World War II veteran recalls D-Day invasion

Jim Wooters of Columbus still has a piece of shrapnel recovered from the USS Arkansas during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944.

Wooters, 93, said he and about 1,200 sailors were pounded by German guns from the beach and aircraft dropping bombs from the sky but the old battleship never took a direct hit.

“There was shrapnel all over the ship but it didn’t get hit a single time,” Wooters said during an interview at Covenant Woods, a senior living community on Woodruff Farm Road. “It was the closest and the oldest ship. We were the expendable one.”

Veterans gather today to observe the 72nd anniversary of the invasion that sent 156,000 Allied troops into battle along a 50-mile stretch of heavily fortified coastline. Wooters said his battleship was anchored more than two miles from Omaha Beach, one of five shore locations for the invasion. The other beaches included Juno, Gold, Utah and Sword.

Described as “The Longest Day” and one of the largest amphibious landings in military history, the invasion gave Allied forces a foothold in Normandy, paving the way for 100,000 troops to march across Europe. Operation Overlord left 2,499 Americans and 1,915 Allied troops dead on D-Day.

Nona Christie, a marketing spokeswoman at Covenant Woods, said that Wooters and Charlie Maupin, a World War II soldier who served with the 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division and lives across the hall from Wooters, will be recognized with all veterans during a “Remembrance of D-Day” program today with the dedication of the Bemon McBride Veterans Garden.

The garden is named in memory of Bemon McBride, a Navy veteran who served in World War II and saw combat at Okinawa. The ceremony is at 2 p.m. today and is open to the public. McBride’s son, Chief Superior Court Judge Bemon Gilmore McBride III, and Dr. Jimmy Elder, the pastor at First Baptist Church of Columbus, are guest speakers.

Wooters said he and other sailors thought they were gone and wouldn’t survive the battle. The ship was ordered to take out guns inland that were 19 miles away but the ship was anchored in the English Channel like a sitting duck. “They could never hit us,” he said. “When you know you’re going to die you are not afraid. It’s the most unusual feeling.”

A native of North Carolina, Wooters said young men were getting drafted after he completed two years at North Carolina State University. To avoid the draft, he went to Wilmington and enlisted in the Navy in summer of 1942. “Dad was chairman of the draft board and I didn’t want him to draft me,” he said.

At age 19, he was sent to Portsmouth , Va., and assigned to the Arkansas. The ship was commissioned into the Navy in 1912 before World War I and it was the only ship in the fleet armed with the older 12-inch guns. The newer ships had 14-inch and 16-inch guns.

“Being an old ship, we didn’t have the firepower the new ships had,” Wooters said. “ They could have blown us out of the water before they got in our range.”

The ship was used mostly as an escort to prevent attacks on convoys before the invasion. Surrounded by destroyers, the battleship would make its way across the Atlantic.

By the spring of 1944, the ship departed for Ireland where it trained on shore bombardment duties. The Arkansas fired its guns just before 6 a.m. on June 6, 1944, at enemy positions on Omaha Beach.

“Adrenaline was flowing and it takes over,” said Wooters, who was working in the combat information center. “I ran one of the radars for I guess about three of us.”

With low clouds and heavy seas in the channel, Wooters said you couldn’t see the beach. “It was just total confusion,” he said. “The Germans pinned the troops down.”

Wooters learned later that A Company, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment from the Virginia National Guard in Bedford, Va., was among the first troops to hit the beach. With most of their tanks foundered and sunk in the channel, the regiment took heavy losses on the beach. “They thought they were better able to do the job than any professional unit could,” he said.

The Arkansas was in the channel for about two weeks firing on positions more than 12 miles inland. The ship also served as a hospital for the wounded and dead. “We received wounded from the beach on the ship, which was an awful sight,” he said.

The ship had a close call during an air attack. An aircraft dropped a 2,000 pound bomb near the battleship but missed it. “When a 2,000 pound bomb goes off, it gets your attention in a hurry,” Wooters said. “It missed us by about 50 yards. It soaked the ship down.”

After the invasion, the ship moved to southern France before taking part in battles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Wooters didn’t stay in the Navy after the war ended. “I marched in and said I had enough of war,” he said. “I’m a lover. I didn’t want any part of it.”

He married his wife, Tillie, and they have three children. They will celebrate 66 years of marriage on Friday. “That man up there has taken care of me,” he said, smiling.

This story was originally published June 4, 2016 at 7:41 PM with the headline "World War II veteran recalls D-Day invasion."