Normandy at 99 Soon-to-be centenarian recalls special visit to France
On the day Kathleen Varner Teagarden of Waynesburg turned 19 – June 6, 1944 – her husband parachuted into Normandy with the 82nd Airborne Division.
Last June, at the age of 99, she visited the area where Robert Teagarden landed and fought during D-Day, the Allied invasion to end the Nazi occupation of Europe.
“He always said he’d be sitting there in those hedgerows, looking up at the moon and would say, ‘That’s the same moon that’s shining down on my Katie,'” recalls their daughter, Beth Day.
Wounded in the leg (he kept the bullet), he received the Purple Heart of Valor. He returned home with a list of the towns he passed through during his time in France. The intention was always to return with his wife to show her, but he passed away in 1998, and Kathleen Teagarden made the trip by herself with the aid of her family.
She still has his paratrooper wings and his 82nd Airborne Division jacket.
The two met in high school, in Waynesburg. He sat behind her in class and they marched in the band together. They dated, mostly going out in groups. And then Robert went to work in Baltimore after graduation. He proposed on a penny postcard he mailed to her, saying he couldn’t live without her and would she come to Baltimore and marry him. Still 17, she told a little white lie, as Maryland law required that she be 18 to wed. The year was 1942.
When Robert was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943, Kathleen returned home to her family farm in Kirby with their first child to await his return.
Her husband and others in his company were offered an additional $50 each pay if they joined the paratroopers. His buddies all said they would join too, but it was only Robert who showed up for duty, his wife said.
He trained with the paratroopers in Ireland, sending Kathleen a coveted piece of lace from the Emerald Isle. He was then moved to England before the D-Day invasion.
Blown off course when he parachuted into Normandy, he landed in a field full of cows. Searching for water, he ended up at the Marmion Farm, which became a rendezvous spot where many soldiers who had been separated from their units regrouped.
He was eventually wounded in the fighting. The bullet removed from his leg remains in a box Kathleen has kept, along with an army green pack of Lucky Strikes, some ration tickets, and several types of printed currency from various countries and the military orders her husband received.
The couple went on to have five more children, nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, with another on the way.
Her sojourn to Normandy coincided with the 80th anniversary of the invasion, and some areas were closed due to ceremonies. Unable to enter the Normandy American Cemetery because of the restrictions, she took in the vast rows of white crosses from the outside. The group visited the towns of Carentan, La Hay-Du-Puits and Baupte; each town had its own celebration for the D-Day anniversary. And they all then stood together on Utah Beach.
How did she feel visiting Normandy, seeing where her husband fought and so many gave their lives?
“I guess you kinda wished you’d been a part of it,” she said.
The family had hoped to celebrate Kathleen’s 99th birthday at the restaurant 6 Juin in Arromanches-les-Bains, but entrance to the town was restricted that day. She was celebrated in another small town restaurant when the local residents found out her age and gathered to wish her well.
Kathleen will celebrate another milestone on June 6, when she turns 100.
She was recently asked by one of her doctors what her secret is to becoming a centenarian. She told him, “Well, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke,” and he added, “and you don’t cuss.” She corrected him, saying, “Oh, I cussed. I had six kids!”
What will she do to top her 99th birthday?
“Oh, I’ll be sitting on the porch,” she said. It’s her favorite spot, and her family is planning a porch reception for friends and family to visit her.