Here is an article on a local vet that was honored here a few days ago, he is a very interesting and still very healthy man! Proof that true heroes still live amongst us!

Dr. Noel Jacob Wiener of Newfoundland was honored Wednesday for his service as the last known surviving officer in Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's headquarters in the European Theater of World War II.

The 98-year-old Philadelphia native delighted in sharing stories of his service to his country at a ceremony at the Hawley Senior Center. Near Wiener was a framed photo of him in his U.S. Army dress uniform taken in 1944 in which he was said to very much resemble Clark Gable.

Wiener served as a first lieutenant in Eisenhower's Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces. He was attached to the 3118 Signal Service Group, which was responsible for all communications between SHAEF and American and British forces in the field.

He recalled crossing the Atlantic from Hoboken, N.J., on a "banana boat," surrounded by an aircraft carrier, battleship and battle cruisers, in place to protect the general and his staff. They landed at Cardiff, Wales, and took the train to London.

"All of my 3118th boys were spread out in London and in the suburbs to set up communications for Ike's headquarters," he said. "We were bombed the first night we were there. The Nazis knew we were coming. You can't get rid of the memories."

He recalled the hail of bombs, the rush to the air raid shelters at Regents Park to their barracks. German V-2 rockets came next. While Wiener survived, friends of his perished in the attacks.

"When a buzz bomb came, we prayed," he said. "When it exploded, we knew it had missed us."

One grim duty he recalled was helping to dig out a hospital that was destroyed by a V-2. A maternity ward had been hit, and he and other soldiers carried out the women and babies from the rubble. There were no survivors.

"It was a horrible situation; civilians were killed instead of soldiers," he said, his voice trembling at the memory.

Although trained as a dentist, his duty at headquarters was to deliver supplies to the higher officers, in particular, the liquor. Asked what Eisenhower preferred, he said, "he drank Irish" — and no, he didn't give him any extra portion. "I kept it for myself," Wiener said with a broad smile.

Wiener said that he was not in the general's "inner circle" but said "Ike was a terrific leader and a wonderful politician, very strong."

Wiener crossed the Channel on D-Day-6, landing at Omaha Beach. He was present at the schoolhouse in Rheims, Germany on May 7, 1945, when the German High Command signed the instrument of unconditional surrender to the Allies.

Wiener recalled the scene.

"Gen. 'Beetle' Smith came out. We were standing on the porch and he said with a sigh, 'It's over.'"

Wiener said he threw his hat in the air when he heard the news.