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By R.A. Mathews

William “Bill” Durham knew what was coming. The year was 1943. The country had been at war since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941 when Durham was 16 years old. 

But now he is 18. 

“It came in the mail,” he told me. “Greetings from the President of the United States. You have been called…”

Three days after his physical, Durham found himself headed to Oklahoma for basic training and then to Kansas for specialized training. He landed in England during the spring of 1944 — just in time for the invasion of Normandy, France. D-Day, June 6, 1944. 

Durham remembers his first battle with sadness. “We lost half of our men at Cherbourg,” he said.

The National WWII Museum designates the assault on the Fortress at Cherbourg as one of the “Forgotten Fights” of WWII. According to Ed Lengel, formerly with the museum, “Adolf Hitler designated the city a fortress and ordered it to be held at all costs.”

Lengel wrote, “…this fort was built deep into the rock… the Germans had reinforced it with concrete pillboxes, mortar and machine gun emplacements, barbed wire, and anti-tank ditches.”

Durham told me why the Allies had to have the port on the sea at Cherbourg. “Patton couldn’t come in on the beach. His equipment was too heavy.”

Artillery and fighter bombers attacked Hitler’s fort, but ultimately the infantry had to take it. The assault began on June 25, 1944.

“We were standing, running, and on our bellies crawling.” Durham spoke rapidly to me, remembering the scene vividly. “Men were killed on both sides of me and behind me. It’s a miracle I came out of that alive!”

After Cherbourg, Bill Durham was transferred from the First Army under Eisenhower to the Third Army under Patton.

His unit battled from Cherbourg to the small city of St. Lo. 

“A miracle I survived that one, too,” Durham told me. “The bombing raids at St. Lo blew up everything. Out of 287 men, I was one of only seven left standing!”

He also remembered the difficult night patrols. 

“We went two or three miles behind enemy lines, hoping we didn’t trip a wire. That would set off a flair lighting up the whole sky. The Germans could see you then, and they’d turn a machine gun on you.

“We were looking for air strips, tanks, machine gun emplacements. The liaison would call it in to the air force, and they’d quickly make the air strikes.”

Growing up in the South, Bill Durham had a natural ability with guns. “I was designated an expert shooter with a rifle and with machine guns.

“There were four or five of us shooting at the same targets. You couldn’t tell whose gun killed a soldier. I think that was a good thing, not knowing.”

Bill Durham recalled seeing Patton walking with some of his troops. “He was a good general. He knew what he was doing. Yes, all blood and guts, but he got you there.”

From France, Durham continued fighting in Belgium until the European Theatre ended on May 8, 1945. He was stationed in Italy thereafter, awaiting transport to Japan. But that changed when the war in the Pacific ended on September 2, 1945, Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day).

Bill Durham was reared in church along with his two sisters. “I’m the only one left in my immediate family. But I have a daughter and four granddaughters.”

He lived on his own until 2021. That’s when Durham moved to a Veterans Nursing Facility. 

“I like it here,” he told me. “They feed me a good breakfast — pancakes, waffles, sausage, eggs, oatmeal. Anything I want. I don’t eat a lot at lunch or dinner.” 

After breakfast, he went to physical therapy in his power chair and rode around outside after therapy and after lunch. “I like to get out.” 

After dinner he told me he watched the news and Jeopardy. “I go to bed early, and I read.”

His favorite book? The Bible.

His favorite verse? “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved…” (Acts 16:31).

His favorite scene from Scripture? “I like where Jesus walked on water. He had control over everything.”

Despite his acts of bravery, Durham wasn’t enamored with war. “The best day of my life was December 22, 1945, when I got to come home.”

I interviewed him three years ago when he was 97 years old, just before he passed to the Lord the following year.

Monday is Memorial Day. Remember those who offered their lives for this nation. Thank them for their service; always support them with your vote. 

Freedom isn’t free.

The Rev. Mathews (BA, MDiv, JD) is the author of the Reaching to God series. Contact her at Hello@RAMathews.com.

Copyright ©2022, 2025 R.A. Mathews.  All rights reserved.