From the S&S archives:
Army chaplain recalls Omaha Beach landing

OMAHA BEACH, France — While thousands of World War II veterans were traveling from their stateside homes to the shores of France, another D-Day veteran was on his way to Normandy from his duty station in Goeppingen, Germany.

Army Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Leonard Lukaszewski, of the 1st Inf Div (Fwd), is one of those few on active duty who took part in the Allied invasion.

Now a priest known as "Father Luke," he was a 23-year-old combat engineer when he landed with the 531st Amphibious Engineers 40 years ago. Lukaszewski, a private first class, was assigned to destroy the German obstacles of barbed wire and pipe, known as "asparagus," on Omaha Beach.

"I was diverted to this landing site from Utah Beach because of the magnetic mines the Germans had placed," he recalled.

"1 spent six days clearing the area before going back to Utah Beach and rejoining my unit."

After that, he was assigned to burying the bodies of paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Div who landed in trees during their assault, and to mine-detection duty. The mines were encased in wooden boxes, so conventional metal detectors would not pick up their presence.

"The mines were buried in the ground," he said. "We had to probe for mines with bayonets because we didn't want the people with minesweepers to step on them because they couldn't tell where the mines were. After the St. Lo breakthrough in July, we were disbanded."

From the Cherbourg peninsula, Lukaszewski went to LeMans to join the 5th Inf Div.

He fought in Germany through Trier, Moenchengladbach and Koblenz before turning south and joining the 1st Inf Div near Grafenwoehr. Lukaszewski, who was wounded at Normandy, was discharged from the Army in 1946.

It was during his postwar hospitalization that he first came into contact with Gen. Omar S. Bradley, the man he credits with his later return to active duty.

"We had an Armistice Day service, and two Belgian soldiers who had lost their legs from injuries in the Battle of the Bulge presented wooden statuettes they had carved to our soldiers in appreciation for their rescue by American medics and subsequent treatment," he said. "They also had made a statuette of George Washington at prayer for General Bradley.

"After the service, the general was giving us a pep talk on the GI Bill when he noticed a soldier in the bleachers who was crying. When General Bradley asked what was wrong, the man told him his brother had been killed in battle. General Bradley told him that he understood the pain of his loss and gave his statue to the man," Lukaszewski recalled.

He said a Benedictine monk, who was a hospital chaplain, was a major influence on his decision to enter the priesthood.

"When he came through to visit," Lukaszewski said, "it was obvious that he cared very deeply about me and the other wounded men. I think I was always interested in the church, but that was probably the turning point for me." In 1950, two years after converting to Catholicism from Judaism, Lukaszewski entered a seminary at Orchard Lake, Mich.

Upon ordination in 1954, he served in a Gary, Ind., parish, devoting his time to working as a speech therapist until 1961.

"At that time, there was a shortage of Catholic chaplains," he said. "And General Bradley wrote to all the bishops, asking for former military men to return to active duty as chaplains.

"He made a personal trip to Chicago to speak with my bishop, saying he wanted me back on active duty because he felt I had something to offer the Army.

"The bishop called me in and asked me if I wanted to go back into the Army. And it was a hard decision. I felt like I was doing good work, working with speech handicaps and everything, so I agreed to join the National Guard and take a three-year tour of duty.

"I just stayed on. In fact, I didn't get a regular commission until I turned 60."

Now, Lukaszewski says, he is facing mandatory retirement in 1985. After seeing combat in World War II and Vietnam, and after nearly 30 years' service, he says he'll be "taking the Geritol Express and going home."