{"id":20454,"date":"2021-04-11T17:15:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-11T17:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/11\/ray-lambert-d-day-survivor-wwii-torch-bearer-dies-at-100\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:13:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:13:02","slug":"ray-lambert-d-day-survivor-wwii-torch-bearer-dies-at-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2021\/04\/11\/ray-lambert-d-day-survivor-wwii-torch-bearer-dies-at-100\/","title":{"rendered":"Ray Lambert, D-Day survivor, WWII torch bearer, dies at 100"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ray Lambert, the Army medic who survived multiple wounds on D-Day and was saluted by a president on the World War II battle\u2019s 75th anniversary<\/a>, died on Friday. He was 100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lambert died at his home in Seven Lakes, North Carolina, with his wife and daughter by his side, said neighbor and friend Dr. Darrell Simpkins. The physician, who accompanied Lambert to France in June 2019, said the veteran succumbed to an aggressive form of facial cancer and congestive heart failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRay was talking coherently, conversing on the phone, and enjoying visitors until yesterday,\u201d Simpkins wrote in an email to The Associated Press. \u201cHe was an amazing man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Alabama native was a medic with 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, part of the Army\u2019s 1st Division \u2014 the \u201cBig Red One.\u201d He took part in the Allied invasions of North Africa and Sicily before his war came to an end June 6, 1944, on the sands of Omaha Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sgt. Lambert was in the first wave of the assault. He was helping a wounded soldier in the heavy surf when a landing craft ramp dropped on him, pushing him to the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRay was only 23, but he had already earned three Purple Hearts and two Silver Stars for fighting in North Africa and Sicily,\u201d then-President Donald Trump told a hushed crowd in 2019 at the American Cemetery overlooking the beach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey came to the sector, right here below us,\u201d Trump continued as Lambert sat behind him, his favorite purple \u201cD-Day Survivor\u201d cap on his head. \u201cAgain and again, Ray ran back into the water. He dragged out one man after another. He was shot through the arm. His leg was ripped open by shrapnel. His back was broken. He nearly drowned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of his speech, Trump turned to face Lambert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRay,\u201d he said. \u201cThe free world salutes you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
In this Thursday, June 6, 2019, file photo, President Donald Trump salutes D-Day survivor Ray Lambert during a standing ovation for him at a ceremony at the American Military Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. (David Vincent\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For many years, the diminutive businessman refused to talk about the horrors he had witnessed and experienced overseas. But as he aged and his fellow veterans began passing away, he felt a sacred duty to share his story, and theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did what I was called to do,\u201d he wrote in his book, \u201cEvery Man a Hero,\u201d published shortly before the 75th anniversary. \u201cAs a combat medic, my job was to save people, and to lead others who did the same. I was proud of that job and remain so. But I was always an ordinary man, not one who liked being at the head of a parade…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy job now is to remember, not for my sake, but for the sake of others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t