D-Day 80 The Last Veterans: Peter Orlando
Peter Orlando, Aged 101, US Navy
Interviewed via Zoom 13 October 1923
Died 17 December 2023
A radioman on a tugboat on D-Day, Peter Orlando set sail from Weymouth en route to the Normandy coast.
He was born in Boston and his father was in the US Navy during World War one.
He said: "I joined the (US) Navy precariously because I had poor colour perception and nobody really wanted me.
"I wasn’t colour blind, so I could do some good and I knew the basics of Morse Code already so I had something under my belt that they wouldn’t have to teach me.
"I still know the code and when I am looking at a billboard I run through it just for the hell of it."
His vessel was a new ATR Auxiliary Tug Rescue and he and his crew mates took charge of it while based on the South coast.
"I think it was around Weymouth," he said. "And I picked it up there. We had one four inch gun on the bow and a couple of anti aircraft guns. If someone went out and didn’t come back we would pull them back in again. Like an engine problem. We were the last resort."
The area around Weymouth and Portland was turned into a huge military camp.
On D-Day thousands of American GIs left from those harbours bound for Omaha Beach and backed up by naval forces. Mr Orlando’s ship made the crossing behind them.
He added: "We were probably about five miles off the beach in reserve in case they needed us. And we got lucky and they didn’t need us.
"I didn’t stand on the quarter deck with a sword or anything. I was in the radio room with headphones. Sitting there nervous as all hell.
"The Mulberrys were huge blocks of cement that were sunk in a line to protect an area that turned into a landing area. They gave it the name Mulberry. You would never guess what they were talking about but we used to tow those things around.
"Pick them up and tow them like they were nothing. The tow line was two inches around. We were built to pull.
"We had a great ship and we called it the good ship lollipop. We had a cartoon of a sailor on a smokestack. I can still see it, I don’t have to close my eyes. We were a good bunch. We worked together and did some good.
"I enjoyed my time in the service. I feel I did some good.
"I admired the English no end for what they were taking from the Germans. It was no compromise for the English to their credit."
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