Twenty College of the Ozarks students are in Normandy, France with World War II veteran, Dr. Hall Duncan, to observe the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings along the Normandy coast.
It’s the 24th Patriotic Travel Program trip.
The participants are visiting various World War II sites in London, Normandy, Brussels and Amsterdam as well as military sites and cultural museums.
Duncan is in his mid 90s and lives in Oklahoma. He served as a private first class in the 101st Infantry Regiment of General George Patton’s Third Army and was shot in November, 1944 by a sniper as he carried a wounded American soldier to safety from fighting near Guebling and Bourgaltroff along the German border. He was one of the few survivors.
In addition to the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, he received the Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars, World War II Victory Medal, Combat Infantry Badge 1st Award and Honorable Service Lapel Button–World War II. He received the French Legion of Honor Medal in France in 2013 due to his service on French soil.
After the war, Duncan taught cartooning, illustration and advertising design at the University of Central Oklahoma. He became a full-time cartoonist, writer, and illustrator after he retired in 1986.
