It made front page on the June 6th Chicago Tribune. Louis Venditti was part of an advance wave of paratroopers to prepare the way for the D-Day assault on Normandy Beach. He survived four major battles and came home with lots of medals. Afterwards, he worked for the Chicago Heights fire department, retiring in 1979.
He was awarded the French Legion of Honor, France's highest honor along with 37 other veterans.
According to Venditti, nothing in his firefighting career compared to the fear of that day. He landed with the 101st Airborne Division in a field surrounded by hedgerows. At first he thought what he saw were German soldiers, but they ended up being cows. He figured this was great because where there are cows, there are no land mines.
Four months later, he had his closest call while pinned down in a ditch by artillery fire in the Netherlands. A shell exploded behind him, nearly severing his right big toe.
This was the first time he had been back since the war.
The Greatest Generation. --Da Coot
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