As the world marks the anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1944, the stories of Iowans who served during that pivotal invasion continue to echo with pride and sacrifice.
Hundreds of Iowans took part in the largest amphibious landing in military history—whether from the skies as paratroopers, on the beaches as soldiers, or behind the lines as medics. Their bravery helped shape the course of World War II.
Henry Langrehr of Clinton was just one of many Iowa paratroopers who jumped into occupied France ahead of the main invasion. After his plane was hit by enemy flak, Langrehr and others bailed out over St. Mere-Eglise. He crashed through a greenhouse roof on landing and was later wounded and captured by German forces. Langrehr spent time in a POW camp before being liberated.
Verle Buck, a 21-year-old from Jubilee in Black Hawk County, was among the first wave to land on Omaha Beach. After losing several of his fellow soldiers to German fire before even hitting shore, Buck pushed forward through chaos and carnage. “There was no way you could swim that English Channel. You had to go,” he later recalled.
From Centerville, Ray Simmons arrived not with a weapon, but with a mission. A Seventh-Day Adventist who served as a non-combatant medic, Simmons landed amid gunfire and made his way across the beach without firing a shot. He managed to set up a medical station atop a bluff, treating the wounded under fire.
These are just a few of the many Iowans who served with distinction on D-Day—an invasion that marked the beginning of the end of Nazi occupation in Europe. Their stories are a powerful reminder of the courage and commitment it took to preserve freedom.
As we remember D-Day, we honor the bravery of those who served and the lives that were forever changed by their sacrifice.
