Eighty-two years after fighting for freedom
Simon Gurdal and George Sarros met on February 28, 2026, two heroes of the WWII European theatre of 1944.聽 Their stories are connected in history and geography. Simon was born November 8, 1926, in Verviers, Belgium. George was born in Chicago on April 17, 1925.
George showed Simon a model of his ship, LST 515.
George Sarros served as a Motor Machinist on LST (Landing Ship, Tanks) 515, landing on the beach in Normandy on June 6, 1944. LST 515 opened its giant door and unloaded tanks, ambulances and hundreds of soldiers as part of the largest amphibious military operation in history. Along with approximately 160,000 of their comrades from the sea and falling from the sky, they successfully began what has been called 鈥渢he beginning of the end of World War II.鈥 George had joined the US Navy at age 17 (with his parents鈥 signatures).
George and Simon鈥檚 war time roles were connected.
The Allied troops fought their way north through France toward the goal of crossing the Rhine River into Germany. Their 鈥減rize鈥 would be Berlin. Joining those Allies in September in the north was the Belgian Brigade Piron. These were soldiers from Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Baptiste Piron of the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade鈥2,200 soldiers.
Simon was interested in George’s mementoes and medals.
The Belgian Brigade Piron moved further north in France, and on September 3, 1944, Piron and his men crossed the French-Belgian border. One day later they liberated Brussels and participated in the liberation of The Netherlands.
Simon Gurdal鈥檚 1c Bataillon also fought in Market Garden, the Allies鈥 attempt to cross the Rhine (documented in the book and movie,聽A Bridge Too Far). Simon was 17 years old, having fudged his age to join the army. The Belgian Brigade Piron continued the fight northward beginning three months after D-Day.
聽From birthplaces 4,000 miles apart, these brave 17-year-olds had joined the fight against tyranny. Simon had felt this through Germany鈥檚 occupation of his homeland since 1940. These men now connected their experiences in the geography of Europe from June through September 1944.
Simon and George found something else in common鈥攖hey both speak Greek. After a short conversation in Greek over lunch of pizza and French fries, Simon said to George, 鈥淎s soon as I saw your last name, I knew you were Greek.鈥
聽Laughing, George said, 鈥淚 had to learn to speak Greek. My Greek grandmother lived with us in Chicago, and she spoke no English. When she called me in Greek to come to her, I had to know what she was saying or I would鈥檝e been in big trouble.鈥
聽Simon learned Greek while living on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, where a large settlement of Greek fishermen made their living night-fishing from the lake.
Painful side of war
The two聽veterans聽also recounted the painful side of war鈥擲imon of his injuries, the soldiers from his foxhole who were killed, and the boys from his Boy Scout troop from Verviers who didn鈥檛 return home. George told of his and his shipmates鈥 frantic attempt to rescue hundreds of sailors in the dark, cold English Channel when their LSTs were torpedoed during a training exercise in April 1944. They could only save around 100 out of 900 from the water. Both聽veterans聽had tears in their eyes as they shared these sad memories.
As they said goodbye, their parting messages were, 鈥淚 want to talk with you more.鈥 鈥淟et鈥檚 meet again soon.鈥
The WWII聽veterans聽shared their service connection, their fight for freedom, and even a knowledge of the Greek language. When they parted, they vowed to see each other again.
Top photo: Eighty-two years after fighting for freedom, WWII veterans Simon Gurdal (left) and George Sarros met and swapped stories of their war experiences