STAR LAKE, N.Y. (WWNY) - A funeral was held in Star Lake Monday for a veteran whose photo became famous.
Robert Noody died at age 95 in April and was remembered with full honors Monday.
The photo of young paratroopers about to be dropped into France on D-Day is iconic, one of the lasting images of World War II. Each face seems to say something. including the young man in the middle weighed down with equipment.
“It’s an apprehensive, kind of ... ‘We got a job to do’ ... sort of thing. Let’s do it! You know,” Ken Proulx, American Legion Post 1663 historian said Monday.
The young man with all the equipment was Robert Noody, Star Lake barber and insurance salesman - and one time paratrooper jumping into Nazi-occupied Europe.
For years he didn’t tell people a lot about it.
“I’ve been told by World War II veterans, later, ‘The reason we didn’t talk, nobody asked,” Proulx said.
Robert Noody died in April. His funeral was delayed until Monday became of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a day to remember sacrifices made for freedom.
“We had to fight for it. Time and again when our democracy was challenged, we had to fight for it,” said Vincent Speranza, World War II paratrooper who attended Monday’s service.
Noody’s family remembers a loving father, grandfather and great-grandfather. People from Croghan remember the young boy who grew up there. And some remember the camaraderie forged in wartime.
“There’s a certain bond that accrues when you face the enemy … and you’re willing to do what you need for each other,” said Sperzana.
Noody was proud to be part of the ‘band of brothers’ who jumped into the battle of D-Day, and in recent years told his story, and the story of that day, and has been the subject of tributes.
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