Kirt Garcia, a World War II history buff, will discuss Gretna hero John Ray Jr., at 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 23 at the West Bank Regional Library, 2751 Manhattan Blvd., Harvey.

This event is part of the regularly scheduled meeting of the Jefferson Parish Historical Society. It is free-of-charge and is open to the public. Registration is not required.

John Ray was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, 505th Regiment, F Company, and was sent to Casablanca, Morocco, for training. In July 1943, he left Tunisia and landed in Sicily to support Gen. Patton’s landing. In December 1943, Ray began training in Northern Ireland for Operation Overlord, D Day – Normandy.

The 82nd Airborne dropped troops outside the town of Ste. Mere-Eglise, a critical crossroad in France. The transports encountered a heavy cloud bank as well as heavy anti-aircraft fire. The Germans occupying the town heard the planes and saw the paratroopers dropping from the sky. The scene was described as a “turkey shoot” as the paratroopers were helpless while trying to land as Germans shot at them.

Ray managed to land on his feet in the street and was struggling to get out of his parachute when a German shot him in the stomach several times. Although mortally wounded, Ray was able to fire his 45mm pistol and kill the German. Ray is credited for saving the lives of two fellow soldiers who were hanging by their parachutes from a church spire.

Kirt Garcia was a history major at the University of New Orleans in the 1980s. He studied with Dr. Stephen Ambrose who was collecting oral histories from D-Day veterans in order to write a book to commemorate the war’s 50th anniversary.

Garcia said that Ambrose would talk about the stories he was uncovering. One involved John Ray and Garcia said it fascinated him. He met Ray's widow, Paula. They became friends and they talked about what happened on June 6th, 1944. He has visited Normandy several times to visit battle sites. He was instrumental in persuading the Louisiana State Legislature to issue a resolution honoring John Ray at the close of the 2018 regular session.

For more information regarding this event, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at (504) 889-8143 or wcsmith@jplibrary.net.