Bradenton vet survived D-Day at Normandy. He turns 100 on Christmas Eve.

Cosmo Uttero landed  on Omaha Beach at Normandy as a member of the 175th regiment of the U.S. Army's 29th Infantry Division on June 6, 1944.

The 20-year-old private from Wellesley, Massachusetts, almost drowned during the landing but went on to fight through Europe during World War II and later reenlisted so he could continue to court a young German woman, Erika, who would later become his wife and mother of their eight children.

Uttero, who received his high school diploma at age 97, will  turn 100 on Christmas Eve – though his daughter Elizabeth Casey organized a small celebration at home Dec. 23.

He is still an active member of Florida West Post 2 of the 29th Division Association, which meets the third Saturday of each month at the Red Lobster in Bradenton.

Post Commander Sean Patrick Malloy wanted to make sure people know about Uttero and his story, “how he was able to survive the horrors of D-Day and also into Germany, fighting the Germans.”

“He’s so mild mannered, he’s so quiet,” Malloy said of Uttero, who he has known for about a decade. “I try to look in his eyes and think, ‘Where did that strength come from on the beaches of Normandy and fighting for almost four years.”

Mallloy admits to having a special affection for Uttero, whose story mirrors that of his own father, Patrick Malloy, a 24-year-old platoon commander in Company B of the 121st Engineer Battalion of the 29th Division who was wounded at Normandy.

“He pretty much went inland where my father had gotten shot and had to be sent back to a hospital in England,” Malloy said. “Cosmo was able to push through hedgerows and engage in battle throughout the war.

“Like my dad, he met a beautiful German girl,” Malloy said.

“I love all these guys” he continued, referencing to the WWII veterans who still frequent the post meetings. “They’re all dying away and I think we really just need to highlight them because the greatest generation – as Tom Brokaw always used to say – is fading from us very fast and we can’t forget them.

“I think Cosmo is an example of what that generation has brought to this country.”

Leaving high school to enlist in the Army

Uttero left high school early to enlist in the Army and was transported to England aboard the Queen Mary. He was seasick for most of the voyage.

Lt. Walter Clayton, the leader of Uttero’s platoon, told the Herald-Tribune in 1999 that their landing Ship, Tank, or LST was scheduled to land June 7 when a soldier aboard on a Navy picket boat cruising by called out that infantry were desperately needed on the beach.

“Everything was messed up,” said Clayton, who died in 2013. “We climbed over the side and went in."

Uttero had to shed all his gear to stay afloat and make it to shore, where he used a dead soldier’s carbine to fight.

Uttero has previously said he was one of only three men in his unit not to be killed or injured in the invasion.

Uttero fought as the company took the crossroads town of St. Lo, the port city of Brest and then moved into Belgium's Ardennes Forest.

By war’s end, the 29th Infantry Division suffered the sixth-highest casualty rate of all American divisions during World War II – those 28,776 casualties were more than 200% of the division's regular strength.

Uttero was reunited with Clayton in February 1999, when he received a 50th Anniversary Commemorative Medal of the Normandy Invasion at a ceremony in Sarasota for soldiers who could not make the 1994 celebration in Normandy.

He returned to Normandy in 2014 for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, as one of three veterans sponsored by the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

In 2015, he was appointed to the rank of Knight of the Legion of Honor by the Consulate General of France and received the Legion d'Honneur medal during an induction ceremony in Tampa.

Uttero plans to return to Normandy in June 2024 for the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion.

The 29th Division Foundation is sending 50 World War II veterans – 20 by plane and 30 by Queen Elizabeth 2 – to Normandy. They will be escorted by veterans from both the Vietnam War and Persian Gulf War.

Uttero opted to fly because “I get seasick in the bathtub,” he joked.

An extended enlistment for a war bride

At the end of the war, Uttero met Erika. Even though he had enough points to be sent home, he wanted to remain in Germany.

“The only way I could do that was for them to discharge me in Germany and reenlist me in the regular army,” he said.

It took time to bring his bride home to Wellesley. She flew in on Christmas Eve in 1947 – Uttero’s birthday.

“She was the first World War II bride in Wellesley,” Casey said.

They first lived in veteran’s housing but he bought a quarter-acre lot in a tract of land Wellesley College set aside for veterans.

The purchase price was $500 he recalled – the cost per lot to put in a road – and built a home there.

He went on to work for A.B. Dick Company, the copy machine and office supply firm, for more than 35 years and retired at age 62,

He became a Bradenton snowbird in the early 1990s, after visiting his sister in February.

“I’d never seen grass in February,” Uttero said. “By the time I went home I’d bought my first condo in Bradenton.”

He graduated high school at 97 as part of a national program called Operation Recognition started by the Massachusetts Department of Veterans' Services.

“I had never graduated from high school and I wanted to graduate,” Uttero said. “I just waited a little bit longer.”

He attended the 2021 graduation ceremony virtually but went back to visit the current high school in Wellesley in October.

“It was nice to go back,” he said. “The old high school wasn’t there since it was 80 years ago – they built two new once since.”

Like many veterans, Uttero does not often talk about the war. He has given his medals to his grandson, Matthew Casey, an Iraqi War veteran.

Uttero credits his long life to always being active.

“Don’t lead an idle life,” he said. “I was very active. I loved my work, I came home, I was always chopping wood or cutting lawns – I didn't take many vacations.”

Routine is key too, his daughter added.

His regular routine at home includes waking up at 7:30 a.m. and going to bed at 7:30 p.m. and regular social activities with friends.

“Get up early, go to bed early – I didn’t abuse my body,” Uttero said. “I don’t need an alarm clock, I have an automatic alarm clock.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Bradenton veteran who landed in Normandy on D-Day turns 100 on Dec. 24