A Soldier’s Story -- World War II and The Battle at Sessenheim, France
()
About this ebook
"A Soldier's Story -- World War II and the Battle at Sessenheim, France" offers a gripping personal account of one soldier's combat experiences on the bloody battlefields of France and Germany during the months preceding the Allies' 1945 victory in Europe. John T. "Jack" Scannell was a staff sergeant with the 411th Infantry Regiment of the 103rd "Cactus" Division. He was decorated with the Silver Star for his heroic rescue of wounded US soldiers from a French farmhouse under siege of German fire. Defying a threat of court martial and braving enemy attack, he returned to the farmhouse where the wounded men had been left behind, honoring his promise to them that he’d come back. Five decades later, after relentless searching, one of those men would locate him and be able to thank him finally.
The author currently lives in Michigan with his wife, Norma. He is the father of twelve children, and the grandfather (so far) of fifteen grandchildren.
John T. "Jack" Scannell
"A Soldier's Story" was transcribed from audiotapes of John T. “Jack” Scannell’s recollections of his WWII infantry service in Europe, supplemented with contemporaneous conversations. It is offered as one soldier’s personal narrative of an historic war that profoundly affected a generation whose experiences pre-dated the automatic recording and routine documentation of day-to-day life that we now enjoy in this internet age. "A Soldier's Story -- World War II and the Battle at Sessenheim, France" offers a gripping personal account of one soldier's combat experiences on the bloody battlefields of France and Germany during the months preceding the Allies' 1945 victory in Europe. John T. "Jack" Scannell was a staff sergeant with the 411th Infantry Regiment of the 103rd "Cactus" Division. He was decorated with the Silver Star for his heroic rescue of wounded US soldiers from a French farmhouse under siege of German fire. Defying a threat of court martial and braving enemy attack, he returned to the farmhouse where the wounded men had been left behind, honoring his promise to them that he’d come back. Five decades later, after relentless searching, one of those men would locate him and be able to thank him finally. The author currently lives in Michigan with his wife, Norma. He is the father of twelve children, and the grandfather (so far) of fifteen grandchildren.
Related to A Soldier’s Story -- World War II and The Battle at Sessenheim, France
Related ebooks
The Band Never Played for Us: The Vietnam War As Seen By a Marine Rifleman In 1967 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 409th Infantry in World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Striking Back: March–April 1951 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Short History of World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTo Command the Sky: The Battle for Air Superiority Over Germany, 1942-1944 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Soldier From The War Returning: The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming from World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Famous Bombers Of The Second World War, Volume One Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In Defense of Freedom: Stories of Courage and Sacrifice of World War II Army Air Forces Flyers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Who Protested Against the Vietnam War? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScreams of the Drowning: From the Eastern Front to the Sinking of the Gustloff Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings75th Infantry Division: Ardennes, Central Europe, Rhineland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSURVIVING BERLIN: AN ORAL HISTORY Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsB-17 Memories: From Memphis Belle to Victory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSoldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, & Honor Our Military Fallen Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Military in San Diego Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Send the Alabamians: World War I Fighters in the Rainbow Division Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vietnam Photographs from North Carolina Veterans: The Memories They Brought Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWings of Denial: The Alabama Air National Guard’s Covert Role at the Bay of Pigs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Only War We've Got Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Warrior Image: Soldiers in American Culture from the Second World War to the Vietnam Era Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAutopsy of War: A Personal History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5GIs and Fräuleins: The German-American Encounter in 1950s West Germany Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInfantry Attacks [1944 Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ice Soldier: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eisenhower And Manstein: Operational Leadership Lessons Of The Past For Today's Commanders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNo Need for Heroes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vietnam Studies - The War In The Northern Provinces 1966-1968 [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife as a Battle of Britain Pilot Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No Quarter Given: The Change In Strategic Bombing Application In The Pacific Theater During World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnarmed, Unarmored and Unescorted: A World War 2 C-47 Airborne Troop Carrier Pilot Remembers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Historical Biographies For You
The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer: An Edgar Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Like Me: The Definitive Griffin Estate Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Moveable Feast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coreyography: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diary of Anne Frank (The Definitive Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mein Kampf Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Twelve Years a Slave (Illustrated) (Two Pence books) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil and Harper Lee Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago: The Authorized Abridgement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leonardo da Vinci Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup (AD Classic) (Illustrated) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shakespeare: The World as Stage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for A Soldier’s Story -- World War II and The Battle at Sessenheim, France
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
A Soldier’s Story -- World War II and The Battle at Sessenheim, France - John T. "Jack" Scannell
A Soldier’s Story
World War II
and
The Battle at Sessenheim, France
by
John T. Jack
Scannell
Staff Sergeant, L Company
3rd Battalion of the 411th infantry Regiment
of the 103rd Cactus
Division
––––––––
Edited by Kate Scannell
Copyright © 2011, Kate Scannell. All rights reserved.
This book was transcribed from audiotapes of John T. Jack
Scannell’s recollections of his WWII infantry service in Europe, supplemented with contemporaneous conversations. It is offered as one soldier’s personal narrative of an historic war that profoundly affected a generation whose experiences pre-dated the automatic recording and routine documentation of day-to-day life that we now enjoy in this internet age.
This is a work of nonfiction. Names, characters, places, incidents, commodities, and events are recalled by the author in good faith and to the best of his recollection.
Published in the United States of America by Word Haven Media, INC. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without permission is illegal.
ISBN-13: 978-1467990110
ISBN-10: 1467990116
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to
the 821 members of the 103rd Infantry Division
who did not make it back,
and
to my loving wife, Norma.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I have so many people to acknowledge and too many to name who have been part of my life, my story, my attempt to publish this memoir. I hope I have let them know how important they have been to me.
411th Infantry Regiment
103RD Cactus Division Shoulder Patch
Contents
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FROM THE BOWLING ALLEY TO FORT CUSTER
AT FORT CUSTER — A LONG, LONG WAY FROM HOME
OUT OF THE COOKING VATS AND INTO CAMP CLAIBORNE
YOU’RE IN THE INFANTRY NOW
REVEILLE
BASIC TRAINING
OFF TO CAMP SHANKS, NEW YORK
BOARDING THE USS MONTICELLO FOR MARSEILLE
THE FORTY-AND-EIGHT
TO SAINT-DIÉ, FRANCE
MAISONGOUTTE, FRANCE
BOBENTHAL, GERMANY AND THE SIEGFRIED LINE
THE BATTLE AT SESSENHEIM, FRANCE
ENGWILLER, NANCY, AND GUNGA DIN
LANDSBERG, GERMANY
ONWARD TO INNSBRUCK AND BRENNER PASS
AFTER THE WAR
THE JOURNEY HOME
AFTERWORD
FROM THE BOWLING ALLEY TO FORT CUSTER
––––––––
ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1941, I was in Jack Millet’s Bowling Alley on Trumble Avenue in Detroit playing with a league from St. Dominic’s Parish—a church at the corner of Warren and Trumble and just a few blocks south of the alley. St. Dominic’s league bowled there every Sunday after the last mass. Besides having alleys, Millett’s also had pool tables—eight of them—that were occupied by the young folks who, for the most part, were the offspring of the adults who belonged on the bowling league.
Like in any other bowling alley, you heard the usual sounds of people cheering each other on, and the hard balls hitting the alleys and then crashing into ten pins at the ends of the lanes, and the clicking of the ivory billiard balls on the pool tables. But all of a sudden, the noises stopped and everybody stood quietly in stunned silence, dropping everything they were doing at the time. A radio announcer had come on and announced that the Japanese were attacking Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Everybody stood still for quite some time, but, eventually, a low murmur began. Then people returned to their bowling and shooting pool, although their cheering was muted and their conversations were more subdued. In the early evening, everyone finally went home, probably like me, to further contemplate the meaning of what had just happened that morning at Pearl Harbor.
The next day—Monday, December 8, 1941—President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that we were at war with Japan, and that the day would go down as a date that will live in infamy.
I had found out that the recruiting office, at least for the Navy, was located at the Federal Building in downtown Detroit—although they may have called it the McNamara Building
at that time, named after a Senator from Michigan. Regardless, I was down there fairly early in the morning on one of the upper floors, and, as I entered the room, I removed my hat and topcoat and held them in my left hand. Nobody back then asked me to hang them up because in those days, in the 1940s, whenever you went somewhere like the Federal Building, a church, a nice downtown theatre or a nightclub, everybody dressed up. You wore the best you had, and that usually included a decent hat. By way of comparison, today you could probably go down there in tank tops and nobody would give you a second look. That’s how things have changed regarding dress codes.
After being tested with eye charts for color-blindness, I joined a moving line of young men. Standing at the front of the line was a dentist and, as each man came up, the dentist would look into his mouth and then go on to the next guy, one at a time. When I got up to the dentist, he opened my mouth and said simply, Sorry.
He was not going to qualify me because of my teeth. He told me in so many words that the reason for my being rejected was that I had two molars missing. After I registered some disappointment, he said, Well, don’t worry about it. Somebody will be in touch with you. You’ll be called again.
Sure enough, like the dentist said, within two or three months I was called down for a physical again—this time, for the army. However, again, I was rejected—now because of sugar being detected in the urine test. In those days, most of the young men would spend their evenings in bars and bowling alleys, drinking quite a few Cokes and mixed drinks and so forth—so that, undoubtedly, was the reason they found the urine sample to contain sugar.
So, here again, I was somewhat disappointed. But the guy at the recruiting center again said, Don’t worry about it. They will be calling you.
Several months later, they did call again. This time, I was to appear at the Draft Board located in Redford on Grand River Avenue, across the street from the Redford Receiving Hospital. I met a fellow there by the name of Harold Foxley. Although he lived in that area, we belonged to the same draft board.
We were ordered to take another physical in an abandoned corset factory, and I will never forget that event as long as I live. There must have been a hundred men in a line against the perimeter walls of this rather large room, and the only thing they were wearing were shoes and socks. There was even a piano in the room, and some young fellow—also naked—was really banging away at the god darned ivories. It was comical as hell.
At any rate, I passed the examination and so did this guy, Foxley. And somehow or other, we both got notices to show up at the Michigan Central Depot which, at the time, was a very beautiful building located down at the foot of 14th Street, just off Michigan Avenue. From the Depot, we were supposed to board trains heading for Fort Custer, the large induction center for our area.
Meanwhile, I had an uncle by marriage who owned a bar named Wood’s Clay Pipe
on