My brother, Powder, was in the Army and in the Invasion of Normandy on D-Day. He never talked about it much. Some with my Mom and she said he couldn't believe that the ocean was red with blood. He was and engineer in the infantry and they spent much time blowing up and building bridges. He received two Purple Hearts. He was wounded when a wall collapsed on his unit where they were resting for the night. They had to be dug out of the rubble. The second was for having his feet frozen in one of the long marches. He said that he woke up in the "Mash" unit and they were going to cut off his feet. He talked them out of it and was sent to England to recuperate. He then went back into battle. He was on the way home from Germany for leave and continue to the Pacific when the war ended. He did come back to our home town and graduate from high school. My brother, Tommy, was a little perturbed with that. Heh, heh. Tommy was the valedictorian of the class and all the fuss was made over Powder coming back from the war and finishing school. I do think the war had a big affect on him, depression and post war problems, but the Army didn't do much for them in regards to the soldiers mental health at that time.
Powder was meant to serve, I guess. He went to work for the New Mexico State Police. He is in his uniform in the family photo. The State Police in New Mexico handle state investigations as well as do the patrolling of the highways. It was a tough job at that time (well, any time), they were few in number. He put in long hours. Powder was also a chief of police in Grants, New Mexico, and a U.S. Marshall for a time. He grew up on the ranch. He was on the basketball team in school in Magdalena and whatever sports they had. He was a bull rider in rodeos. He spoke Spanish and went to Mexico to help control hoof and mouth disease with some government program, I think in the fifties. His last job was an antique dealer in Neosho, Missouri. He was in the nursing home there and died in October, 1999. (And of course I can't find the photo today of him in his army uniform, sorry.)
It is D-Day today. I was reminded when I read Paul Dorrell's blog last night. He is a gallery owner, promoting local artists. He has great information there and is an inspiring story himself. Today he is writing about the National D-Day Memorial which he had a hand in. Very nice and interesting story.
2 comments:
Awesome story !!
René, thank you. Yes, there were so many stories and families affected.
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