AUBURN — The harbor in Falmouth, England, was filled with so many boats that, Bob Treworgy recalls, “You could practically walk across the harbor.”

The boats were set to sail for Omaha Beach in France. Barely a year out of Hallowell High School (now Hall-Dale,) Treworgy had prepared for his role in the D-Day invasion that began at 6:30 a.m. on June 6, 1944. But he was unprepared for the horrors he would see.

His job was to help save lives at a makeshift Falmouth hospital, where many of the wounded soldiers would be sent.

“It was awful,” Treworgy said. “We started getting soldiers at 8 a.m. They were just kids. We’d look at them and we’d say, ‘He’s just a kid . He’s only 18 or 19 years old.’ Young kids dying right on the operating table.”

The soldiers he saw dying in front of him were no older than Treworgy, who was 19.

But “that kid from Maine” returned after the war to become a proud father and a successful Maine businessman.

Now living in Auburn at age 91, Treworgy reflects on his service and the sacrifices others made to defend this country.

Born in Hallowell, Treworgy was set to graduate from high school in 1943. But in January, the month of his 18th birthday, he received his draft orders to immediately join the U.S. Army. 

Wishing to graduate before joining the service, he learned that the Navy would allow him to defer his admittance until after graduation. 

“I had my orders in my pocket on stage when I graduated,” he said. “Two days later, I boarded a train to Newport, R.I., for boot camp.”

The Navy sent him to hospital corps school in Portsmouth, Va., to train as a medic. When finished, he worked as a nurse — giving physicals, taking blood pressure, listening to hearts and lungs, among other duties.

To prepare for the invasion of France, teams of medical personnel trained together on how to treat the casualties.

“They put a whole hospital unit together,” Treworgy said. “Doctors. We had a radiologist. We had pathologists and we could do all different types of surgeries. We were a complete Navy hospital. We even had an undertaker.”

His team sailed aboard the RMS Aquitania with members of the 29th Infantry Division to southern England in December 1943.

His team set up an advanced amphibious base at a resort hotel in Falmouth. The Navy erected a Quonset hut on the front lawn for operating rooms.

He began working in the Sick Officers Quarters. His superiors took notice of Treworgy when he successfully treated a doctor suffering from bronchitis with an old-time remedy he learned from his mother.

That earned him a promotion to the emergency room, where he soon became a favorite of the physicians for his ability to anticipate which instruments they would need during surgery.

Treworgy knew the invasion was imminent. He saw convoys loading up the ships with men and equipment. 

“I can close my eyes and see the whole thing,” Treworgy said. “We knew it was going to happen. The ships were all loaded. But it turned cloudy and gray and windy.”

June 5 was the original date for the invasion, by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower listened to his weather forecasters and delayed it 24 hours for more favorable seas.

“We had the first division embarked to Omaha Beach,” Treworgy said. “They sounded general quarters and the commander called everyone into the meeting room. ‘The invasion is on. You better go back and get a good night’s sleep because tomorrow we’re going to have all that we can handle.'”

Fighting was fierce at Omaha Beach where estimates list the 29th Infantry Division casualties at nearly 400 deaths and more than 500 wounded and missing.

“The Germans taking pot shots and mowing them down as they came across the beach,” Treworgy said. “It was awful. We got the soldiers from Omaha Beach back to our hospital. I saw awful things.”

When the war in Europe ended, Treworgy was among the first group of Americans who returned aboard the Queen Mary. He calls the celebration in New York City “one of the most exciting things in my Navy career.”

The U.S. dropped the two atomic bombs that ended the war with Japan while he was home on leave. Otherwise, Treworgy said, he was likely headed to the Pacific.

With the war over, Treworgy remained in the service for another year, working at the Boston Navy Yards in the separation center, giving physicals to the older and married servicemen, who were the first ones discharged.

He married his high school sweetheart, was the proud father of four children and enjoyed a long career as a pharmacist, running his own successful business in Calais. He was appointed to the Board of Pharmacy by two Maine governors.

“I was a little poor boy from Hallowell who went away to war, and everything turned out great,” Treworgy said. “I’m proud of my service.”

ssherlock@sunjournal.com