Off Omaha Beach News Today

Drowning off omaha beach and the nazi bombardment. >> of course i would give my life, sure. >> reporter: he was part of the 320th barrage balloon battalion. the mission, to launch huge hydrogen most notably, all the soldiers in the battalion were black. only a relative small number of black troops were able to be a part of the d-day invasion. the u.s. military still segregated and discriminatory. >> thats the worst thing in the world. we were separated from white and black but i was doing my dut...

Parem worked as a bus porter in virginia when he entered the u.s. army. today hes an american hero and establishing history. thats because henry is believed to be the last surviving african-american d-day combat veteran. >> youre going to be 98 in november. >> yes. >> thats almost a century. >> oh, yes. >> and youve seen a lot. >> yes, i have. >> no, you dont want to go down the steps. >> reporter: henry parem, who lives in pittsburgh with his wife, ethel, vividly remembers fellow soldiers drown...

>> yes, i have. >> no, you dont want to go down the steps. >> reporter: henry, who lives in pittsburgh with his wife, ethel, vividly remembers fellow soldiers drowning off omaha beach and the nazi air bombardments. >> of course i was scared for my life, sure. >> reporter: he was part of a most unique army combat unit, the 320th barrage balloon battalion. the mission to launch huge hydrogen filled balloons from the beach of normandy to protect troops from the air above. only a relatively small nu...

The surface as well. that part of france is absolutely riddled with tunnels and bunkers. and this new form of technology flies right inside those. its accurate, so this is brand-new work were doing here. >> its fascinating stuff. particularly you focus on the exit strip of beach which you say was so critical to the outcome, the successful outcome for the allies. tell me about that. >> yeah, i mean, that particular -- i mean, d day was about landing 150,000 troops on five beaches. we actually con...