October 2, 1944 – The “jungle” fighting was just beginning
October 2, 2024October 3, 1944 – The fighting was fierce but with slow, continuous gains
October 3, 2024I’m continuing a blog on most days until mid 2025 following my father’s exploits and adventures during WWII. Each blog will represent what he and the men with whom he was fighting were doing 80 years ago on the exact day of the blog. Below are links to last month’s blogs:
- September 1, 1944 – Dad uses a new technique for his men to fight house to house
- September 2-3, 1944 – Dad and his units ordered to let the French take Lyon
- September 4, 1944 – The Germans were in full retreat and greatly disorganized
- September 5, 1944 – The Battle of Besançon was a shaping up to be a doozy
- September 6, 1944 – “Get your asses out of the mud! Let’s kick some Kraut butt!”
- September 7, 1944 – Dad had been awarded a hat trick of medals—a Purple Heart, a Silver Star, and now a Bronze Star
- September 8, 1944 – Dad’s Bronze Medal exploits covered by newspaper articles back home
- September 9, 1944 – Troop fatigue was affecting both officers and men as casualties climbed
- September 10, 1944 – A momentous and historic turning point in the European Battles of WWII
- September 11, 1944 – WWII heroes Winston Churchill and Audie Murphy write about the coming hell in the Vosges
- September 12, 1944 – The capture of Vesoul officially ended the Campaign of Southern France
- September 13, 1944 – After only 29 days the US heroes had moved over 400 miles into France
- September 14, 1944 – The toughest nut in the Nazi’s long defensive line from the North Sea to the Swiss border lay just ahead of Dad and his men
- September 15, 1944 – The life expectancy of the front-line men was getting ready to plummet to 21 days
- September 16, 1944 — US GIs now face an obstacle that no army in the history of modern warfare had ever overcome—an enemy defending the Vosges Mountains
- September 17, 1944 — In the Vosges Mountains every battle was difficult or deadly or both
- September 18, 1944 — Phil, his men, and Love Company receive their first Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation
- September 19, 1944 — In France it is said war comes and goes yet in many ways it never changes
- September 20, 1944 – Phil’s 3rd Division battles toward the Moselle River
- September 21, 1944 – Phil’s 30th Infantry began some of the most bitter and exhausting fighting in its entire history
- September 22, 1944 – Gen Truscott writes his VI Corps troops, including Phil and his men
- September 22, 1944 – The dye was cast. Phil and his men were being sent to the deadly Vosges Mountains
- September 23, 1944 – Dad saves a platoon with a near miraculous shot
- September 24, 1944 – Dad writes home as an early autumn and terrible weather descends
- September 25, 1944 – Dad receives a shocking “Dear John” letter from home
PAST BLOG LISTS
Could I ask a favor? Could you let friends and family who are WWII aficionados know about the blog? They can sign up for it at www.DrWalt.com.
You can read more about his heroics and exploits in At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse.
In case you haven’t read or listened to Dad’s book, you can learn more or order it here.
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