By Benjamin Tumlinson
Columbia Historical Museum Board Member
Being removed from Memorial Day by less than a week, the sacrifice of those who served is probably fresh in our memories. On the heels of this sacred day of remembrance is the anniversary of a great campaign that marked the beginning of the end of World War II. This endeavor was paved with the bravery, boldness and blood of brave men who stood in the gap to show the world that the impossible was only in our minds.
Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich had declared one if its greatest victories by defeating the French Army in 1940. By 1942, France was under total occupation by German and Italian Axis powers. The Allies desperately needed to regain territory in the European Theater. The Allied plan for a large-scale invasion and lodgment of Europe was named Operation Overlord. This operation consisted of a massive bombing campaign, airborne and airborne landings and an amphibious assault. The amphibious assault landing was code-named Operation Neptune.
BEGINNING OF THE END OF WWII
Operation Neptune targeted a 50-mile stretch of coast in Normandy, France. Five beaches, or sectors, were selected for the attack. The Americans led the invasions at Utah and Omaha beaches, the British in Gold and Sword and the Canadians in Juno. (ATI, One Beach, Warde, Samuel) This operation represented the largest amphibious invasion in world history.
More than 156,000 Allied troops stormed the coast by sea and air to fight Nazi Germany. Thousands of lives were lost in this significant battle that is credited with beginning the end of the war in Europe. (National Veteran’s Memorial Museum, Remembering D-Day)
D-Day was the Allied code word for the first day of an operation. The 6th of June 1944, or D-day, has become known as a singular event in World War II and will forever be etched in the world’s memory. It certainly left a painful impact on American and Allied families. The anniversary of D-Day is a moment to pause and reflect on the great sacrifice and legacy of those who fought and died at Normandy.
The number of casualties is still not definitive. According to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, the number of fatalities on D-Day is 4,414. This accounts for every Allied soldier, sailor, airman, and coast guardsman who died in the 24-hour period known as “D-Day”.
Estimates for the American servicemen are staggering. The First U.S. Army, accounting for the first 24 hours in Normandy, tabulated 1,465 killed, 1,928 missing and 6,603 wounded. However, the after-action report of U.S. VII Corps (ending July 1) showed 22,119 casualties including 2,811 killed, 5,665 missing, 79 prisoners and 13,564 wounded, including paratroopers. (D-Day Casualties: Total Axis and Allied Numbers” History on the Net)
Elements of 90th Infantry Division were among the five Army divisions to assault the beaches on June 6, 1944. The remainder of the division followed suit on June 8.
The 90th Division was activated on March, 25 1942. The division insignia consists of a monogrammatic red “T” and “O” on a square olive drab background. It was adopted by the 90th Division during World War I because most of its original personnel were drafted from Texas and Oklahoma. (U.S. Army Center for Military History) Later, as replacements, to the unit came in from across the country the “T & O” quickly changed to “Tough ’Ombres”.
HANSON WAS ONE TOUGH ’OMBRE
Among the 90th Division’s, 358th Infantry Regiment’s Soldiers, was one of West Columbia’s own – “Tough ’Ombre,” John B. Hanson.
According to the National Archives’ World War II Army Enlistment Records from 1938-1946, Private Hanson enlisted in the Army in Houston on March 11, 1942, at age 20. The National Archives go on to explain his term of enlistment: enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the president or otherwise according to law.
Leaving civilian life behind, Hanson headed to basic training at Camp Barkeley near Abilene.
There, in the famous mesquite range country of West Texas, the 358th Infantry was reactivated with the 90th Infantry Division on the 25th of March 1942. New recruits from all parts of the country joined the original 20th Infantry cadre at Camp Barkeley and a vigorous training program was instituted for these soldiers fresh from civilian life. In basic training at Barkeley, they learned how to live as a soldier and how to shoot. (Peragimus, “We Accomplish” A Brief History of the 358th Infantry)
His training progressed, with mechanized tactics in Louisiana in January of the following year, and by August, he found himself in the deserts of Arizona and California. This phase of training lasted three months. In the final weeks, the outfit participated in a large-scale, mock battle that raged up and down the California Desert from Needles, California, to Yuma, Arizona. It was during this latter phase of the maneuvers that the division distinguished itself. (Peragimus, “We Accomplish” A Brief History of the 358th Infantry).
Upon completion of that training, the regiment boarded trains and made their way to Fort Dix, New Jersey, on New Years Day, 1944. In March, Hanson, the 358th, along with the rest of the 90th Infantry Division received orders for overseas duty in the European Theater of Operation.
On Easter Sunday, Hanson arrived at Liverpool Harbor, England. Upon their arrival, training began again. In May, the units would move once again, this time to camps near Newport, Wales. On June 4, 1944, Hanson would have been busy making final preparations dockside and loading the liberty ships with equipment. This would be their final move before the launch of Operation Overlord and Neptune. Hanson was headed to Normandy.
June 8th, the ship dropped anchor off “Utah” Beach on the Cherbourg Peninsula. Debarkation started at 11:58 that morning, and the crafts rammed up on the beach, the men unloaded and waded through waist-deep water to the dry sands and made their way inland. (Peragimus, “We Accomplish” A Brief History of the 358th Infantry). Hanson and the 358th Infantry Regiment were at war. Less than 24 hours after coming ashore, the regiment was ordered to attack.
DECORATED SOLDIER, WOUNDED IN COMBAT
Hanson went on to fight throughout northern France until he was wounded in combat. Amongst other decorations, he was awarded the Purple Heart, and the Bronze Arrowhead device on the European, African and Middle East Campaign Medal, signifying that he took part in the amphibious assault at Normandy.
Hanson returned to West Columbia and started a career as a house painter. He enjoyed the simple things in life and loved the outdoors, teaching his children to garden, hunt, fish and raise small livestock. He passed away at home on Nov. 15, 2000, and was buried in the Old Columbia Cemetery two days later.
As we contemplate the brave actions of those who selflessly served this great nation during Operation Overlord and D-Day, take a moment to remember one of West Columbia’s own. He was one Tough ’Ombre.
