Sam Elliot, who was nominated for an Academy Award, paid tribute to WWII veteran Sgt. Ray Lambert when he read his moving story about making it through D-Day on PBS.
It was total confusion. Shells exploding, boats blowing up, people yelling because they couldn’t hear anything, machine gun bullets hitting the water all around you, the roar of the boats coming in. It’s like you’re all alone in the world of a million people because you’re concentrating on what you have to do,
Sam read.
I just kept going. I was thinking of only one thing — getting to the men who needed me,
he continued.
You did the job you were trained to do. If you didn’t, you died.
At the end of the story, Sam ended by repeating what Sgt. Lambert said about the men who died that day.
People who have never been in a war should understand what soldiers give up. The guys we left on Omaha Beach never had a chance to live the lives they dreamed of. A day hasn’t gone by when I haven’t prayed for the men we lost and their families. I still wake up at night sometimes thinking about the guys. Every man that walked into those machine guns and that artillery fire on Omaha Beach that day — every man — was a hero. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t tell their stories?
What an amazing and touching story. After Sgt. Lambert left the stage, Sam Elliot went up to him to shake his hand.
It’s such an honor to tell your story,
Sam told the American hero.
May we always remember to honor our veterans and think about what they gave up for our freedom.
