- Andrew “Andy” Negra Jr., 100, of Helen, Georgia, served with the Army’s 128th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 6th Armored Division.
- Negra landed at Utah Beach in Normandy on 18 July 1944 and fought in the Battle of Brest, among other battles, before serving with the German occupation forces until he was honorably discharged on 17 December 1945.
- Negra plans to return to France for the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings.
101-year-old D-Day veteran travels to France for 80th anniversary of Normandy landings
A profile of Helen, Georgia native Andrew “Andy” Negra Jr., one of a dwindling number of veterans who served in the Allied European war effort that led to the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Born: May 28, 1924, near Avella, Pennsylvania.
Assigned to: 128th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 6th Armored Division. Landed at Utah Beach, Normandy, 18 July 1944. Participated in the Battle of Brest, among other battles. Served in the occupation of Germany. Honorably discharged 17 December 1945.
101-year-old D-Day veteran travels to France for 80th anniversary of Normandy landings
“Because you saved the world.”
In 1943, Andrew “Andy” Negra Jr. had just graduated from high school. He had planned to go to the University of Pittsburgh. “But the U.S. government pointed the finger at me and said, ‘We need you,’ and I got drafted.”
The third of four children born to immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Negra felt no resistance to joining the army. “The war was going on, so I enlisted like everyone else. I just enlisted without prejudice.”
Now he proudly claims to be a member of “The Greatest Generation.”
World War II veteran Andy Negra Jr. sits at his home in Helen, Georgia, on April 10, 2024. He holds up a photo of himself from his time as a soldier with the Army’s 128th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 6th Armored Division. (AP Photo/Sharon Johnson)
“Because we saved the world,” he said.
He has returned to France before, but says his return this year to mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings is special for both Europeans and himself.
“I’m talking about the UK, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium. All these countries will be there, 35 countries,” Negra told The Associated Press before his trip. “So it’s going to be a pretty big event. And at the same time, I tell myself, they’re going to celebrate my birthday,” said Negra, who turned 100 on May 28.
He considers himself lucky to have survived unscathed. “I saw a lot of terrible things, a lot of death,” he said.
But he also says he met his wife at a dance while he was deployed there: “The second song they played was ‘People Will Say We’re in Love,’ and I told her that this song was going to be our song for the rest of our lives. I’d only known her for 10 minutes.”
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As the anniversary of the Normandy landings approached, Negra planned to visit the site of one of the most harrowing moments of his life. He recalled walking along the road with the 6th Armored Division as part of the operation to retake the French port city of Brest, when his unit came under machine gun fire from five German aircraft. He jumped from a half-track and hid behind a well.
“All five of these planes were diving toward that well,” Negra recalled, “and I was behind that well, so when they started strafing, luckily it was a brick well, and a solid well.”
He plans to revisit the site when he returns to France: “They say the well is not there, but the location is there, so if possible, I will go and have a look.”
