By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
ATLANTIC CITY — “It was no picnic,” Ocean City resident Francis Xavier McCormac said about storming Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944, during World War II.
McCormac, 99, was among the veterans honored Friday, Sept. 11, during the 10th annual ceremony at the Saracini-O’Neill Atlantic City 9/11 Memorial honoring the 2,977 victims who died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Dark clouds were gathering in the sky over the ceremony, like the clouds of war had gathered over Europe in the 1940s. But just as the U.S. military was not deterred from its task during World War II, the ceremony went on despite the threat of foul weather Friday.
Bob Pantalena, founder and director of the memorial and ceremony, and Pam Paparone organized the event, with Paparone serving as emcee.
“Every year we hold the ceremony on 9/11 primarily to honor four local residents who died on 9/11 and the subsequent response to terrorism,” Paparone said.
Included among the victims were locals Victor Saracini (Atlantic City), John O’Neill (Atlantic City), Andrew Alameno (Wildwood Crest) and Patricia Cody (Brigantine).
A U.S. Coast Guard MH-65 helicopter fly-by started the ceremony.
The event also honors four military veterans for their service. In the “Heroes Among Us” segment, the ceremony posthumously honored military veterans Robert Shellem (Atlantic City), George Nestor (Atlantic City/Absecon), Francis Kelly (Atlantic City) and — in person — McCormac.
Dignitaries taking part in the ceremony included Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small, who provided the greeting; Miss America 1984 Suzette Charles, who sang the national anthem and “God Bless America”; CRDA Special Improvement Director Rick Santora, who led the Pledge of Allegiance; retired Gen. William Matz, of Ocean City; Atlantic County Public Safety Director Michael Fedorko and Gary O’Brien. Jim Mogan of Brigantine delivered the keynote speech.
A 30-foot by 60-foot American flag draped between two fire department ladder trucks served as the back drop to the ceremony. Every attendee received a commemorative flag celebrating Patriots Day honoring those who perished on Sept. 11, 2001.
O’Brien delivered the tribute to McCormac, saying he entered the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1942 and served until 1945. During a one-year period, McCormac landed at Omaha Beach, fought through the Battle of the Bulge and helped liberate the infamous German concentration camp Dachau.
“I saw a lot,” McCormac said. “I went in at 22 and I’m 99 now.”
O’Brien said McCormac was a sergeant in the U.S. Army and a World War II combat veteran.
“He didn’t wait to get drafted, he went down to the recruiting station and enlisted in the U.S. Army,” O’Brien said.
After serving in San Jose, Calif., as part of the homeland defense of the West Coast, McCormac was shipped to Great Britain, where he trained to take part in Operation Overlord, the D-Day invasion.
Following the successful invasion, McCormac was reassigned in the late fall, early winter to the western forest area of France to prepare for the invasion of Germany.
“During that preparation, winter hit the area in early December and hit it hard. Troops were under adverse conditions — there was no air cover, heavy fog, heavy snow and sub-freezing temperatures every day,” O’Brien said.
As McCormac was preparing for that invasion, “the German war machine had a different idea,” O’Brien said. “Along an 85-mile stretch of land, the Germans decided to do a counterattack with the rest of their army — 200,000 troops, 1,000 heavy duty Panzer tanks — the elite of the German fighting force was about to hit Sgt. McCormac and his troops.”
This would lead to the Battle of the Bulge, in which the allied defense bent but did not break.
“They held their line, but that line bulged very heavily into France,” O’Brien said. “Gen. Omar Bradley, Sgt. McCormac’s commanding officer, sent them a Christmas message, and its wasn’t “have a nice holiday.” It was “this we will defend.”
After this period, McCormac and his troops were assignment to attack the Munich industrial complex.
“In early April, they proceeded into German territory. As they approached they saw a complex of camps, as well as reports that a large group, about 7,000 people, was moving through the woods in the direction of Sgt. McCormac. They didn’t know what that group was and were prepared for the worst,” O’Brien said. “They seized that group — it was 7,000 Jewish citizens on a death march from Dachau. Sgt. McCormac and his men rescued those Jewish citizens.
“As they proceed further toward Munich, which they still saw as their objective, they came across a series of railroad cars, about 30, filled with dead bodies that had come from the Dachau camp.”
“Sgt. McCormac and his troops, after fighting two major invasions, discovered a German concentration camp, recovered those citizens, buried the dead and restored order. They all thought they were going to be dead until those American troops and Sgt. McCormac came to their aide.”
McCormac returned to Philadelphia, where he married Esther, to whom he was married for 70 years. They had seven children and 11 grandchildren.
“I had enough children that they all take care of me,” McCormac said.
He now lives on Fourth Street, where he enjoys word puzzles, big-band music and going to church at St. Damien Parish at Second Street and Atlantic Avenue.
He said he plans to live “as long as I can, and I’m doing pretty good so far, I think.” Asked to what he attributed his long life, he responded, “I keep breathing.”
While talking to a reporter, a woman came by and complimented his socks. After she walked away, he said, “She ought to see my shorts,” showing that his sense of humor has not faded.
His daughter Maureen McCormac said it’s pretty special to have her father celebrated.
“It’s quite an honor,” she said, adding that he was awarded the French Medal of Honor this summer.
She said he still lives alone, drives his car and “just keeps going.”
In addition to McCormac, two other Ocean City residents took part in the ceremony. They were Maj. Gen. Bill Matz, secretary of the Battle Monuments Commission, and Noel Koch, who conducted the bell ceremony and fired the cannon.
