I recently posted a story about my mother's cousin John R. Shanks. This recent blog may appear in the book I'm working on if it does ever get published, but for now, here is the story of another cousin Lester Steele. 
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    John was joined in European service by two other cousins, brothers Lester and Carlton Steele. Their parents were my mother’s aunt Florence Shanks Steele and uncle Lester J. Steele, Sr. Both brothers served in Europe in very different, yet very significant roles. Both brothers came home. Lester was born on April 1, 1920 in Lexington, KY. He entered service in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 6, 1942 and was assigned to the 22nd Infantry, Medical Corps, 4th Division. He was honorably discharged on November 1, 1945 after 2.5 years of service. He served as a medic on the beach on D-Day and on his documentation is listed as a surgical technician. The documents are copies and not in great condition with smearing and ink blots, so there’s not much more information I can glean from them, however the 22nd Infantry is well documented, has a very impressive history and still has an active association. I contacted a couple of men who help preserve the history of the unit. Bob Babcock responded back, sending me unit details and a 122 page document of their actions in Europe. A lot to digest, so I pulled a few factoids of interest related to Lester’s role in battle and a few words on the actions of his unit on D-Day and the months after.
     Bob also sent me links to their archives online. The following information was obtained listening to the oral history of a man who served with the 22nd Infantry, E Company 2nd Battalion, 4th Division, a Mr. Ellison “Bill” Parfitt. His experiences were different in many ways from Lester’s, but through his words I was able to get the troop movements and information about people they encountered along the way to victory. A few very notable persons were present with this group as they fought their way from the shores of France all the way to Germany. So, knowing this route helps me to see through Mr. Parfitt’s eyes what Lester may have seen.
     Before all the action started, the 4th Division started training its men in 1943 at Camp Croft in South Carolina. The next stop was Camp Gordon in Augusta Georgia, where German POW’s were also housed. Fort Dix in Trenton, New Jersey provided training and staging grounds for both WW1 and WW2, so this was the next stop. Many in the infantry were sent to Camp Gordon Johnston in Apalachicola, Florida for amphibious training at St. George Island. With Lester being part of the medical team, I’m sure he had a different destination, but this part of the journey for the unit was vitally important to their role in landing on the shores at Normandy. Columbia, South Carolina and Camp Jackson were next, but the most important was their point of embarkation – Camp Kilmer in New Jersey. From there, they would head overseas.
     In January of 1944 the 22nd and all their forces shipped out of New York City and later that month landed in Cardiff, Wales. They were stuck on the ships for a couple of days, as the city was in the process of being bombed by the German Luftwaffe, a popular target due to being an active coal port. Once the coast was clear, the next stop was Devonshire in England for more extensive training. Devonshire hosted an Assault Training Center and this is where the American troops were to prepare for the amphibious assault on the beaches in June. Mr. Parfitt recalls President Eisenhower visiting the troops there at one point. Close to the time of the planned assault on the beaches, the unit was put into a 10 day lockdown, where the men played cards, chatted, drank coffee and just waited until the big show began. One of the officers leading the men into battle was none other than Brigadier General Teddy Roosevelt, Jr., age 56 and the oldest officer in charge in that engagement. He was known as a likable man who engaged with his men. He was in the first landing group and in the Higgins boat with Mr. Parfitt as they landed on the shores on June 6th, 1944. Having befriended Bill, they even made plans to go fishing together once the war was over.
     From the 4th Infantry After Action Report sent to me I gathered information, and this quote related to their actions after D-Day and beyond: “For the next 299 days, the 41D fought the Germans without relief. No other American division accomplished as much.” Lester, as medical staff would have been at a Battalion Aid Station and in charge of treating the wounded and those who would not come back from their injuries. The unit took light casualties on D-Day itself, but in subsequent days lost 5,452 men; 844 killed in action, 3,814 wounded, 788 missing altogether and 6 men captured as POW’s. As I learned from Mr. Parfitt’s oral history, many were patched up and sent right back out to fight again. Traumatizing for the men who were wounded, and I imagine for the men treating them knowing that they might not make it back from a second hit. My mother told me that Lester was never the same again once he returned from war, and knowing what I do about PTSD, it’s certainly no wonder.
     After D-Day, the 22nd and its forces headed toward Cherbourg. According to Mr. Parfitt the rain was relentless and mud abounded. As if the losses they went through on the day of the assault wasn’t enough, the men were hit with a personal tragedy. The much admired Brig. General Roosevelt died of a heart attack on July 12, 1944. His funeral was held in France and attended by General Patton, while men from the 4th Division marched in his processional. Somewhere along the way they picked up a couple of stragglers – war reporter Ernie Pyle and author Ernest Hemmingway, who both spent time in the trenches with the unit. August 27th brought them into Paris to be part of the liberation of the great city. Locals presented the men with fresh vegetables and some even offered up their daughters to the men as they passed through the city. Mr. Parfitt as a happily married man was mightily disturbed to see this, and as grateful as the people were for being liberated I have to wonder as a parent just what the hell were they thinking? Not having been under the thumb of the Nazi’s, I suppose I can’t really identify.
     After Paris, they arrived in Hurtgen Forest in November of 1944. The battle that waged there went from September 19-February 10, 1945 and allied troops suffered 4,500 casualties. This unit was involved upon arrival and stayed until December 16, 1944, as they were then thrust into the Battle of the Bulge to be fill in troop support. According to the documents I have on Lester, he arrived back in the United States January 24, 1945. His unit and the 4th Division went on to continue the fight until September of 1945 when the war ended. Lester was honorably discharged on November 1, 1945. He earned a Purple Heart, American Theater Ribbon, European-African-Middle Eastern Ribbon, 2 Bronze Stars, WW2 Victory Medal and a Good Conduct Medal. He came home to his wife and family and worked as a clerk and equine artist. Later he was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and was a charter member of the Battle of Normandy Memorial Museum. He passed on December 25th, 2004 at the age of 84.

-Tammi

This blog was originally posted on August 6th, 2015. Somehow, someway iPage "lost" it. So it bears reposting. 

In covering WW2 subjects related to my family, I can’t forget that there was a land, air and sea war in Europe and the Atlantic while they were bombing the islands of the Pacific. Because of this I can’t forget about Billy’s older brother Gano Hedrick. While Billy was headed for the South Pacific, Gano was training to head for Europe to do his part in the war effort. Older by four years, Gano was in the Army and landed in the 36th Armored Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion. He happened to land on the shores of Omaha White Beach in France just after D-Day, and was in Germany, France, England and Belgium during a very historic engagement. He survived the war and was able to come home to his family. I never really knew Gano, he lived in another state while I was growing up and have no recollection of being around him. What motivated me to educate myself a bit more on the European theater? I’ve been reading “Masters of the Air” by Donald L. Miller, which covers the history of the 8th Air Force and its effectiveness against the Luftwaffe in the skies over Germany. Winning the air war in Europe was key to ending the conflicts there. While covering the more military and strategic aspects of this venture, Miller also delves into the personal, private and many extremely painful aspects of serving in the European theater, and how different it was from being in the Pacific. Though I have no stories of Gano’s to share, I do have his military records and know a bit about his life overseas. After getting a copy of the after-action report on the activities of his company, I got a glimpse of his life and work during his time in Europe between June 23rd, 1944 and September of 1945.

Gano Johnson Hedrick was born January 24th, 1915 in Wyoming, Kentucky. He grew up in Bath, Montgomery and Clark counties same as Billy, but seemed to have a rougher time of things. He was 10 years old when his parents parted ways in 1926. This was just prior to the beginning of the depression. Even for farm families who were more self-sufficient than most, making ends meet had to challenging at times. The younger kids went to live with their father and new step-mother in Winchester for 6 years. Emma remarried in 1932 and the children came back to live with their mother and new step-father on a farm in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. Gano would have been 17 at that time, Billy was 13.

In June of 1941 Gano enlisted in the Army. From there he spent time at various camps training. He mustered out of Camp Grant, Illinois on June 17th and then to Camp Polk in Louisiana, training in “5th grade duty (244) Driver”. By the middle of July in 1942 he had shipped to Camp Young outside of Indio, California for desert training. At the time, George S. Patton was the CO. There is now a museum in his honor at the entrance of where Camp Young used to be.

Kentucky boys evidently don’t do well in the desert, and Gano had some issues with heat exhaustion. He spent some time in the hospital recovering, as he had a few recurring medical issues that complicated his complete recovery. Gano did recover, but unfortunately a portion of his documents that would give me information about his life between August and December of 1942 are missing. There was a fire in 1973 at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, and a high percentage of Army records were lost. On some of Gano’s documents there are singe marks, as the copies were made from documents recovered and somewhat restored. I do know that during this time in Kentucky, his mother Emma was living her last days and died on September 18th, 1942. Billy made it home for her funeral, and I can only guess that enduring medical issues kept Gano bound to the hospital and doctors so he could not get home.

In January of 1943 he was admitted to the 11th Evac military hospital at Indiantown Gap Pennsylvania to deal with his medical conditions. There was a six week convalescence, and on February 23rd of 1943 he returned to duty. In July of 1943 he lost his younger brother Billy, someone he was close to. His records are vague on his actions and camp assignment until he leaves for France in June of 1944.

In June of 1944 Gano’s regiment, the 36th Air Infantry Regiment, moved from their base in England to France, landing at Omaha  Beach just a few weeks after D-Day. During WWII, the 36th was involved in several campaigns including Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe. Gano was attached to the 3rd Battalion. According to his release documents, while in the service of the 36th AIR, he was a driver and mechanic: “Drove half truck to transport personnel and ammunition. Checked operation of light brakes, steering mechanism, and other operation parts. Serviced, cleaned and lubricated vehicle. Knows principles of internal combustion engines. Used mechanics hand tools. Drove over all types of terrain in all types of weather”, and if he was at the battle front, all types of conditions. A representative of the 36th AIR web site tells me they saw their first action shortly after landing on June 29th.

In December 1944, allied troops and Germans clashed in one of the most decisive battles toward the end of the war in Europe, the Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945). I’ve been reading up on the battle to determine just how close to the action his troops actually were- like paint on a fence post close! Every now and again, where they were became the front line. The 36th AIR and 3rd Battalion were all around the battle, providing support to that front line by either creating or clearing roadblocks, providing security, seeing that supply lines were kept clear, maintaining machinery and taking turns acting as an attack force. One reference book told about how difficult it was at times to get medical supplies to the front line and they had to resort to extreme tactics, including putting the supplies in missile casings and firing them off to where they were needed. The after action report on the 36th AIR discusses this specifically and corroborates the missile fired supplies.

By late August of 1945, he was on his way home from the war. In September, he was honorably discharged with several medals to his name including the American Defense Services Ribbon, the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater Ribbon, 1 Silver Battle Star, 4 overseas service bars, 1 service stripe, a Good Conduct Medal and a Unit Badge for the 36th AIR, nicknamed “Spartans”, and with the motto, “Deeds not words”.

Gano came home to live a good long life. It took a long time for me to appreciate his role, and thanks to the research I’ve done on Billy I had the skills and the resources to learn more about him. I hope to continue with this, but for now just thank you Uncle Gano for your service. Wish I could have known you.

Tammi

    While I have not been busy with the project (although I am still writing the book….), others have had opportunities to contribute to sharing information about important events in WW2. If I can’t produce something substantial, then I want to toot the horn for friends who have been working a bit harder. For instance, our friend Stephen Harding has been interviewed by folks with British television and Austrian as well. Firstly, it appears that there have been six-1 hour documentaries done for British and French (on Histoire TV France) television on several subjects. Episodes include Pearl Harbor, The Blitz, D-Day, Battle of Britain, Dunkirk and Behind Enemy Lines. The process for developing the series started back in March of 2020. Steve met with the technical crew at a private location recently in Silver Spring, Maryland and spent about 2.5 hours filming for Woodcut Media/Channel 5. The programs are already showing in the UK and France, distributed by Red Arrow Studios International. Negotiations are underway to see if either Discovery, History or National Geographic might air them over here. If you live in the UK you can access the documentaries on line, but no one over here in the US can. I tried.
To read more about the series click here:  Woodcut Media

The Austrian group, ARD is shooting their own group of documentaries. They met with Steve at the old Historynet.com offices in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia (now closed due to COVID) in the conference room. A team used an iPad hooked to a camera mount and interviewed Steve about several topics for about 2.5 hours, video and audio. No air date has been set yet, but once I have any information on either of these sets of documentaries I will certainly pass it along.
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In other news, his book Escape From Paris, released in hardback in October of 2019 will be getting a paperback release in October 2021. If you haven’t yet read this or picked up a copy, it’s another very worthy and interesting read. This one is a love story surrounded by intrigue, steeped in peril and danger on a daily basis. I highly recommend this as a must read.  

Stay safe as we open up here in the states!

​-Tammi