*IN MEMORIAM*

David McCoy passed away August 5, 2023 at the age of 99. Click here to read his obituary from Dignitymemorial.com

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89-year-old David McCoy of Hanford, CA appears on the March 9, 2013 edition of Hometown Heroes, remembering his experiences on D-Day and beyond with the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.

A native of Muskogee, Oklahoma, McCoy came west with his family in 1936. A 1941 graduate of Selma High School, McCoy went ashore on Normandy’s Omaha Beach just before noon on June 6, 1944. You’ll hear him remember how intense the fighting was, how the most difficult thing was “seeing all those bodies,” and you’ll be interested to find out where he slept that night. It was a half-track that he drove off of an LST onto the beach, but he would go on to become a jeep driver for regimental commander John Williamson. McCoy even drove General Dwight Eisenhower to a party once. Listen to the program to hear McCoy remember his interactions with the future president and even reveal how he nearly returned to the U.S. on Eisenhower’s plane. McCoy also survived the Battle of the Bulge, and had three jeeps shot out from under him during his service. If you bump into Mr. McCoy, please thank him for serving our country.
—Paul Loeffler