Late Four-Star General from Polk County led soldiers on D-Day during World War II: ‘Go to the beach’
BARTOW, Fla. - Next month marks the 80th anniversary of the Allied troop landing at Normandy during World War II. One of the heroes of D-Day was raised in Polk County.
James Van Fleet worked his way up the ranks to become one of America's most accomplished army generals.
Pictured: James Van Fleet
"Now boys, we’re going on an expedition that the whole world will be watching. There’s never been anything like it in history," were Van Fleet's words to his troops as he prepared to lead his eighth infantry Army regiment across the English Channel on June 6, 1944.
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Van Fleet's grandson, Joe McChristian Jr., recounts the events of that fateful day. His grandfather was supposed to observe from a command boat as his lead soldiers went ashore.
"As they got close, he couldn’t resist anymore, and he jumped out of the command boat and into a small landing boat and told the coxswain to ‘go to the beach!’" said McChristian.
Commander Van Fleet landed well west of the bloody battle on Omaha Beach. The 21,000 soldiers of the fourth division suffered 197 casualties.
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"I’ve been told the eighth infantry regiment is the only unit out of the entire Allied and British invasion force that reached its objective on D-Day," McChristian said.
This is an excerpt from a letter Commander Van Fleet later wrote about D-Day: "The price of victory never comes cheap. We lost men we knew as comrades and loved as brothers. I know the cost in widows’ tears and in fatherless growing up."
Pictured: Van Fleet's grandson, Joe McChristian Jr.
Years later, McChristian was able to walk Utah Beach with his grandfather at the very spot he landed.
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"To be walking in the footsteps of history with a man who helped write the history on that spot, it's something you don’t forget," he recalled.
Van Fleet later went on to become a four-star general. He commanded troops in four different wars. President Harry Truman called him, "the greatest combat general the United States ever had."
He passed away in 1992, shortly after celebrating his 100th birthday, and he's now buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
McChristian is also an Army veteran. He graduated from West Point and served 12 years active duty with two tours in Vietnam.
The Polk County History Center in Bartow has a special section dedicated to his grandfather's military history and accomplishments.
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