| This is my dad's story, Captain Andrew R. Johnson. In late 1940, before Pearl Harbor was attacked, Dad was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 95th Armored Field Artillery Battalion. The battalion was attached to the newly formed Fifth Armored Division - the Victory Division - and they were sent by train to Camp Cooke near Lompoc, California (now known as Vandenburg AF Base) as part of the emergency West Coast defense forces. After Pearl Harbor, there was a great deal of concern about a potential Japanese invasion anywhere on the West coast.
In 1944, Dad went ashore at Utah beach on D-day plus one (the second day) with the division headquarters staff to prepare for the landing of the rest of the division a month later. The Fifth Armored was assigned to Patton's Third Army and was in the forefront of much of the fighting in the European Theater. They faced the German Ninth Panzer Division at St. Aignaur during the breakout from the Normandy beachhead. In August '44, they marched down the Champs Elysees during the liberation of Paris. They continued to chase the Germans all the way across France. It took the Fifth Division a mere two days to liberate the Duchy of Luxemburg. On Sept. 15th, 1944 they were one of the first units to break through the "impregnable" Sigfried Line - now they were conquerors, not liberators. They fought yard by yard through the Hurtgen Forrest, near the town of Brandenburg, one of the bloodiest battles of the war. When Hitler attacked at "The Battle of the Bulge" Patton swung his army around to help relieve the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne and Dad's battalion was there. As the Third Army advanced into Germany, the Nazis fought back ferociously. The 95th Field Artillery was one of the first units to get to the Rhine River and support the historic crossing at Remmagen Bridge. Near the city of Hanover, they liberated a concentration camp and dad was appalled to see the first slave laborers used by the Nazi's. On April 9, dad took action for which he would eventually be recognized with a Silver Star and Purple Heart. Near Peine, just east of Hanover, 10 Nazi 88mm guns opened up on a column Dad was leading. He went far forward of the column to locate the 88's that were firing on his men. The Germans spotted him and started shooting. He had to call in artillery fire on his own position to silence the Nazi gunners and he was wounded during the shelling. The division commander, Maj. Gen. Oliver, later recommended him for a Silver Star. (Dad had already been awarded the Bronze Star earlier in the campaign for similar gallantry above and beyond the call of duty. The 5th Division raced on to the Elbe River where they were stopped only by Gen. Eisenhower to allow the Russians the honor of capturing Berlin. On May 2nd, the Russians arrived on the other side of the Elbe. Dad watched as hundreds of civilians threw themselves into the river, trying to escape the Russians and get the U.S. side. By the time the Nazi regime finally collapsed on May 7, 1945, the 5th Division was credited as being the US Army unit closest to Berlin. In the months following the end of the war, Dad helped organize the return to the States of several different elements of the division. Finally it was his turn and on Aug. 1, 1945, he landed in New York and returned home to Mom. From their marriage in June '44 until Aug. '45, they'd been together a total of approx. three weeks. Now, with the war coming to a close, dad and mom began their life together. |
