Breaking his ankle in the days before such a brutal offensive was like drawing a royal flush, Kershaw said. “That was the luckiest hand of his life.”

Huddleston rejoined his company Aug. 28, 1944, outside the French city of Brest. To his dismay, he did not recognize many of men, one of Huddleston’s closest friends Robert Key said.

“Though Allen did not talk about his experiences in detail, he often remarked that it was devastating to rejoin his company and recognize no one,” Cheek-Messier said.

Key said Huddleston once told him with tears in his eyes it was just luck he was not with Company A on the day of the invasion.

“He said ‘Bob, if I hadn’t broken my ankle two weeks before, I would have probably been just like most of them Bedford boys, and I wouldn’t be talking to you,’” Key said.

Later, at the battle of Aachen in Germany, Huddleston was wounded and sent back to England, Cheek-Messier said.

To many in Bedford County, who had family that died during the D-Day invasion, Huddleston could provide a living link to their relative.

“You could always go to Allen and ask him, ‘do you remember much about my brother,’ and Allen would tell you,” Key said.