Christmas on the Roer River, Germany - 1944, 102d Infantry Division

Homer Hooks served in the 102nd Infantry Division during World War II. Here he recalls a brief cease fire between German and American soldiers stationed across each other on the banks of the Roer River in Germany on Christmas day, 1944.

In Memory of PFC Erwin Henry Blair, KIA, Trained at Camp Maxey, 99th Infantry Division 393rd Infantry Regiment

PFC Erwin Henry Blair

Erwin Henry Blair served in the 393rd Infantry Regiment of the 99th Infantry Division, attaining the rank of Private 1st Class. His serial number was 37550195. The following account of Erwin’s division is taken from the Army Ground Forces Fact Sheet of the 99th Infantry Division of 1947, supplemented by the Wikipedia article U.S. 99th Infantry Division (August 3, 2005 version) and the eyewitness account of John Rarick in the 99th Infantry Division Association Checkerboard.

The 99th Division was activated November 15, 1942 at Camp Dorn, Mississippi, under the command of Major General Thompson Lawrence, and was assigned to the IV Corps. While at Camp Dorn it came successively under the XV, VII and IX Corps of the Third Army. Command was transferred from Lawrence to Major General Walter E. Lauer in July, 1943. In September, October and November 1943, the 99th took part in the Third Army maneuvers in Louisiana. Following these maneuvers, the division was transferred to Camp Maxey, Texas and came under the X Corps of the Third Army.

The Division departed the U.S. for foreign duty September 30, 1944, arriving in England on October 10, where it trained briefly before being moved to Le Havre, France on November 3. It then proceeded to Aubel, Belgium, to prepare for combat.

The 99th was put into the line near Bütgenbach in the province of Liège. There it first saw action against the Germans on November 9. On November 16 it relieved the 9th Infantry Division and 102nd Cavalry Group in the vicinity of Aubel and on the 18th proceeded to an area near Wirtzfeld where its first big artillery duel with the enemy ensued. In December it aided in the defense of the V Corps sector north of the Roer River between Schmidt and Monschau. In Mid-December a drive was launched to the northeast as the 99th began probing the Siegfried Line against heavy resistance on December 13.

The Germans’ Ardennes Offensive, the initial phase of the Battle of the Bulge, caught the Division on the 16th. Although cut up and surrounded in part, the 99th held as a whole until reinforcements came.

Erwin did not survive the action, dying December 17, 1944, aged 21, near Liège, Belgium. His death is recorded by John Rarick, a fellow member of the Division taken prisoner of war: “After traveling about 200 yards we came to the command post where Lt. Harry Nowlin and Sgt. Gilliam of the 3rd squad were dug in or built up. They were all alive but captured. Their only casualty was my close friend, Erwin 'Buddy' Blair of Wadena MN.

“Blair, also a BAR man, had been ordered by Lt. Nowlin to surrender but refused and continued firing. The Germans had leveled his position with potato mashers or hand grenades, killing Blair and seriously wounding his assistant . . . Tish Hebert.”

Erwin’s body was later buried in Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial, two miles northwest of the village of Henry-Chapelle, Belgium, between Liège and Aachen, Germany.

In Memory of Thomas O'Brian, KIA, Trained at Camp Maxey, 26th Infantry Division, 101st Infantry Regiment, C Company

A Picture Worth Remembering...Thomas O'Brien KIA WW2

Written By Bob Lessard, published in Middleboro Gazette,May 27,1999.

It was a discarded book from a library sale, that prompted this Memorial Day story to be written. Entitled “the History of the 26th Yankee Division,” the book covers the history of the famed military unit from its inception on Aug. 13, 1917 until its deactivation on Dec. 29, 1945. Published by the Yankee Division’s Veterans Association, it is the historic account of the division’s battles, heroics and casualties of the First and Second World Wars. One picture from the pages of the book was a stark reminder of the sacrifices of all servicemen who served and fought during those two World Wars. It is quite a picture. Middleboro resident Cpl. Thomas F. O’Brien of the United States Army is pictured during the Battle of the Bulge campaign in January, 1945.

He was a technician fifth grade with C Company of the 101st Infantry, Yankee Division, and was seen sitting on a snow bank eating a meal from his mess kit. The story line with the picture reads:  

“Blanketed in all the clothing he could commandeer to try to keep out the penetrating cold, Infantryman Thomas O’Brien, Middleboro, Mass., squats in the snow on the Western front to eat a cold ration in a momentary lull in the fighting of his regiment, the 101st Infantry.”

The picture grabbed the attention in many circles. After the war it was published in books in Germany and France. It was included a PBS special called “Battle of the Bulge-An American Experience,” which was televised several years ago. Born on June 10, 1921 at Providence, R.I. and raised in Woonsocket, O’Brien resided at 45 West Street in Middleboro, where his widowed mother had moved the family in June of 1941.

O’Brien, called “Red” by the family for his bright red hair, entered the service on Nov. 28, 1942. Following training at Camp Maxey and Camp Swift in Texas, O’Brien was shipped to England for assignment. He saw action in France and Belgium during the first years of the War.

His mother, Mrs. Madeline O’Brien, who had moved to 56 School Street, had received government notification on Feb. 12, 1945 reporting that her son was “missing in action as of January 25.” She was notified a week later, on Feb. 19 of his death in Luxembourg on the Western European front.  Besides his mother he left three brothers, George, Robert, and James, and, a sister Dorothy.

The picture of O’Brien published in the Yankee Division’s History book had been taken on Jan. 12, 1945 in the village of Meecher-Dundkrodt. Arthur Hertz, a US Army Signal Corps member of the 166th combat photographers unit, took the picture for the military newspaper “Stars and Stripes.”

Only 13 days after the picture was taken, O’Brien was killed by sniper fire, while guarding a crossroads in the village of Chervaux near the German border.  A front-page story in the Feb. 23 “Middleboro Gazette” told of his death. The one column-wide headline read: “Corporal Met Death in Luxembourg Sector.” The story then told of his death, the government communiques to his mother and his military record.

Cpl. O’Brien’s body wasn’t returned to the United States. He is buried in an American military cemetery at Henri-Chapelle, Belgium. The cemetery covers 57 acres and contains 7,989 graves of US servicemen. There is also a list of the names of some 450 soldiers who are listed as missing in action.

On May 2, 1995, during the 50th anniversary of the Second World War, Dorothy O’Brien Sliney of Oak Street,” Red” O’Brien’s sister, visited Henri-Chapelle cemetery with her son, James Ditano of Thorndike, Maine.

Interviews with Mrs. Sliney and James revealed their extensive research into the military service and death of their brother and uncle.

Mrs. Sliney talked about the picture of her brother appearing in many publications and of its significance. “That picture shows the real hardships which all the boys suffered during the war, “she said.

Her son James told of meeting with Joseph Shoettert of Winsler, Luxembourg, who at age 14, watched the American forces liberate his village during the final stages of the Battle of the Bulge. Shoettert told of his family hiding in a wine cellar for narly 30 days during the battle, according to James.

“Shoettert invited us to his home, where he had books from Germany and France that had my uncle’s picture printed in them,” said the Maine resident. “That was a real surprise.”

“Another irony concerning my uncle’s death, was the fact that his brother George William, who died in 1991, also fought in the Battle of the Bulge with the 99th Infantry,” Ditano told the Gazette. “In fact, he was the first to learn how uncle “Red” got killed.”

“His unit ran into members of C Company and it was those people who gave him eyewitness accounts of how uncle “Red” got shot in the neck by a sniper and killed instantly.”

Upon seeing the PBS film on the Battle of the Bulge, Ditano read the film credits and learned that a special division of the Smithsonian Institute had supplied the still pictures.

“I called the Smithsonian to see if I could obtain a copy of the picture. The gal I talked with remembered that particular photo among the millions stored there. Within days she supplied me with a negative and the name of the Signal Corps photographer, A. Holz,” Ditano said. “Later, I found Mr. Holz living in Rochester, N.Y., where he was retired from Kodak Company. I explained the search for information about my uncle and he invited me to his home.”

“He showed me his photo log book, which contained the date, location and the name of my uncle. Unfortunately, he couldn’t really remember much about talking with my uncle.”

“Red” O’Brien was killed after fighting for more than two years in Europe. The day he was killed, Jan. 25, 1945, was the turning point of the Battle of the Bulge and the war in Europe ended only months later.

Thomas O’Brien is just one of the thousands of young men who failed to return home to their loved ones. Memorial Day is that chance for the rest of America to remember those who served the nation.

His picture was circulated to the nation's news media by the Army Signal Corps through Globe-Acme with a caption which read: "COLD RATIONS in the snow are consumed, if not enjoyed, by Thomas O'Brien of Middleboro."

O'Brien's name is listed on the main casualty monument in Middleboro's Veterans Memorial Park.

Corporal O'Brien's remains were buried in an American Military Cemetery at Henri-Chapelle, Belgium.

In Memory of Forest Joseph Luc, KIA, ETO, Trained Camp Maxey, 102d Infantry Division, 407th Infantry Regiment, Co. L

Forest Joseph Luc

1918 Apr 3 born BSL - 4th child of 8 children

1920 Good Children St Bay St Louis, MS - Census 7 Jan 1920 - age 1yr + 8 months

1942 Nov 6 Enlisted in Army age 24 & 7months @ Camp Shelby  H69" 128Ibs 424 Easterbrook

1943 Trained at Camp Maxey with 102d ID, 407^th Infantry Regiment, Co. L

1943 Jan 27 Boot Camp - age 24 + 9 months

1944 Sep 3 Leaves to fight in Europe age 26 yrs + 5 months

1944 Nov 30 Death in Germany - 26yrs + 7 months

(Editors Note:  Although I have not found an exact reference to the death of Pvt. Luc, I have found several firsthand reports of battle on November 30 that involved Co. L.  It sustained heavy casualties that day and my assumption is Pvt. Luc was one of them.  The reports below came from the web pages at http://carol_fus.tripod.com which I highly recommend for further reading.)

The Open Field Attack

by Paul Wible - 407-L

http://carol_fus.tripod.com/army_hero_wible_paul4.html

     "Bob Lally wanted me to write up a description of how it felt to attack across an open field with machine guns firing at us. I did the best I could as f remember it. When I sent it to him he thought I should send it to the Notes. Use your judgment " We did. Thanks.

     How does it feel when advancing across an open field with machine guns firing from the other side? This happened to us only one time. There were other times when we advanced, we were expecting to be fire at but It did not materialize. If it had, I probably would not have survived because the laws of probability would not allow one to live through more than one experience such as this.

     On November 30, 1944 outside the town of Welz in the Rhineland, we made such an attack and German machine gunners were waiting for us at a distance of approximately one mile from our starting point. In our first attack there was a somewhat aura of unreality that surrounded us. Even with bullets coming so close to our head that they hurt our eardrums, we did not fully grasp the fact that these bullets would mean certain death if they had been an inch or two closer, it seemed as long as we moved forward, we did not realize we were in mortal danger. As proof of this, when a rabbit jumped up and started running to our right, Jim Zanes swung his rifle around and fired at the rabbit instead of continuing to fire in the direction of the German machine guns. The rabbit didn't get hit but it was luckier than over 50% of those in our platoon. Many of our buddies on our right, on our left, and to the rear were either killed or seriously wounded.

     Only about four of us reached a small thicket and became pinned down so completely, that to have raised our head one inch would have meant certain death, did the realization come over me that I was in great danger. When this hit me, it was the greatest mental torture I have ever experienced. It was so great that I wanted to shoot myself to escape.

     In later attacks, when we knew we would have to cross open fields and were aware of what machine guns would do to us, we still climbed out of our fox holes and advanced toward the enemy. When we knew the odds, how did we feel as the time approached? Thankfully, we were somewhat numbed by fatigue and lack of sleep, but still capable of experiencing feeling of fear and extreme anxiety. In later years I would feel a slight resemblance to this feeling when getting ready to speak before a large group. It was the feeling that I was going to fail miserably but also aware that I was going to do it no matter what the consequences.

     When the call came, we simply got up and advanced. After all of the years that have passed since these events, I frequently dream I am back in the war getting ready to make an attack and these anxieties return. In retrospect, had I not gotten out of my fox hole and moved forward when the command was given, I would not want to talk about my war experiences to anyone. I would try to forget and wipe out all memories of army life. I would under no conditions want to go to our 102nd Division reunions and face my buddies.

     ----- Paul Wible

(Editor's note: Attempts were made throughout the text of the following story to place full names to the men listed in the story. For the most part, this is an educated guess and some names may very well be mistaken in their identy. The names were all taken from the division history book: With The 102d Infantry Division Through Germany, edited by Major Allen H. Mick. Using the text as a guide, associations with specific units were the basis for the name identifications. We are not attempting in any to rewrite the story. Any corrections are gladly welcomed.)

Just Rewards - WWII Combat Experiences of Grant Miswald

By Grant Miswald/Robert W. "Bob" Lally

(As told to or witnessed by Bob Lally, a foxhole buddy)

     Like many lowly riflemen during World War II, Grant Miswald's exceptional heroic achievements were never officially recognized, nor was he ever rightfully cited for bravery, or awarded earned medals.

     But in the words of his squad leader, S/Sgt. Richard Smith, for Miswald and his few surviving comrades, just being alive was glory enough. Smith was shot through the head by an enemy machine gun, given up for dead when he couldn't answer shouts, and abandoned when attempts to reach him failed. After being miraculously rescued, and spending four months in the hospital in England having the roof of his mouth rebuilt. Smith was callously returned to the front for more action. The bullet had entered just below his left eye and exited behind his right ear.

     Of the six ASTP men in Miswald's squad, three: Long, [Arthur T.] Kubler [Joseph E.] and Orzekowski, [Leonard W.] were killed in action. Two: Miswald and Reynolds, [Lloyd W.]were seriously wounded. Only Lally escaped with minor wounds.

     ASTP, which stands for the controversial Army Specialized Training Program, was terminated early in the year 1944, and the men sent involuntarily to the infantry. Fooled by enticing army promises, Miswald and his friends briefly attended Purdue University for specialized engineering training. Probably never before in history, or since, has a nation so wantonly wasted its best, brightest and bravest men on the field of battle as ordinary soldiers. Orzekowski wanted to be a priest, after first serving his beloved country. Another KIA friend, Krumiauf, [Joel W.] wanted to be a minister, like his father.

     One November 30, 1944 Miswald's Ozark Division attacked a formidable enemy deeply entrenched in the midst of the German Siegfried Line. They met stiff resistance.

     Incredibly, Miswald was the only member of the decimated 200 man, L Company 407th Infantry, to reach the company objective, which was to encircle the Rhineland village of Welz. Covered with blood (not his own) and nearly exhausted, after dark he alone managed to enter the village from the rear and contact the frontal assault troops, with whom he spent the night.

     Earlier that day, when his lead platoon encountered heavy machine gun fire from the front, Lt. Morris [Joseph B.] sent Miswald's squad on a flanking maneuver, attacking up the wooded hill on their unprotected right flank. Surprisingly, they successfully managed to reach the ridge, which opened up onto a broad, flat, open plain leading to the villages tucked along the Roer River, less than a mile away.

     Miswald and three others then followed along the high ridge toward the company objective. As they crept along the ridge, they were fired upon from below by their own troops,-- who mistook them for enemy soldiers. They kept going until a concealed enemy machine gun opened up on the from short range, killing Long and Kubler and mortally wounding Stamirowski, [Theodore] a day old replacement.

     Carrying Stamirowski on his back, Miswald tried to cart him to safety. Before he died, Stamirowski sadly talked about his loving family back in the States. It was two days later before Miswald was able to wash Stamirowski's blood from his hands and clothing.

     The next day after the failed attack, the remnants of Miswald's platoon - about a dozen men - attacked again, and managed to secure the ridge and a long, deep tank trap a hundred yards beyond, but most of the enemy had already retreated.

     Then, according to Miswald, going back over the battlefield of the previous day and examining the dead, Lt, Morris, the platoon leader, remarked to Miswald, "What in the hell were you guys doing way up here?"

     In mid-December, scheduled to lead the attack across the Roer River, Miswald's battalion was back in Holland for a practice crossing of the Maas River near Masstrichtwhen the Germans counterattacked south of them. During the following cold, miserable, lonely winter days of the Battle of the Bulge, Miswald's outfit froze defending the exposed northern flank of the American Army.

     During their brief stay in a brick factory in Holland, Miswald, Reynolds and Lally befriended some young Dutch boys, who managed to get them a haircut, have their pictures taken by a professional photographer, and arranged for them to sleep in their house in beds with white sheets and down comforters. This incident was one of the few brighter moments in a brutal war.

     In late January, 1945, when returning at night through the town of Linnich from a mission in the bottomlands along the raging Roer River, the enemy attacked with mortars in the center of town near the church plaza. Three rounds dropped in on Miswald's squad which was strung out single file. Miswald was hit with fragments from all three rounds, Reynolds from two, and McLemore, [Arthur J., Jr.] from one.

     A bloody mess, Miswald was helped to a busy aid station located nearby in a brick barn (now the police station and museum) and deposited on straw in the big arched doorway. When Lally tried to comfort him while awaiting medical attention, Miswald said 'Don't worry about me. I'm going home. You're the unlucky one." That's the kind of person he was, always concerned about others. His million dollar wounds, arm and head nerve injuries, won him a medical discharge and a life of suffering and pain.

     Today Just outside the Rhineland town of Linnich, a huge memorial stone at the St. Hubertus Cross wayside shrine honors Miswald's spirit and memory. Erected by veterans and villagers, it proudly displays the Ozark Division insignia. In the town inside St. Martinus Church, a similar Peace Window memorial honors all victims of the war.

     Surely, many just rewards must await Miswald in Heaven. He was more than a comrade, buddy, and friend. He was extended family, a brother, and will be dearly missed.

----- Grant Miswald/Bob Lally

Return from the Dead

by S/Sgt. Richard G. Smith, 407-L.

     Up front with the infantry during a major WWII battle, just as I had mustered enough courage to go up and over the top of a steep embankment, a German machine gun opened fire and shot me in the face. The bullet entered just below my left eye and exited behind my right ear. It felt as if someone had hit me in the head with a sledge hammer.

     Instinctively I fell down into a deep plow furrow along side of an unharvested sugar beet field, Terrified, in shock, and probably mortally wounded, I just laid there and bled -- for what seemed to be an eternity. Struggling to remain conscious, I spit out the blood.

     No one followed me, but I could hear two of my men, Cobb (Roy A.) and Blank (Lloyd F.), calling to me. With the roof of my mouth caved in, there was no way I could answer them. I could also hear the machine gun continuing to fire when they unsuccessfully tried to climb over the embankment to check on me.

     I was an infantry squad leader with the rank of staff sergeant, but this obviously was not a good day. As far as I knew, the four of us, including a seriously wounded day-old replacement who didn't make it, were tne only survivors of an eleven man infantry squad. At the time, I was trying to contact other elements of our company off to our left. I didn't know they were being decimated by the same type of withering machine gun fire that we had encountered from the front, the ridge and the deep tank trap over the ridge on our exposed right flank.

     The foul early morning weather proved to be an evil omen. A heavy ground fog delayed the ill-fated attack until mid-morning. Our objective was to encircle the village of Welz from the south by having the second and third squads give covering fire to the first squad moving up along the creek and wooded area. The elite opposing troops of the German 10th SS Panzer Division were well positioned and entrenched to thwart any such obvious maneuver. Because of an extreme shortage of shells, there was to be no artillery support.

     This operation was part of an all out American effort to penetrate the vaunted Siegfried Line north of Aachen - out of Holland. It was the first major Allied thrust into Germany.

     The Army newspaper Stars and Stripes reported that it involved some of the heaviest fighting of the war. It had become a war of attrition, simular to WWI, with devastated villages changing hands several times - and with big tank battles raging about them. At the infantry squad level, though, we knew only what we could see and hear.

     Little did we realize that we were walking into the valley of death. As soon as we, the first squad, entered the deep wooded draw, we lost contact with the other supporting squads. Hundreds of yards up the draw, our scouts encountered heavy enemy fire from the front and flanks, creating confusion and uncertainty among the troops spread out in the draw.

     At the same time we were being bombarded with German artillery shells exploding in the trees above our heads. The shelling increased when American tanks emerged from the village of Lindern to help us.

     I made it to the top of the ridge on the right with several of my men being led by Grant Miswald. Kubler (Joseph E.), Long (Arthur T.), Stamirowski (Theodore) and others were quickly cut down by machine gun fire from an enemy position below the ridge. That's when I decided to try to contact the other squads off to our left on the other side of the creek and draw - where my good friend Lee Powell was still fighting.

     After being wounded, I don't know how long I laid in that plow furrow unable to even move. Afterwards I found out that my men in the draw below had given me up for dead when I didn't answer their shouts. However, the next thing that I knew someone else was in the plow furrow at my feet trying to get my attention.

     It was another one of my men, a retreating scout*, who had risked a quick mad dash up the embankment to check on me. After much agonizing, my men had concluded that I would never abandon one of them without first checking to make sure that he was dead.

     After seeing my gruesome bloodied face and motionless body, my rescuer also thought that I was dead - he had risked his life for nothing. When he saw my eyes open it was like the dead coming back to life - a miracle.

     Hugging the ground, he cut off my field pack and equipment. He then tried to convince me to crawl forward up the plow furrow a few yards to where some bushes partially hid the brink of the embankment. Not being able to talk, I couldn't argue. But still in shock, petrified with fear and seriously wounded, I didn't know if I could do it. Once there, our only hope was to crawl quickly to the brink of the embankment and tumble over. He had even more trouble trying to talk me into going first, since the first man with the element of surprise always has the best chance to make it - which I did.

     Once again in the protection of the draw, we jumped into the cold icy stream and followed it back to our lines, where luckily we stumbled onto an aid station of another battalion. The doctor, a Capt. Whitlock, patched me up, tagged me, and loaded me into a meat wagon (ambulance) for transportation back to Holland. From there I was air lifted to England, repaired, and about four months later callously returned to the front for more action. The doctors in England told me that a small fraction of an inch any way on the path the bullet took through my head and I would be dead. The wound would have been fatal.

     The word in the rear that night of the battle was that L Company had been wiped out.

     Not many of our platoon survived. One of the wounded, another scout, Carmen Brown (from Iowa), was shot in the teeth by a German burp gun from close range. Coughing up the slug which went down his throat, he survived by playing dead - which didn't take much acting. Another squad leader, S/Sgt. Gannon, (Vincent J.)(RI) was hit five times in one leg. Another rifleman, Martin Keaveney (MA) lost a leg.

     The list of our platoon dead included T/Sgt. Hilton Harrison (OK), S/Sgt. Jakie Moran (IA), Sgt. Hamilton Walker (MA). Leonard Orzechowski (MI), Craig Kendal (UT), Arthur Long (WA), William Gamble (AR), Robert Schnoor (IL), Theodore Stamirowski (NY), Joseph Kubler (PA), Ambrose Gray (OH), Joel Krumlauf (OH), and Irving Hoffman (PA). They were some of America's best, brightest and bravest men. Orzechowski's ambition was to be a priest. Krumlauf wanted to be a minister.

     Foremost on the minds of these men at the time were concerns about their buddies, the comerades, their fellow-man. There is no greater love...

     The previous article was prepared by Smith and two of his friends several months prior to his death of natural causes on January 13, 1989.

     Smith loved his homeland -- the mountains and woods of north central Pennsylvania where he reported bagging six wild turkeys and missing many more during his lifetime.

     Although smith's wife, Kathleen, and his children knew about his war wound, he never talked about it to any of his associates at the Navy facility in central Pennsylvania where he worked after the war. Fortunately, during the last year of his life he initiated contact through Ozark Notes and greatly enjoyed renewed friendships of his war years.

     Smith's unusual story, perhaps one of the most dramatic human interest incidents of WWII, was never recorded prior to this article. The article received its final editing by collaboration of the Co. L, 407th attendees at the Tucson reunion. For Smith, just being alive was glory enough.

----- Richard Smith

1949 Apr 9 Remains brought home for burial

1956 VFW Raises flag in his honor St. Stanislaus Stadium

Post-World War II Article about Staff Sargent Thaubald, Trained at Camp Maxey 1943, 32nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron

https://nswccranenews.wordpress.com Written By: Ted B Markley

Staff Sargent George H. Thaubald earned the following medals during his time in the U.S. Army: Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster (indicating two wounds); Prisoner of War Medal; Army Good Conduct Medal (indicating 3 years of good conduct); American Campaign Medal (for service in the continental United States); Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one Campaign Star (Kiska campaign); European, Africa, Middle East Campaign Medal with two Campaign Stars (Rhineland and Ardennes campaigns) and World War II Victory Medal.

Nostalgia is a natural reflex. Certainly there is much for the Crane Military Complex to be proud of in its muted 75^th Anniversary celebration. Recently published, The World War II History of NAD Crane[1] by Tony Haag and Peggy Julian portrays much to admire. It portrays rural Hoosiers mentored by military experts striving to create a national defense treasure. Selfless service and anxiety for the nation were obvious throughout the account.

Seventy-five years ago the United States was not at war, but it was getting ready.

Preparation extended well beyond the nascent industrial base reflected in the construction of an ammunition production facility in southern Indiana. It included the largest mobilization of military force in the nation’s history. During World War II, 16.1 million citizens served in uniform[2]. The following is an account on one Mid-Westerner’s service reconstructed from public records, private papers/photos, and family interviews. Until recently even the family of Staff Sargent Thaubald was not aware of the extent of his service.

George Harris Thaubald was borne on 14 January 1919 in Norwood, Ohio a suburb of Cincinnati. Being 21 years of age in the fall of 1940, he was required to sign-up for the draft. It was the first ever peacetime conscription in United States history. When the 01 October deadline for Selective Service registration rolled around, George enlisted with the 107^th Cavalry Regiment (Horse/Mechanized), Ohio National Guard[3]. One can only speculate on George’s decision to enlist. He had to be aware that beginning August 1940 guard units were being called-up for twelve months of active service in war preparation.

Pvt. Thaubald Louisiana Maneuvers Summer 1941

Booted and spurred, the 107^th Cavalry was activated on 05 March 1941 at their home stations. In Cincinnati, 350 guardsmen were “Federalized” at the Reading Road Armory (formerly the Cincinnati Riding Club). Meanwhile 810 guardsmen across Ohio at Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, and Ravenna were mustered into Federal service.[4] The “Cavalry” was in transition. Not only was their command structure being changed, they were about to experience a technological tsunami. On 15 March the troopers caught the evening train from Union Terminal. Accompanied by only 54 horses, company grade officers assured reporters that they would receive their full complement of mounts when they arrived at Camp Forrester, Tennessee.

Located at Tullahoma, Tennessee, Camp Forrester[5] was one of numerous training camps that popped up in preparation for the coming conflict.   While the 107^thCavalry was at Camp Forrester, they did not receive any additional horses. On 28 March, The Cincinnati Times Star reported that the unit had been fully mechanized and received the full complement of M-8 Scout Cars. Officers who were previously anticipating additional animals were reflecting on “horse soldiers” having to learn mechanical maintenance. Private Thaubald who had reported his civilian occupation as auto mechanic must have been right at home.

Evolution of Mechanized Warfare

The 107^th Cavalry left Camp Forrester on the 10^th of May for a series of maneuvers to test their newly acquired equipment. The maneuvers revolutionized the way the U.S. Army fought. They created a force capable of defeating blitzkrieg tactics.  Prior to computerized war games, most theories on tactics, techniques, and procedures had to be tested by massive amounts of troops in the field with mock battles between red and blue forces. The maneuvers in Tennessee, Louisiana, and the Carolinas played out from spring to late fall 1941.

Tennessee Maneuvers –Conducted late spring 1941 in middle Tennessee, then Major General George S. Patton conducted maneuvers with the 2^nd Armored Division. During this field exercise, the Army validated that large armored forces could be successful using the cavalry tactics similar to former Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Louisiana Maneuvers – Conducted late summer 1941 around Northern and Western-Central Louisiana, including Fort Polk, Camp Claiborne and Camp Livingston. The exercises, which involved some 400,000 troops, were designed to evaluate U.S. Army training, logistics, doctrine, and commanders. Many Army officers present at the maneuvers later rose to very senior roles in World War II, including Omar Bradley, Mark Clark, Dwight Eisenhower, Walter Krueger, Lesley McNair, Joseph Stilwell, and George Patton.

Carolina Maneuvers – Conducted late fall 1941 around southern North Carolina and northern South Carolina. The exercises involved approximately 350,000 troops and were designed to evaluate the Army’s training, logistics, doctrine and commanders.

Desert Warfare Maneuvers

Sargent Thaubald and the 107^th were still on active duty when Pearl Harbor was attacked. The cavalrymen were most likely assigned to Fort Ord, California. From their new home, the 107^th conducted patrols of the coast from the Golden Gate to Carmel. As the fear of a Japanese attack on California subsided, the unit was relieved of its patrolling duties on 06 March 1942. The 107^th was reassigned to desert training in preparation for operations in North Africa. It was during this phase that the unit became completely mechanized.

05 June 1942

During a pause in the maneuvers and training, Sargent Thaubald took some time off for unfinished personal business. On 05 June 1942, Sargent Thaubald married his pre-war sweetheart and lifelong companion, June L. Kumler. June moved to California and worked in the state’s booming wartime economy.

By August 1942, Sargent Thaubald and the 107^th were at the Desert Training Center (DTC) in the Mojave Desert preparing for combat in North Africa.[6]  Major General Patton was the first commanding officer of Camp Young and the DTC. In preparation for a North African campaign, he needed training areas within the desert that would be suitable for the large-scale maneuvers necessary to prepare American soldiers for combat against the German Afrika Korps.

Based on personal photos and notes, Sargent Thaubald, June and friends took some time off in October 1942 in Carmel. It may be speculated that this was a little time to blow off steam before and expected overseas deployment to North Africa. Orders for the deployment never came. The invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch) on 06-16 November 1942 and the successful sorting out of expeditionary command issues eliminated the need for follow-on troops in North Africa.

Amphibious Warfare

In the closing months of 1942 and the beginning of 1943 three events took place that are unusual. First Sargent Thaubald was promoted to Staff Sergeant, which was well deserved. Second, he and June return to Ohio on furlough, which suggests some anticipated deployment. Finally and most unique, Staff Sergeant Thaubald was assigned to the Kiska Taskforce.

Kiska and Attu are two islands in the Aleutian Islands. Both were captured by the Japanese in June of 1942. The Japanese attack in the Aleutians was a feint to distract Admiral Nimitz (Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas) from the impending battle of Midway. The 7^th Infantry Division had been repurposed by the Army as specialists in amphibious warfare rather than desert warfare. So they were tasked with recapturing the two islands. Elements of the 7^th Infantry Division captured Attu in May 1943.

An explanation for the newly minted Staff Sargent being reassigned to the Kiska Taskforce was he was at Fort Ord and the 107^th Cavalry was without a mission. From existing records, it is unclear how long he was assigned to the Kiska taskforce. According to private and official papers he was in route to Kiska by 11 July 1943.

Opposed amphibious landings were some of the most complex military operations of World War II. The Marine Corps and Navy had focused a good deal of attention on amphibious warfare in the interwar years much as the Army had focused on mechanized warfare. Operations in the Aleutians were the things of soldiers nightmares. Close to the Article Circle, the weather is persistently awful. The beaches are narrow and rocky with erratic sea states.   Based on the re-capture of Attu (12MAY43), the Kiska Taskforce was faced with a fanatical, suicidal enemy.

Having learned bitter lessons at Attu, American commanders made certain that their soldiers had better equipment and proper clothing for the assault on Kiska, code-named Operation Cottage, where they expected to encounter several times as many Japanese troops as they’d faced on Attu. However, when U.S. ships arrived at Kiska on August 15, 1943, the weather was strangely clear and the seas quiet, and the approximately 35,000 soldiers landed unopposed. Then, after several days of scouring the island, they discovered that the Japanese had evacuated the entire garrison several weeks earlier, under cover of fog. On August 24, when U.S. troops declared Kiska Island secure, the Battle of the Aleutian Islands ended.[7]

Pvt. Thaubald Louisiana Maneuvers Summer 1941

Judging from documents[8] and a battlefield retrieved weapon[9], Sargent Thaubald must have been assigned to some type of reconnaissance or intelligence function, but with the withdrawal of enemy forces that requirement was substantially reduced. Most probably Sargent Thaubald was caught up in occupation activities at Kiska. As the Signals Corps photo reflects he was maintaining his military bearing with a field expedient haircut. Irrespective he was back at Fort Ord by mid-December 1943 when he was reassigned to the 32^nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron at Camp Maxey, Texas.

Back to the Cavalry

Camp Maxey was a training camp that sprouted during World War II near Paris, Texas about 100 miles northeast of Dallas. It was at Camp Maxey where Sargent Thaubald learned his trade as a Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron trooper. Reconnaissance tactics, techniques, unit organization and equipment were in a constant state of evolution during World War II, as the changing nature of war brought new concepts and missions to the recon units.

SGT John Catancse and M8 Scout Car August 1944

A great deal of emphasis in training was placed on avoiding contact, and not becoming decisively engaged. The purpose of reconnaissance units was to observe and report; if they were bogged down and slugging it out with enemy outposts or rearguards, they were wasting time and failing to accomplish their mission. They were the eyes and ears of the main force; if at all possible they were to report and bypass any light resistance, and locate the main enemy force or defenses.[10]

During the time at Camp Maxey, the 32^nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron along with the 18^th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron were folded into the 14^th Cavalry Group. Sargent Thaubald was a noncommissioned officer in Troop B of the 32^nd.

With nearly seven months training in Texas completed the 32^nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron moved out to an embarkation camp near New York Port of Embarkation in July and August 1944. Camp Shanks in Orangeburg, New York is the probable Embarkation Camp where the 32^nd stayed until they departed for Europe on 28 August 1944. The close proximity of Camp Shanks to New York City gave the soldiers of the 32^nd an opportunity to see the bright light before shipping out. During this time, June and Sargent Thaubald had some time together at Coney Island.

Unfortunately, there are no longer any “official records” of ships carrying troops to and from their theaters of operation during World War II. “According to U.S. National Archive records, the Department of the Army intentionally destroyed all passenger lists, manifests, logs of vessels, and troop movement files for the United States Army Transports for World War II.”[11] Irrespective, based on the departure and arrival dates, it appears the 32^nd sailed on the Queen Elizabeth and arrived at the Firth of Clyde, Glasgow Scotland on the 2^nd or 3^rd of September 1944. Lieutenant Colonel Paul A. Ridge was placed in command of the 32^nd while it was in the United Kingdom.

The 32^nd disembarked across Omaha Beach on 27 September 1944. They were committed to combat operations in support of the 83^rd Infantry Division nearly a month later (24 October 1944) in the vicinity of Basse-Kontz, France. A new Executive Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Augustine “Patsy” Dugan, arrived in early November while the 32^nd engaged in the vicinity of Our River in Luxemburg. Sargent Thaubald was wounded in his right wrist by and anti-personnel mine, 24 November 1944[12]. He returned to duty with the 32^nd, 04 December 1944, which was supporting the 106^th Infantry Division. On 15 December 1944, the 32^nd shifted its operations to the Ardennes, a heavily wooded area near the German border. Sargent Thaubald’s unit, B Troop was in the vicinity of Andler, Belgium.

Battle of the Bulge

Spearheaded by the 18^th Volksgrenadiers Division and 3^rd Parachute Division and backed up by twenty-eight additional divisions, the German Army launched a winter offensive through the Ardennes on 16 December 1944. The 32^nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron and the 106^th Infantry Division[13] bore the brunt of the attack during the early hours of the Battle of the Bulge. The US 106th Infantry division was encircled in the opening hours of the attack, leaving two out of three soldiers killed or captured[14]. Weather was the unexpected accomplice to the German offensive; it was the coldest European winter on record. The entire front collapsed and the German Army advanced approximately 60 miles.

Troop B, and probably Sargent Thaubald, was ordered to a static reconnaissance position on the road between Andler, Belgium and Wischeid, Germany midmorning of 16 December 1944. During the early morning hours of 17 December 1944, Troop B was attacked and surrounded. Being in a static position had denied the Troop one of its tactical assets, mobility. During the ensuing firefights, Sargent Thaubald was wounded by a piece of shrapnel in his right thigh[15] and was subsequently captured. The Sargent was one of between 4,000 and 7,000 U.S. soldiers captured during the opening phase of the Battle of the Bulge. Some estimate as many as 23,000 U.S. Soldiers were captured during the battle (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945).

Prisoner of War

Following Sargent Thaubald’s capture, June received three notifications. First she received a telegram in late January 1945 from the War Department notifying her Sargent Thaubald was missing in action. Later she received a telegram from the War Department the Sargent Thaubald had been captured. Finally she received a German postcard notifying her of Sargent Thaubald’s address at Stalag XIII-D. While recounting his POW experience in 1988, Sargent Thaubald reported that he did receive news from home but only rarely.

By the winter of 1944-45, Germany had nearly 100 POW internment sites and housed 93,941 American POWs.[16] Life as a POW was difficult, often boring, uncertain and deprived. After nearly five years of continues war Germany was challenged to care for its own population. Prisoners of war were a burden to an already strapped economy.

Sargent Thaubald told Veterans Administration officials that he had taken care of his own medical issues and food during incarceration was sparse. Main staples in his diet were broth, bread, and occasionally beans or potatoes. While in captivity he was assigned to work details including maintenance on the POW compounds and loading and unloading boxcars. When Sargent Thaubald was captured he weighed 160 pounds, when he was repatriated (after 4½ months) he weighed approximately 80 pounds.

Sargent Thaubald’s POW experience is a murky odyssey. Following capture in the Ardennes, most prisoners were marched to Germany prior to boarding trains to their internment location. The first stop was Stalag XIII-C, at Hammelburg, Bavaria. While in route to this Stalag, Sargent Thaubald tells of his POW train being halted one very cold night on a strategic bridge over the Rhine River which was under attack. As the Allies moved in from the west, Germany continued to move the prisoners further south and east.

Stalag XIII-C, Hammelburg was liberated by the 14^th Armored Division on 06 April 1945, but not before Sargent Thaubald was moved by train to Stalag XIII-D, Nuremberg, Bavaria. The Nuremberg facility was also evacuated on 16 April 1945 with the prisoners moving to Stalag VII-A, Moosberg, Bavaria with the 14^th Armored Division in hot pursuit. Finally Sargent Thaubald’s odyssey ended with the liberation of Moosberg on 29 April 1945.

It is not clear how Sargent Thaubald got back stateside. He departed Europe Theater of Operation on 18 May 1945 and arrived stateside on 05 June 1945. Based on troopship movements, it is likely he embarked on the U.S.S Mormac Moon at Le Havre, France and arrived back in the states at Newport News, Virginia. It is highly probable that he spend the next two month convalescing at Wakeman General Hospital at Camp Atterbury.  Wakeman was the largest Convalescent Hospital in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was discharged from medical care on 21 July 1945.

Waning Days of War

According to Sargent Thaubald’s family, he and June spent the late summer days of 1945 getting reacquainted and further recuperation. Meanwhile, the Army did not discharge the Sargent. With the war raging on in the Pacific, the allies were preparing for the final assault on Japanese home islands. Operation Downfall was to commence in November 1945 and end sometime in 1947. Based on Japan’s fanatical resistance in the Pacific and particularly Okinawa, military planners predicted the United States would suffer a million casualties in Operation Downfall. The Army needed all the talent it could retain.

On 06 August 1945, the 509^th Composite Group, U.S. Army Air Corps dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and flew the second mission on Nagasaki 09 August 1945. The following day, 10 August 1945, Japan notified the Allies that they would accept the unconditional surrender requirements of the Potsdam Declaration. Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender to his subjects on 15 August 1945. Paradoxically, the Soviet Union finally declared war on Japan the same day.

After 4 years, 11 months, and 2 days of service to his country the Sargent Thaubald was Honorably Discharged at Camp Atterbury on 02 September 1945. Poetically, it was the same day of the surrender ceremony orchestrated by General MacArthur in Tokyo Bay. Staff Sargent George H. Thaubald earned the following medals during his time in the U.S. Army: Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster (indicating two wounds); Prisoner of War Medal; Army Good Conduct Medal (indicating 3 years of good conduct); American Campaign Medal (for service in the continental United States); Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one Campaign Star (Kiska campaign); European, Africa, Middle East Campaign Medal with two Campaign Stars (Rhineland and Ardennes campaigns) and World War II Victory Medal.

After the War

As with millions of others who served during World War II George eagerly returned to civilian life determined to make up for time lost. He and his bride returned to Cincinnati and settled-in. Expanding on his mechanical abilities he became an entrepreneur, owning several SOHIO Service Stations in Ohio. Later, he reminisced that he taken had only one month off between the time of his discharge and his post-war career. The couple had two daughters. They treasured their family life and grandson. He and June happily continued with their life together until age and illness robbed them of their temperament. George passed away on 10 January 2003 and his life mate joined him on 29 September 2006. Indeed, reflections of times past are tinged with nostalgia. Irrespective, is there and question why this was known as the “Greatest Generation?”

“We have shared the incommunicable experience of war, we have felt, we still feel, the passion of life to its top. In our youth our hearts were touched with fire.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Footnotes:

[1] Julian, Margaret “Peggy” and Anthony “Tony” Haag. The World War II History of NAD Crane: From Wilderness to the Navy’s Most Productive Naval Ammunition Depot. December, 2015. Blurb.com, San Francisco, CA. http://www.blurb.com/b/6856367-the-world-war-ii-history-of-nad-crane

[2] “By the Numbers: the US Military,” The National WWII Museum, New Orleans.   Retrieved: 19MAY16 http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/ww2-by-the-numbers/us-military.html

[3] The 107^th Cavalry Regiment (Horse/Mechanized), Ohio National was a decedent organization of the 1^st Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. Captain Edgar Garfield Oberlin, the first Commanding Officer of NAD Burn City/Crane, was an enlisted soldier in the 1^stOhio Volunteer Cavalry during the Spanish American War.

[4] 05 March 1940, The Cincinnati Times-Star.

[5] The US Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Center not occupies what was Camp Forrester.

[6] Family scrapbook photos.

[7] “Battle of the Aleutian Islands,” History.com. Retrieved: 22MAY16 http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-aleutian-islands

[8] Translation of a Japanese Doctor’s Diary of the defense of Attu

[9] Arisaka Type 2 Paratrooper Rifle

[10] Rottman, Gordon L., World War II U.S. Cavalry Groups: European Theater. Osprey Publishing Ltd., Oxford, United Kingdom, 2012.

[11] World War Troop Ships, 1944 Troop Ship Crossings, retrieved 16 August 2016: http://www.ww2troopships.com/crossings/1944b.htm

[12] Department of Veterans Affairs, St. Petersburg Regional Office, Rating Decision for G H Thaubald, file number 08 570 585, dtd, 03/23/2000

[13] The 106th Infantry Division was the last Division trained at Camp Atterbury during WWII and only recently arrived in theater.

[14] Noted Hoosier author, Kurt Vonnegut, was among the members of the 106thInfantry Division who were captured at the Battle of the Bulge.

[15] According to Veterans Administration documents Sargent Thaubald removed the piece of shrapnel and bandaged it himself. It healed while he was a POW.

[16] Guests of the Third Reich: American POWs in Europe, retrieved 17 August 2016: http://www.guestsofthethirdreich.org/home/