Youngest Normandy Beachmaster Passes Away
Another of the rapidly-dwindling Greatest Generation has passed. The youngest of the 18 Navy beachmasters at Normandy – Joseph P. Vaghi, Jr. – passed away a week ago. He was 92.
None of the other beachmasters at Normandy are known to be still living; that group now appears gone forever. But they’re not forgotten by history.
Rest in peace, my elder brother-in-arms.
Category: Politics
I lost the last of my family that fought in WWII last year. These hero’s are disappering way to fast..and at a time when our nation needs their grit and heart..
Beacher Masters and Beach Jumpers were of the toughest men in the Navy. They were amoung the first in to the beach … The early NCDUs, Scouts, and Raiders recruiteed heavily from these units. God bless this Sailor and his family.
You couldn’t make this stuff up. The Washington Post headline for this Veteran’s passing reads, “World War II beachmaster Joseph Vaghi, among 1st soldiers to land at Normandy, dies at 92[.]”
The story was AP generated but headlines are the work of the publisher, not the AP.
When dad passed away 16 years ago, Mr. Martinez, one of the guys from Tolleson, Az who went with dad, was the last of five guys who went together. Somehow they managed to “find” bottle of wine that was to be drunk by the last of their group. I guess it was a popular thing to do! Mr. Martinez popped the cork at dad’s wake and in front of his coffin, we passed the bottle and drank a toast. Mr. Martinez cried.
@ 4 …. Love stories like that … makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up!