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Minot man recalls landing at Normandy

Eloise Ogden/MDN Ed Zilli, who landed at Normandy on D-Day June 6, 1944, visits about that day of 75 years ago at Margie’s Art Glass Studio in downtown Minot on Tuesday afternoon. Zilli was a member of the 4th Infantry Division of General Patton’s Third Army.

Ed Zilli of Minot remembers that day 75 years ago when, as a young soldier with the 4th Infantry Division of General Patton’s Third Army, he and thousands of other men landed on the beaches of Normandy, France.

June 6, 1944 is known as D-Day. It was the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare when more than 150,000 young soldiers from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada stormed the beaches of Normandy to push the Nazis out of western Europe during World War II.

Zilli landed on Utah Beach, one of the five beaches or landing sectors of the Normandy Invasion of World War II. He recalled the names of the other beaches – Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword – that the Allies invaded.

All of the beaches or sectors were code-named. Utah, the westernmost beach was added to the invasion plans at the eleventh hour so the Allies would be in striking distance of the port city of Cherboug, France, according to historical accounts.

Zilli and the massive contingency of other military members left England around the same time. “There were so many boats,” he said. He said it’s only about 20 or 25 miles across the English Channel so it didn’t take that long for them to arrive at Normandy.

When Zilli and others got off the boat at Utah Beach, he said, “All hell broke loose.”

After that, they pushed forward. “Normandy is a big area. It’s like a county,” Zilli explained. “We moved back and forth – it’s hard to describe.”

“That’s a long time (ago). For sure,” he said.

Before military service Zilli spent much of his life in New York. “Actually I was born in Jersey,” he said. But he said his family didn’t live there too long before they moved to New York. “Most of my young life was on Long Island,” he said. He joined the U.S. Army out of New York.

“For a kid that had never been out of the New York area, they sent me to Texas,” he said. From Texas, he went to training at Oklahoma, Mississippi and then back to New York before he was shipped overseas to England. “Actually, I went to Scotland and then took a train to England. They were worried about U-boats,” he said.

“I was there for 3 1/2 months in the English area going on maneuvers and stuff like that,” he said.

The soldiers were aware they might be going across the English Channel.

“You kind of knew you were going across the channel at some time,” Zilli said. “We didn’t know about the D-Day stuff and all that, “ he said, adding, “We didn’t call it D-Day at that time.” He said there was a code name for the invasion. Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy.

After D-Day, Zilli never went back to England. “We went to France when we crossed the channel,” he said. After leaving the Normandy area and across France, he said they “went like crazy” across Germany.

Zilli also was in the Battle of the Bulge. He and the other soldiers went through many other battles as they made their way across Europe. “Forever, it seemed like,” he said.

“When the war ended (1945) we had gone all the way through Germany and we were in Czechoslovakia,” he said.

Zilli received five battle stars including one for the Normandy Invasion.

Zilli got out of the Army and spent a couple months back in the states. Dissatisfied with civilian life, he re-enlisted in the military and went back to Germany. “I figured they could use me over there,” he said.

As it turned out, he spent almost 10 years in the U.S. Army.

Zilli met his wife, Margarhetta, at Coberg in the southern part of Germany.

When Zilli got out of the Army, he and his wife returned to New York. “I’m a retired captain from the police force,” he said. He was on the Suffolk County (N.Y.) police force for 25 years. “It’s the fourth largest police force in the U.S. and the best,” Zilli said.

Zilli, now 96, has lived in Minot for about a decade, moving here with his wife from Florida, where they had retired. His daughter and son-in-law, Margie and Ted Bolton, live in Minot.

He admits the years have gone by rather quickly – 75 years ago since the Normandy invasion that he was involved in. “My wife and I were together for 65 years. That worked good,” he added. His wife died in 2008.

On D-Day, Zilli is planning to attend the D-Day observance at the Dakota Territory Air Museum in Minot today.

D-Day: 75

Dakota Territory Air Museum will commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day with events today from 5-9 p.m.

During the event Minot World War II veterans Ed Zilli, John Sinn and Lynn Aas have been invited on a flight over the city in a C-53/C-47 Skytrooper. Six other veterans from the Foundation for Exceptional Warriors will also be on the flight. Casey Odegaard of Kindred will be the pilot of the C-53/C-47. Two other planes will fly at that time: Warren Pietsch of Minot will be pilot of the Spitfire and Bernie Vasquez of Vacaville, Calif., with the P-51 Mustang

Admission to the commemoration event is regular admission to the air museum: $10 for adults; $5 for youth ages 6-17; and family, $20. No charge for children 5 and under. There is no charge for all military service members past and present.

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