Veteran Roland Barhyte remembers Operation Dragoon
Veteran Roland Barhyte remembers Operation Dragoon
Seventy-five years ago this week, American and French forces invaded Nazi-occupied southern France in a mission that was supposed to coincide with D-Day to the north.
Michigan veteran Roland Barhyte recalled the so-called "forgotten invasion" in an interview Friday on "The Story."
"It was kind of surprising, in that we were one of the few to make daylight jumps," he said.
"Most paratroop drops were done in the darkness -- before dawn if possible. Our actual jump and landing and assembling on the ground was rather uneventful because there were no enemy troops firing at us -- thank goodness."
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During the operation, Barhyte and his unit, the 551st Parachute Infantry Regiment, moved along the Mediterranean coast, liberating cities from Nazi control.
Many of the soldiers were to move north, pushing the Nazi units toward those Allies who had invaded Normandy that June, according to MLive.
In his interview, Barhyte also recalled his service in the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944 and early 1945.
At one point, he said his feet were so badly frozen, it felt like he was, "walking on bowling balls."
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He was taken to a hospital in Belgium to be treated.
"That was the last combat that I actually saw," he said of the famous skirmish in the Ardennes.
Starting on Aug. 15, 1944, French and American troops — 350,000 in total — landed on the French Riviera. U.S. forces drove north while French troops — many from French colonies in Africa — moved along the coast to secure key ports. Marseille was liberated on Aug. 28.
Soldiers from the Normandy landings, known as Operation Overlord, met troops from Operation Dragoon on Sept. 12 near Dijon, in the eastern region of Burgundy. Most of France was under control of Allied forces by the end of September.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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