The Greatest Generations Foundation takes WWII veterans back to Normandy

They were later chosen to serve as MPs at the Nuremberg trials at the end of the war.

When Staymates shipped back to the United States he could never have imagined that he would return to France 70 years later. But in October 2015, he traveled to the small town of Caen, Normandy, with The Greatest Generations Foundation (TGGF), a Colorado-based nonprofit that takes veterans back to the battlefields where they once fought, all expenses paid.

“The only thing we ask for in return is for them to tell us their stories,” says founder Timothy Davis. The firsthand accounts are recorded and turned into vignettes available for viewing on the organization’s website. “Our goal is to preserve their legacies.”

Staymates was with a smaller group that had gone on to Normandy after a larger program in other parts of Europe. The men included Davis and another vet, Joseph Reilly, who parachuted into Normandy behind enemy lines at 1:30 a.m., five hours before Staymates landed.

As Staymates headed to meet his companions at the hotel bar in Caen, another man was checking in: Clarence Scharbauer, a Texas businessman with interests in oil and gas, as well as real estate development. He and his wife Kerry had just traveled to Scotland on their Challenger 300 aircraft to fulfill her lifelong dream of seeing the lands of her ancestors, who include William Wallace, the hero who inspired the film Braveheart. Now it was Clarence’s turn to set the itinerary. He was born on D-Day (though years after the war ended), and had wanted to visit the Normandy beaches his entire life.

While his wife settled into their room, Scharbauer walked into the hotel restaurant. There, he noticed the American veterans in their uniforms.

“I introduced myself and Joe said, ‘Clarence, I’m Joe Reilly and I’m here with The Greatest Generations Foundation. I jumped in the 101st Airborne on D-Day outside of Sainte-Mère-Église.’ I sat down, and I just went, ‘Really?’ Then I said, ‘And you, sir?’” That’s when he met Staymates. “Both of them were just as clear as a bell,” Scharbauer recalls fondly in his Texan drawl.

He is one of the last members of the Band of Brothers involved in Operation Overlord, the code name for the Allied invasion of France.

Soon after the men began trading stories, Kerry Scharbauer joined them and both she and her husband noted how almost everyone at the restaurant came up to the men and asked for pictures or autographs.

“Justin Bieber,” is how TGGF’s Davis describes it. “That’s exactly what it’s like for these 90-year-old men when they go back to these little villages.”

Kerry Scharbauer immediately noted how different the two veterans, soon known as “Art and Joe,” were. “Joe’s 94, shorter than me – and I’m 5'3"! He walks with a cane but he can still wear his same exact paratrooper uniform and boots from the day he left the army. He’s a born storyteller.” Meanwhile, “Art is 91, 6'2", stately and handsome. Kind, soft-spoken, very intelligent.”

While the two men never met during the war, they bonded through the foundation, and were happy to let Clarence and Kerry join in. When the Scharbauers heard that the veterans were planning to drive three hours to Paris to catch a commercial flight back to the United States, they invited them to stay a few days longer so they could fly them back in the Challenger 300 jet.

After a surprised silence, the men happily agreed. Then Davis suggested that he and the vets act as guides to the Scharbauers, and it was the couple’s turn to offer an enthusiastic, “Absolutely!”

The group set out early the next day for the first leg of a three-day tour in refurbished World War II era Jeeps. That windy October morning at Omaha Beach (the code name given to the stretch of French coastline by the American military) the Scharbauers saw firsthand the impact The Greatest Generations Foundation has on combat veterans. They arrived at 9:06 a.m. because, Clarence Scharbauer explains, “Timothy Davis knew at 9:06 that day the tide would be exactly the same as the day that Art landed in the first wave on Omaha.” The temperature was near freezing. The sands were deserted save for a family kicking a soccer ball. It was the first time Staymates had been back since the war.

Except Joseph Reilly. The two men sat in the Jeep together and talked. Timothy Davis says that this strong emotional reaction happens a lot.

“We put these men back where they were as 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids,” Davis says. “One veteran starts to talk and find the emotion. The other men understand what he’s going through. They cry, or the tone of their voice changes; they comfort each other. After seven decades, they see what they did was worth it. They say goodbye to their brothers in cemeteries throughout Europe and the Pacific. They release demons. They find closure.”

After three days of touring out-of-the-way museums and bunkers and secret spots only men who had fought on the beaches could know about, it was time to head home. Knowing they would soon be saying goodbye wasn’t easy for either group.

“They both fell flat-smooth in love with Kerry!” Clarence Scharbauer says with a warm laugh. “She made sure they had their blankets on when they were in the Jeeps, that Joe had his pint of Guinness at night. Joe even asked me when we got back to Midland, ‘Can I take her home?’ And I said, ‘Well, we’ve been married for 43 years. I don’t know, Joe.’”

As the men boarded the aircraft, they couldn’t have known they were helping the Scharbauers fulfill a vow Clarence Scharbauer had made in a speech at the delivery ceremony for the Challenger 300 jet, the last one built before the Challenger 350 entered into service.

“I told Bombardier that day that this airplane wouldn’t just be for doing business. When we can help, we’re going to help,” says Scharbauer, who is on the board of Texas Christian University (and had the aircraft painted with a TCU purple and black stripe). “I love these guys, and I love what they represent and what they did for this country.”

Adds Kerry Scharbauer, “It was a blessing to have them on that plane and know that they were comfortable. We put them in those front seats that can recline. They could lie back and put their feet up. We had them covered with blankets. They took naps. Even though Art’s a really tall man, he could almost stand up in our plane. He could get up and move about in the cabin and get some circulation going.”

No matter how veterans return from The Greatest Generations Foundation programs overseas, it’s only the beginning of their journey.

“When they come home, they’re able to say to the families, ‘Here’s what happened. Here’s my story,’” says Davis. “Some of them haven’t talked about their wartime experiences for 70 years.” They also continue to share their stories and those of other veterans with the public. “How we engage them back into the community throughout the United States – we feel strongly about this – we’ve extended their lives. They’ve got something to fight for: their legacies.”

The men also reunite, courtesy of The Greatest Generations Foundation, at NASCAR events, and at professional football and baseball games. And the efforts won’t end when the World War II veterans fade away. Davis points out that there’s a reason the name of the foundation is plural: Generations. Veterans who fought in Vietnam will be its next big focus. Men like Arthur Staymates and Joseph Reilly are joining TGGF’s efforts to create new programs and get the next wave of veterans back to visit the battlegrounds of Vietnam.

“The men who participate in TGGF programs overseas all come home with the same goal, the same mission,” Davis says. “How can I help the next group of veterans?”

This story was originally printed in issue 26 of Experience magazine published May 18, 2016. Arthur Staymates passed away April 23, 2017.

A version of this article appeared in Issue 26 of Experience magazine published May 18, 2016.