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    A Reluctant Hero's Footsteps
    A Reluctant Hero's Footsteps
    A Reluctant Hero's Footsteps
    Ebook146 pages1 hour

    A Reluctant Hero's Footsteps

    By John R. Scales

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    About this ebook

    In 2011, by chance I discovered the after-action reports of the 329th Infantry Regiment, my fathers World War II unit, on the Internet. An idea was born: use these to reconstruct my fathers path in Europe. I would take my three children, Richard, Mary, and Stephen, on a trip to retrace those footsteps. This book is about our travels, but it is much more. It documents the life of a man and his family, the history of a unit, and how, through research and luck, we were able piece together the story. As far as possible, I tell the tale of my fathers life with pictures and artifacts from that life. In parallel, I relate the history of the unit he joined in combat, inserting pictures where I can. In fitting all the records together with the trip itself, I discovered my father in new ways and built a memory for my children. In an appendix, I give you a guide as to how you can do this for your veterans as well.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateJun 3, 2013
    ISBN9781449796495
    A Reluctant Hero's Footsteps
    Author

    John R. Scales

    John R. Scales is a retired Special Forces brigadier general with more than three decades of service, including combat tours in Vietnam and Afghanistan. He also has a Ph.D. in engineering and worked in that field after retiring from the military. In addition to receiving five patents for inventions, General Scales has written two previous books: Sherman Invades Georgia (Naval Institute Press, 2006) and A Reluctant Hero’s Footsteps (Westbow Press, 2012). A past president of the Tennessee Valley Civil War Roundtable, he leads Civil War campaign tours in Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia.

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      Book preview

      A Reluctant Hero's Footsteps - John R. Scales

      SKU-000647402.pdf

      Copyright © 2013 John R. Scales

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1-(866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-9648-8 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-9649-5 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2013909601

      Printed in the United States of America.

      WestBow Press rev. date: 5/29/2013

      missing image file

      Contents

      Acknowledgements

      Introduction

      Chapter 1 — Growing Up

      Chapter 2 — A Job, A Marriage, And A War

      Chapter 3 — Sixty-Seven Years Later

      Chapter 4 — Normandy And Brittany

      Chapter 5 — The Loire Valley

      Chapter 6 — Grevenmacher

      Chapter 7 — Echternach, Biwer, And Hettage Grande

      Chapter 8 — The Rest Of The War

      Chapter 9 — The Rest Of The Story

      Appendix A — Sources

      Appendix B — How You Can Find Records

      About The Author

      Also by John Scales

      Sherman Invades Georgia

      To my parents,

      Dick and Anne Scales,

      both Reluctant Heroes.

      Acknowledgements

      Any book such as this is the result of the efforts, not only of the author, but of many others behind the scenes. Most important, of course, are my children. Richard drove the rental car throughout France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Germany, and only stalled it once (which I did, too—European stick shift cars are often rather underpowered). Mary, although not along for the original trip, provided encouragement and accompanied me when I needed some follow-up photos, and Stephen lent his abundant common sense to our detailed itinerary at every turn.

      My friend Crystal Harrison heard me talk about the trip and, knowing I was somewhat an author, suggested I turn the story of the trip into a book. I hadn’t even thought of that, so in some sense this is all her fault.

      The National Archives staff, both in Bethesda, Maryland, and St. Louis, Missouri, was very helpful in every way. As an appendix to this book I offer a few words of advice on how to navigate among these archives for those who would like to replicate this effort for their family.

      Stephen Everett of the US Army Center for Military History provided the 1944 organization of a rifle platoon and pointed me towards the maps at the National Archives.

      There is an 83rd Infantry Division Association active on Facebook and the web. Some of the unit members still attend reunions, such as the 66th Reunion in Nashville in 2012. Dave Curry, the association historian, was the person who posted the records on the internet that started this journey. Many others, including William Spriggs, a World War II veteran of C Company, Jelle and Eric Thys of Belgium, Marc Miller, and Jean Paul Pitou of France all offered encouragement. All are active in the association and have posted photos and records that greatly illuminate the trials of the soldiers of the division.

      Of course, responsibility for any errors is mine alone, so I hope there are as few as possible!

      missing image file

      Lieutenant Thomas R. Scales

      Introduction

      My father, Thomas Richard Scales, rarely talked of his military experiences but the Army was a shadow always present when I grew up. His left tibia had been shattered in northern France in 1944 and he always walked with a limp. He could not run. In his closet, however, were items fascinating to a young boy such as me: a Nazi dagger and cap, a German camouflage poncho, patches, ribbons, and other bits of clothing. Among other influences, these inclined me towards a military career.

      In 1994, the 50th anniversary of D-Day, I proposed to take him to Europe to visit the places he had been, but he waved me away—not interested. Five years later he died and I thought the opportunity to see it through his eyes was gone forever. I had some of his old personnel records that gave some insight but the real details were not there.

      In 2011 by chance I discovered the after action reports of the 329th Infantry Regiment, his wartime unit, on the internet. An idea was born: use these to reconstruct my father’s path in World War II. I would take my three children, Richard, Mary, and Stephen, on a trip to retrace those footsteps. For several months I worked on the records, transforming them into a guide to the ground. Final arrangements were made for September of 2011. Richard would take vacation from his job. Stephen would use the trip as the kickoff for his wanderjahr. Mary’s study of art restoration in Florence had already started, so she had to drop out but was able to join me on a subsequent trip.

      This book is about our trips, but it is

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