Skip to main content
Friday, October 30, 2026Oct 30
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

This story is free to read.

Bronze Star recipient rode first Allied tank ashore at Normandy

Ralph Painter talks about his tank pulling up on the beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day during an interview Monday, October 15, 2018 at his home in East Brainerd, Tennessee. Painter claims to have been on one of the first tanks to land at Utah Beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day.
Ralph Painter talks about his tank pulling up on the beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day during an interview Monday, October 15, 2018 at his home in East Brainerd, Tennessee. Painter claims to have been on one of the first tanks to land at Utah Beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day. Ralph Painter talks about his tank pulling up on the beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day during an interview Monday, October 15, 2018 at his home in East Brainerd, Tennessee. Painter claims to have been on one of the first tanks to land at Utah Beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day.

By Davis Lundy 5 min read

BIO

Name: Ralph PainterAge: 96 (turns 97 on Nov. 13)Branch of military: U.S. ArmyYears of service: February 1941-September 1945

Ralph Painter talks easily about 1944 and the hell that was WWII. He eagerly talks about the men, their love of country and their courage under fire. Like many veterans, Painter grows more somber when the specifics of soldiers dying comes up. Somewhere between sitting on the back of the first tank to land at Utah Beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day in June and the Battle of the Bulge in December, Painter stops as if reflecting on a specific moment from 74 years ago.

“You really need to come see the old Jeep I just finished rebuilding,” Painter said, who turns 97 Tuesday. “It’s not near as tough as working on tanks.”

And so it goes with the Bronze Star for Valor recipient as he moves hands-free toward the garage in his home in East Brainerd. The Battle of the Bulge, called by many the greatest battle in American military history, will have to wait as Painter looks under the hood on the Jeep. Showing off his latest project is more important today than the fact that he suffered debilitating and disabling frostbite in his feet in December 1944 that left him with only 20 percent circulation in his legs for 70 years.

“I worked for TVA on those feet for a lot of years,” Painter said. “But the thing is that I found a doctor in Dunlap after I was 90, and the miracle he did now has me at 45-50 percent circulation. Sure made it easier to work on the Jeep.”