Chicora World War II veteran was serving on Pacific front during D-Day
CHICORA — Richard Craig was on the Pacific Ocean with the U.S. Army when the Allies stormed Normandy on June 6, 1944, known as D-Day, but he did take a few boat trips for his position as dental technician.
He commented that the China Sea had the roughest waters he has ever experienced.
“One time I had to go a long ways, the dental officer, he wanted a certain kind of head for a drill,” Richard Craig said Wednesday, June 5. “I had to go by boat... I imagine altogether it was about 5 miles or so.”
Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed by sea and air on the heavily fortified French coastline over the course of the invasion on June 6, 1944. More than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded in Normandy — the majority of them American. Although the toll was heavy, by day’s end the Allies had gained a foothold to begin liberating Europe, according to information from the U.S. Army’s website.
Allied forces chose Normandy beaches because they lay within range of air cover, and were less heavily defended than the “obvious objective” of the Pas de Calais, the shortest distance between Great Britain and the continent.
More than 73,000 American troops landed in Normandy on D-Day, and four U.S. Soldiers received the Medal of Honor for heroic acts that day — the nation’s highest medal for valor in combat that can be awarded to members of the armed forces.
On Wednesday, Richard Craig, 101, a lifelong resident of Chicora, reminisced on his time serving in the U.S. Army, and touched on the 80th anniversary of D-Day. He served as a dental technician from January 1944 to November 1945. He was joined by his sons, Rick Craig and Chuck Craig, both of Chicora, at the Chicora Volunteer Fire Department, along with some documents from his military time.
Richard Craig said he doesn’t remember where he was on that day or how he heard the news, but more likely than not, the news reached his company through radio communications.
“They had a radio station, they kept us very well up,” Richard Craig said. “They watched the news pretty close.”
Rick and Chuck Craig each said their dad didn’t share much from his days in the Army, but started to open up more in recent years. Rick Craig said his father was stationed with an engineering outfit with the Army, which built airfields and other structures necessary for the war effort.
Rick Craig also said his father told him that he never minded being stationed in the Pacific during the war.
“I asked him once if he would have rather been in Europe because to me that would have been a better place to be,” Rick Craig said. “He said, ‘No, because it’s warm in the Pacific,’ so he wanted to be there.”
Richard Craig said he worked as a truck driver for Pullman Standard before and after he was deployed with the military. He was drafted into the Army, first going to Fort Meade and then Utah for basic training. He shipped out to the Pacific Ocean from Washington in early 1944.
Richard Craig was also overseas when the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. He would return to the U.S. that November, and he never saw combat during his time, although he came close.
“They were slated for the invasion, but then after the bombs were dropped, they didn’t have to do that,” Rick Craig said.
Richard Craig was discharged on Christmas 1945. He never did any dental work again, but started a family while he was working at Pullman. He still lives in Chicora, along with his sons, and has long been involved with the American Legion, the VFW and the annual parades put on by veteran organizations in the borough.
On Wednesday, Richard Craig remarked that he has several positive memories from his time in the military.
“There was good times and bad times,” Richard Craig said.
