Remembering Stan Nelson, the Anoka Coach Who Carried Soldiers to Omaha Beach on D-Day
He ferried soldiers to Omaha Beach at 23, won a state title as Anoka's football coach and died at 105 last November. A remembrance as Veterans Day nears.
Stanford Ingram "Stan" Nelson lived through 105 years of American history, and on one morning in 1944 he helped make some of it. The Anoka, Minnesota, coach who carried soldiers toward Omaha Beach on D-Day died Nov. 20, 2025, with his family at his side. His obituary puts it simply: Stanford "went to the Lord." As another Veterans Day approaches, a tribute to him is circulating widely again online, and his story is worth telling carefully and truthfully.
A farm-town athlete who went to war
Nelson was born Sept. 22, 1920, in Dawson, Minnesota, to Isaac and Christine Nelson, according to his obituary. He was a three-sport athlete at Dawson High School and then at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, where he earned 12 varsity letters and graduated in 1943. Augsburg says he joined the Navy as an officer after Pearl Harbor. His obituary lists his rank as lieutenant junior grade.
On June 6, 1944, Nelson was 23 years old. FOX 9 reported that he served as the communications and deck officer on a Landing Craft Infantry, a 158-foot ship built to run troops onto the beach. The Star Tribune reported that his craft carried about 250 soldiers to Omaha Beach on each run and made several trips that day. A friend's account published by Show Allegiance names the vessel as LCI-492. Navy records compiled by NavSource show that USS LCI(L)-492 took part in the invasion of Normandy and earned a battle star.
He did not dress the day up. "They carried 250 soldiers into the beach at a time," he told KSTP in 2023. "We were one of the first shifts to hit the beach." He remembered that the air bombardment had fallen too far inland and left the German guns intact. "There was a lot of excitement going on, a lot of shooting." His son Dave described the work: the ship hit the beach, the ramps dropped, the soldiers ran into the fight, and the crew winched the craft back off to go get the next group.
Many of the men he carried did not come home. Nelson did. He later commanded a patrol craft in the Pacific, according to the Star Tribune. His family said he rarely talked about the war and turned down chances to go back to Normandy. "I've already been there," he said. Asked what it meant to him, he said, "I was really thankful I was able to serve my country."
Coach Nelson
After the war Nelson earned a master's degree in education from the University of Minnesota. He taught and coached in Zumbrota and Farmington, then took over Anoka High School football in 1953. According to the Star Tribune, he won 154 games, seven conference championships and the 1964 state title over 26 seasons, and he coached five all-state quarterbacks. He was named Minnesota coach of the year in 1964 and was inducted into five halls of fame, his obituary says.
His family carried the game forward. KSTP noted that his son Steve played linebacker for the New England Patriots for 14 seasons. His son Dave coached Minnetonka to a state title with Stan's grandson Jesse at quarterback, and his daughter Cheryl coached state championship teams at Anoka. He was married to Marcella Solheim, whom he met at Augsburg, for 64 years, until her death in 2011.
One more salute
On Veterans Day 2025, the Minnesota Wild invited Nelson, then believed to be Minnesota's oldest living World War II veteran, to deliver the "Let's Play Hockey!" call at the team's Military Appreciation Night in St. Paul. He was honest about that too. "I'm really not a hockey fan, so I don't understand the game," he told FOX 9 before the puck drop, "but I'm sure I'll enjoy watching the skaters skate and bump each other around the rink." Nine days later he was gone.
On his 105th birthday in September 2025, he told KSTP what he was grateful for: "I'm just lucky to have such good friends and family. It isn't everybody that can say that, you know. And so for that I'm very thankful."
His funeral was held Dec. 2, 2025, at Zion Lutheran Church in Anoka. The Star Tribune reported that it opened with the Anoka High fight song played by the marching band. He was buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.
Why it matters
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, only about 45,000 were still alive last year, FOX 9 reported, and the number falls every week. Men like Stan Nelson did their duty, came home and spent the rest of their lives building up the next generation, usually without talking about what they had seen. Scripture says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). Nelson was ready to do that at 23 and spent the next eight decades serving his neighbors. This Veterans Day, thank a veteran while you still can.
