Face of Defense: French Citizens Honor American Hero

By Jesse Granger

U.S. Army Europe

AMFREVILLE, France, June 5, 2014 – Army Lt. Col. Charles J. Timmes, the commander of 2nd Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division during the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, parachuted into Normandy with his troops not knowing what the next 96 hours would bring.

Upon landing, Timmes was immediately fighting for his life but not because of a German attack. Timmes had landed in a flooded field and nearly drowned when a strong wind gust filled his chute and dragged him over 200 yards. Then, a second gust picked him up and dragged him onto a nearby hill, saving his life.

Timmes and his command assembled more than a mile away from their original landing point where they came under attack from enemy forces. Timmes had 150 men, one 57-milimeter artillery piece, two machine guns and no means of communication with higher headquarters.

German troops kept up pressure on the U.S. paratroopers, but Timmes and his men kept them at bay during four grueling days of combat. Finally, 1st Lt. John Marr from Golf Company, 507th PIR and Pfc. Norman Carter, the company’s runner, broke from the battle to make contact with the 82nd Airborne’s command post which was several miles away.

Upon arriving safely to the command post, Marr and Carter were able to inform the command of their situation. The 325th Glider Infantry Regiment then came to the rescue and attacked the German forces from behind, resulting in the enemy being overpowered and Timmes’ U.S. paratroopers winning the fight.

Seventy years later, Timmes and his story are legendary in these parts. The place he landed is now known as Timmes’ Orchard and a memorial site rests nearby to remind the locals of the brave commander who led his troops through those fateful and seemingly endless nights. The memorial is made up of three standing stones, one each for the 507th PIR, the 508th PIR and the 325th GIR.

On June 4, a gathering was held there in honor of Timmes and his fellow U.S. veterans, one of several commemorations this week celebrating the 70th Anniversary of D-Day.

“On those standing stones, are honored the paratroopers of the 507th and 508th Parachute Infantry Regiments and foot soldiers of the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment because they fought here, surrounded by enemy forces who were superior in numbers and armaments,” said Daniel Briard, who gave remarks at the ceremony. “Lt. Col. Timmes was never desperate. He and his men never gave up in front of enemy pressure.”

One-by-one, each unit’s stone received its wreath from a veteran who carefully placed the arrangement in front of the stones. Each representative then stood up and rendered a salute.

One of Timmes’ comrades in arms, Ernie Lamson, sat solemnly in the front row staring down at the wreath he laid in front of the grey glossy stone dedicated to the unit in which he had served during the invasion, the 508th PIR.

Lamson, a paratrooper assigned to Alpha Company, was the company clerk at the time and knew almost everyone in his unit, not only because he took care of their administrative needs, but also because he was training alongside them every week.

During the ceremony, Lamson stood out from the rest of the attendees, wearing bright red 82nd Airborne attire decorated with polished jump wings, belt buckle, and more patches, badges and trinkets than most would even try to count. Lamson also wore his original parachute badge he received after completing jump school in 1943 on a bracelet on his left wrist.

The 92-year old veteran was not one of those who jumped into Normandy on June 6, 1944. Lamson had broken his femur in a jump landing a few months earlier. When the medics came to his aid they put him on a stretcher and were ready to carry him of the landing zone when one of the handles on the stretcher broke puncturing one of his lungs.

“I always felt cheated because I didn’t stay with the guys that I trained with,” said Lamson with a somber tone in his voice.

That powerful sentiment of camaraderie is the same one that helped Timmes to push his men through their brush with death. Seventy years later, it lingers in Timmes’ Orchard where the national anthems of the United States and France brought tears to the eyes of those in attendance at the memorial site.