Seventy five years ago U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ray Lambert hit Omaha Beach as the lead medic on D-Day with the first wave.”I was bleeding very badly and getting weaker, but I saw a guy’s arms up in the water. I realized he was in trouble and went there to get him,” he recalled. Lambert, who was part of the First Division’s famed 16th Infantry Regiment, risked his life to save dozens of men during the bloody battle and his incredible story will be told at the award-winning PBS National Memorial Day Concert where he’ll be honored.
By: Heather Newgen @hnvoluntourist
“I’m very excited. One of the reasons I’d really like to do this is all my men that was in my 2nd Battalion medical section are all dead. Some died in Africa. Some died in Sicily and some were killed on D-Day. Those fellows can no longer talk about what they did. I want to do this for my men and their families that are living today. That’s why I’m excited about it,” Ray Lambert said referring to his appearance at the upcoming event.
Now ninety-eight years old, the Alabama native openly details his unforgettable account of D-Day.
“The older I get I realize if I don’t tell my guy’s stories and talk to some of their families, I’ll never get a chance to do it. That’s why I’m perfectly happy to talk about World War II.”
At five a.m. on June 6, 1944, Lambert landed on the shores off the coast of Normandy, France and instantly realized the heavy resistance they faced and how the imposing terrain was not on their side.
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“There was nothing on D-Day to get behind or between the machine gun bullets that were coming in. To try to get to some place to treat the soldiers who were wounded was very difficult. The Germans cut down all the foliage and everything that was growing by the hill in front of us. There was a very tiny little wall there. If you could get up to the beach and get to that little wall you could get behind it. But the big problem was getting there,” he said.
But that didn’t stop the bravery and courage that proceeded throughout the imbrued D-Day invasion. As bullets targeted the Allied forces they pressed forward with thousands dying and countless greatly wounded in the first few hours of the fiery attack.
“Two machine guns were firing right into the beach area where we were. We were at Omaha Beach Easy Red. Why they called it Easy I’m not sure. I was getting guys out of the water that was wounded and also trying to keep them from drowning. They had so much equipment on them that they couldn’t swim and they were being dropped off in water over their head,”Ray Lambert revealed.
He continued, “Something went through my right elbow and that kind of shattered my elbow and caused some bleeding. I kept working and didn’t pay much attention to that. I saw a guy hung up on barbed wire. I went in to get him off the barbed wire and had a difficult time. I got him loose and something hit me in the thigh, halfway between my hip and knee. It knocked a big whole [in my leg] almost to the bone and actually kind of knocked me down. I got up and put a tourniquet on just above the wound. I told one of my corporals to try to get more men over to the big rock so they could save them and treat them.”
However, not even two life-threatening wounds could stop Lambert. He kept going.
“I was bleeding very badly and getting weaker, but I saw a guy’s arms up in the water. I realized he was in trouble and went there to get him. When I got to him his equipment was also hung up in the barbed wire and an underwater mine had been set off and he had some injuries. I got him with my right arm, the one that was shattered, and had that around him. I was working with my left hand and finally after going down twice in the water I got him out.”
“As I turned to go back towards the beach, a Higgins boat came in and when he dropped his ramp it hit me in the back and pushed us both right to the bottom. It crushed the lower part of my back and I thought for sure we were both going to die. I said a prayer. I asked God to give me one more chance to save this person. For some reason unknown to any of us, that ramp rolled up and the boat moved to a different spot. My guess is the boat was in the wrong place where fire power was coming in. It was so heavy that they decided to move down the beach. I got the guy out and got him back up. By then I was in terrible shape. I was bleeding terribly bad so I passed out on the beach.”
Before Lambert went unconsciousness he told Corporal Raymond Lepore, a member of his medical unit, to take over. As Lepore stood up, he was hit by a sharp shooter and “dropped dead right next to me,” Lambert said.
Although many lives were saved on D-Day because of the Staff Sergeant, he wanted to do more.
“I was angry because I was going to be out of action. I wanted to stay with the 16th Infantry and go all the way. But to get shot there and get knocked out didn’t please me.”
Lambert’s role helped the Allies to victory on D-Day, which became a turning point for World War II. The former medic has received two Silver Stars and three Purple Hearts and continues to honor his fellow soldiers. He will attend the 75th anniversary next month at the very spot where D-Day took place.
“This will be a chance for me to go back at the rock to see my guy’s names on the plaque. It will be another visit to them,” he stated.
To see more of Lambert’s story, watch the 2019 National Memorial Day Concert on Sunday, May 26 at 8/7c on PBS.