'I Had Always Asked About Him' | Maryland Woman Honors Legacy Of Father Lost During D-Day
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Thursday marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
D-Day remembrances were especially poignant on Thursday in Normandy. At the Normandy American Cemetery; 9,380 American men and woman were buried.
"That cemetery is very peaceful, serene," Donna Allen said.
Allen, a retired teacher, has visited the Normandy American Cemetery four times. Her first visit came in 1996.
"I thought, 'Here I am," she said. "'Here I am after all these years. I'm sitting here in front of this cross, and I'm talking to him.'"
Allen's Dad, U.S. Private Roy Talhelm, died in battle.
"I had always asked about him, 'Where's my daddy"? Allen said. "When you're just a little kid, the answer, 'Well, he was killed in the war.' That was enough at that time."
Talhelm was fatally wounded June 8th in part of the air invasion. He died four days later.
Allen began researching her father's journey in 1990. Talhelm was a member of the 101st Airborne when Allen was born- two months after he enlisted.
"He did come back before he was sent to England, and he did get to see me and he did get to hold me," Allen said. "They said that I cried the whole time."
Word made it to Washington County that Talhelm was killed at the age of 19, but he was only 17. Like many soldiers, Talhelm lied about his age to enlist.
"He changed his birth certificate from 1926 to 1924 to make it look like he was [over the age] of 18," Allen said.
Allen's journey finally led her, for the first time, to a picture of her dad.
"It was quite stunning to see this person that I had imagined all those years," she said. "It was just stunning."
Talhelm is the youngest soldier buried at the Normandy American Cemetery.
"I feel it's an honor brought to him," Allen said.