Louis Roney: Hero around my corner

For many years I lived on Central Park South in New York City and traded often in a wonderful deli around the corner on Sixth Avenue.

There I met the deli owner, Arno Heller, and we became very friendly neighbors.

He and his wife, Ruth, heard me sing one evening in Lewisohn Stadium, so he knew my profession.

Arno and I, now both 91, were volunteers in World War II, but it was only recently that I learned that Arno was a true hero of the red, white and blue.

I was just a Navy guy on a ship, but Arno was a one-man army! Any enemy of America who saw Arno coming would have been wise to “take it on the lam.”

Just weeks ago Arno was given the Bronze Star Medal for heroism — only some 70 years later than he should have received it.

Arno was born in Hamburg, Germany and came to the U.S. as a lucky refugee in 1939. He volunteered for the U.S. Army in 1942 and was inducted in October of that year after an FBI check to be sure he was not a spy. He received his basic Army training in Georgia and was then sent to North Africa.

Arno says, “When you’re 21, and you’ve never been in combat, you think nothing will harm you because you’ve seen too many John Wayne movies. Believe me, nothing will shock you as much as when you see your first dead bodies. You realize this is real and can happen to you.

“I also was in the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. Compared to what was in store for us, it was a piece of cake, even though we took a lot of casualties.

“In November, we were sent to England, where we trained hard for the invasion of France. The way we realized we were in a deadly war was the nightly blackouts and the overhead drone of the RAF bombers headed for their targets in Germany. In the daytime, we watched our own B17s keeping up the continuous German destruction. Everyone was preparing for the invasion. A few days before D-Day, all leaves were canceled and we were confined to camp — telephones went dead — something big was on the way.

“June 4 we were transported to Southampton, a southern British port. We kept our clothes on at all times, prepared to leave on a moment’s notice.

“On June 5, we suddenly heard and felt the ground vibration of the Normandy Invasion some 90 miles away. When our number was called a few hours later, we loaded on trucks, and rode to the ships, which were waiting to take us to the coast of Normandy…”

In peacetime, I have since seen most of the places where Arno fought, and can only imagine the mayhem that went on there during the war.

My Navy time was in the Pacific, which is another story — my story — which has no place here.

Arno is one of the friendliest guys you’d ever want to meet. But I wouldn’t want to meet him as an enemy with a gun in his hand.

Arno and Ruth are spending their retirement in Rego Park, Queens, N.Y., and have a fine family retinue — the American tradition grows and flourishes.

About Roney:

Harvard’42—Distinguished Prof, Em.—UCF

2004 Fla. Alliance for the Arts award

(Assisted by beautiful wife Joy Roney)