Andrew “Andy” Negra of Sautee spoke to over sixty people as the guest speaker for the Habersham County Rotary Club’s monthly meeting at the Community House in Cornelia. Negra spoke about his journey from Normandy through France and into Germany during World War II.
Rotary Club President Bradley Cook prepared the meeting as a special presentation in honor of Veterans Day. On hand were honor guard members from the Grant-Reeves VFW Post 7720 to present the colors while Caleb McAllister sang the National Anthem.
Negra began his presentation by telling the audience that he always started his speeches with a quote from Winston Churchill, “A good speech should be like a woman’s skirt. It should be long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest.” He added, as the audience laughed, “I try to follow the second part. I try to be short enough to create interest.”
The World War II veteran is 99 years old. He will be 100 on May 28, 2024. “My life, to me, has been a wonderful life,” he expressed. Negra explained that he is a first-generation American. Though he grew up poor, his family didn’t view themselves as being poor. Looking back, he told the audience, “I had a good life.”
His journey during the war years began with being drafted into the Army and attending basic training at Ft. Bragg, NC, with additional training at Ft. Meade, MD. From Ft. Meade, he traveled to Camp Shanks, NY, and then on to New York to board ships to take them to Barry, Wales.
Back-up plan
While at Ft. Meade, he tells the audience that the Army discouraged the men from fraternizing with the ladies in the area due to them going off to war. He didn’t listen. He went into a dance hall where he met a beautiful woman and danced with her. While dancing with her, the band played “People Will Say We’re in Love.” He told her, “This will be our song for the rest of our lives.” He was 19 years old. She was 17.
“It came true,” he revealed.
They dated for a period of time, and he met some of her family prior to leaving for Ft. Meade. Once on the boat, about five days went by, and the soldiers started talking to one another about their girlfriends and showing pictures of their girls to one another. He tells the story that by about the third or fourth guy, he showed his girl’s picture too. The guy said, “Wait a minute,” and he reached into his wallet and pulled out the same picture.
After the war, he married that girl from the dance hall in Ft. Meade. He asked her about that incident after being married a few years. She explained to him, “We didn’t know who was coming back from the war. They (the women) had to have a plan A, B, C, and D.” He added, ”I was blessed to the fact I’m the one that came back, and she was waiting for me.”
He told the audience they were married for 71 years and had three children. She passed away six years ago at the age of 90.
Scenes of war
Once in Wales, he was assigned to the 128th Field Artillery of the 6th Armored Division. During his initial training, he was trained as a clerk typist. He told the audience once he got overseas, he never saw a typewriter and had to learn a whole new job.
He presented a slideshow of photographs from the war showing his unit’s battles and trek across France, beginning with his arrival on Utah Beach during the invasion of Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, all the way into Germany, a 1,500-mile and ten-month journey. His pictures not only showed the devastation of war but also the atrocities of the Holocaust from a freed concentration camp.
He accompanied 43 World War II veterans back to Normandy, France, this past June to commemorate the 79th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in 1944. He told the audience that the French people show their appreciation to American veterans, especially during the D-Day celebrations.
Negra told the audience that World War II was a lifesaver.
“It wasn’t just for France or Belgium. You think about it. If we didn’t win that battle, we here in this room right now may not be speaking English as we’re doing. It could have been German. It could have been Japanese. It could have been Italian.” He added, “We were blessed to have a victory, and we are blessed to have the freedoms we have now.”
Freedom’s warriors
Cook shared his thoughts of Negra sharing his story to the Rotary Club just days before Veterans Day. “We are so grateful that he was able to come. I am full of gratitude for his service – for all the service of all our men and women. Because of that, we are free today. I don’t take that for granted.” He continued, “I think about that every day when I go out the front door to work. I’m going because somebody else has gone before me.”
Negra had a message for Americans for Veterans Day.
“Support your soldiers. Say hello to them. Say thank you. No matter what war they fought in, especially World War II veterans. Treat them as they should be, with respect.”
He added that they saved our country, and we can too.
“They did what they did to save this country. You should do the same and continue to save this country in your own way.”
