BELTON â Bill Creech, 101, a World War II U.S. Army veteran, was honored for his 65-year membership in the Masonic Lodge of Texas on Saturday at Creekside Terrace, 1555 Powell Avenue.
Sandra Creech, his oldest daughter, of Temple, said he landed at Normandy with the Second Infantry Division, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and participated in the liberation of Pilsen, Czechosolovakia.
He became a Mason in 1955, but the 2020 award ceremony was postponed due to COVID-19, she said.
Creech, who she described as âquite active,â said he was a platoon sergeant when his unit landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day Plus One. The beach hadnât been secured and it took the U.S. forces nearly all day to do that, he said.