Yogi Berra, a D-Day rocket boat veteran, honoured on 70th anniversary of Normandy invasion

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Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra looks on as he is honored by the U.S. Navy for his service 70 years ago during the D-Day Invasion at a ceremony at the Yogi Berra Museum in Montclair, N.J., Friday, June 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

LITTLE FALLS, N.J. – Seventy years ago, a 19-year-old from St. Louis was on a small attack boat launching rockets at the Germans during the Allied invasion of Normandy.

Lawrence Peter Berra, a minor league baseball player who would later become known worldwide as Yogi, emerged unscathed from that bloody day.

Now 89 years old, Berra was honoured Friday by the New Jersey museum that bears his name, as well as by the Navy and several veterans groups.

His age prevented him from participating in ceremonies in France.

Berra told The Associated Press that D-Day was “amazing” and “awful,” firing at the Nazis from 300 yards offshore.

He says he was fortunate to survive; three of his comrades weren’t as fortunate.

Berra won 10 World Series titles with the New York Yankees.

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