John Manstrom of Wyndmere, N.D., had a very interesting experience in June when he traveled to the U.S. cemetery at Omaha Beach to attend ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
Manstrom, 37, a military history buff, spent time with several soldiers from the 101st Airborne unit immortalized in Stephen Ambrose's "Band of Brothers" book and movie, Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Regiment.
His interest in the military was spurred by the service of his late father, Leslie Manstrom, in North Dakota's famed 164th Infantry in World War II. He was in India Company out of Wahpeton and fought on Guadalcanal and in several South Pacific island battles, including Leyte in February of 1945, where he was wounded in action.
Manstrom says his father wore leg braces the rest of his life. He farmed and served as Wyndmere's postmaster until 1980. But he says four years overseas and an incredible 600 days in combat prematurely aged his father and he died young at 58.
At war's end, fewer than a dozen of the original 160 men in India Company were still standing. Four or five soldiers from Wyndmere were in the rifle company, he says.
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Among the 200 people on the tour were several men from Easy Company: Earl McLean, Paul Rogers, Jack Agnew, Buck Taylor and Swifty Powers.
All sang the praises of Easy Company's commanding officer, Maj. Dick Winters of Hershey, Pa. To a man, they told Manstrom that Winters was the best infantry officer of the war, bar none.
They say Winters, who eventually rose to battalion command, was a man of very high character who looked out for his troops. He was such a hero that there is a move afoot to award him the Medal of Honor. It wouldn't be the first time it's been done (the award to former Roughrider and president Teddy Roosevelt is one example).
The June 6 ceremonies at the cemetery, where 9,000 American soldiers are buried, included speeches by President George W. Bush and French President Jacque Chirac.
"At H-hour when the invasion began 60 years ago on 'Bloody Omaha,' - 6:30 a.m. - I looked at my watch, looked down from a cliff and saw veterans and their families standing at the water's edge," says Manstrom. "I'm sure they were soldiers who came ashore that day and were fortunate enough to survive."
In his conversations with the "Band of Brothers" soldiers, Manstrom says they conveyed a single message: "Don't let anyone ever forget what took place here 60 years ago."
Cancer benefit
Friends and family of Daria Askegaard of Moorhead, who recently lost a 12-year battle with breast cancer, will gather July 15 at Playmaker's in Fargo for a benefit in her honor, with all funds raised going to cancer research.
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Askegaard worked at Dakota Clinic for more than 25 years. The benefit will run from 6 to 11 p.m. and will include a dance, raffle and free-will offering.
Among those performing will be Mara Getz, who grew up with Askegaard and is a performer in the music and entertainment industry in Los Angeles.
Readers can reach Terry DeVine at (701) 241-5515 or tdevine@forumcomm.com
