An Old War Story...

One of the things that I love most about working with an older patient population is getting to hear old war stories.  In the States we have a dwindling generation of WWII veterans who have experienced things that most members of my generation couldn’t even imagine.  That being said, a huge part of what I am finding most enjoyable about my job here is the opportunity to meet patients who fought in the same war, but for a different country. 

Today, I had a new patient come in for what started as a routine valve change and ended with a fascinating conversation.  This patient (we’ll call him Jack) was well into his 80's and was a quintessential Cornish man.  When I asked him where about in Cornwall he lives, he began telling me about his village of Mawnan Smith, a small fishing village, where he has lived his entire life.  As he began explaining what makes Mawnan Smith very unique, he started to get very emotional.  What I learned over the next ten minutes is something I will always remember.  Jack went on to explain that in Mawnan Smith there is a place called Trebah (TREE-bah) Beach, which is a short walk down the coastal path from his cottage.  What makes this beach significant is that on June 1^st, 1944, 7500 American soldiers left Trebah beach to embark on a 5-day journey for Normandy Beach, where most of them died on D-Day. 

Jack was in his teens at the time and recalled his Mom baking dozens of loaves of bread just to give away to the American soldiers.  As word spread, two soldiers in particular used to come up to the house almost daily and talk to him while his Mom wrapped their bread in cloth.  He remembers them talking about the “long haul” they had ahead of them and how the bread reminded them of home.   

With tears literally streaming down his face he told me that will never forget how, in a matter of weeks, their coastal village was filled with thousands of young American soldiers, and overnight they were all gone. 

He apologized repeatedly for being so emotional but said that as soon as I started talking, my American accent reminded him of that time and how many soldiers died during that war—among them, his two older brothers. 

As he was leaving he looked back at me and said, “You know, talking to those two soldiers was the only other time in my life I ever talked to an American. Who would have thought, all these years later?” 

I remember thinking as he walked away that this guy probably hasn’t left the county of Cornwall his entire life, let alone the country.  The whole world has changed around him and here we are living about 7-8 miles from this beach, enjoying an opportunity that was made possible by those American soldiers.  

An American landing craft on Trebah Beach, 1943