Editor’s note: On June 6, 2019, the 75th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott delivered an address recognizing by name several of the Vermonters who participated. Interspersed with accounts from other sources, VDC re-publishes excerpts of his speech below, without direct attribution to Scott in the interests of continuity and readability. The entire speech may be read here.

Seventy-five years ago today, the world had been at war for six years. Democracies had fallen, free nations were occupied by enemy armies, and the conflict was spreading in nearly every direction.

As morning broke, American, British and Canadian troops prepared for the largest invasion the world had ever seen.

By days end, the Atlantic Alliance had pushed the Nazi army inland, and secured the small piece of land from which the allies would mount a western offensive.

Within two months of the invasion, the Allies would reclaim Paris in the name of a Free France. In less than a year, Berlin would fall, and the war would be over.

Albert Sponheimer, of East Rygate, was there that day, and was awarded the Silver Star for his heroic work as a medic…. He saved countless lives while exposing himself to heavy enemy fire on the shores of Omaha Beach.

‘Spoony’s’ life-saving actions on the beach are recorded on the FB page of 397th Anti Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion:

“Bullets were whizzing by his head as the beach was being raked methodically with the fire of heavy guns emplaced in the cliffs overlooking the beach. Death and misery surrounded him. His comrades were screaming in pain. Still just a kid himself, he wondered how such a picturesque place could become such a living hell. Cold, wet, and tired, Albert “Spoony” Sponheimer looked at his watch. It had stopped at 7:30 AM, about the time he figured he’d hit the beach as part of the 2nd wave of the landing force on D-Day. Preceding the landing, he had watched in absolute shock as his sister anti-aircraft battery was wiped out when enemy artillery scored a direct hit and destroyed the LST (Landing Ship Tank) that was transporting the battery to shore.

“As he came ashore, ‘all you could see were dead people,'” he recalled. “Chaos reigned that morning as landing craft were blown off course and many never made it to their intended landing points. Yet Spoony was still alive this morning on the shore of Omaha Beach as he ran from wounded soldier to wounded soldier providing crucial aid, as was his job as a combat medic in his Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battery. Was it bravery that kept him going or fear? Perhaps he thought he was destined to die, but he wanted to save everyone he could before his time was up.”

“…..He moved to Vermont in 1965, and was very active in his community. He raised a great family, including two daughters and a stepson. He suffered from nightmares and eventually was diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Spoony was very proud of his service in WW2, and always sought to educate youth and honor those he served with. Very humble, he always hid his own personal stories, histories and accomplishments.”

Scott noted that “Kimball Richmond, of Windsor, was there too. He swam to shore under a hail of machine gun bullets and artillery fire… after his transport boat was struck and sunk.”

More details are provided in Richmond’s citation for the Distinguished Service Cross “for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Commanding Officer, Company I, 3d Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces at Normandy, France, on 6 June 1944.

When the crafts on which his company was moving in, on the initial assault upon the coast of France, were sunk by enemy fire and mines, Captain Richmond swam to shore through a hail of machine gun bullets and artillery fire. Upon reaching the shore, he gathered together the remainder of his company and moved down the beach. Here he established contact with a group of men whose officers had become casualties. He quickly organized the men for an attack against an enemy strongpoint on the left flank. In the face of heavy direct enemy fire, he gallantly led his men in successful assault upon this enemy emplacement thereby removing an enemy installation that had been inflicting heavy casualties on this part of the beach. Without hesitation, Captain Richmond then pushed inland against the enemy.

VDC could not find any photos of Richmond. According to ancestry.com, Kimball Russ Richmond was born on October 28, 1917, in Windsor. His father, Kimball Russ Richmond, was 53 and his mother, Edith Florence Dickey, was 36. He married Diane Olsen in 1969, in San Mateo, California. He lived in Windsor for about 20 years. He registered for military service in 1941. He died on September 10 1976, in Fresno, California, at the age of 58, and was buried in Brewster, Massachusetts.

Jack Hennessey from Rutland, then a 16-year-old Bosun’s Mate in the Navy, drove one of the landing crafts, carrying troops and supplies to shore, and bringing his fallen and injured brothers back to their ships, Scott said.

Scott’s father, Howard Roy Scott, landed at Normandy with Patton’s Third Army, and was injured at St. Lo, a small town that had been occupied by the Nazis for nearly 4 years. It was liberated just weeks after the invasion.

These are just a few of the Vermonters whose bravery helped turn the tides of World War II.

Their fallen brothers are memorialized just off the coast of northern France, in the small town of Colleville-sur-Mer.

There, in a green field on the edge of town, are perfect rows of white gravestones marking the final resting place of nearly 10,000 Americans who gave their lives on, and after, the D-Day Invasion.

Harold Provost of Winooski is buried there. So are George Burnes of Ludlow and William Moulton of Burlington, along with 23 other Vermonters who never made it home. 

We honor the men who took the beaches that day, and the hundreds of thousands who followed them into battle.

We remember when free people stood to fight oppression, when free nations stood together to preserve liberty, and secure peace in Europe that remains today.

Let us never forget what happened that day. When ordinary men walked off their ships and headed towards the shore. They walked into war under machine gun fire to scale the cliffs of Normandy and forever change the course of human history.

Watch the video of Scott’s address here.

Editor’s note: For those interested in learning about other Vermonters who risked their lives at D-Day to free Europe, see:

WCAX, June 6, 2024 – Vermonter takes part in D-Day parachute demonstrations

Vermont Daily Chronicle, June 6, 2024 – D-Day: A Vermont soldier’s unforgettable journey

Vermont Daily Chronicle, June 6, 2022 – Vermont man’s helmet a relic of D-Day, 1944