The last two years, 1942 and 1943, had caused real anxiety in all of us. Choices are very difficult. Many of my friends had left school to join the service–their seats are draped with the service flag. Graduation from Powhatan Point, Ohio, High School was on a very warm day in May 1943. The empty seats made each of us realize the uncertainty for what our future may hold. I graduated with a scholarship to Ohio State University in music. My first love was music, and I played the trumpet in our band. We also had a small dance band which played music throughout the Ohio Valley. What a night of celebration we all had! It was the first time I ever became drunk. When my Dad finally found me, much to my surprise, he never scolded me. I guess he was aware of the danger that laid ahead. The war was escalating, and the Germans were in control of most of Europe. Like so many young, I was ready to serve and save our country and freedom. We went to the nearest recruiting office in Bellaire, Ohio. Upon arriving there, the line was very long with high school graduates all longing for action, to fight the enemy. When my turn came, the recruiter said, “Well, son, what is your preference?” I requested Air Force but he replied “Sorry, this is infantry week, next week is Air Corp”. So I enlisted in the Infantry. Although my parents were very sad, they tried so hard to be brave and proud.
We were sent to Fort Hayes in Columbus, Ohio where we were given physical examinations. On June 18, 1943 I was shipped to Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, Indiana, where I was assigned to the reception center. I remember a newspaper took our picture. We all looked like kids on our way to Boy Scout Camp. From there we went by train west to Camp Haan, located outside of Riverside, California, for basic training. Our training was in the desert center (Fort Irvine was gunnery range for anti-aircraft and Death Valley for maneuvers). It was hell in the heat. Some days the temperature was 120 degrees and at night it was cold. There was always a possibility of a rattlesnake curling up beside you in your sleeping bag to keep warm. For a boy from the cool hills of Ohio to 120 degrees, it was an experience beyond belief. Several of us were bitten by a rattlesnake, but we managed to survive. We became very close, and as fate would have it, we stayed together and became part of the 125th Artillery Battalion.
Occasionally we would have a pass to riverside or L.A. They would have a USO dance, which helped make the weekends more enjoyable. One weekend I even went to Phoenix, AZ with a buddy, as his home was there. Phoenix was a cow town in 1943. It had a theater, a store or two and some place to buy beer. Those days at Camp Haan weren’t all that bad. I was assigned to the Headquarters Division of the 125th AAA gun Bn. The men all became family, and many in the 125th were from the Ohio Valley area. My 1st Sergeant was George W. Barber, who was a WWI Vet. He seemed like an old man, but was probably only 43-45 years old. But we were only 17 or 18. My Captain was Dale Nix, a graduate of Texas AM and in the S2 (Intelligence). He was a rancher from Texas, and a good friend and mentor to me. Operations Officer was Captain Mark Lightfoot (S3).
When we left Camp Haan, we went to Camp Livingston at Lake Charles, LA. I knew it wouldn’t take long before we were shipped out. After several weeks there, we went to Camp Edwards outside Boston, MA. It was there that I ran into a friend from home, Henry Bindle, who had joined the Navy. We were able to spend some time together before I was shipped to England. We didn’t see each other again until 1947.
In September, 943 at the port of embarkation, I boarded the SS Mt. Vernon, a large passenger ship made into a troop ship. The voyage across the North Atlantic was rough, and most of us became seasick. We had a submarine warning, while the convoy was forming. One of the ships got hit–we saw the smoke, but never heard what happened. After about seven days, we landed in South Hampton, England. I was put on a train to the Dover area on the English Channel. The English people were very good to us. My unit was stationed at Dover in Liverpool and Folkestone. We soon learned the horrors of war.
The English had been fighting since 1939. The USA had been sending them help with equipment, etc. In 1941, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the US became involved on both the Western and Eastern Fronts. The Germans were bombing London and had set up a strong defense on the Normandy coast. The English had strong Royal Artillery on the Channel area but they were glad to have help from America. Our Field Artillery had the big guns: 105mm and 90mm.
At first it was planes with bombs and then the Germans were sending VI Rockets, propelled rockets without any control called Buzz Bombs. It was our job to shoot them out of the sky before they reached London. The sound of the VI was like no other. As long as you could hear them it was ok. It was the deadly silence when fear would strike. Just before they hit their target, the motor would go out and then a loud crash and the sound of destruction. The 125th AAA Gun Bn. was set up at Folkestone on the Dover coastline. The GIs were well trained and successfully destroyed 97.8% of the VI bombs. We were credited with destroying 269 VIs.
We had to spot the bomb by radar or visualization information for a direct hit by the gun. We didn’t have calculators in those days. It all had to be done by eye and mind, calculating on a crude rangefinder. The air war went on 24 hour a day and gun crews were at their post continuously. The time in England was not all work and fighting. Most of us were 18 or 19 years old and some recreation was guaranteed. The good old American GIs ingenious nature was to make things happen. One day we improvised cowboy rodeo, with the help of Texas born Captain Nix. This was something the English had never seen. I truly treasure the pictures of Nix riding a bull at the Rodeo.
I also had taken my trumpet with me and was invited to play with a dance band organized with seven American Artillery and seven English Royal Artillery guys. We had a great band called The Ameroanglos. The band played for dances in the ballroom at Lea’s Cliff Hall in Dover. The ballroom was carved out of the chalk cliffs of Dover. The band also played for the BBC (British Broadcast network), which broadcast to the Armed Forces. Glen Miller’s band also played there when on a USO tour. In England I was very fortunate to meet Eddie and Pat Wedgwood. They became very dear friends to this day, and we keep in touch. Eddie was a member of the English Royal Artillery. At this time, even with the destruction in London, the people were great and we still had no idea of the Hell that was to come.
On June 6, 1944, General Eisenhower and the High Command decided there would be a landing on Normandy Beaches. The allies had no idea how heavily guarded the Germans had made the beachhead. They had underground bunkers with their best artillery guarding the beaches. Our stay in England ended on D-Day. The invasion of France was to begin. As we boarded the boats to take us across the English Channel, we had no idea what was to come, but each of us was very scared, as well as anxious, to fight the Germans. There was a storm that day and the water was very rough, and many became ill on the crossing. We thought the beach landing would be a piece of cake. Intelligence was not informed on how heavily enforced the beaches were by the Germans.
Rommel had done everything possible to prevent the landing: barbed wire, and mines going off in every direction. The first wave on the beach was mowed down like animals. I remember going off the front area of the boat into water up to my armpits. I had to hold my rifle above the water. Our boat couldn’t get any closer to the beach because the Germans had put tanks in the water to prevent heavy equipment getting to the beach. I remember seeing a soldier in the water. I thought he was alive, so I held on to him until we got to the shore, only to find he had been shot and most of his face was gone. As we beached under fire by the Germans, the beach water was red with blood, and dead bodies of the men who went before us were strewn all around. It was necessary to keep down and crawl over them. Finally, after many hours and cover fire from the ships that took out some German guns, and thousands of dead GIs, the beachhead was made and we were able to move forward. Many of the officers were killed. The GIs didn’t wait for orders–they did what needed to be done for the situation. It took six days to secure the beach. The Allies had a line from Utah to Juno and Omaha. Nine thousand three hundred sixty GIs were killed and five thousand bodies were never recovered at Omaha Beach.
From the beach area we fought our way to St. Lo. The Air Force had been bombing St. Lo and when we arrived, the town was destroyed, the people and Germans gone. The hedgerows were to come. The hedgerows were mounds of dirt the farmers had built as fences surrounding orchards, farms and houses. Many American died here, as the hedgerows made perfect places for the Germans to take arm. They had tunneled in the mounds and set up machine guns emplacements. The Germans had better armor then we had. The Americans had very few tanks that would navigate the hedgerows. Our tanks were like toys compared to the German tanks. It often took 4 or 5 Sherman tanks to take out a German tank. Our tanks were called “moving graves”. Finally the GIs made an adapter to the front of the tanks from junk steel welded together that acted like a snowplow. We were able to uproot the hedgerows.
The way forward was difficult, for there was a problem getting gas and needed supplies from England when the supply ships ran into trouble. On June 16th, a severe storm came to the Channel and many ships with supplies were unable to land, and some even sank. Not all went well, even with the best plans. Unfortunately, General Montgomery made his first big mistake at Caen, France in the Falaise Gap battle. Many casualties occurred when he didn’t head out of Caen. The battle through the hedgerows would not have been necessary. Montgomery took credit for the Cobra breakout, but truly it was General Bradley who was the one to make the difference on the total breakout from the beaches. General Patton was under Montgomery at this time and had to follow his command. Because of this, the German army was able to escape and retreat. They reorganized to fight later. From here we are on our way to Paris. General Patton took command. The Air Force was welcomed and did their job as expected. The Americans moved more in one day than they had in six. Now organization was put into the battles by combining air, tanks and infantry.
1944 Summer/Fall
Upon reaching the outskirts of Paris, the Americans were stopped. The Free French by General de Gaulle were to be the first to enter Paris. The Germans had left Paris without any organized resistance. They left very little damage to the city. However, there were some snipers still present August 25, 1944.
The British went forward to liberate Brussels, Belgium; we went east to Nylan, Belgium and to Antwerp, Belgium. Getting supplies to the troops became more difficult. Trucks were bringing supplies over land. The truck convoys were called “The Red Ball Express”. The roads were not good in Europe, and rain often made the roads very muddy. Also, the distance became so long, we needed another port to receive supplies. Antwerp became a very important supply route. The British fought to secure the port and we were to set up Artillery (the 125th) outside Antwerp to defend it from the VI Buzz bombs that the Germans sent. The operation was known as “Antwerp X”. It was a highly secret mission. The US Government did not allow any information out about this mission until 50 years ago, after WWII was over. During this time (September 1944) a Buzz Bomb Rocket hit a recreation theater in Antwerp. The children were watching a western movie that afternoon, and 500 died. Russ Elliot and I helped carry many of the children out. The success rate for destroying the VI rockets was 90%. But the V2 Rockets were so fast that radar couldn’t pick them up, and there was no defense.
Battle of the Bulge, December 16 1944 through January 25,1945
World War II continued in 1944 and for a rest after Antwerp X, we were sent to the Bulge area located in Ardennes, Belgium. Winter was on the way. It was said that this was the coldest winter on record for many years. The snow was so deep we could hardly walk. Many of the men had frozen feet and needed amputations. My left foot was frozen, and I was told gangrene would set in if not removed. I kept asking for one more day. By the morning of the next day, circulation began to reappear. We were to have winter clothing and boots, but for some reason the boots were for summer and not waterproof, and no winter clothing was given. ‘
Our unit was started at St. Vith. We were assigned to keep the Germans from coming to the crossroads from Houffalize and prevent the Germans from going further west. Thankfully, we had raincoats. We would sleep in our wet clothes, and most of the time in an army blanket. During this time we could not put up a tent, as there wasn’t time. We were always moving and most nights we spent in foxholes in the snow. When we had a chance, we would get into an old building.
The Ardennes forest was so dense they had to have tanks to knock down the trees to get the large artillery through. The large artillery was set up behind the line and would shoot over the line to the Germans. A B-17 crashed near us while on a bombing run. We picked up several men. All were deceased. One was a general, but at the time we didn’t know that. In combat no stars or badges were worn. If taken prisoner, you didn’t want the Germans to know your rank. Later the story was written up in The Stars and Stripes.
The weather stayed bad for days or weeks–I don’t remember which. But I do remember all the frozen feet and sleeping in the snow. Christmas Day 1944, a German jet was strafing us. It was a brand new model (ME262) jet. The attack caused multiple injuries and fatalities to our men. In the Battle of the Bulge, there were 600,000 Americans and 650,000 Germans. It was the largest land battle of WWII. Three American armies and six Corps, 81,000 GI wounded, 19,000 killed. When the weather finally permitted planes to fly, the 101st in Bastogne had supplies dropped by air.
Winter of 1944 – Spring 1945
General Patton’s 3rd Army and tanks were received with much joy, and the battle began in our favor. General Patton was held up from arriving sooner because of the weather and no gas for his tanks. My unit, the 83rd Infantry Div. 329th Infantry, was sent toward the East (Rhine River), crossing it into Czechoslovakia. The Germans knew the Americans were coming and near the town of Pilsen, the Concentration Camp of Nordhausen was liberated. The Germans guards left or wore civilian clothes so as not to be known as guards. The prisoners in the camp were not able to move, because most were too weak or too sick. Approximately 1/3 of them survived. Near the end of the war was the discovery of the Dachau Concentration Camp. Pilsen was the capital of Czechoslovakia and the prisoners were used by the Germans as slave labor. Where the underground VI Missile flying bomb assembly plant was located, the underground factory had multiple miles of tunnels. When the camps were freed, the Occupational Army took the refuges to another camp to be clothed and fed until they were healthy and able to make decisions for themselves. It was found if they were left alone they would eat and eat. Not mentally able to make a decision until the body became healthy.
After leaving this area, we went on to the Elbe River, going through the Hurtgen Forest. The combat lasted about a week to 10 days. Upon reaching the Elbe River (March 13 or 14, 1945) the crossing was made on a pontoon bridge and small boats brought by the engineers. The engineers were great craftsmen. The area was about 35 miles from Berlin. We waited for the Russians, who came on April 13, 1945. The wait was necessary, for President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill had promised Stalin (the Russian Ruler) that the Russians could take Berlin. The Germans surrendered May 8, 1945.
On September 4, 1994, on the 50th University of Antwerp X and the liberation of Antwerp, Belgium, the Belgium Government celebrated. In 1994 Col. Barkie and I, along with the help of the Veterans from the 125th Gun Bn, dedicated a monument honoring the American Artillery, which shot down 481 VI Buzz Bombs in the defense of Antwerp. The Mayor of Antwerp, Mayor Cools, and the King of Belgium did us a great honor and held a ceremony for the group of Veterans attending. I was honored to lay the wreath on the monument and received the Belgium Flag that covered our monument. It was presented to me by Mayor Cools of Antwerp. The wreath from the USA was laid by Hazel O’Leary, Secretary of Energy, who was sent by President Clinton. The third wreath was sent by the Mayor of Antwerp.