On the road

On the road

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Profiles Spring-Summer 2013 HFDFW


 

Earl enlisted in the U.S. Army on December 31, 1941 in Dallas Texas at the age of 19.

Upon completion of basic training Earl was shipped overseas to the European theater. He was assigned to the famous 29th Infantry Division. This division was activated on February 3, 1941 and arrived in England on October 5, 1942. The division saw 242 days of combat. The division saw action on D-Day at Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland and Central Europe. The famed “Bedford Boys” from Bedford Virginia, who lost so many men on D-Day from that small town, were members of the 29th.

Earl served with the 115th Infantry, 3rd Battalion as a platoon leader and later company commander. He participated in battles in and around St. Lo, Percy, Vire and Brest in France after D-Day. It was at Brest in September 1944 that Earl received his Bronze Star. He also saw action at Stahe, Kreuzrath, and Birgden in Germany. He was present for the crossings of the strategically important Rhine and Elbe rivers. In November 1944 Earl was wounded in the hand and was sent back to England to recuperate.  

Earl stayed in the military after the war and was at one point stationed at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. He was assigned to escort war dead from Ft. Worth, Texas during the month of January, 1949.

When Earl left the service in January 1953 it was with the rank of Major. He had received the Bronze Star, Combat Infantryman’s badge with Oak Leaf cluster, Expert Infantry badge, Purple Heart, WWII Victory medal, German occupation and the American Theater ribbon.  

 

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