An Easter Story and the Best Find I'll Ever Make... 12th Armored

[Garandomatic]

This thought went through my mind today, and I've been talking about how Okinawa was invaded on April Fool's/Easter Sunday, and remembered Howard's story.

 

I found this Ike on ebay, and was still jumping on about every Armored uniform I saw, looking for a good tank crewman score. The jacket was missing ribbons, etc., and had some markings in it. The more I looked at it, the more I was able to see the laundry mark. I ran it, and saw a surname from where the jacket was being sold. Looked at it again, and I could barely see Myers... Was happy to find it. The 12th's rosters confirmed he was in the 714th Tank Battalion. I contacted the Division Association about him, and they said "Howard's a great guy! He wrote a memoir and would probably talk to you!" We got put in touch, he gave me a copy of his memoir, and I have interviewed him a few times. What a wonderful guy.

 

He was a gunner and was neck-deep in it, for sure. Panzerfaust caught their .50 on fire early in the Battle of Herrlisheim, they were like #2 in line, and they all boogied out of there since the fire was only a few feet from the fuel tanks. Nobody got scratched by the vigorous fire going both ways. Later a German tried to steal their abandoned tank and it was subsequently knocked out by a Sherman that managed to survive and was backed down the street a bit. Howard and his crew managed to squeeze into surviving Shermans and make it back to safety. Herrlisheim was a heck of a battle that has been covered several times in magazines (See "Death of a Combat Command" from WWII magazine a while ago.). Later, I might be so bold as to credit him with at least a partial tank kill... They ascended a rise, and there sat a German tank, barrel pointed away. He said it immediately started to train on his tank, which by then was an M4A3 76mm (W). They were pointing more or less at it, and he let it have it four times. He said he saw all or most shots bounce... When the smoke cleared, it was gone, and the infantry found it abandoned in the woods. He either got a piece of it, or he scared that German so bad that he blew the trans clean out of it, I figure! I could go on. Howard is my absolute best find. I highly doubt that I will ever find anything better with a living vet in this day and age. Since Howard, I have added about a dozen more 12th Armored uniforms.

 

I could go on, but figure I'll get this to the point. Here is Howard. I will post a reply with his Easter story in a few moments.

[Garandomatic]

I added the hat for display as well as the ribbons. That is him on the cover of the binder, which is chock-full of his stories. The stuffed animal was made by a local man that was with the 12th at some point... Was an engineer, hurt is leg HORRIBLY playing football, and was sent home to convalesce, and they made those things while in hospital. Eventually, I want to build his M4A1 (75mm) that was nicknamed "Cherry," and the M4A3 with the 76mm in which he rode to VE Day.

[Garandomatic]

Here is his account of the actual Easter holiday:

[Garandomatic]

When they finally celebrated. This story is very cool.

[Garandomatic]

And for good measure, the Ghost Tank of Herrlisheim. I had occasion to meet a man from a different company of the 714th this past Summer, and I ran some names past him. He was good friends with another fellow whose Ike is hanging in my war room, and as scuttlebutt might have it, he had heard about the Ghost Tank as well! What a small world.

 

Forgot to attach it...

[Salvage Sailor]

Aloha,

 

Thanks for posting these items for us to see. An excellent book on the 12th Armored Divisions actions from start to finish was written by one of their battalion surgeons, "The Other Side of Time" by Brendan Phibbs

 

Well worth checking out if you're not already aware of it.

 

Brendan Phibbs, MD, a cardiologist who was a member of the College of Medicine founding faculty, a medical pioneer, and an author whose World War II memoir was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, died on March 5, 2016. He was 99.

Brendan Pedraic Pearse Phibbs was born December 3, 1916, in New York City. He grew up in Chicago, where he earned his medical degree from Northwestern University in 1941. He served as a combat surgeon in the 12th Armored Division of the United States Army from 1942-1945, fighting through the Battle of the Bulge and earning two Bronze Stars. A major, he was one of the first American physicians to volunteer in the typhus-ravaged Dachau concentration camp. Dr. Phibbs wrote a memoir of his World War II experiences, “The Other Side of Time,” which was published in 1987. The book was awarded the PEN West Award for Nonfiction and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in non-fiction.

[VenitHora]

​That is great! Love the ike and the story.

[huntssurplus]

Great story and Ike! Thanks for sharing!

Hunt

[tarbridge]

Enjoyed the read.Thanks.

[Dogsbody]

Thanks for sharing the items and great stories.

 

Rene

[M24 Chaffee]

Nice thread! Thanks!

 

Frank

[Garandomatic]

I appreciate all the comments. It's about time I go back through Howard's book, too, I figure. I have seen that book, "The Other Side of TIme," but haven't picked it up yet. I've read about everything else out there about the 12th though! I found a copy of the postwar study on Herrlisheim that was pretty interesting. One of these days I'll put all of my 12th guys on a thread.

[Brian Keith]

Excellent! Loved the Easter Story!

BKW

[Garandomatic]

One other thing that was interesting was comparing Howard's experiences to Fury. I know Fury isn't everybody's cup of tea, but I liked a great deal of it. Really had the feel and look right, and I've been a Sherman nut since I was 4. A lot of Howard's accounts reminded me of scenes... He had to use the 76mm on a German that kept taking pot shots at the tank commander as they moved forward. He couldn't quite get him with squirts from the coax .30, so kaboom... Also mentioned moving into a town, and having to pull out. The German civilians had put out the white flags. When we had to pull back for a minute, the SS came in and conducted their reprisals. Howard's combat command came back and annihilated the SS.

 

I asked him also about profanity and whatnot just out of personal curiosity. Now, I have read and heard so many accounts on both sides... Some men absolutely were as profane as some movies depict, others, absolutely not. Howard's outfit was on the minimal side, and he said that he never witnessed much in the way of ill behavior, or willful destruction or non-military property. I certainly do not intend his account to be indicative of the whole Armored Force, or to criticize Fury. I was primarily interested because you don't get much of a chance to ask these guys any more... and was just reflecting and comparing/contrasting the imagery of his words in the actual memoir itself with a fairly pre-eminent tank movie. I personally get a little kick out of a little salty language here and there with WWII vets.

 

One thing Howard said was that the C Co. CO was a heck of a guy, ALWAYS knew where everybody was and what they were doing, and set a golden standard of sorts. I also speculate that the 12th, being an AST-heavy unit, might have had just a higher number of men that were less prone to the more gritty side of things. I also wonder if what seems like the "bloodbath" periods of Anzio, the Normandy breakout, and other earlier campaigns might tend to flavor a unit differently as well. The 12th got mauled at Herrlisheim, but thereafter, were more or less the proverbial hot knife through butter. Then again, Howard even said that he didn't see much beyond his tank and crew! Anyways, I am digressing a bit too much.

[kammo-man]

Awesome.

 

 

owen

[Garandomatic]

Bump for a happy holiday in 2019. Talked to Howard about a week ago.

[Salvage Sailor]

Death of an American Combat Command - U.S.12th Armored Division

With their backs to the wall, German troops fought ferociously against the American VI Corps in and around a small Alsatian village.

By David T. Zabecki and Keith Wooster

Excerpt (link above to entire account)

On the strategic level, Germany's position was hopeless in January 1945, yet the battle for Herrlisheim was a tactical draw. Both sides gave good accounts of themselves. The Germans, especially the 10th SS Panzer Division, proved once again that they still had the best tanks on the battlefield and that the German soldier, even with his back to the wall, was a force to be reckoned with. The 12th Armored Division proved that even a new unit with inexperienced GIs could stand up against the best the German army could throw at it. Both sides exhibited outstanding combat leadership.

Perhaps the best summation of the battle for Herrlisheim can be found in the description given by Major Brendan Phibbs, the surgeon for Combat Command B. Writing in his memoirs, The Other Side of Time, Phibbs said: "Decisions now up to lieutenants, sergeants, privates, organizing confusion, calling for artillery fire, siting machine guns, building defenses. No bridge, no mass tank attack, no disorganized German home guard running away; instead, determined German infantry attacking hard out of mist and snow. Our men hunker in the snow, shoot at blurs. The battlefield has stepped in and is shaping the battalion's actions; colonels and generals may as well bay their orders to the moon."