Aerial photo, Pattillo’s map part of archives’ D-Day exhibit

June 02-- Jun. 2--An aerial photograph, believed to be the last made of Omaha Beach before the D-Day invasion, and a map used during the invasion are the centerpieces of a display in the Morgan County Archives to commemorate the 75th anniversary of one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history.

"These items are incredible and something that very few have seen," said Archivist John Allison.

The map and photograph were owned by the late Gen. Lewis Carl Pattillo of Hartselle. He helped plan the D-Day invasion and was there when is started at 6:30 a.m. on June 6, 1944.

Pattillo's only daughter, Nancy Stoner, and his grandson, Decatur attorney Allen Stoner, said the map and photograph -- which both include Pattillo's handwritten notes -- have been publicly displayed only one other time.

The black-and-white photograph, which has lines dividing the beach into sectors where troops would invade, has a typewritten note Pattillo included before he died on Dec. 13, 1978.

According to his note, the "air photo" was the last one made "before the assault of the beach by V Corps early on the morning of 6th June 1944."

The picture, Pattillo wrote, was taken June 5, 1944.

Because Pattillo was one of the engineers involved with the invasion, Allison said there would have been plenty of reasons for him to have the photograph and map.

"He would have known about everything going on," he said.

Nancy Stoner is not sure why or how her father acquired the map and photograph because he didn't talk much about the war, especially to his family. Most of the stories she heard came when he was talking at public events, but there was a time when she was watching "The Longest Day," a 1962 movie about the D-Day invasion, when he shared some stories with her.

Some of the stories were about the planning and Pattillo's meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Nancy Stoner, 85, said her father was with a group of engineers who traveled by submarine to Omaha Beach to retrieve sand samples so they could determine where the sand could handle the weight of military equipment.

At some point during a briefing Churchill attended, Pattillo used the term "squeezability" when describing the condition of the sand. The prime minister -- although he knew it was not a word -- loved the term, she said.

"My dad shared this with me," Stoner said.

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He also told her about the first day of the invasion and that he expected to die on the beach. The one story Pattillo told that still brings his daughter to tears was about his arrival at Buchenwald, which was one of the first and largest concentration camps in Germany.

Stoner said her father was a few miles inland from the Ryan River when "a terrible odor sickened him." According to the story he told, decaying bodies were everywhere. Although they will not be part of the display, Stoner has pictures her father made.

"He documented what he saw because he didn't ever want people to forget the cruelty," she said.

Pattillo was an unlikely candidate to serve in World War II. Allen Stoner said he was born in 1903 and in 1920 lied about his age so he could join the National Guard before graduating high school. His grandfather earned civil and electrical engineering degrees from Auburn University and returned to Hartselle in 1926 to marry the former Launa Freeman.

It was the beginning of The Depression and Pattillo couldn't get work as an engineer, so he worked in the Freeman Cotton Company, which was owned by his in-laws and located at the site of what now is the Sparkman Civic Center. He also operated an insurance business.

The Stoners said Pattillo didn't get to use his engineering degrees until 1936, when President Franklin Roosevelt called up almost 400,000 National Guard troops and Pattillo was assigned to the Corps of Engineers.

Until his death, Nancy Stoner -- the Pattillos' only child -- said her father was affected by what he witnessed June 6, 1944. She said fireworks reminded him of rounds fired from a German 88 mm gun.

"For some reason, he protected mother until he died and didn't want her to know about how unpleasant war is," Nancy Stoner said.

Allen Stoner didn't talk with his grandfather about his role in D-Day, either.

"I was young and didn't know to ask him, but I know he didn't like loud noises," the attorney said.

Allison said men like Pattillo served out of duty to country.

"They didn't want a lot of credit and didn't expect a lot of pats on the back," he said. "But it's important that we remember and honor their service."

The displays also include memorabilia belonging to Samuel Draper, who served with the 47th Infantry Regiment that landed at Utah Beach on June 10, 1944.

Allison also is displaying declassified documents related to missions of the late William "Buddy" Rogers on D-Day and during World War II.

He said visitors will be able to watch an interview The Decatur Daily conducted with Ross Malone, who was at Omaha Beach nine days after D-Day.

Malone served in the U.S. Army's 973rd combat support group, a segregated unit tasked with guarding German prisoners of war. -- [email protected] or 256-340-2469. Twitter @DD_Deangelo.

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