Allies in World War II was determining how to bring men and supplies ashore in highly fortified coastlines in Europe and in the Pacific.

While using a mechanical means was considered for a time, the task of clearing away the array of obstacles eventually fell to a special breed of the military — the Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) or “Frogmen.”

One of the survivors of that specially trained group of men is Norval Nelson of Elgin. His story is a heroic tale of helping win the war and preserve the freedoms we enjoy today.

“I enjoyed swimming since I was a kid,” said Nelson, who was born in Minnesota and moved to Illinois as a young child. “We lived near the Swift plant in Lake Forest and I spent a lot of time swimming in lakes near the factory. I love the water.”

Nelson later got a job as a carpenter working at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Glenview. He enlisted in the Navy soon after the start of the war and within a short period of time decided to volunteer for the “Navy Combat Demolition Unit.”

Later the group was renamed the Underwater Demolition team or UDT. “This was a top secret operation,” explained Nelson. “After a brief stint in Virginia, we were sent to Camp Pierce, Florida.”

“There were no barracks. We slept in tents. There were plenty of flies and it was hot.”

“The program was a new one that was evolving at the time,” Nelson said. “One of the first things they taught us was how to kill. We learned how to gouge a man’s eyes out and break his neck. We were taught how to be killing machines.”

“They ran us through the obstacle course over and over again to toughen us up,” he added.

Nelson’s training also taught him mine recognition and assault demolition techniques. They trained with live explosives and the risk was high.

“The training was meant to separate the men from the boys. It did. The men were smart enough to go home and only the boys were left,” he chuckled.

In June 1944 the men were shipped to England in preparation for D-Day. Nelson was part of a 192 man unit known as “Force O.”

“We slept on a LST or Landing Ship Tank for three weeks before the invasion. I used the track of a tank for a pillow,” Nelson said.

The men were given 10 minutes notice when it was time to leave.

“I wrote a note to my wife telling her that I wasn’t afraid to die and that there might be a chance I’ll not come back,” Nelson said. The young father also had two daughters at home.

Nelson said his ship hit a floating mine while crossing the English Channel.

“We stuffed mattresses into the hole to stop the water from entering the ship,” he said.

The team’s assignment was to cut six 50-yard-wide lanes offshore at Omaha Beach along the coast of France. They did this by blowing up “Rommel’s asparagus” — obstacles so named for the German general who fortified the coastline.

Nelson would dive underwater and attach an explosive to the obstacle, pull the plug and then swim as quick as possible to get away. The German snipers were firing at them and there were bodies everywhere, explained Nelson.

“It was one hell of a mess,” he said.

The arduous task of clearing the area went on for three days. At night Nelson said he dug a fox hole into a crater caused by an explosion. He was wounded five times during the experience.

His food ran out after three days and he had to rely on incoming infantry men to share some of theirs. He remained on the beach for three weeks before being returned to England. Overall, only 17 of the nearly 200-man unit survived.

Nelson’s group received 12 Silver Stars. They also were awarded 95 purple hearts, though he didn’t receive one himself.

“I didn’t care about medals then. I just wanted to live,” Nelson said.

After the war Nelson resumed his job as a carpenter in Wisconsin and later relocated to Illinois where he built a home in Arlington Heights. In more recent years, he has moved to Elgin.

But, the trauma he experienced during the war continued to stay with him.

“I didn’t know what was wrong with me at first,” he said.

Later Nelson realized he was suffering from what we now know as post-traumatic stress disorder.

“You can’t stop the dreams. They keep coming,” he said.

Lately, Nelson has used his carpentry skills to make and sell wooden items and is using the proceeds to send care packages to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s an effort that earned him a Home Town Hero Award from Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn.

Nelson was also a recent guest at the National Navy UDT/SEALS Museum at Fort Pierce, Florida. It was a trip paid for by the basketball players at Westminster Christian School in Elgin. The players raised the funds as part of a Charity Stripe, Inc. effort.

At the urging of his friend Mike Natale, Nelson also recently applied — although belatedly — for a Purple Heart — an award given to those wounded in action.

“Norval is a natural for this, but there’s a lot of bureaucracy involved,” Natale explained.

Nelson said his cause for celebration is much more than medals.

“I’m just glad to be alive after all I’ve gone through,” he said.