World War II veterans meet after 82 years
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Simon Gurdal and George Sarros met on Feb. 28, 2026, two heroes of the WWII European theatre of 1944. Their stories are connected in history and geography. Gurdal was born Nov. 8, 1926 in Verviers, Belgium. Sarros was born in Chicago on April 17, 1925.
Sarros served as a motor machinist on Landing Ship, Tanks 515, landing on the beach in Normandy on June 6, 1944. LST 515 opened its giant door and unloaded tanks, ambulances and hundreds of soldiers as part of the largest amphibious military operation in history. Along with approximately 160,000 of their comrades from the sea and falling from the sky, they successfully began what has been called “the beginning of the end of World War II.” George had joined the U.S. Navy at age 17 with his parents’ signatures.
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