A D-Day veteran died five days after visiting France for the 70th anniversary of the Normandy Landings, according to NBC News.
Cpl. Jack Schlegel, a German immigrant to the United States, had a heroic military career in World War II. He served as a paratrooper in the elite 508th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne unit.
Schlegel was captured on D-Day after he sustained a head injury. He was tortured by SS officers while in captivity, but managed to survive in part due to his fluency in German. He was captured a total of four times by the Germans during the war.
According to NBC News:
It was Gen. Patton who gave Schlegel his first Purple Heart and together they shared a drink of scotch whiskey (Johnnie Walker Black Label).
On the 40th anniversary of D-Day, the road where Schlegel landed, near Sainte-Mere-Eglise, was christened in his honor: the Chemin Jack Schlegel. While Schlegel's honor was well-deserved, he is humble and quick to point out that other men, many of whom died or were wounded, never received an honor like this.
"When I see it now, I get a little emotional," he said. "It is very honoring for me to have all these people here, and they appreciate what the Americans did."