Operation Overlord - A Flag That Was There

Flag from Battleship Texas flies again for D-Day

The clouds were low. The sea was rough. A cacophony of shouting men and the constant boom of exploding shells filled the air. Waves of American, British and Canadian soldiers landed on Normandy's beaches. The hospital ship filled rapidly with the injured, and the USS Texas began taking on casualties.

Through the battle smoke, they gazed from the landing craft and saw security: an enormous red, white and blue flag.

In honor of the 70th anniversary of the June 6, 1944, invasion, the flag that was aloft will go on public display Friday for the first time since World War II in an exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science thanks to a crewman who gifted the flag.

"It was a firsthand witness to one of the most epic battles in history," said Andy Smith, manager of the vessel that is now a memorial in the Port of Houston called the Battleship Texas. The USS Texas also was present when the American flag was raised at Iwo Jima in 1945.

The USS Texas' 17-by-9 foot battle flag was raised on its mast June 5, as 156,000 Allied soldiers prepared to cross the English Channel and face the Germans. The USS Texas, which already had fought in World War I, was tasked with drawing enemy fire so the troops could land, Smith said.

"She's firing, and she's moving, and she gets as close to the shore as she can," Smith said. "Part of her mission is to be a target."

The days pass in a blur of fighting. By June 25th the USS Texas, flag unfurled, is at Cherbourg, battling to capture the port city. On the bridge is navigator Emil Saul, helmsman Chris Christiansen and dozens of crewmen. Suddenly, there was an explosion.

"We got struck there. Wiped out completely," said Saul, remembering the moment when the German shell destroyed the bridge.

Christiansen was killed, and 11 were wounded, including Saul, who spent nearly three years in the hospital recovering.

The crew, though, didn't forget. They awarded Saul the massive battle flag, a token for his sacrifice.

For years, as Saul finished school, got married, raised two daughters and enjoyed a long career with the Coast Guard, the massive wool and linen flag with just 48 stars remained carefully folded in storage.

"I loved it and was so proud of it and it was so beautiful," Saul, now 89 and living in Charlotte, North Carolina, said. "I really thought about how it's going to last ... or it's going to be destroyed."

So, in 1992 he donated the flag to the Battleship Texas.

Former crewman Emil Saul next to the USS Texas in 2005.

But Smith worried that Houston's heat, humidity and sunlight could damage the artifact.

"You think of the flag that flew at Fort McHenry, the Star Spangled Banner, the flag that was raised at Iwo Jima — it's at that level of significance," Smith said.

The years passed, and the flag remained hidden.

Now, due to a collaboration between Smith and the Houston Museum of Natural Science, which has the space and conditions to display the flag, it will be the centerpiece of a D-Day anniversary exhibit.

"We are losing these crew members at an alarming rate ... the veterans of World War II are dying off regularly," Smith added. "We just don't know how much longer we have and we really wanted to get this flag viewable to those guys."

Workers at the Houston Museum of Natural Science work on an exhibit spotlighting the flag from the USS Texas in Houston. The 17-by-9 foot, 48-star flag flew over the battleship on D-Day, June 6, 1944, off the beaches at Normandy.

More about the Battle of Cherbourg, where Saul was wounded:

On the morning of 25 June Texas, in company with Arkansas, Nevada, four cruisers and eleven destroyers, closed in on the vital port of Cherbourg to suppress the fortifications and batteries surrounding the town while the US Army's VII Corps attacked the city from the rear ... Task Group 129.2 (TG 129.2), built around Arkansas and Texas, was ordered to ... engage the guns of Battery Hamburg, a large shore battery composed of four 240 mm (9.4 in) guns.

At 12:33, Texas was straddled by three German shells; five minutes later Texas returned fire with a continuous stream of two-gun salvos. The battleship continued her firing runs in spite of shell geysers blossoming about her and difficulty spotting the targets because of smoke; however, the enemy gunners were just as stubborn and skilled. At 13:16, a German 240 mm (9.4 in) shell skidded across the top of her conning tower, sheared the top of the fire control periscope off (the periscope remains fell back into the conning tower and wounded the gunnery officer and three others), hit the main support column of the navigation bridge and exploded ... Texas's commanding officer, Captain Baker, escaped unhurt and quickly had the bridge cleared. The warship herself continued to deliver her 14 in (360 mm) shells in two-gun salvos and, in spite of damage and casualties, scored a direct hit that penetrated one of the heavily reinforced gun emplacements to destroy the gun inside at 13:35.

A heavy German coast artillery shell falls between USS Texas (BB-35), in the background, and USS Arkansas (BB-33), while the two battleships were engaging Battery Hamburg during the bombardment of Cherbourg, France, 25 June 1944.

At 14:47, an unexploded 240 mm (9.4 in) shell ... crashed through the port bow directly below the Wardroom and entered the stateroom of Warrant Officer M.A. Clark, but failed to explode ... Throughout the three-hour duel, the Germans straddled and near-missed Texas over sixty-five times, but she continued her mission firing 206 14 in (360 mm) shells at Battery Hamburg until ordered to retire at 15:01.

Admiral Carleton F. Bryant, left, and USS Texas Commander Charles Baker being given the shell that struck TEXAS on June 25, 1944, but did not explode. It was removed from the ship, disarmed, and returned to the ship as a “lucky charm”.

After WWII the Texas was retired from active service. In 1948 she was commissioned as flagship of the Texas Navy. She currently rests today as part of the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's 1,200-acre San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site consists of the San Jacinto Battleground, Monument and Battleship Texas. These sites are located within minutes of downtown Houston and a short distance from the beaches of Galveston Island. Millions of visitors come to this area each year to enjoy the mild coastal climate and cultural and sports activities. Visitors experience history first-hand through living history at the San Jacinto Battleground and Battleship Texas.

In 1948, the Battleship Texas became the first battleship memorial museum in the United States. That same year, on the anniversary of Texas Independence, the Texas was presented to the State of Texas and commissioned as the flagship of the Texas Navy. In 1983, the Texas was placed under the stewardship of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and is permanently anchored on the Buffalo Bayou and the busy Houston Ship Channel.

Battleship Texas today