My grandfather was a Sgt with a specialized petroleum distribution company in WWII. They built pipelines and fuel tank depots following the front lines in Europe. He was in Europe from June 6, 1944 when he came ashore on Omaha beach on D-Day and stayed in Europe until December 1945. On D-Day, he was 38 with a newborn son (my dad) at home whom he had never seen. He was certainly the "old man" in his company.

I have lots of his pictures from the war and some interesting letters. He died at the age of 92 and he talked to me about his experiences more than to anyone else, this was particularly true when we watched the 40th anniversary celebration of D-Day together on TV. As a teen, I was struck by how fresh and raw his memories still were 40 years later (he rarely talked about the war otherwise). One particularly horrible thing he told me about the D-Day landing was seeing a soldier on the beach trying to hold his guts in while crying out for his momma. Decades later when I saw that same scene in Saving Private Ryan, it hit me like a ton of bricks. That wasn't a movie scene for my grandfather, he lived it.

He was good old small town Arkansas boy who did his duty like millions of other men.

The pictures below are:
1. reprint of a letter home about D-Day that was published in his hometown paper.
2. Picture of a V1 hit in Antwerp
3. Picture of another V1 hit in Antwerp
4. Picture of my grandfather taking a break in Mons, Belgium
5. Pipeline his company built across the Rhine (over the destroyed bridge)
6. Crossing the Rhine at Maintz, Germany
7. Meeting some Russians in Berlin

Below is a transcription of a long but fascinating letter he sent home to his sister describing being in Antwerp during 4 months of V1 and V2 attacks during which more than 2,000 V bombs targeted the city, port, and surrounding areas. I thought some of you might find it interesting. One of the V2 hits he describes below that knocked him down (unconscious really) was the hit on the Rex Theater which was the worst V-bomb hit of the war. It killed 570 people while they were watching a movie. My grandfather told me that after he shook off the blast and went to try and help at the Rex, most of the dead were still in their seats killed by the concussion, looking like mannequins. And the silverware he mentions at the end of the letter did make it back to the US with him. It was the special silverware we would use every year for Thanksgiving meal. I have it now.

---------------------Letter----------

Dear Reba (sister),
I would like to read the write up about Antwerp in "Time" magazine of March 26th to see what they had to say, but from what you write, they must have given a pretty clear picture of what took place.

Yes we were right in the middle of it, sitting on the hot seat for a little better than 4 months. You were right in guessing about the oil tanks. I was sleeping only 30 yards from a big tank filled with gasoline and had it been hit by either a V1 or a V2 I would have never known it. That's the attitude we took, because otherwise we all would have been total wrecks. And really that was the main purpose of the V-bombs to upset morale. Now don't get the idea they aren't deadly, because they are. They will flatten a whole block and kill anyone within a radius of 100 yards or more.

There were certainly hours the Germans would send over more V-bombs. We always knew just when to expect them to come over in convoys. About 8 o'clock they were heavy, then we would always expect "bed-check Charlie" over at eleven; and they were very heavy around six in the morning. I have seen them come over every three minutes for a one hour stretch and then thin out a bit.

I've seen them come over in convoys of six at a time. There were always lots of them on foggy nights because the "ack-ack" boys were almost helpless then. On a clear night the "ack-ack" gunners would knock down a good 60% of them, and I'll always say those boys saved Antwerp as well as our lives. Anytime a single V1 came over on a clear night you could pretty well bet that they would knock it out of the sky. I'll always say those boys were from Arkansas by the way they could shoot!

I'll say I didn't mind the V-bombs too much during the day but they were hell at night. While we were lying in bed at night we could hear the "ack-ack" boys shooting, and we knew that if the V1's got through (and they usually did on cloudy nights) they would be over in one minute more. If we were all awake you could hear the fellows, one after another, sighing or drawing a deep breath and finally one of us would say, "Here comes one!"
They have an awful vibration. While they are passing over, the house would vibrate and sound as if everything were falling in. That's when you live an eternity in a few seconds.

There was another time when we were just as worried, when the motor of the V-bomb cuts off. The motor stops when the gas is used up and then they fall. It takes just two seconds for them to land, and believe me, those are the longest two seconds I have ever gone through! I have seen boys lose their speech, and it would be ten minutes before they could say a word without stammering.

I know you would like to know more about how many were killed during the blitz, but we are not permitted to say. I can say, however, that our company was fortunate.

You were wondering what happened to the fellow who received the Purple Heart while I was talking to him. Well, the truth is we were both a bit too close to a V2 when it came down. I was knocked to my knees but not a scratch! I was also knocked to my knees by a V1 the day before but not a scratch. Yes, I was very fortunate. I've seen the time where if I'd been five minutes sooner or later it would have been too bad! Really I don't want this letter to sound too bad, but that's just the way it's been for four months.

It was a relief to get out from under the constant pressure of listening for V1's, always on alert, day and night. After being under such a condition for any length of time, you seem to forget the seriousness until you are relived. Then you realize what you have been through.

Well, I haven't talked about anything but war in this letter but you know me, I never say anything that will upset Dot (wife) or Mama.

I found three good German shotguns last week, also a set of silverware, but we are not allowed to send them home. Tough luck!

Love,
Gilbert