I've posted this before; please say so if you find it wearisome.
Family gone for their cause:
Pvt. Thomas P. Carroll; DOD 7 Aug 1857, Carlisle Barracks, PA
Pvt. Thomas Whittle; KIA Apr 1862, Shiloh, Tennessee
Pvt. John Benjamin Hersey; d smallpox, 7 Dec 1862
Pvt. Levi Linton; KIA 9 May 1864, Rocky Face Ridge, Whitfield Co. GA; Co E, 64th Ohio Inf.
Pvt. William Thomas Judkins; KIA 18 Jul 1864 Coosa River, Greenport Al. fighting a Union cavalry raid
Pvt. Otho Linton; served 1861–1864, KIA 8 Aug 1864, Atlanta Crossroads, GA; Co. E, 52nd Ohio Vol. Inf
Pvt. Jeremiah Linton, brother of Otho, died in ACW
Pvt. John S. Hugunin; 22 Aug 1864, Petersburg, Dinwiddie Co. VA, Co. E, Co. A, 81st NY Inf.
Pvt. Alfred Hugunin; died POW 5 Sep 1864, Andersonville, Sumpter Co. GA
Pvt. Edward Linton; died POW 5 Oct 1864, Andersonville, Sumpter Co. GA; Co. C, 22nd Pa. Cav
Pvt. David James Hugunin; died 24 Oct 1864 VA
Pvt. Thomas Linton; KIA 5 Feb 1865, Dabney's Mill, Hanover Co. VA
Pvt. James I Carroll; DOW 20 Jul 1912, Co B 8th Md Inf
Pvt. Harry L. Reinisch, III, KIA 8 Mar 1945, near Ossenburg Germany; 137th Inf, 35 Div
Bugler Howard I. Carroll, my grandfather
117th Trench Mortar Battery, 42nd (Rainbow) Division, WW1, 1917 – 1919
The 117th fired more rounds than any other AEF trench mortar battery, supporting every infantry regiment in the Rainbow and for other divisions in their sectors at
(1) Lunéville sector, Lorraine, February 21 to March 23, 1918;
(2) Baccarat sector, Lorraine, March 31 to June 21, 1918;
(3) Esperance-Souain sector, Champagne, July 4 to July 15, 1918;
(4) Champagne-Marne defensive, July 15 to 17, 1918, where from the most advanced position in the Allied lines, overrun seven times in 48 hours, they stayed at their guns and killed 2,400 enemy infantry and destroyed 25% of the German tanks, according to General Henri Gouraud, Commander, 4th French Army;
(5) Aisne-Marne offensive July 25 to August 11, 1918;
(6) St. Mihiel offensive, September 12 to 16, 1918;
(7) Essey and Pannes sector, Woevre, September 17 to 30, 1918;
(8) Meuse-Argonne offensive, October 12 to November 1, 1918;
(9) Meuse-Argonne offensive, November 5 to 10, 1918;
The 117th stood before Sedan with the most advanced units of the AEF, and earned more battle streamers for their flag than any other unit in the AEF except the 1st Division, which had an equal number, and participated in the Rhine Occupation
His awards: Victory Medal with 5 bars, Occupation Medal, Croix de Guerre
Granddaddy Irvine died after the war from effects of being gassed.
Capt. Donald L. Gambrill, my father's best friend, best man and my Godfather,
Lead Pilot, B-24, 830th Bomb Sqd, 485th Bomb Group (Heavy), WW2
55 missions over France, Germany, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania, Austria & Italy
Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross (2), Air Medal (3), Purple Heart
KIA 10-Apr-45
My Dad was a B-24 engine mechanic during WWII. After finishing his maintenance work, he'd go along with the flight crews on their check flights, sort of a guarantee he did the job right. He hated B-24's, calling them "Torches" and "Flying Coffins" for their propensity to burn and the difficulty of bailing out of them. The gasoline tanks were above the crew, pretty much dooming them if a fire started.
On 10 Apr 1945, Captain Gambrill was lead pilot for the mission with the Squadron Commander for copilot and an extra navigator. Coming off the target near Lugo, Italy, heading for the rally at 22,000 feet, his plane was hit by flak on the forward bulkhead of the open bomb bay, starting a raging fire there. Normally, the navigator and bombardier bail out the nose wheel, two gunners go out the rear camera hatch, and the other seven crew go out the bomb bay, now engulfed in flames, inaccessible. The plane stayed wings level, decreasing speed and descending to a lower altitude for one to two minutes according to the after action report from other aircraft on the raid, and seven men were seen to leave the plane, the last being the copilot who went out through the cockpit window right after the plane exploded into multiple pieces.
At the crash site, one body was found on the ground with an unopened parachute, three burned to death in the rear fuselage wreckage, and three others apparently were killed by the Germans on the ground. The three survivors, one a POW and the other two successfully E&E, all reported they were fired on by the Germans while descending in their parachutes. Don's body was found still strapped into his pilot's seat in the nose wreckage. He apparently remained at the controls to buy his crew time to escape.
Earlier, Dad wrote to him saying "Don, you've done your duty, come home!" Don said he had to stay, because "I have to train these kids they're sending over here now. They don't even know how to transfer gas." He was twenty years old when he died.
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
...Ben
