Thank you. On Jun 6, 1:12�pm, dick thompson <[email protected]> wrote: > � � * > � � � Today's News <http://www.mountvernonnews.com/index.php> / Local > � � � <http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/index.php> / 09 > � � � <http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/09/index.php> / 06 > � � � <http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/09/06/index.php> / 06 > � � � <http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/09/06/06/index.php> / > � � � Hendrickson recalls invasion of Normandy / Mount Vernon News > � � * > > � � � � Hendrickson recalls invasion of Normandy > > � � * By Cheryl S. Splain > � � * June 6, 2009 > > � � "They needed those tanks immediately, but with tanks, you have to > � � get close. If the tanks would have been there, we wouldn't have lost > � � so many men. Those tanks would have run right up on those machine > � � guns." --- Russell Hendrickson > > CENTERBURG --- Sixty-five years ago today, Russell Hendrickson was > sitting on a boat in the English Channel, waiting to land on Omaha > Beach. D-Day, the invasion of Normandy, France, by Allied forces, had begun. > > "With all of the smoke and firepower, you really couldn't tell what was > going on," he said of the activity on the beach, "but you knew it was bad." > > <http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.304048,-82.696152&spn=0.335139,0.43...> > Map data �2009 Tele Atlas - Terms of Use > <http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/help/terms_maps.html> > Discuss Hendrickson recalls invasion of Normandy > <http://www.mountvernonnews.com/blog/2009/06/06/hendrickson-recalls-in...> > > Hendrickson was part of the 2nd Armored Division, the division known as > Hell on Wheels. Battle-hardened from combat in North Africa and the > invasion of Sicily, on June 6, 1944, the division was waiting to take > part in Operation Overlord, the operation designed to liberate France > from the Germans. > > Hendrickson said the initial plan to get the tanks ashore called for the > 30-plus ton tanks to be on floatation devices towed by landing craft. > > "The landing craft were to tow them up as close as they could, then cut > them loose," he explained. "But they weren't stable enough, and the wind > capsized them. So that was a failure." > > Some of the tanks are still sitting on the bottom of the channel today. > > Abandoning the floatation devices, the tanks were brought in on landing > craft. > > "When I went in on the third day, the landing craft hit a sand bar and > got stuck. We finally got it in reverse and got off. When we got on the > beach, they already had an opening, and we drove on a road up to the > bluffs." > > Hendrickson said when he sees TV footage of the event, he remembers it > as clear as if it were yesterday. > > "That was the gateway," he said of the D-Day landings. "That was what > opened up the gate to Europe." > > In the invasion of Sicily, Hendrickson was in a tank. In Normandy, his > job was to drive the company officers. > > "I was up at the front line with an officer at all times," he said. > > Moving off the beach and into hedgerow country, the 2nd Armored hooked > up with the 101st Airborne at Carentan, France. Moving south, the > division, with the 101st acting as infantry, came up against the > Germans' 2nd SS Panzer Division. > > "We busted their butt," said Hendrickson. > > The town of St. Lo was next. > > "We couldn't break through," said Hendrickson. "The weather had been > kind of bad. We were stationery, and camouflaged. Then all of a sudden > we got orders to uncammouflage and get ready to move. > > "I looked up early one morning and saw a plane. Then I saw another > plane, then another ... 3,000 planes at one time. They bombed an > airstrip 3 miles wide by 10 miles long. I was standing on top of a tank, > watching the dogfights. It was two or three hours before we got orders > to move. When we went through, there was absolutely no resistance." > > St. Lo fell on July 18, and the Allies pushed on. On Aug. 8, Allied > forces, including the 2nd Armored, started hemming in the German 1st > Army in the Falaise Argentan Gap. > > "British, Canadians and the U.S.," said Hendrickson. "We were to seal > off the gap, connect the two cities. The German general surrendered his > whole army --- the field was full of the German army." > > According to history books, about 50,000 Germans surrendered. > > "After that, we made a mad dash for Belgium," said Hendrickson. > > The Hell on Wheels was the first American unit to reach Belgium, for > which it received a commendation from the Belgian government. > > "Belgium cited us twice," said Hendrickson. "My division was part of > being the first army to enter Belgium, the other time was for the Battle > of the Bulge." > > Hendrickson and the 2nd Armored Division were part of the biggest tank > battle on the Roer Plain, action that was a precursor to the Battle of > the Bulge. Hell on Wheels lost 17 tanks before the Germans withdrew > across the river. > > "The 7th Armored replaced us while we regrouped," he said. "I began to > see a lot of German airplanes. This big tank battle we had with the > Germans was a diversion while they built up their forces in the Ardennes." > > The 7th Armored was dispatched to reinforce Allied troops in the Ardennes. > > "We saw a lot of 7th Armored tanks and Jeeps with swastikas on them; the > Germans had used the tanks," said Hendrickson, of the 2nd Armored's > march to the Ardennes. "We went 100 miles in 24 hours." > > The 2nd Armored ran into the German 5th Panzer Division in Celles, > Belgium, on Dec. 24 and 25. > > "We hit them head on. ... We completely destroyed the 5th Panzer > Division," said Hendrickson. "It's in our citation. > > "The weather was so bad. ... The snow was so bad. Foggy, cold, below > zero. The infantry was just really pitiful, living in the cold." > > At this point, Hendrickson said, he was put back into a tank. > > "I pulled a roadblock [duty]," he said. "There were five in a tank, on > eight-hour shifts. We'd take turns getting out and stomping our feet to > get warm. It was like sitting in a deep freeze --- your breath froze and > frosted." > > Hendrickson still deals with the frostbite his feet suffered during the > battle. > > Drafted at the age of 18, Hendrickson spent 32 months in the Army. Three > of his four brothers also served. A cousin was killed. > > Hendrickson, who never spoke about the war during the years his children > were growing up, now has plenty of stories to tell. Like the time time > his unit was lost. > > "We turned off, made a loop, and heard a tank in front of us," said > Hendrickson. "We were driving blackout. We stopped, trying to figure out > where we were and what we were going to do." > > Looking at tank tracks, Hendrickson's lieutenant realized it was a > German tank, and ordered Hendrickson to go check it out. > > "Sure enough, it was a German tank," said Hendrickson. "We reversed real > carefully." > > Or the story where Hendrickson's lieutenant, who carried a 45, asked if > he could take Hendrickson's Tommie Gun. Hendrickson refused. > > Following World War II, Hendrickson returned to Centerburg, where he > married and raised his children. > > Hendrickson was in the war from start to finish. He was part of the > first troops in North Africa, and his division served as honor guard at > the Potsdam Conference following Germany's surrender. He has six battle > stars, one for each campaign he was in, and two citations from the > Belgian government. > > But the one thing he wants everyone to understand is that he is no hero > --- he is just one of many who did their duty, serving their country > when they were called. > > / [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/09/06/06/hendrickson-recalls-inv... > / --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
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