LET THIS MEMORIAL SERVE AS A REMINDER THAT THE ENJOYMENT OF LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS WAS PURCHASED BY THE SACRIFICES OF THE GREATEST GENERATION. MAY THEIR EFFORTS NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
RESIDENTS OF SAGAMORE HILLS
“THEY’RE NOT YOUNG ANYMORE. NOT THE FRESH, SMOOTH CHEEKED BOYS
YOU SAW AT A DANCE TWO YEARS AGO. THEY HAVE A HARD-BITTEN LOOK.”
BRIGADIER GENERAL THEODORE ROOSEVELT, JR
IN THE EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN THEATER, THE U.S. ARMY FOUGHT TO DEFEAT THE AXIS POWERS FROM THE SANDS OF NORTH AFRICA TO THE RUINS OF GERMANY. LIKE THE MEN WHO FOUGHT BESIDE GEORGE WASHINGTON, THEY SAW SCENES AND ENDURED SUFFERING THEY WOULD NOT SOON FORGET.
IN ALL THEATERS, UNDER PRIMITIVE CONDITIONS AND SHORTAGES OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES, DOCTORS AND NURSES NEAR THE FRONTLINES, WOULD WORK ROUND THE CLOCK TO SAVE THE WOUNDED AND COMFORT THE DYING. THERE WOULD BE LITTLE TIME FOR TEARS AS THE LITTER BEARERS AND AMBULANCES KEPT COMING.
AIRMEN DEPENDED ON OXYGEN AND HEATED GARMENTS AS TEMPERATURES DROPPED TO -40°F. UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS, BOMBER CREWS FLEW MISSIONS FOR 6 HOURS OR MORE WITH NO WHERE TO HIDE. NOT ONLY WAS THERE DANGER OF BEING KILLED BY FLAK, BUT SUFFICATING OR FREEZING TO DEATH IF LIFE SUPPORT WAS DAMAGED. MORE AIRMEN WOULD BE LOST IN EUROPE THAN MARINES KILLED FIGHTING IN THE PACIFIC.
TANK CREWS LIVED WITH THE CONSTANT NOISE AND VIBRATION OF THE MACHINE THEY CALLED HOME. PADDED HELMETS WERE WORN AS THEY BOUNCED OFF THE WALLS CROSSING ROUGH TERRAIN. IN SUMMER, INSIDE TEMPERATURES COULD REACH 140°F. IF THE TANK WAS PIERCED BY ARTILLARY, RED-HOT STEEL FRAGMENTS COULD KILL THEM AND SET THE AMMUNITION ON FIRE. AS THE CREW’S VISION WAS LIMITED, THE PRESENCE OF THE INFANTRY WAS WELCOMED. THE INFANTRY COULD SEE AND ENGAGE THE ENEMY TRYING TO GET CLOSE WITH ANTI-TANK WEAPONS.
GLIDER PILOTS FLEW IN UNARMED, UNPOWERED AIRCRAFT CAPABLE OF CARRYING 15 MEN. MANY TROOPS DIED IN BAD LANDINGS OR ENEMY FIRE. THEY WERE THE ONLY AVIATORS WHO HAD NO ENGINES, NO PARACHUTES AND NO SECOND CHANCES FOR ANOTHER “GO AROUND”. ONCE GLIDERS LANDED BEHIND ENEMY LINES, PILOTS BECAME FOOT SOLDIERS AND FOUGHT UNTIL ORDERED TO BASE TO FLY ANOTHER MISSION.
THE 23RD HEADQUARTERS SPECIAL TROOPS, NICKNAMED “THE GHOST ARMY”, WAS A TACTICAL DECEPTION UNIT. THE 1100-MAN UNIT HAD THE UNIQUE MISSION TO IMPERSONATE OTHER U.S. ARMY UNITS. UTILIZING INFLATABLE TANKS, SOUND TRUCKS, AND FAKE RADIO TRANSMISSIONS, THE MEN PUT ON “TRAVELING ROAD SHOWS” STAGING MORE THAN 20 BATTLEFIELD DECEPTIONS TO MISDIRECT THE GERMAN ARMY.
FRONT LINE TROOPS WOULD CARRY PACKS WEIGHING 75 LBS. OR MORE. IT TOOK A SUPPLY CHAIN OF AT LEAST 16 MEN TO SUPPORT ONE MAN AT THE FRONT WITH FOOD, GEAR AND AMMO.
(MERCHANT MARINERS) “HAVE WRITTEN ONE OF ITS MOST BRILLIANT CHAPTERS. THEY HAVE DELIVERED THE GOODS WHEN AND WHERE NEEDED IN EVERY THEATER OF OPERATIONS AND ACROSS EVERY OCEAN IN THE BIGGEST, THE MOST DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS JOB EVER UNDERTAKEN.” PRESIDENT FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT.
- ENLISTMENT AGE WAS 18 (17 WITH PARENTAL CONSENT) TO 45
- OVER 200,000 “MEN” LIED ABOUT THEIR AGE AND WERE UNDER 17
- AVERAGE DURATION OF SERVICE WAS 33 MONTHS
- 473 MEDALS OF HONOR WERE AWARDED – YOUNGEST RECIPIENT WAS 17 YEARS OLD • OVER 125,000 SILVER STARS WERE AWARDED – FOUR TO NURSES
- 395,380 BRONZE STARS WERE AWARDED -YOUNGEST RECIPIENT WAS 13 YEARS OLD
SOME TROOPS WERE OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE FOUGHT IN WORLD WAR 1 AND YOUNG ENOUGH TO FIGHT IN WORLD WAR 2. IF TOO OLD, DID THEY TELL THEIR SONS OF THE HELL THAT AWAITED THEM EVEN AS THE SONS WERE SAYING “HOPE IT ISN’T OVER BEFORE I GET THERE”. HOW THOSE WORDS MUST HAVE ECHOED TO THE FATHERS.
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