It’s been a while since I posted, and I’ve been wanting to write this blog up for about a week and a half. We got back from New Orleans and I was tired, yet motivated and a couple days later we had a family emergency that has taken up my time, mental capacity and generally kept me from functioning on anything resembling normal. Things are easing up now, so I can finally put my thoughts down.
     Our trip in early December was short, but sweet. After not going anywhere by air for 2.5 years I was a bit nervous about flying, but all went smoothly getting there and getting back. We had 3.5 days to visit the National WWII Museum, shop and of course meet again with a Strong family member while there, Kevin Wheeler, the son of Lt. jg. Virgil M. Wheeler, Jr. of Strong. Kevin has a favorite spot, Mr. B’s on Royal Street and we met there. As we did last time, we shared a good meal and very stimulating and enjoyable conversation. Anytime we come to New Orleans, it’s a must do thing. Thanks again Kevin, for a wonderful visit!
     The city wasn’t hit as hard as areas west of it by Hurricane Ida, yet there was evidence of repairs taking place throughout. Tourist traffic was light compared to our last visit there in December of 2017, yet people were out and about in the beautiful 75 degree weather. This persisted all week and made for a very pleasant time walking the streets and spending money shopping. We needed the retail therapy and the sunshine, a change of scenery after the two years we’ve been dealing with the pandemic. Now with the variants out there, it may be awhile before we go anywhere too far again. The next reunion is in Newport, Rhode Island in September 2022 and this will be another must-do. Not missing out on another trip to beautiful New England!
    Other than just getting out of town for a few days, we wanted to once again visit the WWII museum. We have now been 3 times, and it’s still not enough. The place is chock full of vignettes, displays, photographs, personal artifacts, sets that look like a home you could walk into and live there today, the Beyond the Boundaries 4-D film experience – so much! And they are constantly building and adding on. Which brings me to a new sculpture that has was added in 2019, on loan from the family of the artist Frederic Arnold, a former WWII combat pilot of a P-38.
     I don’t know if any of you have ever been emotionally brought to tears by looking at any particular artwork, but this happened to me for the first time. I recognized this sculpture by Arnold was relatively new to the museum. The piece depicts a fighter squadron of young men being briefed before a mission by their superior officer. One impatient man looks at his watch as if he needs to get in the air now. One raises his hand to get a question clarified and another is taking notes in order to better recall the orders given. Behind them in shaded tones are depicted the spirits of their comrades who came before them, but did not make it back to the airfield alive. As I stood there looking at the muted spirit statues, my eyes took on a life of their own and I began to cry. Just pure raw emotion came through, especially moved by the one lone man with the oxygen mask on and his hands crossed at his waist. You can’t see his face, but it was as if he were real and I was feeling the emotions of his family – mother, father, brother or sister – and it hit me what my uncle Billy’s family must have felt as well. Good thing I had a tissue in my pocket, it came in handy. The sculpture moved me to tears as no other had. This is what museums like this are for, to get us to feel deeply and hopefully learn what NOT to let happen in the future so as not to lose our young men and women. We can only wish more people in power would learn the lesson.
     This museum is a must for the bucket list of anyone with a family member who served in this war. Try to make it there some time if you can.
     Everyone have a very happy and safe holiday season and a happy new year for 2022!

-Tammi
​

I'm always on the lookout for stories by kindred spirits - those family members, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and such who may not have known an uncle, grandfather, father, grandmother, aunt or whatever - those who take up telling their stories due to a sense of honor, love and the challenge of researching someone who served in the various wars. So when I saw this post on Facebook on the site for Kim Lengling and her podcast Let Fear Bounce, I just had to listen to parts 1 and 2 of this interview with Dr. Phil Rosencrantz. Phil is a Professor Emeritus at California Polytechnic in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department (Howard Walowitz would identify, Sheldon Cooper would scoff). When he learned over his life of his Uncle Dave and began to research his life, reading the multitude of letters he wrote home, it sparked something in him to learn more. In addition, Dave's remains were never located and this caused his grieving grandmother untold pain. He decided that finding his remains was to become a life goal and started on the path to do just that. 

Phil's family lost his uncle David Rosencrantz in WW2. David Rosencrantz was born in Los Angeles, California on October 31, 1915. He joined the Army in WW2 and was part of the 82nd Airborne Division, 504th Parachute Infantry, 3rd Battalion, H Company. He was lost over Holland on September 28th, 1944 and not recovered - until Phil went to work making the necessary connections over the years that changed the story forever. I saw that Phil and I had so many parallels in our journeys in the ways we went about finding information, meeting family members, attending reunions, contacting agencies such as NPRC (National Personnel Records Center) and NARA (National Archives) and more. His story is worth listening to and inspiring, so please follow the links below and have a listen. 

Let Fear Bounce: Phil Rosencrantz Part 1
Let Fear Bounce: Phil Rosencrantz Part 2

​Phil and I have emailed a couple of times and he's a personable and interesting guy. You can find his book on Kindle Unlimited if you have a subscription, or on Amazon.com. I have it downloaded on my Kindle and am in the process of reading through the letters and stories of Uncle Dave and his life in the Army as a paratrooper. Do check out the podcast and enjoy the listen!

Tammi

Phil's Uncle Dave website: Uncle Dave

Over the years I’ve been very fortunate to find a couple of items on ebay directly related to Strong and have bought them. One is a piece of stationary, a “cachet” or envelope given out upon the ship’s commissioning, and an aluminum scarf knot with the DD-467 name and date of commissioning (photos of both are on Memories of Strong page). It’s been extraordinary for me to find these and I am always on the lookout for anything else. This past week I hit the jackpot again.

A few days ago I did a cursory search on ebay as I do from time to time. An item popped up that really got my heart racing, and I bid on it right away. It was a copper mail bag tag from Strong! On the tag it reads: “N.P.D.D.467. U.S.S. STRONG. SHIPMT #2. SLIDE #4213.” My mind began trying to figure out how this could be, how a mail bag tag from Strong ended up here. Sadly the person selling the tag (an Army vet) had no idea where it came from and he’d had it for years. Dead end. To me there was only one version of how this tag survived. It could be wrong, but why else would someone save a tag?

On July 1st, 1943 the Strong did a mail drop to the USS Honolulu. This is on a piece of film taken from the deck of Honolulu and featured on Getty Images. My thought is, this tag was on the last bag of mail that came off the ship. Perhaps after the ship sank a Honolulu sailor or someone else along the route this bag took captured the tag as a souvenir. The numbers on the tag would tell me more if I had access to the administrative records from Honolulu. I checked with Steve Harding and he affirmed for me that every bag would have been recorded, so somewhere this information may exist if it was kept and put in an archive. National Archives (NARA) is still closed to the public. I sent this image and a note to a historian at the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) for some validation, but have not heard anything back yet. Perhaps some of you may have an idea what these numbers might mean? I’m open to any suggestions on how to further research this tag.

This item is in the mail and on its way home to me. I can’t wait to hold it in my hands and put it with the other artifacts from the ship.

Tammi

     We’re back now from a sparsely attended, yet intimate reunion in Dayton, Ohio. The last reunion in Savannah in 2019 had 70 attendees. COVID took 2020 away from us, and was most probably the reason for our short attendance this year of only 28 people. A few of the members have had the virus, and some were home recovering from it. Dayton was further inland than we’ve been in a while, but I don’t know that the destination made a difference. We drove up on Thursday instead of Tuesday like the others, choosing to do the last part of the week and banquet. This worked out for us, but we did miss the trip to the National Air Force Museum on Wednesday. So, an excuse to go back.
     The visit to the Carillon Historical Park on Friday was an extremely surprising and delightful trip. If you want to catch up on the history and life of the Wright Brothers and learn of all their accomplishments via aviation and bicycle engineering, this is the place. We had no idea of the importance of Dayton where invention and innovation were concerned. IBM started there. The Wright Brothers and aviation began in Dayton. Workplace innovations that brought about changes such as a cleaner workplace, health care for your employees, providing hot meals and educational resources – that began in Dayton. Not only that, but the acreage around the museum proper is dotted with beautiful and historic buildings that have been brought from all around Dayton. These include a historic tavern from the late 1700’s, an old schoolhouse, a covered bridge and lockmaster’s house next to a portion of the Erie Canal’s Lock 17 that used to run through the property. Lots of open land, huge and tall trees and a picnic shelter are there for visitors to enjoy. Fall of 2022 they will have a running 1850s era train that will circle the property. They are laying the track for it now. 
     And when you get hungry, the Carillon Brewery is just next door. This place rocked big time, with all wood interior, large casks strewn around, a large brick fireplace on the job and the staff in vintage pub wear. Had to buy some tee shirts and even took some film of the man playing the sqeezebox (accordion) belting out old Polka tunes. If you have a little time you can observe the preparation of the beer itself. Unfortunately we didn’t get to that, or to a tasting. Again, reason to go back!
     My husband Greg and I, Cindy Deering and her father in law Ed Deering were the sole DD-467 family members this year. Ed and Cindy were presented with the original christening bottle from the DD-467 and a mail cachet from the commissioning that had been with the association archives. After the banquet on Saturday evening, we said our good-byes to them, as they needed to leave early for home in Columbus. Sunday morning we said our good-byes till next year to the rest of the attending Strong family.
     Newport, Rhode Island is our destination for 2022. Right now our man Larry Tibbetts who will be hosting next year is busy trying to tie down a hotel that will take care of our group. Due to the pandemic, many of the hotels that would work for us have closed. Larry isn’t sure just how many of those might be back in business in time to be in consideration, so it may be a few months before things work out. In the meantime, if you are thinking of attending next year (God willing, the creek don’t rise and we have a handle on the virus) please pop me a note. You do not have to commit, just let me know if you would like to come, if possible. We need to help Larry figure out how many hotel rooms to request in a block to get the best price. This is not an inexpensive part of the country to begin with and we want to make it as affordable as possible.
     Consider joining us next year, and if you have other family with either the DD-467 or DD-758 that might like to come, all are welcome. 

-Tammi
​

So, we're just a few days shy of our reunion in Dayton, Ohio. Greg and I will only be attending 3 days this year. Because of COVID it will be lightly attended and we will be taking necessary precautions to stay safe. We're both vaccinated, but a secondary infection would not be welcome. I will post news if there is any and photos once we're safely home. 

In the meantime, enjoy the latest edition of the South Pacific WW2 Museum Newsletter. It gets better all the time!

August 2021 Newsletter

​-Tammi

   Billy and Gano had a baby sister who threw herself into the madness of WW2, beautiful Stella Mae. Stella was born April 19, 1921 in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. She was number 13 of the 14 children. Petite, pretty and extremely sharp, smarter than the average bear, she was caught up in the events surrounding the divorce of her parents. Just 14 years of age in 1935 she married Arnie Davis, a young man 6 years her senior. She told me her mother had her “married off” because she could no longer afford to care for the older girls. The marriage was not a happy one. There were two children born to Stella and Arnie, both stillborn and buried at Machpelah Cemetery in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. Later divorced, they both went on to serve in WW2.
     I didn’t know Stella growing up, even though she and her family lived within a short bicycle ride from my house. She had married outside of her religion to a man of Jewish faith and I believe this caused a rift in the family. The first time I recall meeting her was at my father’s funeral in December of 1979. After that decades later around the year 2000 I was reintroduced to her via the apex predator genealogy mage in our family, my cousin Andrea McGrath. Stella was then living with her son and daughter in law in Richmond, just 25 minutes from my home. Thanks to Andrea I developed a very special relationship with Stella. I shared what I was doing with her to honor Billy’s memory and she fully supported my efforts. Over the years when we were together she would tell me stories and gave me a sweet high school photograph and later passed on a precious letter he had written to the family from the ship, the letter detailing the King Neptune ceremony on board the ship. Truth be told, Stella was an absolute and irreverent rascal. At 80, having a large family spread all over the world she enrolled in computer classes to learn how to use the internet. Keeping in touch with all of them was one goal – another was to share laughs. I’d open up my email to find the latest dirty joke she was sharing and they always made me blush – and smile. When she died of the cancer that had dogged her for years in 2009 it ripped out a piece of my heart. Her son Mike came from Texas to see her and brought her down from Cincinnati. We were with her just 3 weeks before she passed sharing a family dinner. That was the last time I had with her and the memory is still fresh.
     Stella enlisted on November 25, 1944 and entered service in Cincinnati, Ohio with the WACs, or Women’s Army Corps on January 2, 1945. From there she was sent to Barnstable County, Falmouth, Massachusetts to join the 143rd AAF BU as a clerk for the Army at Otis Army Air Base (now Otis National Guard Base) right in the midst of Cape Cod. She was there until discharge on December 21, 1945 just months after war’s end. She attained the rank of Corporal and was sent to Camp Beale (now Beale Air Force Base) in Yuba County outside of Marysville, California for separation. For her service she earned a WW2 Victory Medal, and Good Conduct Medal. Of course, from what I know about the wacky and wonderful person she was, that Good Conduct Medal is a pleasant surprise.
     The Women’s Army Auxilliary Corps, or WAAC was shortened to WAC, Women’s Army Corps. There were over 150,000 women who turned to service in the military during this time of war and in the Army, Navy and Air Corps they served many roles including clerical, drivers and mechanics, ordnance specialists, radio operators, communications, logistics, medical field, intelligence and even pilots flying planes from factories to bases where they would be sent overseas for use. Most were domestic and limited to serve in the US, but a few special detachments were allowed overseas duty. Women were allowed to join based on a law signed in May 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Their importance was finally recognized in 1948 when it was ruled women could serve in the military, yet they were not allowed combat roles until decades later in 2013.
     While in service in Massachusetts Stella made a few trips into New York City to a USO (United Service Organization) center there. These facilities were formed in 1941 and served as social clubs where men and women in the military could gather for some rest, relaxation and good company. Barns, churches, business fronts, museums, railroad cars and log cabins became sites to set up for these clubs. Food and drinks were served by volunteers and no alcohol was allowed. Bunks for sleeping were provided and many helped those far from home with letter writing to family. At one such center on leave Stella met her future husband, Bronx native Eliser Lee Merlin. Lee and Stella would later marry and have 5 children. Lee passed in 1991 and Stella in 2009 from cancer at age 88. She was a tiny little pistol, funny, creative and a little bit wild. And I loved her for it.

​-Tammi

     One of the fun things I can do with this website is track where my hits are coming from. This fascinates me to see that my site has reached people from all over the world and in 48 states, Puerto Rico and 73 countries. For some reason Alaska and Wyoming evade me, go figure. Anyway, one particular set of hits are coming from a place very interesting to me, and that's Milan, Italy. A fellow Kentuckian who is a fan of WW2 history lives near there and I have to wonder if he or his staff are checking out the site. I won't name him, but if this is who I think it is then this Kentucky girl would LOVE to have a chat with you. Just sayin'.......

-Tammi

    Lester’s brother Carlton E. Steele took another route in the war, one pointed toward the skies. Carlton was born in Lexington, Kentucky on March 13, 1925. At age 18 in August of 1943 he went to Louisville to enlist in the Army Air Force and wound up at Air Force bases in Florida and Wisconsin to get trained in using and repairing the new technology - radar. He showed great promise and underwent several rounds of training, for radio in Madison, Wisconsin, most likely at Truax Field and radar mechanic training in Boca Raton, Florida at Boca Raton Army Air Field (the only military facility training in the secret new technology) to prepare him for working with the 8th Air Force, the “Mighty Eighth” in Europe. From his service records I learned that he left for England on November 21st, 1944 and was sent to RAF Bodney outside of Norfolk, England. There he was assigned to the 352nd Fighter Group, 4105th Base Unit under the 8th, where he would work on and repair radar in P-51 Mustangs, which took the place of the P-47 Thunderbolts in April 1944. This unit was transferred to Belgium in December 1944 and spent the better part of 5 months there before departing in April 1945 and being sent back to England. Carlton was returned to the US on June 2nd, 1945 and discharged November 27th, 1945 out of Davis-Monthan AFB in Tuscon, Arizona, having earned several awards including the EAME Ribbon with 3 Bronze Stars, American Theater Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal and WW2 Victory Medal while also being promoted to Corporal.
     A little about the role of the 352nd before I finish up with Carlton’s story….The 352nd from Wikipedia, “flew bomber escort missions, counter-air patrols, attacks on airfields, trains, vehicles, troops, gun positions and other targets.” They escorted bombers during an engagement called Operation Argument in February 19-25nd of 1944 lasting 7 days, also called “The Big Week”. This operation, aided by the 9th Air Force conducted a series of air raids to weaken the forces of the German Luftwaffe while also providing escort for bombing operations using the P-51 Mustangs. The strikes were conducted at Posen, Poland and Stuttgart, Germany taking out aircraft factories and facilities, and was very successful in decimating German air power. On May 8th, 1944 a Distinguished Service Citation was awarded the unit due to the success of an escort mission to Brunswick, Germany where the unit fought off an attack by a “numerically superior” group of German fighter jets. The 8th was present during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, and later that year the Battle of the Bulge. The 8th at the time took up residence at Asch Airfield in Belgium joining with the 9th Air Force in what was called Operation Bodenplatte. German fighters were attempting to cripple the American forces, but word reached a commanding officer of the intended raid. The American planes took off, avoiding the ambush and 12 fighters fought 50 German fighters – the American fighters all survived, but 25 German planes did not.
     Still in Belgium in February of 1945, the 352nd moved in to join the 361st Fighter Group as the first fighter groups to take up residence on the European continent. The two groups provided support for Operation Varsity, which was an airborne assault across the Rhine on March 2nd of 1945, an engagement involving 16,000 paratroopers and thousands of planes. As operations go, it was the largest to take place in WW2 in a one day period.
    April of 1945 had the 352nd back at Bodney, where they remained until VE Day on May 8th. The war ended in Europe as Germany capitulated and the unit prepared to return to the states. The unit ended up back in New Jersey at Camp Kilmer in November of 1945, though Carlton was discharged from Tuscon. According to his daughter Sandra Bowling, he was probably the youngest man on his radar crew and most of the other men he worked with were college graduates. Carlton appeared to be influenced and inspired by these men and their accomplishments. A bright young man, he came home to Kentucky and decided to take advantage of the GI bill allowing him to attend college, graduating from the University of Kentucky with a degree in electrical engineering in 1949. Carlton married, had and raised children and retired from a job with Bell South in Owensboro, Kentucky in 1987. Years later he would join his daughter Sandra and husband Ed to live in Indiana.
     Carlton, like his brother also had some persons of distinction serving with the Mighty 8th for a period of months. Lt. General James Doolittle of the Doolittle Raiders fame was appointed their commanding officer from January 6th, 1944 through May of 1945, having moved from his command of the 15th Air Force. Under Doolittle’s command the 8th came in as air support for the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944 till February 1945, sending 16,312 bombers on raids. Doolittle was instrumental in designing the policy assigning escort fighter planes to accompany and protect the bombers at all times. From his autobiography, I Could Never Be So Lucky Again, Doolittle quotes his friend General George Patton giving him props saying, “I really was awfully pleased and want to compliment you on the fine spirit of the men of your command, and also to thank you for the great help you and all the other air people have been to this Army.”
    The son of the President, Elliot Roosevelt was a distinguished pilot with the 8th. Elliot was pulled from air duty due to Doolittle’s fear of the President losing another son. He lost his son Teddy, Jr. to a heart attack in July 1944 while on duty in Paris shortly after the D-Day invasion. Actor Jimmy Stewart took time off his career in Hollywood to serve as a fighter pilot, flying B-24s and according to the website Military.com, he eventually ended up as “Chief of Staff of the 2nd Combat Wing, 2nd Air Division of the 8th Air Force”. Surrounded by these persons of distinction who felt compelled to serve when they probably could have had an out surely helped the morale of this unit, who took so many losses. In the end, Doolittle summed up the work of the 8th saying, “I had our statisticians compile what the 8th had done in three years of war, and the figures are impressive: 701,300 tons of bombs dropped, including 531,771 tons on Germany; 18,512 enemy aircraft destroyed. On the other side of the ledger, we listed 43,742 American fighter pilots and bomber crewmen as killed or missing in action. We lost 4,456 bombers in combat.”
     Carlton’s daughter Sandra expressed that her Dad felt a sense of survivors guilt, working on the plane’s radar, sending the men and their aircraft off never to see some of them ever again. I’m glad for his family’s sake he was ground crew and made it home. He died in Indianapolis on July 28, 2017 at the age of 92 and is buried in Lexington, Kentucky, his home town.

-Tammi
Update 7/9/2021: Evidently Carlton got to work on the B-29 Superfortress. According to his daughter Sandy Bowling:
​ "Dad didn’t do radar on 51 Mustangs.  He checked radios and did radar on B 29’s.  I know that because he talked doubt that occasionally and we took him to the Wright Patterson Air Force museum to see the B 29 there.  He told us the inside of that one was arranged a little different, but he showed us how they got into the plane from the rear. He also told us they used to put aluminum foil in the planes to mess up the enemy’s radar."

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. 
​
    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