Replies

.............

At Fromentel, Pool's tank headed the task force Y column as usual which closed the gap. During the closing, Pool's second tank was destroied by enemy bombers, which only made Pool more mad at the Germans. Again the crew survived intact. At Colombrier, France, Pool's tank leading the column almost collided with a Panther. The Panther fired twice and missed. Ollier, the gunner, fired a single shot which penetrated the turret and internal explosions blew the turret clean off the hull of the Panther.

At Namur, Belgium, "In The Mood's" crew destroyed sixteen enemy vehicles, including assault guns, self propelled anti-tank guns, plus several armored personnel carriers in one day. At Dison, Belgium, Pool distinguished himself while acting as a platoon leader. He decided to use his own tank to clean out an annoying pocket of resistance on the left flank of the route they were traveling. After finding and destroying six armored personnel carriers Pool discovered that the head of his column had been fired upon by a German Panther. Quickly he ordered his driver to regain the column. Upon arriving upon the scene of the action he spotted the enemy tank, gave a single estimated range to Oller. The gunner fired an A.P. projectile at 1500 yards to destroy the Panther. The column then moved on with Pool again in his customary place in the lead. Although Pool had two tanks knocked out from under him, he had nerves of steel. His crew added confidence from his bearing and as a result they moved as a single unit, like clockwork.

Pool's one problem was that he was claustrophobic and preferred to remain, as much as possible, on the outside of his tank. Col. Richardson said that Pool rode that tank like a "bucking bronco." He was always exposed in the turret or on top of it.

His driver, Richards, shared his commander's condition in that he always drove with his overhead hatch open, having been trapped once with a jammed hatch. Corporal Richards said "Pool hated the Germans and thought he could lick them all. The men would draw straws to see who would lead the spearhead the next day. Pool would just say, 'Ah'm leading this time' and stand there grinning while we cussed him out."

Pool's luck ran out at the town of Munsterbusch, south of Aachen, Germany, on September 19, 1944, while leading the breakthrough through the Westwall. The crew was due to rotate home in a few days for a war bond tour. "In The Mood" was not leading this time but was flank guard for the task force that day. Pool spotted a heavy anti-tank gun hidden in a house. They had a substitute loader that day as Boggs was sent back for a hearing check-up prior to rotating to the states. The new guy shoved a round in the breech of the 76mm gun and jammed it.

Unable to fire, Pool yelled "Back up baby!" as the first shell hit the turret blowing Pool off the tank onto the ground. He landed running and his right leg folded up like an accordion. He quickly gave himself a morphine injection, sat down and tried to cut his shattered leg off with his pocket knife. Meanwhile, a second shell hit the tank well forward as Richards backed the tank up slowly. To Richards, Oller, the loader and Close, there was only the bell sound of the hit, the stench of powder and shower of sparks. Richards didn't know that Pool had been thrown clear of the turret and kept on backing up. Col. Richardson saw "In The Mood" slowly reach a cut bank and, as if in slow motion, topple over, almost upside down.

Oller felt the blood on his leg and knew that he had been wounded. The others were unhurt and all four crawled out of the overturned tank.

Col. Richardson came up to Pool and gave him another shot of morphine. Aid men then reached Pool who was bleeding badly from the splinter wound. They gave him a third shot of morphine. Two of them quickly attended to Oller. Pool cursed the Germans bitterly as the aid men bandaged his wound. As they put him in the litter he twisted suddenly and said, "Somebody take care of my tank."

The war was over for Lafayette G. Pool. He knew that he and his crew could beat the Germans. He proved it so often that his record is almost an unbelievable document of total victory. The amazing score by the Texan and his crew is fully authenticated by the 3d Armored Division.

Pool was twice nominated for the Medal of Honor. The first time the papers were lost,the second time it was turned down as the higher-ups felt that it was a crew, not an individual effort. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, French Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star, Belgium Fourragere and Order of St. George Medal.

Pool's career was far from over though, but first he had an ordeal he had to go through with his wounded right leg. After three shots of morphine he awoke nineteen days later in a hospital in Belgium. Due to rain and exposure he contracted double pneumonia. He did not get back to the states until January, 1945. When he was wounded he weighed 196 pounds and when he returned to the United States he weighed 85 pounds! The bone in his leg from the knee to the ankle was gone but his toenail would still grow so doctors hesitated to amputate. Later they amputated it eight inches above the knee at Temple, Texas Army Hospital. He was discharged in June of 1946, and went home with an artificial leg, later to farm and run a gas station. In 1948 he was called back to active duty along with seven other amputees because of their technical skills as specialists.

"The Tanks Are Coming" lobby card (1951)

He returned as a staff sergeant and taught tank mechanics as a master mechanic. After a promotion to Warrant Officer in 1952, he worked as an ordnance inspector. He was classified as "Z.I." (no duty out of zone interior).

While at Fort Knox, he was offered the job as technical advisor for the movie "The Tanks Are Coming" (released in 1951). He refused and decided to sue Warner Brothers for one million dollars. He was under contract to Universal Studios for his life's story and he felt that Warner Brothers plagiarized his script. The judge ruled that Warner Brothers had changed the names and scenario in their version enough that it was not an infringement. Pool thought that actor Steve Cochran, in the Warner Brothers version, did a good portrayal of himself, although the name in this movie was changed to "Sgt. Sullivan."

Pool retired from the Army as a Chief Warrant Officer Second Class, at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas on September 19, 1960. Afterwards he went to business college, followed by a job as a preacher for $25.00 a week. He also coached little league.

.............

In 1986, while living quietly in Taft, Texas, he was contacted by 3-32 Armor members who were doing research on the unit history. He was invited to visit then at Ft. Hood. He was very surprised to find out they remembered him. The first thing that he did when he got to Ft. Hood was go for a ride in an M-1 tank. Afterwards, Pool told the young 3-32 tankers gathered around him some differences between being a tanker in WWII and being one today. "The most important thing for a tank commander to do is keep his crew alive. The tank crews today have the technology to do what we had to do with our eyes and ears," Pool said. "We did very little fighting at night." He added "I only fought once at night and I never wanted to do it again. Today you have the thermal sighting capability that we didn't have."

GET'EM - World War II Hero Lafayette G. Pool, right, and Lt. Col. Len Hawley, commander of the 3d Battalion, 32d Armor Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, watch a tank and crew head down range Thursday at Fort Hood. Pool noted the differences between today's M-1 tank and his WWII Sherman.

On his third visit to the post he watched the tanks live fire on the range. "Colonel, if we had the equipment back then that you have now, we would have cleaned up," he told the commander of the 3-32 Armor. The Colonel said of Pool, "I want him to talk to the soldiers. He tells them the same kinds of things that I try to teach them, but coming from him it's special because he's lived it."

Later Pool was the honored guest speaker at the battalion NCO ball. Three hundred twenty five NCO's attended. Lafayette was adopted by the 3-32 Armor and he, in turn, adopted them, referring to them as "His Boys."

Desert Storm found the 3-32 Armor in the thick of battle against the Iraqi Armor. Lafayette was in a hospital bed, very ill, but he watched the war constantly on television fretting and worrying about "his boys." When the fighting had ceased he kept asking his wife Evelyn, "Honey, are my boys back yet?" When they finally got back to Fort Hood, Evelyn told him they were back and soon after this on May 30, 1991, Pool passed away in his sleep.

Pool was survived by his wife Evelyn, three sons and four daughters. One other son Capt. Jerry L. Pool, was missing in action in Cambodia in 1970. Before his death, the Army decided to name its new M-1 tank driver training facility after Pool, even waving the fact that he was still alive. Dedicated on July 1, 1993, today the facility at Fort Knox serves to train new tank drivers to drive the M-1 series of tanks.

At present the facility has ten systems of two simulators each. One system has been converted to M1 AR configuration. The authors were able to try out a simulator thanks to Irene Armstrong, secretary of protocol and found it an excellent approach to learning to drive. The savings in fuel, thrown tracks, and wear and tear, plus damage to real tanks is tremendous, and will more than pay for its initial cost. Each new tanker is given twelve hours of training before he transitions into the real thing. Scenarios can be varied from desert and artic terrain to urban driving. Weather can vary, artillery fire can be received, the tank's main gun can be fired by the controller, plus night or day time driving with open hatches or closed down on periscopes, all these things make this simulator the closest thing to actual driving a real tank to date. Our controller, SFC Byrd, told us the simulator is much more difficult that actually driving the "real" M1.

Today Lafayette G. Pool is remembered not only as our top tank ace but also as a man who believed in training hard and doing the job right the first time, as there may not be a second time in modern warfare.

Additional Sources:

images.amazon.com
www.timem.com
www.3ad.com
www.network54.com

He returned as a staff sergeant and taught tank mechanics as a master mechanic. After a promotion to Warrant Officer in 1952, he worked as an ordnance inspector. He was classified as "Z.I." (no duty out of zone interior).

There's a little more to that story....

Tank Hero of World War II, Minus A Leg, Returns to Duty With 3rd Armored"

By Marion Porter
Louisville Courier-Jounrnal
[Primary newspaper for Ft. Knox, KY, area]
September 25, 1949

Five years ago to the day he was "knocked out" of the Third Armored Division, Sgt. Lafayette G. Pool, 30, wearing his battle decorations, his battle scars, and a wooden leg, returned to the Third Armored Division.

There was sound and fury when he was knocked out of his tank by a direct hit from an enemy gun, September 19, 1944, near Stolberg, Germany. And there was pomp and circumstance recently when the 6-foot-2 Texan was welcomed home by the Third's honor guard at Fort Knox and a handclasp from Maj. Gen. Roderick R. Allen, commanding officer. (Pool's re-enlistment is part of an Army program to utilize wounded combat veterans in exceptional instances.)

"They shouldn't 'a' gone to all that trouble, but it was mighty nice," said Sergeant Pool, who was THE outstanding tank commander of World War II. Official records show that as the point of the spearhead he led 21 full-scale engagements. He is credited with 1,000 dead Germans, 250 prisoners and 250 enemy vehicles. Twelve of the vehicles destroyed were tanks.

Four tanks had been shot out from under Sergeant Pool. Asked to account for the amazing record made while spearheading attacks from Isigny, France, to Stolberg before he was wounded, he said: "Well, I prayed an awful lot and my wife at home was praying too."He recalled the amazement of the doctor who promised to discharge him "as soon as you walk down to my office on that leg." Pool did walk down to the office just four days after being issued his wooden leg. What the doctor didn't know was that Pool had been practicing on a buddy's wooden leg. The man next to him in the hospital had two artificial legs. Taking surreptitious walks. Pool used one of the borrowed legs while his buddy used the other and a crutch.

After his discharge. Pool opened a filling station and garage at his home in Sinton, Texas. He didn't like it, nor did he like several other businesses he started. He enlisted in the Army and was sent into the Transportation Corps, but finally managed, with the intervention of General Allen, to "come home" to the Third Armored Division where he will be an instructor in automotive mechanics.

"But I'd like to get back into tanks," he said wistfully. He has three sons, aged 5, 3, and 1, all destined to be tankers.

Sergeant Pool wears the Belgian and French Fourragère, the Distinguished Service Cross, Legion of Merit, Silver Star, and Purple Heart -- as well as 17 bits of shrapnel in his neck, and the artificial leg.

"It's all right," he said, giving the leg a resounding smack. "Creaks a little today. I went fishing and overturned the boat and got it wet. Just needs a little oiling."

No member of his crew was injured. He had the same crew all through, the crew he trained as recruits at Camp Polk, La.

"They prayed good, too," grinned Pool, "but they could cuss even better. I'd say, 'Boys, come on, we're leading this one.' And they'd say, 'Why, you blankety blank so-and-so of a so-and-so, you're going to get us all killed.' "

Pool always rode in his tank with the turret open and the upper part of his body out of the tank.

"I like to see where I'm going and who's shooting at me," he explained. "Kinda gave me claustrophobia to be all closed in. If I had been down in the tank like I should have, I would have been killed sure nuff."

(Incidentally, Pool's twin brother was in the Navy and in every naval battle in the Far East as well as the Pearl Harbor bombing and came through unscratched.)

Injured in the neck and leg, Pool spent 22 months in hospitals before he was discharged. A Golden Gloves champ and winner of 41 out of 41 boxing matches in the Army, he described his 42d fight, "the fight for my life - the toughest."

-30-