Hello France

Jul 30, 2017, 3:33 PM

The Marine Wolf finally arrived in Le Havre, France, with the 3125th. Signal Service Company down in the belly of the ship. I suspect there were some men with dirty underwear after the crew of the Marine Wolf dropped a couple of depth charges aimed at a lurking Berman Uboat. Those depth charges made the Marine Wolf shudder from stem to stern.

Most of France was now free of the German Army when we arrived. The harbor facilities at Le Havre had received temporary repairs but would not meet current standards of OSHA. For example, the dock had no handrails and rather than become wider as we approached the end, it became narrower and would lead to one of our 2nd, Lts. take a dip in cold water.

Since we were the first on the Marine Wolf in Southampton and were as far down in the belly of the ship as one could go, we were the last to debark. When orders came to debark, we were loaded down with everything we owned, either hanging from our shoulders or strung around out waist. Climbing what seemed like 239 steps and loaded to the gills, we finally emerged into subdued light. It was still night and very little light on the dock.

We lined up in marching formation and off we went. One of the 2nd. Lts. had not endeared himself to anyone in the company. He was issuing needless orders while marching along about three or four men in front of me. We were on the open water side with no railing. When we reached the part of the dock where it narrowed, the LT. was not looking where he was going and went into the water. It was cold and over 35 feet deep. Fortunately, his back pack provided enough buoyancy to keep him afloat and several of us were able to pull him to safety. His duffel bag was also floating so we were also able to retrieve it. I don't know how he did it but he did manage to hold on to his carbine.

That was one wet, cold and mad Lt. No one was going to let him drown but if a vote had been taken of who we wanted to fall in the water, he would have been a unanimous choice. It took us about two more hours to arrive at Camp Lucky Strike where he could find some dry clothing. After he was safely out of the water, a snicker ran through the entire company, including all of the other officers.

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I am not sure how much time our HS's spend on WW II, but IMO it should be a required class all its own and every student should be required to pass it with at least a C average grade to graduate HS. There is so much kids of this current generation could learn from detailed studies of both WW's. Maybe they would to show more respect for and appreciate this country so much more. 10 years ago I started a very detailed study of both WW's, The Korean War, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. It has been a life changing experience for me and has changed they way I see this country as well as the rest of the world.

After I started studying both WW's as well as Korea, Vietnam and the other conflicts we have been involved in, I began to realized just how much I love this country and how fortunate I am to be a United States Citizen. It thought me what true sacrifice really means and how important it is to show commitment to God , Family and Country. It helped to to see that it is important to stand for something with conviction.

IMO our young people would really benefit from in depth studies of both WW's, The Korean War, Vietnam, and why we are in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hopefully they would learn about the sacrifices made by the Veterans of the WW's Veterans, their families and how they changed the history of the world.

It is so tragic that our WW Veterans are leaving us because they still have so much to contribute to the success of our country and its values.

Just maybe if they had a better understanding and knowledge about every war or conflict we have been involved in we might not have so much of this politically correct crap they are brainwashed with. I think this would apply to our generation too! Many of the current college generation do not appreciate people like Joe21. But without the Joe21's kids today could not protest the name of a building, or blame everything on racism or shun responsibility for their own actions.

Thank you Joe21 for sharing your stories and for your service and the sacrifices you and millions of others made for the United States.

Keep your Post coming!

Message was edited by: wueagle86®

Hello France

Viva France..

Re: Hello France

He was prob'ly a dirtpecker.***

Thanks Joe for "Not Only"

we old cutigers regulars have been joe fans for decades

Re: Hello France

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