The World War II service of two lifelong Wilmington friends led them on similar paths from the Normandy beaches to final victory along Germany’s Elbe River.
Daniel David Cameron and Chris Eugene Fonvielle graduated together from New Hanover High School in 1938 and Virginia Military Institute (roommates) in 1942, both age 21.
Cameron trained at Camp Davis near Wilmington and landed over Omaha Beach on June 8, 1944. A three-year captain, he commanded automatic weapons Battery B of the 430th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion which protected field artillery.
“We were always exposed, but did not take too many casualties.”
He campaigned with the 5th Corps through St. Lo and Normandy, France; Holland; the Bulge in Belgium; and the German Siegfried Line, Roer River and Rhine River. For the final spring 1945 drive to the Elbe to link with Soviet forces, he served in the 19th Corps.