On the recordJune 18, 2019
on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, I wish to honor a member of our Greatest Generation, Stanley P. ``Lucky'' Lawruk, Sr., of Wilmington, DE. Stanley P. Lawruk, a lifelong Delawarean, served in the U.S. Army Air Corps at the Battle of Normandy and throughout World War II. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, 20-year-old Technical Sergeant Stanley Lawruk was on his fourth combat mission as both the flight engineer and top turret gunner on a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress. Sergeant Lawruk and his fellow crewmen were part of the 327th Bombardment Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group, known as Fame's Favored Few. His squadron's mission on D-Day was to target and destroy the marshalling yards and industrial center at Thury-Harcourt in Normandy, France. As the dorsal turret gunner, Sergeant Lawruk manned twin 50- caliber machineguns located just above the cockpit of his bomber. ``I saw all the ships go across the channel,'' Stan said in a 2014 interview. ``They were so thick, you could almost walk across the channel [on them]. And you could see the troops.'' Sergeant Stan Lawruk survived D-Day and the many follow-on missions of the Normandy campaign. After more than 20 combat flights, Lucky Lawruk had earned his nickname. On his 26th mission, Stan Lawruk's luck ran out. On August 25, 1944, Stan's B-17 was on a bombing mission to destroy a V-2 rocket experimental station located along the coast of Peenemunde, Germany. There, his Flying Fortress fell victim to anti-aircraft batteries below.…
