Death Of A War Hero

Yesterday morning I attended a meeting in the Leonard G. Lomell Meeting Room which is on the first floor of Toms River’s Town Hall. Little did I or the others know that the man who that room is dedicated to had passed away just the day before at age 91. In his professional life “Bud” Lomell was a successful attorney, who started practicing in Toms River in 1957. He was a dedicated family man, married to Charlotte for 65 years and the father of three daughters. He would probably have told you his family was his greatest accomplishment but the reason Bud Lomell has a room named after him and received numerous honors in his life was for what he did as a 24-year old during World War II.

Those of you who never met him or shook his hand missed out on an opportunity to be in the company of a real-life hero. I’m not talking about the manufactured heroes we often create today but the kind who leave you in awe. “Bud” Lomell was best known for what he did in the early hours of the D-Day invasion at Pointe du Hoc on the coast of Normandy, France. A staff sergeant and platoon leader with the Army’s 2nd Ranger Battalion, he was shot in the side by a machine-gun bullet before he even reached the shore. However he did not stop as the mission was to find and disable five large German cannons that needed to be taken out to protect the tens of thousands of troops that would land on Omaha Beach and Utah Beach. At first the soldiers could not find the weapons but Lomell formed a patrol which would locate the five guns concealed under camouflage. They were disabled with grenades and the 2nd Battalion became the first unit to accomplish its D-Day Mission. They remained in that location for a few days before being relieved and of the 225 who began the mission only 90 survived.

Six months later Lomell would distinguish himself in another battle on the German-Belgian border and once again he was wounded. He was wounded for a third time during the Battle of the Bulge before being discharged from the Army four months after World War II officially ended. The list of honors he received for his courage, especially on D-Day is lengthy but all you need to know is that noted historian Stephen Ambrose once described Lomell as the single individual, other than Dwight Eisenhower, most responsible for the success of D-Day. A graduate of Point Pleasant Beach High School, Bud was featured in a chapter of Tom Brokaw’s 1998 book, “The Greatest Generation.”

Among the definitions of the word “hero” is a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities and one who shows great courage. In other words, Leonard “Bud” Lomell…a real hero and one of our own.