| My uncle, now deceased Corporal David Green, joined the Maryland National Guard along with his brother "Harry F. Green" and brother-in-law "John F. Boose". All of Westminster, they drove the 20 miles down to Pikesville Armory near Baltimore to enlist in the 110th Field Artillery. They could have joined the local "H-Company, 115th Infantry", however, they didn't want to walk. So they joined the artillery. This was in November 1940.
Little did they realize that on February 3, 1941 the 29th Division would be activated. They would go through a lot of training,get shipped to England and eventually end-up on a beach that would be forever known as "Bloody Omaha". The three would see more carnage then anyone would care to see. This had been conveyed to me as a young boy. I was very interested in their experiences. I would evenutally go to the Normandy and see these places myself. And I've returned several times. The town that they talk most about is St. Lo, France. The town was almost completely destroyed. My uncle David was being used as a forward observer. One day they were in a house, he and 2 other men. They were taking turns using binoculars and calling artillery shots. After the 3rd day, a voice below called them down. When they got to the outside of the building, a captain was standing beside a general. The general asked how long theyed been there? When they told him "3 days", he told the captain to get replacements "as they were battle fatigued". The captain left and came back with 2 replacements. He looked at the men and said, this is your replacement and here is yours. My uncle said, "Hey captain, where's my replacement?" The captain said, "Sorry, I don't have anyone to replace you with. You have to stay". My uncle looked at the captain and said, "Oh no! You heard what the general said, I'm supposed to be replaced!" "Well," the captain said, "I would but theres no one to replace you with!" My uncle was arguing and about that time, a German artillery round came in low. The captain hearing the round yelled, "Hit it!" And all these guys dive into the dirt! My uncle, however, stood there and laughed! When the captain and these new replacements got off the ground, the captain watching my uncle laugh, said, "Yeah, you're going back." He thought that my uncle had lost it! However, Uncle David told me that by this time, he could tell where the shells were going and "knew, that they weren't going to hit them." He said it was however a low round. The trio made it from Omaha Beach to the end of the war to Germany. They were probably the luckiest family in the 29th Division. Not a single one of them got a "Purple Heart". And they were in a division that had 20,111 total casualties and 3,729 killed in action. My uncle gave me the maps that he carried on D-Day and I have a world war 2 website: http://www.ww2dday.com Tim Roop |
