Valdese veteran stormed the beach at Normandy

Morganton News Herald staff

Lenoir native and later Valdese resident James Hamby stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944 — but that wasn’t Hamby’s only trip to France.

A retired Army private first class, Hamby returned twice to Normandy for D-Day celebrations, serving as the grand marshal and guest of honor for the National D-Day Commemorative Parade in Cherbourg, France, in 2017.

Before that, Hamby had traveled to France in 2014 with East Burke High School’s marching band for the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

Hamby hoped to visit again for the 2019 celebration, but died at the age of 93 just a few months prior.

His son, Dan, told The Morganton News Herald about Hamby’s bravery when volunteering for the draft.

“He looked for ways to make an impact,” Dan said. “He started out as a truck or jeep driver and he ended up at headquarters battery driving for a general.

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He wanted to be out on the front line and he wanted to be out there helping.

He asked his commander if he could put him in the liaison portion of the infantry.

“Those are the people who are out front ahead of everyone, telling the artillery, ‘Here’s where you need to aim your shells.’ He did that for the biggest part of the war, even though his (military occupation specialty) was a truck driver. He felt like that was where he needed to be. That was his way of helping protect the army.”

Hamby was honored with the title of a Knight of the French Legion of Honor at a ceremony in Raleigh in 2015.

The honor historically was only given to French citizens, but in recent history has been given to American veterans of World War II.

Tom Rice was one of 13,000 U.S. paratroopers who landed behind enemy lines before the D-Day invasion. 75 years later, he and his comrades recreated that important leap to celebrate freedom and honor those who never made it home.

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American D-Day Paratroopers Recreate Normandy Jump 75 Years Later | NBC Nightly News

Before returning to France in 2017, Hamby told The News Herald he wanted to talk to the French and hear their stories, something he accomplished when he met Michelle Letourneur.

She was a child during the invasion, and a German grenade almost took one of her arms.

“They heard them in the hedgerow and a German threw one of the grenades that they have and it almost tore this little girl’s (Letourneur) arm off,” Hamby told The News Herald after the trip.

“The American GI’s got her and took her to the first-aid station and fixed up her arm.”

When Hamby died in 2019, his son recalled his perseverance.

“He was one of those people who would never give up, whether it was a chore around the house or if it was his career as an electrician. He stayed with it until the job was complete,” Dan said.

“He was very strong in his thoughts that you treat people honestly and give them a good hard day’s work so that their payment to you has a good value.

“Loyalty, naturally, because of his time in the service, in that you make a commitment and you stay loyal to it.

And just a good work ethic — he was a hard worker, and he instilled that in his children.”

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