Fighting on Iwo Jima's black sands during the iconic 1945 battle between the U.S. and Imperial Japan, Louis Bourgault Jr. once recalled watching the USS North Carolina provide supporting fire on enemy positions from the Pacific Ocean offshore.
"I'm the only one around here that saw that gunfire," he noted to a recent audience.
Adam Boyd described the sand on Normandy's Omaha Beach, the site of another high-profile World War II battle. "Myrtle Beach sand is finer" than the coarse sand on Omaha Beach, Boyd described in a written account, recalling his experience on the historic western French beach.
I met both 101-year-old Louis, and 13-year-old Adam on Sept. 13 in Camden, South Carolina, at the wedding of Liberty Phillips, a mutual friend of ours.
I first met Liberty at the 82nd Airborne Division Association's 2022 convention in Orlando, Florida, when she approached me, extended a hand, and said, "I know you — you're Billy Smith's brother. I'll be sitting next to you this evening."
As an organizer of that night's banquet, Billy had made the arrangements, and I enjoyed an evening getting to know Liberty and the work of her organizations, Operation Meatball and Bridge2History. It was clear, over those days in Orlando, that she is highly regarded by the association's paratroopers, past and present — treated as a virtual rock star — especially among the winnowing numbers of WWII vets.
That evening's banquet, the 504th Regiment's "Devil Dinner," was remarkable for another of my brother's arrangements. He introduced Liberty to her future husband.
Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Baldwin was honored that week for his selection as both the division's NCO of the year, and squad leader of the year. After introducing the two, it seems the magic arrow Billy pulled from Cupid's quiver hit its mark as Liberty and Jeff got to know each other much better over the intervening four years.
Pictured, from left: Jeffrey Baldwin, Billy Smith and Liberty Baldwin.
Courtesy Billy Smith
A decorated combat veteran, Jeff is now a first sergeant in the division's 325th Regiment at Fort Bragg, and brought Camden's patriotic-themed Revolutionary War Center to his fiancee's attention as a wedding venue. The nation's 250th anniversary celebrations appealed to Liberty, and the center's Market Building at Pine Tree Creek was filled to capacity with family and friends on the mid-September Sunday to celebrate the couple's nuptials.
I marveled as Billy was honored by the groom during the reception's round of toasts later on.
I found myself marveling at both Louis Bourgault and Adam Boyd, as well. Upon learning of Louis's age, I wisecracked that he didn't look a day over 99. Displaying a quick grin, he noted that some days found him "feeling more like 199!" His wit is still razor-sharp, though, and I had just witnessed him moving rapidly, on the 95-degree afternoon, toward a shady spot on his wheeled walker.
Louis still works, by the way. The Worcester, Massachusetts, native is a regular volunteer at the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington — the same ship that provided supporting fire for Bourgault's 3rd Marine Division during the fierce struggle for the small, volcanic island less than 750 miles from Tokyo. A Purple Heart recipient, Louis also participated in combat on the islands of Guam and Bougainville. Some 26,000 Americans were killed or wounded during five weeks of fighting on Iwo Jima. Japanese deaths approached 21,000.
The island was deemed very important for its ability to provide air bombardment support against Japan.
Less than 31,000 of the nearly 16.5 million American service members who served during WWII, or 0.2%, are estimated to be alive in 2026.
In 2014, Liberty and her sisters, Faith and Jubilee, formed Operation Meatball to reach out to WWII veterans, record their stories, and educate the public — especially young folks — about the war. Inspired by their dad, Douglas Phillips, during childhood historical tours, the sisters formed their group while still in high school.
Liberty's Bridge2History is a sub-group of Operation Meatball. B2H takes applications from kids aged 8-12 who express a strong interest in World War II history. Those groups accept tax-deductible donations to send a group of youngsters on a 10-day journey to England, then over to the June 6, 1944 invasion beaches in Normandy, France.
Prior to 2023, the Phillips's Operation Meatball partnered with Honor Flights, and other means of accompanying war veterans back to wartime battle sites such as those in the Normandy Campaign area. "Honoring our veterans and connecting them with the youth of today" is a guiding motto of their organizations.
Over an early breakfast in Orlando during that 2022 convention, Liberty noted to Billy and me that the veterans were, generally, growing more frail and less able to travel. "I'll be concentrating more on educating young people and taking them to those sites."
As Liberty observed to an interviewer later, "I feel like I was entrusted with their legacy, and I need to find kids who are going to be able to take that on, too."
Adam Boyd, age 13, in a World War II-era uniform.
Courtesy Gina W. Boyd
Adam Boyd, currently a 13-year old student residing with his family in Western North Carolina, was a member of Liberty's initial B2H trip to England and Western Europe at age 9. The journey was limited to seven kids, as funds and space would allow.
Adam's essay, video, and interview won him a coveted spot after a competitive process. He initially impressed me as a typical guy just entering his teens, likely as capable of mischief and jokes as the next adolescent. But as the subject turned to World War II in a conversation along with his mom, Gina Boyd, his smile broadened and his confidence was evident.
After Adam described the Omaha Beach sands, our chat turned to the war's end in the Pacific. "The Soviet Army was poised in Manchuria ...," he observed. I eyed his mom with a shake of my head. "How many 13-year olds would use that phrase?"
Adam's favorite WWII films include "Saving Private Ryan" and the "Band of Brothers" series. Recalling the sobering first half of "SPR" — especially the fight on Omaha Beach — I questioned Gina. "Oh, he was ready for it," she affirmed.
There was more that came together that day at Camden's Revolutionary War Center than the uniting of a new couple, as generations appeared to take each other's measure.
Louis Bourgault Jr. , a 101-year-old World War II veteran.
Contributed photo
Louis Bourgault Jr., and select other war veterans, have now entered their second centuries, so it's not too early to consider a century's perspective of their war and its sacrifices. Fighting in, arguably, the Pacific's most horrific battle, Louis was so struck by the support of one battleship that he spends precious days, past age 100, as a docent in Wilmington's harbor, preserving its legacy and educating new generations about its history.
Born on the cusp of a new century, Liberty Phillips Baldwin has reached out to those old warriors, highlighted their stories, and helped them educate a fresh generation for this century. Having served in America's most recent conflicts, Jeffrey Baldwin now trains and leads a new generation of warriors.
Adam Boyd has taken all of that to heart. His love of history, and zeal to learn, has already sparked beyond the Second World War to that of Vietnam.
Multiple sets of hands are on that torch of remembrance, and while it slips a little more each day from the aged veterans, they can take heart that the likes of Liberty, Jeffrey, Adam, and his peers are prepared to carry it on — possibly into the next century.
Award-winning columnist Douglas Smith lives and writes in Rockingham.
