After my 12year odyssey with the Veterans Administration and compilation of my military records. I decided to request my Fathers Records. My Father Passed away in 1967 at age 48.
I was 17 and knew very little about his war time experiences. I knew he served with the 2nd Armored Division under General Patton that he fought in North Africa, Sicily, landed on Normandy and fought till the end of the war. He talked very little about the war.
The response I received from the VA was that his records were destroyed in a fire in the records division in the 70’s. I decided to do online searches and I contacted my sister who found among our mother’s personal items a picture of Dad in uniform, and a copy of his discharge papers. Meanwhile my internet search came across a veteran named Paul Andert living in Tulsa Oklahoma. Mr. Andert was a platoon Sergeant in Bravo Company 41st Armored Infantry /2nd Armored Division. From my Fathers discharge we found out he was assigned to Bravo Company 41st Armored Infantry/2nd Armored Division.
Mr. Andert has a webpage and had written a book entitled “unless you have been there”, detailing his experiences during the war. I took a chance and contacted Mr. Andert, it paid off. I received an email with a phone number requesting I call ASAP as Mr. Andert wanted to speak with me. I called and learned that not only did he know my Father but he had worked after the war for the “war department” where he had gathered all the records he could pertaining to his unit during the war.
Since we were heading out to the southwest for vacation, we decided to leave early to stop in Tulsa and visit Mr. Andert. This was the highlight of our trip, Mr. Andert is 93 and is getting older but his memories are still very clear. My Father would tell me funny stories about his time in service and if I asked specific questions he would always try to answer them. As I sat with Mr. Andert his stories brought back memories of my Fathers stories and they matched!
Here is what I discovered about my Father in the war. My Father joined Bravo Company 41st Armored Infantry/ 2nd Armored Division in 1941 at Ft. Benning, Georgia. After training He landed at Casablanca and took part in the North African campaign, he landed on Sicily and was with the unit when they were pulled back to England after taking Palermo (they all thought they were heading home). They went to England, were trained and landed on Normandy. My Father had told me he landed twice at Normandy-once on foot then once with his tank- well Mr.Andert in his book and verbally confirmed that several soldiers were chosen as pathfinders to land set up a staging area then retrieve the tanks, my Father was one of these soldiers.
After their breakout and battles across France, Belgium, Holland, the battle of the bulge, the Siegfried line, crossing the Rhine River, meeting the Russians at the Elbe River and being the only American unit allowed to enter Berlin.
My Father left the service in late 1945, he was awarded the CIB(combat infantry badge) , Bronze Star/V device, European campaign medal/7 bronze stars& 2 bronze arrowheads, Purple Heart, American Defense, Good Conduct, Victory medal, and battle of the Bulge certificate and medal. Also from foreign governments, from Belgium the Belgium Croix de Guerre and the liberation of Belgium medal, From France 4 French Croix de Guerre medals (1medal/silver star & palm leaf) ,the liberation of France medal, and the French Normandy medal, From Holland the liberation of Holland medal.
Mr. Andert has put things into motion and I am starting to receive the medals and other certificates my father earned. We also have started the recreation process to have his records recreated. This Memorial Day will be special to me not only have I been on a miraculous journey of discovery about my Father, I also got to meet and become friends with Mr. Paul Andert. I would suggest that if you want to know about soldiers in combat get his book and read it.
This memorial day if you know or are related to a WWII veteran get them to tell you their story and write it down or record it, we are losing this history way to fast. To all my fellow veterans remember for those of us who fought for it freedom has a taste the protected will never know.
Thank you for breaking this back into paragraphs, not sure why it grouped everything together when I hit post.
For a wonderful tribute to America by James McEachin, well-decorated Korean War veteran tune-in to Access Hollywood Live tomorrow at 11 a.m. on NBC 4 in Los Angeles. His is at the very end of the show but it should be part of the National Memorial Day program. This is about the America our men and women fought for, sacrificed for and laid down their lives for.