Veteran’s Normandy trip is special
Jody Lander of western Travis County recently traveled to Normandy, France, as a guest of honor in the 71st anniversary celebration of the D-Day invasion.
As part of the 82nd Airborne Division, Lander was one of the first men to land in Normandy on D-Day.
Throughout his recent trip to Normandy, Lander was honored in a variety of ways. The mayor of the town Saint-Maclou presented him with a medallion that had to be authorized by the French Senate, a tree was planted in his honor, and Lander was awarded the French Legion of Honor medal by a high-ranking French general during a special ceremony. The medal is France’s highest distinction for noncitizens and is given to recognize exceptional service to the country.
“It meant a lot to get those medals,” Lander said. “As for whether I deserve them, I don’t think I do. There’s a lot of people who deserve them but didn’t get them.”
Lander watched a parachute demonstration conducted by U.S. troops and went onstage for a short time during an Andrews Sisters tribute performance. All this, though, was overshadowed by Lander’s return to a small abandoned farmhouse where he and others had slept and battled Germans during the invasion 71 years ago.
“Seeing the old farmhouse was my favorite part of the trip,” Lander said. “I always wondered where it was. I had seen other places on other trips, but I had never found the farmhouse. A historian showed me where it was this time, though. That was the highlight of the trip for me.”
On July 2, he gave a presentation to approximately 50 residents and staff of Querencia at Barton Creek, where he lives, about the invasion and his recent trip back to France. Lander shared photos and videos of his trip to Normandy with the crowd. He also discussed some of his memories of the war and showed both the medallion he received from Saint-Maclou and the Legion of Honor Medal.
He was encouraged to give his presentation by Querencia lifestyle coordinator Laura Dutton, who also helped him with the technical aspects of the show.
“I knew he would have a really interesting story when he got back from his trip,” Dutton said.
This was not Lander’s first trip back to Normandy since he landed there in 1944. He has been back five times, including for the 50th anniversary celebration. However, Lander said that this trip has been one of his favorites.
“Even at the 50th anniversary, it was so crowded and there were so many dignitaries that it was nothing like this for me — I didn’t get nearly the same reception,” Lander said. “It brought back a lot of memories, both good and bad. I was so overwhelmed with the reception, though, that I didn’t have time to think about how I felt while I was there.”