An 89-year-old veteran skipped a date, fought a war and returned to marry
DON O’HARA sits in his armchair. He is wearing slippers and his TV remote control is nearby. His home is quiet, just outside Annascaul, in Co Kerry. Around him are intricate models of the Titanic and of other famous ships, all crafted in his workshop in the back garden. That’s up a few steps from the putting green, which he installed. Don will be 90 in September, but today he’ll mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings and his part in them.
At the outbreak of World War !!, in 1939, Don was still at school, and also worked in his father’s construction business and on the family farm, in Lancashire, in England. With no electricity in the valleys, Don was up before dawn to milk the cows by hand. Then, he’d take the horse and cart on deliveries, leaving the horse to find its own way home while Don went to school. Across the valley lived Gwen Jackson. In January, 1942, Don arranged a date with her for a Saturday night. The back seats at the cinema were booked and Don was dressed in his best. Heading out the door, he met his father.
