A ten-year-old Bernard Darty was hiding from the Nazis in the commune of Savigny-sur-Orge, when American troops liberated this suburb of Paris on August 24, 1944. Darthy, now 83 years old, recalls: "They were our saviors, distributing packages of sweets to war-sick children who almost gave up hope of freedom".
Darthy and his wife Paulette - also a survivor of the Holocaust - have traditionally been spending the winter in Miami Beach for the last two and a half decades. After assessing what the US military has done for them, they hand over $ 500,000 to the American project "The wounded warrior" and $ 500,000 to the American Red Cross.
"This is one of the biggest and most powerful donations we've ever received," said Michael Linnington, executive director of the Wounded Warrior project, Sun Sentinel. "We have a great feeling of gratitude for our soldiers".
A couple living in Miami Beach, during the last 26 lived and worked in France. They raised and brought up two daughters, and now they are happy to have seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, notes forumdaily.
"I will never forget what the Americans did to save us," said Darty. "If it were not for these soldiers, we would speak German in France".
Darty said that he is deeply moved by the recent US efforts to save people after the hurricanes and destructive forest fires in California this year. He appealed to officials of the head of the Red Cross of Miami for advice on how to help veterans of rescue missions and military veterans.
They linked him to the project manager of the Wounded Warrior Project, a non-profit organization in Jacksonville that helps veterinarians with physical and mental disabilities.
Linnington, who traveled to Miami Beach a few days ago to meet with Darty, said that the donation would pay for the Wounded Warrior program, which provides care for disabled veterans' homes, as well as its warrior care network that offers outpatient mental health services in four academic medical centers.
Darthy was born into a Polish-Jewish family in Paris in 1934,. He was the youngest of five children. When, in July 1942, the Nazis began to "hunt" for Parisian Jews, Darty's parents sent him to an aunt who was married to a French soldier and was considered safer there.
His father disappeared, and his mother could not escape and died in the concentration camp "Auschwitz". One of his brothers survived in Auschwitz, and the other joined the French resistance. His two sisters also managed to survive.
Darty passed several foster homes on the outskirts of Paris and could attend school. Darty believed that the war would never end.
"Every night I heard an explosion," he recalled..
After his release, he and his father returned to Paris and were reunited with their brothers and sisters.
Darty and his family created several businesses that sold men's clothing, furs and electronics. In the state there were about 6000 people. He retired in 1993. Darty and his wife decided to move from France to the island of Fisher in Miami Beach due to weather conditions.
"At first, the Americans saved us, and then in 50 years they welcomed us," he said..
"I want to thank the Americans with all my heart for saving us during the war," said Darty. "The gratitude I feel for these people can not be expressed in words".