Where I Stand: Screaming Eagles and other veterans remember D-Day

Friday, June 6, 1997 | 5:47 a.m.

TONIGHT, LAS VEGAN Mort Smit and his World War II buddies from the 101st Airborne Division, 502nd Parachute Regiment, will be gathering at Debbie Reynolds' hotel. This get-together is most appropriate because today marks the 53rd anniversary of D-Day. This is a day that these men will never forget, because it was the beginning of a chapter of history that the Screaming Eagles of the 101st wrote with their own blood and that of the Nazis.

Smit told SUN writer Ed Koch: "The only thing we have now is our memories to pass on from generation to generation. And it is important to remember the sacrifices we made in World War II because it preserved the freedom we enjoy today."

During the coming weeks and months of the summer, thousands of other combat veterans will gather in our nation to recall old friendships and past experiences.

So, what's so different about these gatherings? This is best answered in a recent newsletter from the Second "Indianhead" Infantry Division that will meet in Little Rock, Ark., next month: "What is it that binds combat veterans together?

"It isn't friendship. We all have friends we can join with at a company picnic or a convention and not feel the same emotion in the air as when we attend a veterans' reunion.

"It is something beyond regular friendship. It is the knowing that 'you and they have been to hell and back.' It is a deep-rooted emotion that binds you together. It is the knowledge that, when things were tough, you and your buddies stuck it out and lived through it. You can attend high school reunions, college reunions, company conventions ... the whole civilian works, but there isn't the 'band of brothers' feeling that is felt when combat buddies get together!

"You and your buddies may have less hair on top and a lot more inches around the belt line, but deep within all of you is the same comradeship that you had during those horrible days of war. Whether it is 10 years or 40 years, when combat buddies meet it seems like yesterday! All of the memories begin to assemble in your mind ... memories that you thought had been pushed back into the recesses of your memory bank. 'Whatever happened to ...' and 'Remember when.' You try not to let on that these old veterans mean a lot to you, but by the time 'Auld Lang Syne' is played and the flags furled and the station wagon is parked, there is a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye as you part with those who once lived and fought beside you. You tell your wife, 'Damn, it was good to see them again.' And it was! Old 'Charley' may have gained 50 pounds, but he sure could fire that machine gun. 'Chief' looked almost as young and fit as he did when he crawled up and gave you first aid under fire. 'Danny Boy' is now almost bald, but he was quite a sergeant in those days, and 'Jerry' gets around pretty good with that bad luck and gimpy leg.

"Yes, memories flood your mind as you head for home. No one knows the feeling except those of us who were there. You wonder if you will ever see any of them again. Combat was hell and you have many terrible memories of death and destruction, but the memory of total camaraderie with men who shared that hell will be forever embedded in your heart. There is no friendship like that of combat buddies. It is something that lasts forever."

Las Vegan Sandy Heverly of Stop DUI really unloaded on Assemblyman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, for taking the name of DUI victim Deena Rizzo from a bill which lowers the acceptable blood alcohol content from 0.10 to 0.08. Residents of Clark County remember the name of Miss Rizzo from a billboard dedicated in her name almost three years ago. That's when local officials let us know that future 0.08 legislation would bear the name of Nick and Arile Rizzo's daughter. Actually a proper name doesn't go on a bill, but it's popularly referred to by a name. What's difficult for most Nevadans to understand is why Anderson would want to dismiss the use of the Rizzo name for a bill he didn't author. No matter what the justification, it was in bad taste even for a legislator. ...

Old-time journalist Bob Lowes wrote an in-depth personal recollection of his late friend and Chicago legend Mike Royko. It appeared in End of the Line publication of Searchlight and was headed "Last Call for Slats Grobnik, a Journey from Polonics to Ebonics."... Did you ever try to get the truth from the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services? SUN reporter Steve Kanigher thought he had the truth from a local deputy administrator of that agency, but a check of facts three days later created more than a few doubts about the information she provided. So, what's new?

Author Robert C. Sandness needs photographs of Las Vegas leaders and buildings from 1900-1997. You will receive credit in his "Las Vegas Through the Years and Today." He can be reached at 382-3796 or at 321 Beaumont St., Las Vegas, NV 89106-3906.