'They pounded us pretty heavy': Manchester D-Day air combat veteran dies at 101

MANCHESTER - One of an ever-diminishing number of D-Day combat veterans, one who shared his military exploits with the Asbury Park Press, died Monday at the age of 101.

Kenneth Karen of Manchester enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at 19 and ended up flying 73 missions in the European theater. He served as a flight engineer and gunner from 1942 to 1945 on board a Martin B-26 Marauder, a two-engine medium bomber named Miss Mary after the pilot’s mother.

Among those missions, Karen and the crew knocked out a large Nazi battery — an artillery unit — on Utah Beach in Normandy on D-Day.

Two days later, he was ordered out on another mission into France, this time about 30 miles further inland to assist Allied troops as they pushed west. Karen and the others saw heavy combat that day.

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“We got plastered from flack — anti-aircraft fire,” Karen told Asbury Park Press reporter Jerry Carino in June 2023. “They pounded us pretty heavy. After we landed, we counted 100 holes in the fuselage. And no one got hurt.”

Karen added: “Better to be lucky than smart.”

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The Distinguished Flying Cross was among the many combat medals Karen was awarded.

After Karen shared his stories with the Asbury Park Press, the daughter of the pilot of Miss Mary, Mel Giles, saw the story online and contacted Karen. Her father died in 1985.

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Karen recounted his meeting with the pilot’s daughter for an Asbury Park Press story that ran this past June.

Karen was born in Brooklyn in 1923. He and his siblings changed their original last name Kuznetzoff after the war at the suggestion of his older brother.

After his wartime service, Karen moved to Jackson, raised a family and opened Pine Acres Day Camp in the 1950's, according to his obituary. He went on to a career in construction and real estate.

His first wife, Sophia Weissman Karen, died in 1984. His daughter Lori Hans also passed away before him.

He is survived by his second wife of 37 years, Joan Brooks Karen, and many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren from two families — some 37 in all.

Services will be held Tuesday at noon at Temple Beth Am Shalom 1235 Route 70 Lakewood. Burial will follow at the Toms River Jewish Community Cemetery at 1130 W. Whitty Road in Toms River.

Ken Serrano covers breaking news, crime and investigations. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or kserrano@gannettnj.com.