VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Eighty years ago, on June 6, 1944, the world changed forever when allied troops invaded France during World War II.
The historic event is known as D-Day.
One of those allied troops was Julius Shoulars, who lives in Virginia Beach.
He has plenty of pictures from his time in the Navy during World War II. He doesn’t need the pictures, though, to remember D-Day.
“It was three o’clock in the afternoon, and we were all ready and set to go," Shoulars recalled.
He was a Second-Class Boatswain mate during the invasion. Before his boat got to the beach, it was turned back.
“A memo from the beach (said) ’Stop everything coming in now. You cannot bring any more in. We’ve got too many dead people, too many everything,'" Shoular said.
During the interview for this story, News 3 showed Shoulars some pictures from D-Day. It stirred up memories for the 99-year-old.
“I went in the next day at ten o’ clock in the morning," Shoulars said. "My people that came in and saw all these young men — 18, 19, 20 years old — laying in the sand. They were holding their stomach, and they were crying ‘Mama, Mama! Please, help me.’ I’ll never forget that."
“Julius has become like a great-grandfather figure to my grandson," Shoulars' friend, Ellen Duckworth said.
Duckworth's father is a World War II veteran. She often takes Shoulars to visit her grandson, Curtis. She said she feels honored and humbled to have that opportunity.
“I think the thing that Curtis has come to appreciate is the sacrifice and the bravery," Duckworth said. "My grandson, now, will be able to share this with his children."
“People should know if they don’t know, and that's a lot of them," said Shoulars. "We’d be taking Japanese and German today if it weren’t for what happened. They don’t seem to realize that it’s that important, what we did for them in those days."
Shoulars has been back to France five times over the years and has taken family members with him so he can teach them about what happened.
