DeWayne Barnett of Sedan recently attended his 30th reunion of the fighting division to which he was attached during W.W.II.

The retired grocery store owner said there were only 19 of the original members of the 5th Armored Division who could attend the reunion which was held in Harrisburg, Penn. There were around 100 including friends and family who attended the banquet and tours to historical sites in the area.

The 5th Armored Division Association holds a special place in Barnett’s heart since he served as its president in 2002. He served for three years in the 1940s in England, France and Germany and his outfit was known for its liberating of Luxembourg, a tiny country in western Europe.

“We were responsible for feeding the troops on D-Day,” he said. “Then we went into the battle ourselves about 15 days after the first landing.”

He was a part of the 71st Armored Field Artillery that pulled its cannons across Europe as part of Gen. George S. Patton’s push to liberate the countries that had been taken over by Hitler’s Germany.

Accompanying Barnett on the trip was Marjorie Alford of Sedan as well as his daughter, Terri
Wiseman and grandson, Tyler, of Oxford.

The group enjoyed taking taking tours to nearby Valley Forge, the Carlisle Barracks and the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center.

The association’s purpose is to preserve and strengthen comradeship among the one-time members of the division which is still known in western Europe as “the victory division.”

The annual reunion is an opportunity for surviving members of the Greatest Generation to catch up with comrades and allow their friends and family members to celebrate the dedication and sacrifice of their loved ones to ensure that their piece of history is not lost.

“We talked about holding another reunion next year, but we’re still not sure,” said Barnett. “There just aren’t many of us left.”

This nation is losing around 3,000 World War II veterans each day.