U.S. Navy SEALs Honor WWII, D-Day Teammate

VIRGINA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- Sailors assigned to East-Coast Naval Special Warfare (NSW) units attended a family celebration in honor of a Naval Combat Demolition-man April 12.

The celebration was held to honor Alfred Martin Palacios' heroic acts while storming the beaches of Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Capt. Bob Smith, Commodore of Naval Special Warfare Group TWO, and a contingent of East-Coast based U.S. Navy SEALs (Sea, Air and Land) kicked off the observance by thanking Palacios for his service and all he had done to pave the way for NSW.

That was followed by a retelling of Palacios' acts at Normandy, which were recounted by Capt.(Ret.) Norm Olson, Commodore of Naval Special Warfare Group TWO from October 1977 - June 1980.

Olson began, "Palacios enlisted in the Navy in 1943, volunteered for "hazardous, prolonged and distant duty" and was assigned to Training Base, Fort Peirce, Fla., where he trained and qualified as a member of Naval Combat Demolition Unit 131."

Palacios was assigned to one of 21, nine-man units destined for Omaha Beach, said Olson. Their mission was to clear the landing beaches of obstacles to open gaps for the landing force to successfully assault the beach.

On the morning of June 6th 1944, Palacios' 'Boat Team F' was hit twice by artillery fire on the approach to Beach Fox Red, killing six Combat Demolition-men and wounding four others, said Olson. Palacio was among the four wounded men.

"With his elbow shattered from machinegun fire, Palacio managed to drag his Bangalore Torpedoes, a five ft. steel tube of explosives used to clear barbed-wire obstacles, across a football-sized beach to the shelter of the shoreline cliffs," said Olson. Once under the cover of the cliffs he applied first aid to his left arm and made a sling."

He then made his way back to his Landing Craft Medium (LCM) where he was wounded again while trying to retrieve several 20 pound "Hagersen Packs" of explosives. This time he was hit in the back with shrapnel from an enemy artillery shell, said Olson. Palacios then proceeded to maneuver back to the base of the shoreline cliffs and propped himself up in a sitting position where he was given a rifle from an Army GI.

Olson added, "Still dazed and holding the rifle as best he could with his good arm, German soldiers began coming over the dune line at the beach exit. Seeing him pointing his rifle at them, they raised their arms in surrender, and Palacios was credited with the capturing of three to six German prisoners of war (POWs)."

Palacios was awarded the Purple Heart for his actions that day on the beach and his unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, the only one awarded to U.S. Naval Forces during the Normandy invasion, said Olson. Following D-Day, Palacios was evacuated to a field hospital in England, where his left arm was amputated at the shoulder.

Upon Palacios' return to the United States, he was Honorably Discharged January 8, 1945, as a Carpenters Mate 2nd Class.

Smith said, "We are here to recognize the heroic act of a teammate. Any man that is going to get out of a landing craft injured, continue to carry a Bangalore torpedo across the beach and then get injured again and go back and get the Hagersen Packs and bring them back and then capture six Germans is a frogman in my book."

Smith presented Palacios with a ceremonial wooden paddle, a traditional symbolic farewell token that is presented to teammates.

For more news from Naval Special Warfare Group 2, visit www.navy.mil/local/nswgtwo/.