Click here to donate to Stars and Stripes Honor Flight as part of WTMJ Cares: Operation Glory! Make sure to check the ” WTMJ Cares” button when doing so. Powered by Watry Industries and Premier Aluminum and brought to you by Kaerek Homes.
Rene Kepperling was an Army Ranger, serving from 1943 to 1945, and was a part of the first wave of the D-Day invasion.
Kepperling and his men became the “Lead the Way Rangers.” They were told to “hold the beach,” meaning they were to not let the Germans push them off the beach.
They fought for three and a half days.
“Looking back at the beach and seeing the bodies…that was bad,” Kepperling states as he reflected on that day.
He was given the opportunity to take an Honor Flight in September 2018.
