Berge Avadanian, American Hero: Requiescat in pace

The Mudville Gazette tells of the passing of yet another man better than you and me.

When Berge Avadanian jumped into France as part of the 82nd Airborne on D-Day, 6 June, 1944 he was sure he was going to die that day.
"I was a fatalist, myself. I was resigned to death. It was a one-way trip as far as a lot of us were concerned because our chances were not so good."

In fact he did die on June 6 - 2005.

Thank you sir for your service to our country and may God have mercy on your brave soul.

Here's a taste of an interview with Mr. Avadanian:

"It was nothing new to me," said Avadanian of Waltham. At 85, he still talks with the matter-of-fact, sometimes-bitter tone of someone who survived 462 days of combat.

"There were a lot of younger guys. Just boys, going in for the first time. I tried to cheer them up. I said, `Hey, I wonder how the Red Sox are doing. I bet they're getting beat.' Sixty years later, I'm still waiting for them to win," he said.

He remembers seeing just a couple of cows when he landed in a farmer's field. He linked up with other paratroopers, and on the outskirts of Ste-Mere-Eglise at dawn, he killed a German. Then he saw the corpse of a young lieutenant he'd last seen in England having his hair cut, dangling from a tree, his throat slit.

"I'm ashamed of myself. I saw that and I didn't run over to cut him down," Avadanian said.

That's the conscience of a brother in arms speaking.

As the 60th anniversary of D-Day nears, he said, "If God would allow me to be born again, I would pray to God to put me on that same road to Normandy. It was the most gratifying thing I have ever done. I was so proud to be fighting for my country."

Amen to that, Mr. Avadanian. Amen to that.