The Boat that Won the War

A Hobart veteran is acknowledged for his contribution to a new book about World War II, titled "The Boat that Won the War."

Bob Reeners knows all about the Higgins LCVP.

"The amount of training and the amount of time I spent on a Higgins boat, I estimate that I have traveled at least around the world once," recalls Reeners.

In 2015, 70 years after he transported troops to shore during the D-Day Invasion at Normandy, Reeners traveled to the Roberts Armory in Illinois to pilot a restored Higgins boat.

"For me to go down there and see this boat and actually operate it, you know it's just a flood of memories," says Reeners.

It was that day Reeners met Chuck Roberts, who was writing a book about the landing craft for vehicles and personnel that General Eisenhower credited for winning World War II.

"It was good recounting all the things he did, what he had to do as far as steering the boat, what power range he used. He told me that when they got ready to land they did full power all the way in," says Roberts.

After reviewing Roberts rough draft and making suggestions about a year ago, Reeners just received one of the first copies of the new book, with an acknowledgement for his assistance.

"I think this book should be in every library and every school in the country," says Reeners.

Not for personal accolades, says Reeners, but to preserve our country's military history which he fears is being lost.

"How we came from Minutemen to the Navy SEALs, it didn't just happen overnight. There's a lot of history involved, and a lot of people paid the supreme sacrifice, and that's important, that should be preserved, and this book does that," says Reeners.