TYRONE, BLAIR COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Tyrone American Legion hosts a luncheon every year for veterans to recognize all they’ve accomplished during their years of service. 

This year especially, the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, folks were reminded of the lives lost on that day.

‘It is definitely a memorable day, a memorable date, a memorable anniversary in light of the fact that so many couldn’t be here because of that event,” Jim Baughman, Manager of Tyrone American Legion, said..

One local WWII Navy Veteran, Jim Heaton, said he didn’t really know what it meant to go to war, enlisting just before his 18th birthday.

“At 18 you know, the really seriousness of it didn’t really hit. We just wanted to get in there and stop it, so that’s about the way I remember it,” he said.
 
Heaton also recalled being on top of the flying bridge in Iwo Jima, Japan and seeing something that would change history.

“Somebody said look down there and I turned around and look and the marines are putting up the flag,” he said.

Another local WWII veteran, Lee Wetz, recalled what went through his mind when his P-47 plane was shot down.

“Where am I gonna come down at? Where am I gonna land? I need a landing place…since I was hit, I couldn’t control the plane much, so I just collapsed the wheels and slid in on the belly,” he said.

Wertz said he walked away fairly unharmed, calling himself one of the lucky ones.

“There was 84 of us that never came back out of our squadron. that’s the important part…not what I did, what they did,” he said.

And Baughman said the ultimate sacrifice many paid during that time, giving their lives to protect the country, will not be forgotten.

“They answered the call. They put their life in peril, they risked their lives to protect what we have now,” he said.

Both men said hearing the stories of fellow veterans makes them emotional and reminds them of how far a simple “thank you for your service” can go.