My Thoughts on D+ 70 Years

[Allan H.]

Friday is the 70th anniversary of one of the most famous military actions of the modern age, the Normandy Invasion which is known to many simply as D-Day. For many Topekans, myself included, thoughts of D-Day will take me back to when I was an 8th Grader at Jardine Middle School. There, my history teacher, Sherman J. Oyler Jr., a veteran of the famed “Screaming Eagles” of the 101st Airborne Division’s 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, took his classes back to that day of days when he, and thousands of other soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force embarked on a great crusade to end the stranglehold of Nazi aggression on the European continent. Mr. Oyler would dress up in his jump jacket, trousers and jump boots and retell his story of landing in a pasture in the hedgerows of Normandy. Mr. Oyler would not just repeat tales of valor in combat, but he would remind us of the devastating cost of war. Sherman Oyler had two brothers. His older brother Lyle, was killed in Normandy while serving in the 137th Infantry Regiment of the 35th Infantry Division. He is buried near the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc. Sherm’s younger brother Melvin “Lee” was severely burned when the B-26 bomber that he was a crewman on was struck by flak over the Normandy coast just prior to the invasion. It took him hundreds of surgeries over the years to reconstruct his facial features.

I recall how the classroom was packed as other classes filed in to also see the famous scene of Sherman Oyler climbing up on his desk in full military garb and jumping down to the floor below. It was the stuff of legend. 8th Graders might not remember too much of what they learned in history class, but I can assure you that nobody who watched him jump from his desk will ever forget the lesson that he taught that day. Sherman often said that he wanted to be a history teacher so that future generations wouldn’t forget the sacrifices made by brave men and women who fought to keep our country free.

Sherman Oyler was a great teacher. He was also my friend and mentor. When he passed away in April of 1999, we buried him at Mount Hope Cemetery. He was buried next to his loving wife Joyce, an English war bride whom Sherman had met prior to the assault into Normandy. I bring this up because I want to mention another Topeka teacher who is buried about fifty yards from Sherman. Jack C. Lee was working as a Topeka teacher when he answered his country’s call in World War II. Corporal Lee was a member of Company B, 149th Combat Engineer Battalion, 6th Engineer Special Brigade. Jack paid the ultimate price when he and 16 of his comrades who were in the same landing craft heading to Omaha Beach on that fateful morning, took a direct hit from a German artillery shell. They never made it out of the water. I find it rather poignant that Sherman Oyler would become a teacher, and that he would work so hard to memorialize the sacrifices made by the men who stormed the beaches, lies separated by about fifty yards and fifty years from another Topeka teacher who didn’t live to find his way back to the classroom. May God bless them all as we recall this day of days.

This photo of Sherman the Teacher can be found at this website- http://www.508pir.org/voices/o/oyler_sj.htm

 

Allan

[Allan H.]

Here are photos of Sherman Oyler in WWII and of his final resting place.

[Allan H.]

The final resting place of Corporal Jack C. Lee. I learned about Jack Lee while talking to moderator Dave's father-in-law who is related to Jack Lee.

[Allan H.]

Dave Bergmeier wrote an article in November 20111 that was printed in the High Plains Journal. Here is a link to the entire story- http://www.hpj.com/archives/2013/nov13/nov11/1105VeteransDayDBsr1PIX.cfm#.U5D6jOAo6Uk

 

I am only sharing a couple of snippets from the article as I want to focus on Jack in this portion of the tribute.

 

"As Veterans Day nears, a Dodge City, Kan., businessman recalls the carnage of D-Day, the successful invasion of Normandy, France, that ended Nazi tyranny in World War II, and he does so with a dose of humility.

Bill Miller, now 91, takes time to answer questions about the June 6, 1944, invasion because he knows the World War II generation is dwindling. Miller watched D-Day from a ship near Normandy and waited for the command to go to Omaha Beach.

One of the difficult duties was finding out about the 149th Engineer Combat Battalion because 17 enlisted men died when the ship had been hit with a German shell causing the ship’s fuel to burn. Among the casualties was Sgt. Collins, the Moreland brothers, who Miller termed were two of finest specialists he had ever met, and other men who had become friends.

“That was tough,” Miller said. “We had 17 men out of my own company who had burned to death and I knew every one of them.”


One of the casualties was Corporal Jack Lee, a teacher from Topeka, Kan., who had taken Miller’s place.

“He died instead of me on that day,” Miller said. “He was such a nice person. Why I am living, and he isn’t, I have no idea. I guess it is the luck of the draw.”

 

God bless all of those who gave up their tomorrows for our today.

 

Allan

[Pete-o MSU]

Nice read Allan thanks for posting

 

Pete

[jfairclo]

Very nice posting. Il'l be in Bedford Va. Tomorrow at the National D-Day memorial

[GIKyle]

Thank you for sharing that with us, Allan.

 

Kyle

[Legion Para]

Thank you Allan.

 

LEST WE FORGET.

[David D]

I can just hope that any of my teacher tomorrow will even mention it to the class. I am sure that it was a great honor to you to have a teacher like Sherman Oyler. And let us never forget the sacrifices those brave men made on those beaches and in the hedgerows of Normandy.

 

-Dave

[Kilroy56]

Read with great interest, thank you Allan.

BR,

Dominique

[Slufstuff]

Thanks OP. My wife's great uncle was a combat medic in the first wave on Omaha Beach. His experiences that day turned him from a fun loving 22 year old, to a withdrawn alcoholic. He never spoke to anyone about what he did that day trying to save lives.

 

My wife's other great uncle was a paratrooper in the 82nd. He parachuted into Normandy on D-Day. He was decorated a couple of times, but never talked much about his war experiences. My FIL says he told a story one time about shooting several German soldiers some time after D-Day, but he never really wanted to talk about his war time service in any detail.

 

My great uncle was in an armored cavalry regiment that went ashore at Omaha on D-Day plus 10. He fought all the way into Germany without a scratch. He ended the war as a Master Sergeant. He was more willing to talk than my wife's uncles. He told me he liked the M1 carbine, that he was a staff sergeant, did something to make his CO mad, got busted to corporal, then worked back up to Master Sergeant by wars end. He told me a very spooky story about foo fighters. Normally associated with 8th AF operations, he said he and his unit watched a strange object that hovered with no sound halfway between their position and the German lines. This was sometime in early 1945 inside Germany. The object would rise up, then come back down to about 20 feet off the ground. It did this several times, for about 20 minutes total, then suddenly flew off at tremendous speed. Their CO reported it up the chain, and they were told it was a "foo fighter", some German secret project. One of the men in his unit took some photos, but he never knew what happened to them.

 

All of these men died years ago. So much of our history has departed.

[Garandomatic]

Good post. Never had a teacher like him, but I try to tell their story. If we ever go to a more year-round school year here, you can bet a stack of silver dollars all time will come to a stop, regardless of class, standards, or any of that nonsense, for June 6.

[ccyooper]

Thank you for the sharing your stories

[Allan H.]

Thank you all for the kind comments. I am proud to have been able to call Sherm a friend, and am proud to be able to pass along information about Jack Lee. He deserves to be remembered, like all of our brave war dead.

Allan

[Ricardo]

Great topic, Allan!!

 

Thanks!

 

Regards,

 

Ricardo.

[Allan H.]

Bringing this back up as I remember my friend Sherman Oyler on what would have been his 95th birthday today.

 

Allan

[doyler]

Allan

Thanks for bringing this back to the top and remembering Sherman.Never tire of reading his story and how he would jump off the table for his class.

[Allan H.]

Bringing this back to the top in honor of two Kansas teachers who assaulted Normandy 72 years ago today. Jack M. Lee (No idea how I managed to write Jack C. Lee" twice) who didn't see the sun set on that day of days, and Sherman Oyler who became a teacher upon his return from the war.

 

God bless them both.

 

Allan

[TheMariner]

RIP to both heroes! This is a wonderful post thank you for posting!

[bellasilva]

Allan, I loved reading this thread a couple of years ago and it gets even better with age. The story is incredible and the photo of Sherman getting ready to jump into Normandy from his desk is likewise incredible. Thanks for posting.

 

While in high school I frequently had Mr. Levine as a substitute teacher, who was in his 90's at the time. In an inner-city high school nestled in a bad neighborhood with a pretty high crime and murder rate, he had the respect of every student whose path he crossed. Mr. Levine was a 1st Lieutenant with the 29th Infantry Division and landed in Normandy on D-Day. He was Jewish. When asked by a student how many Nazis he killed during the war, he immediately replied "not enough". Every so often you would find him telling war stories to other teachers and he would imitate his old drill sergeants, yelling "Suck that gut in Private! Head back, shoulders straight!" I was just getting into WWII history at the time and loved every minute of it. Mr. Levine passed away a few years after I graduated high school in 2004, but I'll never forget his willingness to share his stories and the respect these kids had for him.

[Bruce Linz]

Great story Allan. I feel fortunate to have had heroes like these men in my life too.

 

Bruce

[Allan H.]

Bringing this back up for the 74th Anniversary of D-Day, and honoring my friend Sherman J. Oyler JR and fellow Topeka native Jack M. Lee.

 

May they rest in peace.

 

Allan

[jmpmstr]

AH

Im thrilled and humbled you reignited this as usual, and poignantly. I love reading it and shared the story in my leaders meeting to start my teams shift off.

 

I had been feeling like too much of this fateful day is forgotten. I made it a point to read GEN Eisenhowers letter to the AEF as a means to motivate my team leaders and remind them of the sacrifices made so we can be standing where we are today.

 

We are IMO the last generation that has a direct personal link to the veterans who secured our freedoms. It is fitting you continue to keep the torch lit for them