Scrapbook of Heroes
A Police Department's Collective Family Tree in the Second World War
INTRODUCTION
Hanging on the wall in my office at the Prince William County (VA) Police Department is a poster of Pointe Du Hoc on the Normandy coastline. This poster sparked many interesting conversations over the years, as fellow officers would casually mention the fact that a relative of theirs served in uniform during the war. An administrative assistant’s brother in law at the Battle of the Bulge, a Gang Unit detective’s grandfather shot down over the Ploesti oil fields and a First Sergeant’s uncle who flew dive bombers off the deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid. The more of these conversations I had, the more I suspected that through my colleagues I had an indirect connection to men who fought in every theatre during World War II.
Curiosity got the best of me. On July the 19th, 2009 I sent an email to the employees of the Prince William County Police Department requesting information about any relatives they may have that served during the war. My original intent was to start a project that would last only a few weeks; producing a small pamphlet of a dozen or so pages to document how our relatives were “related” to one another via their assignments during the Second World War.
What I ended up with was an outpouring of interest from police officers and department administrative staff. Within hours of sending the email I had several responses. Within days I had dozens of fantastic stories. And within weeks I realized that I had a much bigger project on my hands than I originally anticipated. By the spring of 2010 I received information on over one hundred WWII veterans.
Many submissions were vague, with a police department employee holding the knowledge that their grandfather served during the war but nothing beyond that fact. Their relatives had already passed away – the tales of their service to country buried with them. The investigation of other veterans was much easier, as some of these men had already documented their war experiences by writing their own books on the subject (George Neill’s account of the Battle of the Bulge titled “Infantry Soldier” and William Mottley’s tale of combat with the 29th Infantry Division, “A Narrow Strip of WWII”). Several other veteran stories were well documented in other books, such as noted historian Alex Kershaw’s fantastic book “The Bedford Boys”, which tells the tale of Roy and Ray Stevens and the men of the 116th Infantry Regiment on D-Day. Much of the information came from stories verbally passed down between generations, some came from notes and journals jotted down by veterans, official government records, old newspaper clippings and several came from interviews of the veterans by the author.
Researching the project produced some interesting stories. My incessant nagging of colleagues to dig up information on their relatives sometimes resulted in the discovery of hidden gems. A close friend of mine, the grandson of a ball turret gunner who had passed away several years ago, called his parents in Pennsylvania and asked them to prod around his grandfather’s old house to see if they could find anything that would help tell his story. As a result the family found a decaying bag in the attic which was filled with his grandfather’s WWII memorabilia. Other similar stories surfaced, such as an Internal Affairs secretary retrieving her father in law’s 24 foot long Nazi banner which was tucked away in a suitcase; a war trophy that hadn’t seen the light of day in decades.
Much of the research for the book came not from the author, but from the descendants of these great men. Many searched through old scrapbooks, boxes stashed in crawlspaces and many picked up the phone and shot a call to a relative they haven’t spoke to in years to seek out information. In one case I had the pleasure of sitting down with a senior member of the police department in his conference room. He pulled out a large scrapbook, looked at me, and said “This will be the first time I have opened this scrapbook. What you see here I have never seen until today.” As it turned out, the scrapbook was filled with fantastic pieces of family history; original photos from combat duty in the Pacific, foreign currency and love letters written by his mother to his father.
Over the course of several months it was discovered that dozens of ancestors of the Prince William County Police Department held fascinating tales of war. Six men who are discussed in this book were in Normandy on D-Day. Five men were held by Axis forces as prisoners of war. Five men fought at the Battle of the Bulge. Two men were in Tokyo Bay during the formal Japanese surrender and two men guarded Nazi war criminals during the infamous war crimes trials in Nuremberg.
Within these pages are men and women who had common occupational specialties such as infantrymen, medics and pilots. Also are stories of rare specialties such as military veterinarians, railroad soldiers and even a Signal Corps pigeoneer. In this book you will read about decorated warriors; many who received Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars, Distinguished Service Crosses and one Army officer who earned not one, but two Silver Stars. And sadly, seven men were killed in action or died while being held in captivity. Whatever the veterans duty, from piloting a B-17 over hostile territory to driving a desk in Washington, D.C.; each and every one of these men and women made an important contribution to the war effort.
With all the information compiled, and most of the research complete, the next hurdle was how to place the information into an informative, yet interesting format. What I was trying to accomplish was to tell the tales of over 100 World War II veterans, and how their stories relate to “The Big Picture” of the Second World War. A difficult task considering accomplished historians have stated it is virtually impossible to tell the complete story of World War II in one book; but to add into the equation the stories of 100 veterans? Not likely. As a result, what you will find are brief biographies of World War II veterans, all of which have ties to the Prince William County Police Department. You will also find their stories listed side by side with a summary of the events of the Second World War.
There was great temptation to tap into the National Achieves to use famous photographs to help tell this story. Available for use are fantastic photos such as the flag raising at Mount Suribachi, American infantrymen wading ashore at Omaha Beach or a sailor sneaking a victory kiss in the middle of Times Square. In the end it was decided only to use the original photos, documents, war trophies and other pieces of nostalgia from the families of the veterans in this book.
One temptation I did succumb to was expediting the research and production of the manuscript. I would have liked to have taken additional time to conduct more thorough research - spend a few days at the National Archives pouring through military records, snoop around a few museums and travel out of state to interview surviving veterans in person rather than by phone. But there was a sense of urgency that could not be ignored. Each day approximately 1,000 WWII veterans pass away. Since the beginning of this project two of the veterans profiled in this book have died. Half way through the project a coworker advised me that his relative, who I had previously interviewed, was concerned that he may not be alive to read the book by the time it was released. It became apparent that time was not a luxury that I had at my disposal.
I hope at a minimum we have been successful in documenting these tales so our grandchildren and great grandchildren will hold bragging rights as to what their family did during the greatest war the world has ever seen.
Here are the short stories of over 100 WWII veterans representing just .000016% of the 16 million men and women who served in uniform during the Second World War.
These are their tales. This is their Scrapbook.