In June 1944, the 90th Infantry Division continued to push its way west from Utah Beach. German defenses within the Normandy interior proved stout. American soldiers fought for any and all ground gained, mile by mile, town by town. In BOOTPRINTS, Hobert Winebrenner speaks of the liberation of the villages Picauville and Pont l’Abbe, [...]
Hump day again. For this week’s Letters From War Wednesday, let’s go back to World War II. Burton Wray Matteson served as a medical attendant aboard U.S. Army Transports in the Pacific Theater. I absolutely love his sense of humor. This note to his parents comes from the summer of 1944, while Matteson was working [...]
Germany’s Hurtgen Forest saw some of the most brutal fighting of World War II. In fact, for the U.S., it still stands as the longest running battle in history, spanning from September 1944 to February 1945. U.S. First Army casualties topped 33,000. Tom Franks, from Wawaka, Indiana, fought in Northern Europe with Company I, 121st [...]