Sigolsheim  60th Anniversary Commemorations

Wreath laying at Sigolsheim Memorial Dec. 12, 2004

"On December 12th the towns of Kientzheim, Kaysesberg, Ammerschwihr and Sigolsheim will commemorate the 60th anniversary of their liberation. Indeed they were liberated from Nazi occupation but they were reduced to a pile of rubble and the civilians had either perished, burnt alive in their basements, or fled. The towns are located at the exit of the Vosges Mountains, near the last elevation overlooking the Alsatian plain. The fighting for the possession of that vantage point was fierce between the SS and men from the 36th and 3rd US Infantry Divisions.

The toll was heavy and the Sigolsheim heights were nicknamed "Blutberg" (Bloody Mountain) by the Germans. The winter weather added to the discomfort. The area is now peaceful and beautiful and only the French cemetery where hundreds of French colonial troops are buried reminds us of the vicious battle that was waged here so Colmar could be liberated without destructions. Close by, an impressive American monument installed by the Rhine and Danube Association bears witness to the ties between the two armies: a rare fact in our history, American divisions fought under the command of the French Army!

The civilians from this area are most thankful to the Americans for their participation and sacrifices. The town square in Sigolsheim has been named the Square of the 15th Regiment. Over the course of the years the towns have given numerous receptions to American veterans. They would like to honor them one more time for the 60th anniversary. In recent years the weather has been very decent at this time of the year, unlike the winter of 1944-45. Your presence at the commemorations on December 12th would be most meaningful. If you think you are able to attend, please contact the "French connection" and your occasional tour guide:

Lise Pommois, 8 rue des cerisiers, 67110 Niederbronn, France. Phone and fax: (country code) + 3 88 09 05 63.
E-mail: pommois@wanadoo.fr.
Everyone will work hard to make your stay a pleasant one.

Lise is a wonderful friend of the Society, and now needs our help in providing veterans at an important event in France in December. Anyone who is fortunate enough to be at this commemoration will have a wonderful time. The French people are truly grateful for all we did in 1944 and early 1945. Thanks for your help.
With warmest regards, John Shirley

The Other D-Day
France Pays Tribute To Soldiers Of Operation Dragoon
By CHRISTINE OLLIVIER
Published on 8/16/2004

Photo by Claude Paris

French President Jacques Chirac, left, awards the Legion of Honor to American World War II veteran John Shirley, 1Lt 15th Inf. Reg., 3rd Infantry Division, during a military ceremony aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle Sunday. The ceremony marked the 60th anniversary of the assault of Allied forces on the southern shores of France 10 weeks after the Normandy landings.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco, 13 African heads of state and representatives of eight other nations joined President Jacques Chirac for the belated tribute to the Aug. 15, 1944, landings in Provence — codenamed “Operation Dragoon” — which helped change the course of the war.

Aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, anchored off the Mediterranean port of Toulon, Chirac pinned France's prestigious Legion of Honor award on the chests of 21 veterans representing countries that had contributed troops.

Chirac called the landings along France's southern shores a “new stage ... in the merciless struggle that would decide the fate of our nations” and said they “opened a major new front.”

“Sixty years ago, at the cost of immense sacrifices, the forces of freedom pursued their assault to smash the machine of death and hatred that was on course to enslave Europe,” Chirac said in a speech on the deck of the Charles de Gaulle.

U.S. soldiers and British paratroopers also were honored in two ceremonies on Saturday, with 18 among them receiving the Legion of Honor.

Overshadowed by the bigger and bloodier D-Day landings in Normandy 10 weeks earlier, the southern landings have been largely overlooked and are often referred to as “The Other D-Day.”

While veterans of Operation Dragoon were honored 10 years ago, on the 50th anniversary, Sunday's ceremony was the first time African vets were so remembered with such military pomp and fanfare.

White-robed African veterans stood proudly to receive their honors and kisses on both cheeks from Chirac. Many expressed mixed emotions at being honored so long after combat.

“Sixty years after, they've remembered. It took a long time,” 83-year-old Hamady Gadio of Mauritania said at a morning ceremony in the village of Cavalaire.

In an unusual gesture, the French president also gave a special award, the Cross of the Legion of Honor, to the city of Algiers, then part of France and the seat from 1943-1944 of the Provisional Government of the French Republic — the government of Gen. Charles de Gaulle opposed to the collaborationist Vichy regime.

Chirac said it was important to recognize the “crucial and singular” role of Algiers, which had been “the capital of fighting France.”

A Naval parade of 21 French and five foreign ships moved westward from Antibes to pass the Charles de Gaulle during the ceremony. A dozen airplanes also flew by.

“Those valiant soldiers came from metropolitan France and from every horizon of France's overseas empire,” Chirac said. “The sons of your nations joined their names to the military legend of France and forever mingled their blood with ours.”

Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, speaking at the ceremony in Cavalaire, west of Saint Tropez, said the southern landings “marked the Renaissance of the French army,” fortified by Africans who “united with Europeans under the French flag.”

While meeting little resistance in many cases, soldiers who took part in the southern assault then made their way to the more dangerous north toward Germany.

The chaos of battle has prevented a definitive Allied death toll, but the French Defense Ministry says 1,300 Allied soldiers died in the operation's first two days.

Estimates for the numbers of the soldiers who fought in Operation Dragoon, one of the least remembered operations of World War II, vary widely. French military experts have put the figure of African soldiers between 50,000 and 120,000. The higher figure would be about half of the French contingent.

Associated Press Writer Jocelyn Gecker in Cavalaire contributed to this report.
© The Day Publishing Co., 2004

Photos of this event: Click here

More Photos from John Shirley's Tour to France

Here are two web pages of the French Tour from Mitchy

http://pageperso.aol.fr/rotmwwii/veterans.html

http://pageperso.aol.fr/rotmwwii/BESANCON2004.html
 

A couple of months ago I received a message from a friend in Jebsheim France advising me that they knew someone in the Colmar area that had found an ID bracelet with the name Arthur L. Symonds 39 141 259 and the name Donnie inscribed. They knew that my regiment, the 254th Infantry Regiment, had been in the area in January 1945 and thought that I might be able to identify the owner so that it could be returned to them or their family. Without going into a lot of detail, I was able to locate the son of Arthur L. Symonds (The father and mother (Donnie) have died).

He was put in contact with the people who found the bracelet and it is being returned to him. Also the son and his wife will travel to the Alsace area in January to participate in the 60th anniversary celebrations of the liberation of that area. Arthur L. Symonds was in the Third Infantry Division, at least his photo shows him with a 3d Inf Div patch. I am attaching a copy of the photo to this message. Just thought you might like to hear the story and have the photo of the 3rd Inf Div veteran.

Fred Clinton, Webmaster 63rd Infantry Division

  http://www.63rdinfdiv.com/ 

Pfc Arthur L. Symonds was a member of the 7th Infantry Regiment during WWII

Exactly  60 years ago, the little town of my father was liberated by the “Marne Division”. On the morning of 16 September, 1944, the 1^st battalion 15^th Infantry was the first to entered LURE, near the Vosges mountains. I am happy to send you some pics about that. I hope you will appreciate them. Best Regards and God Bless the marnemens

A French friend
Thierry JUIF

Clipping courtesy of Frank Pistone

General Patton explaining to 3ID Officer, his position!

3rd Signal Company Photo

   
Karl M. Kindt Jr.
Killed in action while fighting in the 3rd Division
in a town called Gadheim, Germany
4/12/1945 killed 
buried in St. Avold, Lorraine cemetery

I have found 2 pics about 3rd US ID, I join you for the website. hope you
enjoyed...
MITCHY

1st pic :  Private Harold STREICH (3rd ID) Chicago, a military policeman,
searches a bespectacled German prisoner, who with the other Germans in the
background were captured on the Salerno front  OCT, 3, 1943  

2nd pic :   Yanks pass dead German. two American soldiers (one medic) ,
members of the Third Inf. Div., march past a dead German soldier at the side
of the road in a hilly section of the Italian front Dec. 18,  1943

I scanned from the collection of photos taken by
Capt. Hugh A. O'Neill, surgeon, 3rd Medical Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division.
 He passed away last year, but luckily his daughter-in-law, Vickie O'Neill is
a secretary where I work.  She passed along these photos to me to look at and scan.  
The attached photo was taken in an unknown location.  I would almost swear
that the guy in the middle row, second from the left is Audie Murphy.  I
just finished reading "To Hell and Back" and I would swear that is him.  I
know he was wounded several times.  It makes sense he would have been around
the 3rd Med. Battalion. for treatment.  What do you think?  I am sending this
photo to others for their opinion. 
From Steve Mazak
whiskeyhoundog@aol.com

Capt. Hugh A. O'Neill of the 3rd Medical Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division.
  In the rear areas at Anzio.

I wanted  to email a photograph of my father while he was in bootcamp at Fort Ord in 1942. 
He was a forward observer in the 41st Field Artillery Battalion, Battery A. He was wounded 3 times.
His name was Jack C. Comer Pfc and is listed in the roster of the 41st Field Artillery 
in the book "History of the Third Infantry Division. He died in 1978.  
Jim Comer

G. Murl Conner
Click on name to go to website
A Clinton County (KY) War Hero

This photo was taken at Cavalaire France 1944. The pilot in the picture is Wilfred M. Boucher, 
formerly of the 41st Field Artillery.    
Boucher had an extra fuel tank, and when he switched over to it an air bubble caused him to stall out and plop in the ocean. The navy put him and his plane on the beach.
Photo from Dick Fietz with description by Capt. Alfred "Dutch" Schultz pilot of "Janey" an artillery spotting plane. 
By the way, "Dutch" even remembered all the details of Boucher's mission.  
He had a radio on the navy's frequency and was supposed to tell the naval gunners when to stop firing.  
He also told me a story that I had never heard.  A plane cut one of our balloons loose and the bomb hanging 
from the balloon cable struck and killed a group of German soldiers.

Hopefully someone can tell me where this picture
was taken and who the other people in the photo are.
My father is in the first row far right.
Michael Lynch mlynch@uti.com

The attached photos are from my late father's WWII album. 
If interested you can place in your photo section.
                                    Thanks, Lee Hatfield, Jr.

Salzburg Airport 1945 - German plane - 
(l-r)  Pfc. Lee Hatfield (2nd Battalion) Sgt. Harry Dotson

Berchtesgaden

7th Regt. 3d Inf. Div. troops at Berchtesgaden May 1945, 
have something to smile about after 3 years of intensive fighting .
Jerry Daddato, OP 18 sent the 1945 June issue of Yank magazine with this photo on the front page.

from MichelMITCHY@aol.com