Marking D-Day with massive U.S. paintball battle

In one of the largest paintball games in the world, some 3,000 people in Oklahoma will relive the events of June 6, 1944, D-Day, when German-occupied France was invaded by Allied Forces, marking a turning point in World War Two.

This year's Oklahoma version will mark the 14th time a D-Day-style paintball game has been staged. There's an Allied side and a German side, and even the French Resistance is represented, but it's not just a paintball free-for-all.

Instead, in a large, rugged park, Allied Forces and the Third Reich will compete to achieve certain goals based on the many individual battles that occurred 67 years ago.

There are mock tanks rumbling around, pyrotechnics exploding and soldiers tumbling out of plywood landing craft amid a cacophony of clacking paintball guns.

"The field sorts out the men from the boys," said Andy Van Der Plaats, a 64-year-old marketing consultant from North Fort Myers, Fla., and a high-ranking officer in the Allied paintball chain of command. "The adrenalin is just cranked. It's stressful."

It's a big deal in Wyandotte, population 500, where Dwayne Convirs created the event in 1997 to honor his grandfather, Enos Armstrong, a combat engineer who fought his way through Europe after landing in Normandy on D-Day.

The first version of Oklahoma D-Day drew 135 players, Convirs said. Since then as many as 15,000 people - including the families of players -- have shown up to either camp out on the grounds of Oklahoma D-Day Adventure Park or stay in nearby motels.

"This is their vacation," Convirs, 46, told Reuters. "It's not really about the game, it's about the event."

The big D-Day paintball battle takes place this year on June 11 after a week of preliminary activities including a flag-raising ceremony, a parade, military-style chapel services, and evening showings of movies such as "Patton," "The Longest Day" and "Band of Brothers."

At Oklahoma D-Day, the outcome is definitely not guaranteed. The Axis side has won the past three years.

While the ultimate result may not always match history, pains are taken to recreate certain historical missions, such as the capture and defense of bridges, churches, crossroads and towns. And all the while, thousands of paintballs are flying through the air; if you're hit, you have to sit out awhile in a "dead zone."

The game is taken seriously by those who spend $100 to play and a tidy sum to buy gear, including paintball guns, which can cost anywhere from a few hundred bucks to several thousand dollars.

REVERENCE

Despite the fun-and-games atmosphere in Oklahoma, there is a palpable undercurrent of patriotism and reverence for those who fought the real fight on D-Day.

For the past two years, Jake McNiece, 92, a D-Day paratrooper who is a member of the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame, has been a guest at the D-Day paintball games. He's going back this year.

McNiece, who lives in Ponca City, Oklahoma, is dismayed how little young people know about World War Two. The Oklahoma D-Day event, he said, keeps the history alive.

Blind in one eye and deaf in one ear, McNiece is not shy about telling stories of his own experiences, whether it was when he parachuted into Normandy to blow up a bridge before the Allied troops came ashore or when he parachuted into Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.

"We don't brag about it and we don't apologize for it," he said. "War is hell. It's a killing game."

He talks to the participants, young and old, and, with his wife, Martha, sells copies of his book, "The Filthy 13," which details his experiences with the 101st Airborne Division.

"It's unbelievable the amount of respect he gets, especially from young people," Van Der Plaats, the Florida marketing consultant, told Reuters.

Even though it's just paintballs being fired, the tactical maneuvering, frequently uphill if you're on the Allied side, is physically taxing in the summer heat, Van Der Plaats said.

Meanwhile, there's a cat-and-mouse game of strategy going on.

Both sides are known to use scanners to intercept the radio communications of their foe and aircraft have been employed to determine the enemy's positions, Van Der Plaats said.

Finally, if it all gets too intense for the paintballers, there is a "chaplain" available to talk it over.

Overseeing this with a certain amount of amazement is Convirs, who remembers the event's humble beginnings and the stories of his grandfather, who helped build 200 bridges in Europe, usually while under fire from the Germans.

"We try to make it patriotic and make people think about life," he added. "There's a lot of people who gave their lives for us to have freedom. A lot of people forget that."

Connecticut Connections to D-Day

Over 150,000 armed forces personnel, 5,000 ships, and more than 1,200 aircraft formed the armada that assaulted the shores of Normandy during “Operation Overlord” on June 6, 1944 - otherwise known as D-Day - 67 years ago this week.
The attack was by far the largest amphibious invasion in the history of the world to date, and it is safe to say that there will never be another invasion of that size again. Nationwide, more than 16,000,000 Americans mobilized for the war; of that number, more than 210,000 men and over 3,300 women called Connecticut their home. 161 of those Connecticut natives are memorialized at the famous American cemetery at Colleville sur Mer that overlooks Omaha Beach; 19 of them died on D-Day.
The American amphibious forces assaulted two beaches - Omaha and Utah - and one cliff - Pointe du Hoc - on D-Day. Connecticut men participated in all three assaults. Four Connecticut men buried in Normandy were members of the famous 2^nd Ranger Battalion, their mission: to capture a triangular piece of land jutting out into the English Channel known as Point du Hoc. It was a formidable challenge. Pointe du Hoc was of great strategic importance, as it lay between both Omaha to the east and Utah to the west. The Germans had placed large artillery pieces on the top of the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc. These guns could be used to hit either of the two American beaches or both. The Rangers had to get to the top of 100-foot cliffs from the shore. They modified mortars to shoot heavy ropes with grappling hooks up to the top of the sheer cliffs at Pointe du Hoc (see photos). They slung their rifles over their backs and began to climb the ropes as the Germans above, with a huge strategic advantage, shot down at them, tossed grenades at them, and cut their ropes. The Rangers eventually got up and secured the cliffs but at great cost. Over 60 percent of the 2^nd Ranger Battalion were killed or wounded - by far the highest casualty rate of any unit on D-Day. Four soldiers from Connecticut were among the casualties: Pvt. James E. Donovan of New Haven County; Pvt. John S. Gourley; Sgt. Charles E. Rich, and Sgt. Frederick D. Smith of Connecticut, who was awarded the Silver Star for heroic action during the attack (see photos of their graves).
Six Connecticut servicemen were members of airborne divisions who parachuted in behind the lines to secure roads and bridges. Two were members of the 101^st Airborne Division: Pvt. Charles S. Emerson, who was also awarded the Silver Star, and Lt. Harlan E. Rugg.
Four were members of the 82^nd Airborne Division. They included Sgt. Harry E. La Chance Jr., Pvt. John N. Bruno, and Pvt. John R. Bergendahl of Middletown, CT, whose actions near St. Mere Eglise before he died earned him the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster; finally, there was Pvt. Andrew Babjak of the 508^th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82^nd Airborne from Fairfield County.
Another likely member of an airborne unit was Cpl. Frank E. Benson whose job in the war is simply described as “counter-intelligence.” He probably parachuted in to Normandy.
Private Michael Datzko of Ansonia, of the 4^th Infantry division, landed on Utah Beach, where he was awarded a Bronze Star before he died. Datzko was one of only 197 American casualties on Utah Beach. “Bloody Omaha,” however, had over 3,000 casualties, so it should come as no surprise that most of Connecticut’s casualties - eight - came at Omaha. Private Douglas R. Osborne of Windsor, CT, landed at Omaha with the 1^st Infantry Division - nicknamed “the Big Red One.” Osborme was killed at the Easy Red sector after his heroic actions had earned him the Bronze Star there. Note in the list below this article that the rest of the casualties were all tied in with the 29^th Infantry Division. The 29^th was located in the western end of Omaha, near the Vierville Draw. The 5^th Ranger Battalion assaulted this area with them. Both units suffered many casualties; in fact, Dog Green was the area where 22 men from Bedford , VA, were killed within minutes of each other. Bedford, VA, is the home of the National D-Day Memorial because the town lost more of its men on a per capita basis than any other town or city in the United States.
Another Connecticut connection can be made to the Dog Green sector on the western side of Omaha Beach. That connection happened in the summer of 2009, when Killingworth native and HKHS grad, Chris DiStefano, was visiting the famous beach as part of a student tour group when he was in college. While walking in the water, Chris heard the cries of two young French children who were being carried out to sea by a riptide. Stripping off his clothes, he swam out and saved their lives, much to the relief of their parents. The “new hero of Omaha” was quoted in the July 5, 2009, edition of the New Haven Register as saying, “It just felt good being an American back on that beach doing something like that. Coming back in, I just thought about how many people died right where I was swimming. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.” (Click here to read the entire story and to see a picture of Chris at Omaha)
A lot of men had indeed died right there in the Dog Green sector of Omaha where Chris DiStefano saved two lives. Of the more than 5,300 men and women from Connecticut who died in World War II, 19 died on June 6, 1944, and eight of them died right there near the Vierville Draw.
Connecticut Men Who Died on June 6, 1944, in Normandy
1. BABJAK ANDREW—PVT ( 508^th PIR; 82^nd AB)

2. BENSON FRANK E—CPL ( Counter-Intelligence)

3. BERGENDAHL JOHN R.—PVT (82^nd AB ; Bronze Star w/ Oak Leaf Cluster)

4. BRUNO JOHN N—PVT* ( 82^nd AB)

5. CANAVAN MICHAEL J. Jr.—PVT ( 299^th Engineer Combat Div.)

6. COWAN WILLIAM J—PVT ( 29^th ID)

7. DATZKO MICHAEL—PVT ( 4^th ID; Bronze Star)

8. DONAHUE JAMES E—PVT ( 2^nd Ranger Battalion)

9. EMERSON CHARLES S.—PVT ( 101^st AB; Silver Star)

10. GOURLEY JOHN S—PVT (2^nd Ranger Battalion)

11. HALL WILLIAM C-1^st Lt. ( 79^th ID )

12. KRAWFSKY ANTHONY—PVT ( 29^th ID )

13. LA CHANCE HARRY E JR—SGT. (82^nd AB)

14. OSBORN DOUGLAS R—PVT ( 1^st ID; Bronze Star)

15. RICH CHARLES E—SGT. (2^nd Ranger Battalion)

16. RUGG HARLAN E—2ndLt. ( 101^st AB)

17. SMITH FREDERICK D—SSGT (2^nd Ranger Battalion; Silver Star)

18. WASSIL NICKOLAS—PVT ( 5^th Ranger Battalion)

19. ZAWICKI FRANK A—PVT ( 29^th ID)