Veteran Stephen part of Aviramp team helping commemorate D-Day heroes
A decorated veteran who saw action in Afghanistan and Iraq is playing a crucial role in bringing a party of D-Day heroes back to Normandy for a very special commemorative event.
Stephen Kemp is part of a team of skilled technicians at global aviation leader Aviramp building a step-free ramp to help the party of US veterans get off their chartered flight safely and comfortably when they pay an emotional return to Normandy on 1 June.
The veterans – the youngest of whom is 96 years old – are returning to the beaches they helped liberate from the Nazis to mark the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings.
Aviramp has teamed up with Delta Air Lines, Michelin and the US charity Best Defense Foundation as part of the unique commemoration and will donate the state-of-the-art boarding ramp to Deauville Airport in northern France.
Best Defense Foundation is a charity set up by former US football star, linebacker Donnie Edwards and his wife, Kathryn Edwards.
Stephen, who joined Telford-based Aviramp after 23 years’ service with the Royal Irish Regiment, said it was a huge honour to be involved in building the ramp.
“The fact that we are helping the commemorations at Deauville and that I am involved in building the ramp the veterans will use, matters a lot to me,” said Stephen, of Market Drayton.
“I still do what I can to help remember all veterans. I am involved in the Market Drayton branch of the Royal British Legion and played the bugle at the town’s VE Day celebrations earlier this month.
“I regularly play the Last Post and Reveille at the Remembrance Day and do what I can to support the RBL throughout the year.
“To be now working on something which will play such an important part in helping these remarkable veterans return to the scene of the D-Day landings, and commemorate all those who fought alongside them, is a real honour and a true bonus.”
Stephen, 44, was medically discharged from the Royal Irish Regiment suffering with PTSD after a career which saw him embark on three tours of Northern Ireland before seeing action for the first time during the Iraq conflict in 2003.
“It was my first real experience of conflict and I remember having to grow up really, really quickly. We went over the border and all you could see were the burning oil fields and rigs which the Iraqis had set fire to.
“I remember being besides the Euphrates River ready to push into Basra. I was on sentry duty that night and the flashes and explosions of the bombs being dropped into the city and the tracer fire going in among the air strikes filled the sky.”
A second operation in Iraq followed just over two years later as well as three tours of Afghanistan where Stephen was part of airborne assault operations.
“The Afghan tours were probably my hardest ones. I lost quite a lot of friends in Afghanistan and was mentally drained and injured.
“The operation there was more about dealing with counter insurgency rather than an invasion, as it was in Iraq.
“You never know who the enemy is because they are dressed the same as civilians. When you are out on patrol every day you have to watch where you are walking and have 360-degree awareness at all times. It’s hard to explain how your senses are heightened, and you are constantly on edge.
“When you are in contact you will be in contact for maybe two or three hours and the adrenalin kicks in. When it’s finished you have a comedown, and then it happens again and you switch on and you are back into it again. It just fatigues you and knocks it out of you.”
Stephen has a collection of seven medals to remind him of his time in the Army, and stayed in Market Drayton where his battalion had been based when he called time on his military career
Aviramp chief executive and founder Graham Corfield is delighted to support the initiative and particularly proud that Stephen is part of the team.
“It is hard to imagine the things the D-Day veterans must have gone through 81 years ago, but being able to talk to Stephen about some of his experiences really helps to bring it home.
“We owe so much to all those who took part in the D-Day landings and those who have fought to defend freedom in the years since. To be able to offer the ramp to ensure we can continue to commemorate D-Day for as long as possible is the least we can do.”
Aviramp’s partnership with Delta, Michelin and Best Defense Foundation brings together American World War II heroes and students on an emotional journey to Normandy's beaches, preserving first-hand accounts of WWII and D-Day while creating educational experiences for young people who will carry these stories forward.
Best Defense Foundation is a charity set up by former US football star, linebacker Donnie Edwards and his wife, Kathryn Edwards.
Delta will host a nonstop charter flight directly from Atlanta to Deauville Airport on May 31, arriving in Deauville on June 1 and returning to Atlanta on June 9. This will mark only the fourth time a US passenger airline will fly directly to Normandy, with the other three being the Delta charter flights from 2022-2024.
