By
SHERRY HALBROOKIn August 2007, PEF retiree William Dolce was stunned to receive a letter from the French government inviting him to a ceremony on November 12 at the French Consul in New York City.
He was to be named a “chevalier of the French Legion of Honor” for his courage in helping to liberate southern France from the Nazi occupation.
Dolce had thought he was perhaps the only one who still remembered August 15, 1944.
“I can remember it like it was yesterday. But I’m glad it’s not,” Dolce said.
He remembers it so vividly because it is a day soaked through with danger, dying men and his own amazing survival. It was the day he took part in the American forces “landing” on the beach at Cavalaire-sur-Mer in southern France.
Dolce is 89 now. But he was just a 25-year-old combat engineer in August of ‘44, huddled with dozens of other frightened young men in a landing craft that couldn’t reach the beach because the tide was too high that day.
The boat stopped about 75 yards offshore amidst heavy German fire and the men were expected to jump into the water and be pulled by a rope to the shore.
They were weighed down with many pounds of gear, weapons and ammo. The heaviest thing they struggled to bring ashore that day was their own fear and dread, and for Dolce that was magnified by a petrifying awareness that he did not know how to swim.
The men in the boat next to his were hit by an artillery shell and flung into the air, before they could even try their chances with the rope.
But Dolce said he prayed and, although the explosion destroyed his hearing in one ear, somehow he survived.
He served nearly five years in Europe during WWII and then joined the reserves. He was called up to serve again during the Berlin airlift. He gradually moved up to the rank of chief warrant officer, and served a total of 38 years in the Army and reserves.
Born and raised in Silver Creek, Dolce signed on with the state Department of Labor and worked 36 years in the Buffalo area. As a veterans’ services representative, Dolce was dedicated to helping his fellow military veterans find civilian jobs.
He retired from state service January 1, 1981, but continues to aid veterans as an active member of the Military Officers Association of Western New York.
Dolce had assumed his story of individual heroism was entirely faded into history by now. He thought the memory was only vivid and meaningful to him.
Unable to make the journey to receive the award, Dolce received it in the mail.
“I was the 10th one selected to receive the award,” Dolce said. “I was very surprised to get it after more than 60 years.”
So, at 89, life still holds some surprises for Dolce and Angela, his wife of 65 years.
They live at home, on their own, and he continues to visit veterans in hospitals and nursing homes. When there is nothing more he can do for them, he attends their funerals and helps their widows with the paperwork for military burials.
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