SCRANTON, Pa. -- Newswatch 16 is honoring the service of D-Day veterans on the 75th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy. There were the first waves who stormed the French beaches. and there were also the medics who treated scores and scores of wounded and dying soldiers.
For Dr. Joseph Soma, his story of World War II can be told through pictures. We sat down with the 94-year-old veteran at his home in Scranton as he flipped through history.
Dr. Soma served as an Army medic 75 years ago. He was at Normandy as allied troops stormed the beaches on D-Day.
"We ran up to them to help them and get back to where they could be treated. That was hard work," he said.
Soma had had only three years of medical school when he found himself overseas treating injured soldiers.
"Americans were not in the best shape. We had numerous ships they were dropping the people off."
Soma served during the Normandy invasion, and then several months later, at the Battle of the Bulge.
"We were close to each other and the Germans were shooting at us and we were shooting at them -- not the medics, but the others -- and they were shooting within inches of me," he recalled.
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Near the end of the war, soma Broke his shoulder and was discharged.
"I was not happy with that kind of work but I enjoyed doing, it helping others. I still would do it."
After returning home, Soma served his community for decades as a doctor, but the images of D-Day and World War II are never far away.
