On this website you have previously read the story of Manuel Otero Mart\u00ednez, the only Spaniard who fought and fell in the Normandy landings.<\/p>\n
Born in Outes (La Coru\u00f1a) on April 27, 1916,Manuel had already fought in the Spanish Civil War<\/strong>, specifically on the Republican side, being wounded in combat. After that war, and like many other Galicians, Manuel emigrated to the United States<\/strong>, where he ended up enlisting in the US Army, being called up during World War II. He was part of Company A of the 1st Battalion of the 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division \"Big Red One\", and landed on the Omaha beach sector on June 6, 1944, dying in action that day<\/strong> near the beach where he landed.<\/p>\n Manuel's story became known a few years ago<\/strong> when a niece of his contacted the Military Museum of La Coru\u00f1a with the purpose of donating the zinc box in which the body of the Spanish soldier was sent to Galicia for his funeral. The Museum put Manuel's niece in contact with the bookseller from Coru\u00f1a Manuel Arenas, who in 2016 published a book by Antonio Osende entitled<\/strong> \"Normand\u00eda D\u00eda D. Manuel Otero Mart\u00ednez: Un gallego en Omaha Beach\"<\/a> (Normandy Day D. Manuel Otero Mart\u00ednez: A Galician on Omaha Beach), which includes the results of a great research on the history of that Spanish soldier.<\/p>\n The Youtube channel Tropa Guripa posted a video about Manuel in 2017<\/a>, which helped spread his story. In 2020 a recreation group named after him was founded in Galicia<\/a>. Last year, Tropa Guripa published a great reenactment of Manuel's participation in D-Day<\/a>, made with the collaboration of Big Red One \"Manuel Otero\" Historical Reenactment Group<\/a>. Two months ago, Tropa Guripa published a video of the tribute made in June to Manuel Otero in Normandy<\/a>, before the monolith erected near Omaha beach in which his name appears along with that of his fallen comrades in that place.<\/p>\n
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