As we were working on this special Veterans Day section the Sun, of course, wanted to include stories from area service members. Then there was some discussion about including my father’s story as well. I was a little reluctant since it doesn’t have a local tie. But, yes, it is interesting. Interesting enough that I am going to share it here.
My father, Frank, is one of the horse soldiers you see in this old photo. I’m not sure many people realize that the U.S. Army and the National Guard, still had horse mounted units right up to the edge of WW2. He enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard when he was 15. Lied about his age - a simple thing in those days. Although he was a true patriot he attributed his joining the Guard to the Great Depression. He walked to drills. About seven miles each way. I think they were paid a dime per drill. They fired rifles and the pistols, that had a neck lanyard attached to them, like something out of a movie. They made saber charges. “No rider advances faster than the slowest horse”, so they would arrive in a single wave. All of warfare would change soon enough. An atomic bomb would be developed and dropped within just five short years. But early in 1941 this is what they were doing.
Those National Guard units through central Pennsylvania are Armored Cavalry today. Fitting to the lineage, but the Army didn’t have that in the force structure yet, so when they traded in the horses they became a field artillery company. They were called up in 1941. ‘Federalized’ was the term he used, and reported to Camp Shelby Mississippi. They trained on the French 75. A WW1 era cannon, and while a battery is four guns, they had one actual cannon per battery. And logs set up at the other three stations. A crew would rotate so they were live firing once and going through the motions with their log cannon the other three. That’s where the nation was leading up to the biggest war in history.
Soon enough they were bound for North Africa. And speaking of readiness - they had equipment, even rations, stenciled American Expeditionary Forces. History students know the AEF was the U.S. forces that went to Europe in WW1 - “Lafayette we are here!”. But the incredible industrial power of the United States was gearing up and weapons, equipment, transportation of every variety was crossing the oceans. Of course ships and planes were rolling out of factories too.
Once the German army retreated from Africa, his unit moved on to Italy, as part of the legendary 5th U.S. Army. They fought in every significant battle there for two years, including Monte Casino. In 1944 my father, Frank, received a battlefield commission to 2nd lieutenant. Gen. Mark Clark, commander of the 5th Army came forward to pin the gold bars on personally.
Eventually his unit, like others in Europe, would cross into Germany. They were among the units that liberated Dachau. He was tasked with looking through rail cars of bodies to see if they were any signs of life. There was not.
A great story from the days immediately after the war involved some famous horses; the Lipizzaner Stallions. The Germans had taken those horses from Austria. When they were discovered the sector commander, Gen. George Patton, knew there were old horse soldiers somewhere in his command. So my father’s company was assigned to care for the white horses. Patton had been a horse cavalryman once, before moving to tanks before WW1. He was an elite rider, a member of the U.S. Pentathlon team in the 1912 Olympics, and he showed up to check on things at the stables.
They headed home and Frank returned to the National Guard. An officer now he became company commander, and was in that position when war in Korea broke out. Off they went, although he soon was in roles at the battalion and division level. Serving with G2, or intelligence, he was on a forward reconnaissance when his jeep hit a landmine. He, and his driver, narrowly escaped death. Only partially from their wounds, but more from the elements of the North Korean winter. Promoted to major in Korea he was offered an opportunity to remain on active duty, rather than return to the Guard. He accepted and would later retire as a Lieutenant Colonel with over 33 years combined service.
That took our family to some interesting places. Fairbanks Alaska and Heidelberg Germany to name the two that stand out. Although his last post was on the General Staff of the 2nd Army, the last time he was a ‘real soldier’ - his words - was the three years at Headquarters USAREUR in Heidelberg. By that time he had attended a number of Army schools like; the Command & General Staff College, and the Defense Nuclear Weapons School. In Germany he was with the Inspector Generals office traveling all over Europe visiting units with those warheads. We were living there when the Cuban Missile Crisis flared. Tensions were high, as the saying goes.
So, a pretty interesting career. From private to Lt. Col., from horse mounted cavalry to working within the nuclear arsenal. Tom Brokaw wrote a book called The Greatest Generation. They lived through the Great Depression, and came out to face an even greater challenge. I image the biggest body of water my dad had ever seen, prior to heading for Mississippi, was the Susquehanna River. Then he would cross an ocean. There are many stories of guys who took off in an airplane 10-12-15 times before ever landing. Because they were jumping out of those airplanes. What they all did and what they accomplished was truly beyond imagination. My Uncle Paul fought alongside my father, my Aunt Daisy was a WAC on Eisenhower’s staff in London. My mother a U.S. Army nurse.
Today there are men and women who have seen years of battle. The GWAT - Global War Against Terror - started on a fine September morning in 2001. And, might be escalating. It’s great to see appreciation for today’s service members. They and their families sacrifice so much. Hope everyone will take a few minutes this Veterans Day to remember. Remember with appreciation.
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