May 1, 2021
Every Man a Hero is an engrossing new memoir by 98-year-old Ray Lambert, an Army medic who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day…before the fighting men got there!
I have read many good books about World War II, but what makes Every Man a Hero unique for me is that it was written by someone I actually knew. Ray and Barbara Lambert lived just down the street from us from 1983 to 1994 in the Tilden-Loeffler house. We had been close friends with Ian and Judy Duncan, the previous owners, and we love that house, so we made a point of welcoming them to the neighborhood.
We didn’t socialize all that much with the Lamberts; they were a generation older, and much of our life then revolved around our kids’ school and soccer. To us, Ray was just a friendly, successful retired electrical contractor; we knew nothing of his harrowing earlier life, when he won several medals for bravery.
Lambert was born in Alabama in 1920 and came of age during the Depression. He took odd jobs where he could find them, but, since as a teenager he lacked practical experience, potential employers kept passing over him in favor of older skilled workers. Looking for a career path, in 1940 he enlisted in the Army to get training as a medic. Once the U.S. entered the war, he served as a medic very close to the front battle lines in Africa, Sicily, and France.
In the book, Ray comes across as someone who excelled at a dangerous job that he really liked, working with people he really liked. He did his job, and his colleagues did theirs. If you think he was a hero, he says they were all heroes.
Here’s a link to a recent interview with Ray Lambert.
In this month of Veterans Day, it’s good to remember that Medfield does not lack for war heroes. Twelve of them are the subject of another article in this Portal.
Editor’s note: From David Temple’s President’s Message in the November 2019 issue of The Portal.