Normandy: Up-close & Personal. Jerry Evans talks to Armstrong & Getty

visited recently because four hours simply enough. This is Armstrong and Getty extra large. Hey, this is cool. Jerry Evans joins us. Jerry is the owner and general manager of the Evans Broadcasting Company Incorporated, and specifically the mighty kk FT point one news talk on which the Armstrong and Getty Show airs, and we are honored to do so. Jerry,

how are you, sir? Doing good? How about you? Good? Hey? Listen, So we understand that on the seventieth anniversary of D Day five years ago you spent several days in Normandy broadcasting there, met vets and did the whole deal that had to be just an incredible time. Yeah, it was, and it kind of fell into my lap. Kind of a slightly interesting story. If you're interested, I'll share with you fire away. Yeah, okay. So there's a guy who lives in the area. He's one of these young gazillionaires

who invented the PBX firewall years and years ago. He has a place there on the channel right there in France, and a historic village called Old God which is down the coast from Sword Beach. My daughter, who had just graduated from Biola University, became that teacher. He has four sons homeschooled, and she was teaching them late April early May. He you know, asked her if she will accompanied them

to France for the summer. He spent his summers there in France, and and would your parents like to go along? Would they like to come visit? First week of June would be a good week if they would like to come. So my first thought was I don't want to pay to go to France. I've never been interested in going

to France. But then we got to talking, my wife and I and said, jeez, the first week of June, what's the historic significance and where is he again, looked him up and he's right down the coast from Omaha and all the beaches there, and we would be there on the anniversary. So um, that's how the trip came about. And we got over there, spent a couple of days there at Omaha, spent a day on Sword Beach. It was the last year that the Normandy Veterans Association was

going to commemorate the event. Um obviously because of the age. And here's a here's a real kicker for you too, to make a point about socialized medicine and medicare for all. So to speak with a British health care system is I didn't realize this until talking to them, but it is hard to leave the country if you're up in age because the British do not want to have to pay too met vacuum back home to England to treat you, so they have a hard time leaving the country. Really,

that's an interesting nugget. Yeah, the country that they fought for risk their lives for um, if you want to even if you're in good health. But I don't know what it is if there, if it's because of the age, I don't know if you can do it. Because of a waiver, or if you sign a waiver, but you can't hardly leave the country because the government does not want to pay to bring you back home if you get sick or God forbid. And the casket. Now we'll get off on a topic. Really easy with that one.

But dead, that's what you get. Socialize these things. So we did sword Beach that day. Those guys were just boy, they were just having the time of their lives, drinking champagne. We interviewed several of them, Henry Grew, Doug, Austin's, Red Stevens, on and on. And I'm horrible with names, but I remember these guys names really well and and fortunately have their recording. And then also um, then we spent the day there at Omaha and um that was really good.

And here's one point I would make about France in general. If you could make a comparison or an analogy between San Francisco and the San Joaquin Valley, It's like Paris and Normandy. Normandy is the countryside, and those people love Americans. Everywhere you go along the coast, you'll see Canadian, British, French, and American flags in everywhere that you could possibly think

to see them. They and it's a national holiday. All the radio stations broadcast with speeches on d Day when we were there, you know, it was Obama, the Queen, Putin, etcetera there and it's carried on every broadcast that there is hundreds and hundreds of school buses and so tho is people get it, um, the people of the countryside of France and so uh and if I can plug, we're gonna rebroadcast what we did, uh you know, five

years ago this Saturday on this radio station. It's also available on our podcast through our website at FM talk dot com. Thanks for let me do that. Oh yeah yeah. In fact, let's make sure we have a link at Armstrong and getty dot com so people can find that. And what time is that going to be Saturday? It's

gonna be nine to noon this Saturday podcast. And give me a heads up because I want to get in one thing that was extremely um interesting to me in rewarding, which was my host um new a family over there that had been there forever. They have a big estate called val Roche near the coast, and so I interviewed this lady. In fact, he prepped it with this will make your broadcast. So I spent a day over there at this place called val Rochet, on top of a hill.

This woman named Pauline was about eight or nine years old when the Germans invaded and they took over this estate. They didn't destroy it. But and there is a distinction between the Nazis and German soldiers and and so the German soldiers they basically occupied this estate during the war. They drew all sorts of pictures all over the there was a big room above the garage. And by the way, this was built this it was built originally as an abbey in eleven fifty. They don't they don't make them

like that anymore. Uh, it had been added onto And by the way, during the war they parked their car in the dining room. That's not that's impolite at dinner parties. But that's not cool. They weren't pretending to be at the drive and but no gasolane, so um they and and to keep it from being bombed or whatever, they parked. That's how big the estate was. And uh, and just extremely interesting interview with her again she was eight or nine through this time. She played it. She said her

and her sister. They took the bullets um from the soldiers and they would play a game, not even though the soldiers weren't playing along, but they take their bullets and throw them in the She called it a lake on the property. It was just a big pond, but she would take their ammunition and throw it in the lake. Wow. This morning, this morning, President Trump referenced something I thought

was really interesting. Uh. He was talking about the American soldiers that are buried in Normandy, and he was saying that that French families had pretty much adopted those soldiers. Each family would take one of the soldiers and they would come out every year and they put flowers at the graves and actually brought them into their own family. Had you did you experience that kind of kind of vibe? I mean, did you hear that? Have you heard that story?

I haven't heard that per se, But I will tell you the if you want to move being experience you walk around that cemetery and I can tell you. We have a listener a friend of ours who has a cabin up on Silver Lake near us, Carol Winzel, who wanted us to go and look at her uncle's grave. Um. You know, they give you the row and everything and just really moving. You know, I didn't. I try not to, you know, go John Baynard, Glenn Beck on the microphone.

But the most moving experienced my my wife's uncle was with a hundred first and dropped in behind anime lines and standing there on the beach, there's this big map and in fact, I think I saw Trump and uh some other dignitary standing at that map this morning on television. Um, looking at that map where it shows you where what happened. Uh, that was pretty moving. Um. But the the cemetery itself, here's another interesting thing that people do. Um. And the

beach is gold, the sandy is gold colored. And by the way, UM, I want to finish this thought, but then get to the next one, which is something that was interesting is people will take some of that sand, that wet sand, and they'll put it in the names on the crosses, which are I don't know the right term. It's not embossed, but you can put it in there. So it'll stay there for a day or two while it dries out. So it's kind of a unique look

and it's kind of I don't know, there's significance. I can't really put it into words where people will take the sand off the beach where they were killed and put it rub it into the on the cross. So it's it's in their names. And there's something really poignant about that that I can't come up with the words

to describe. But at the other point I wanted to make is it is the best depiction of D Day is saving Private Ryan when you're there on the beach and it's just wide open, the tide goes out forever and you're just a shooting. I mean, it's just there's nothing to protect you as you're running out of those Higgins boats onto the beach. Uh. And we stood in some of those German bunkers where they were you knew that they were just mowing down Americans nearly nine thousand

that day, And um, it gives you a weird feeling. Yeah, I'm sure it does. And so can you can you walk on the beaches? Are they blocked off at this point? Can? We played that song from that veteran that Jim Radford, So it's the number one song on Amazon right now. And he wrote this song in n because he showed up there and kids were playing on the beaches and he thought, Wow, people have forgotten what happened here? Are there still kids playing on the beaches? Are they more

you know, marked off as hallowed ground at this point? Uh, I would say the former, as in, during the year, I don't know, um, but during leading up to and during D Day, you can you can walk those beaches. I mean I would assume, um that, uh, that you can. It's I mean it's a kind of like the Pacific coast. That's the coast of France. Sure now, but during that you see a lot of roses, a lot of flowers in the beach. Um. It is really a moving experience that I want to tell both of you guys everybody

listening there, that you you really should do. This is one of the if you if you don't want to go to Europe like which I don't really like going to Europe very much at all, and I haven't been to Europe that much at all. This is one of the bucket list things that you gotta do. Is and especially if you can be there around that time. You won't get anywhere near on D Day. Um, the roads are just you you just can't get there. But if you can get there a week before three or four

days before and spend some time there. You will, It's experience of a lifetime. I'm gonna do it, Jerry, and we'll get on the phone and uh and and compare notes or have a cold beverage or something that sounds good. Alright the time, Jerry Evans, we appreciate your time too, and thanks for doing that. This is just a great thing to do, and we'll look forward to hearing that broadcast. I'd like to do that with my boys someday. That'd be pretty cool. Oh yeah, so when they get older,

maybe that's a plan I make. Yeah, yeah, till oh my god, my mind just went to the end of saving Private Ryan. Oh again, gonna get Dusty in here. I don't know if I've seen the end of Be Honest with You, Um, the end is uh. One of the characters in the movie spoiler alert, who who's there at the cemetery with his grandkids, I think it is and talks about the men who are lost and talks about just wanting to be having lived a life worthy of surviving um and worthy of them that was lost,

that we're lost. It's incredibly moving, touching, and again, if you want to check out that rebroadcast. We have the link for yet armstrong and Getty dot com extra large. When you're ready to ride Metro, we want you to know we're ready for you. Here are just a few of the people at Metro to tell you how we're doing our part to keep riders safe. Cleaning like nouble before, but half built a great clean You've found half stand towns of stations all over the Metro. No mask, no

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