By Mary Dodge Allen
Since 2022, I’ve enjoyed being a blogger for HHH. Those who have read my posts know that I like to spotlight the unsung heroes and heroines - ordinary people who have shown courage in facing challenges to achieve worthy goals. All of them have secured their place in history by making sacrifices and applying their talents, through hard work and perseverance, to make this world a better place.
WWII: John Swengel:
John Swengel was born in 1925 in Harrisburg, PA. In July 1943, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, and he reported for basic training shortly after his 18th birthday.
(John’s grandfather served in the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1864, he celebrated his 18th birthday on picket duty in Petersburg, VA. John’s father served in the U.S. Army during WWI and endured a mustard gas attack before his 18th birthday.)
John was trained as an infantryman with L Company, 309th Infantry, 78th Division, and he was shipped out to Europe in October 1944. In early December, just before John’s 19th birthday, L Company entered into active combat as they moved through the forest near Aachen, Germany. On the morning of December 16, 1944, as L Company was heading toward the town of Kesternick, the German Army launched a massive attack, now known as the Battle of the Bulge.
John and his wife Delores were dear friends of mine from church. He shared his war diary with me. Here are excerpts about his battle experience on Dec. 16th:
“We approached a pillbox (on the Siegfried Line) and were met with machine gun fire that stopped our advance... the 88’s started firing on us. I had gotten into an open field and there were so many shells landing, some close enough to throw dirt on top of me; and I was not able to move. I was terrified.
“We did not know that the 78th Division had been trying to capture the town since December 13th nor did we know that the road at the south end of town was to feed the “Bulge.” The Germans could not let us take the town and had to commit forces slated for the “Bulge” to keep us from capturing the town.”
John described the life-changing experience he had during this relentless shelling:
“I was raised in a strong Protestant environment. When I became a teenager, I spent a lot of time wondering if there was a God. So there I was, lying the field, terrified. I wasn’t aware that I knew the 23rd Psalm, but I found it was running through my mind. I felt that God was standing at my shoulder. With that feeling, my terror eased. I knew that I had no control over whether I would live or die; it was up to God. I had no feeling whether I would stay alive, but it didn’t seem to be a big problem; God was there beside me and I would accept whatever his will was. There were many times later that I would feel the same panic, but I knew then where to get my strength. I never had to wonder again about the existence of God.”
L Company moved forward. In early March, the day after the U.S. 9th Armored Division captured the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, Germany, they were among the first to cross this damaged bridge:
“The Germans had loaded the bridge with explosives; the detonation had caused some structural damage but did not drop the bridge into the river. Hitler was very unhappy. The bridge did hang a little lopsided. [We asked] ‘They want us to walk over that?’ They did, so we crossed... with mortar shells and artillery shells dropping around the area.”
After several days of heavy fighting, John wrote: “When... I counted heads, there were 13 of us left from what had once been a 42-man platoon.”
John assumed the role of platoon leader, until reinforcements arrived. By the end of the war, he held the rank of Staff Sergeant. He was honorably discharged, and he received the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in combat. He married, raised five children, and worked as a civil engineer.
WWII: Bernard Hails:
Bernard Hails had recently turned 87, when I escorted him on the Honor Flight in 2013. He had a great sense of humor and an easygoing personality. I enjoyed being with him very much. Bernard was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama. Shortly after he turned 18, he joined the Navy and trained at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. From there, he was assigned to the USS Mount Baker, an ammunition supply ship that provided critical supplies to Admiral Halsey’s Pacific Fleet, during the major battles of 1944-45.
Bernard was in the first group of 40 black sailors assigned to the USS Mount Baker, which already held a crew of 350 sailors. During the first three months, the black sailors were given a hard time by the other sailors, who didn’t think they could handle the job. But after they had proven themselves, things went more smoothly. Serving on an ammunition supply ship was an especially dangerous duty. If the ship had been hit, there would have been little chance of survival.
After the war, Bernard was honorably discharged at the rank of Seaman First Class. He settled in Detroit, Michigan, where he got a job at the Chrysler factory and raised a family. In 1976 he retired to Florida, and he passed away in 2021.
WWII: The Dodge brothers:
No, they are not the famous Dodge brothers who founded a car company. They are my three uncles, who served in separate military branches during the war.
Author Note: My father, Kenneth was the oldest. He tried to enlist in the Army, but he was already in his thirties, and his job with the U.S. Steel Plant was considered essential to the war effort.
Bill Dodge, the youngest brother, joined the Navy in September, 1944 at the age of 17, and was trained at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. By the time he completed training, the Pacific war was winding down, so he was stationed at the Naval Hospital in San Diego, CA and served as a Hospital Corpsman, providing medical care to the wounded returning from the Pacific battle theater.
After the war, he married, had three sons, obtained advanced college degrees and worked as a college professor. His love of boating continued throughout his life, and he and my aunt even lived on a boat for a few years. He passed away at the age of 87.
John Dodge, who was five years older than Bill, left high school after the attack on Pearl Harbor and enlisted in the Marines. He went through a series of rough battles on the Pacific islands, including the major battles at Guadalcanal. After he was honorably discharged, he married, had a daughter, and worked at the local bank.
John appeared to have retained his fun-loving sense of humor, but my Aunt Mary said he had screaming nightmares for years. On Halloween night, after handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters, Uncle John took a nap on the couch and never woke up. He’d had a heart attack at the age of 35, likely brought on by the PTSD he suffered after the war.
Gordon Dodge, two years older than John, enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1943, after completing business college. He had always wanted to fly, and he once told me that as a teenager, every time he saw a plane flying overhead, he’d wish he was in the pilot seat.
After several months of training, he was assigned as a B-17 co-pilot, for the U.S. Mighty Eighth Air Force, 447th Bomb Group, 709th Squadron, stationed at Rattlesden AFB, England. From late 1944-1945, he flew 35 bombing missions over Germany.
Uncle Gordon was honorably discharged at the rank of Captain. He and my Aunt Doris raised two children, and he worked as an air traffic controller. He passed away at the age of 97 and was the last living member of his B-17 crew.
Uncle Gordon is the inspiration for Grandpa Leo, a character in my award-winning book: Hunt for a Hometown Killer. He also appears in the sequel I am currently writing: Hunt for Hometown Justice. My website contains more information about these books, click here: Mary Dodge Allen, Author
In 2019, we both had the honor of sitting in the cockpit of the B-17 named: City of Savannah, housed in the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. The experience was powerful. Sandra was in the pilot seat, and I was in the co-pilot seat, and we both teared-up, thinking of Ralph and Uncle Gordon in the cockpit together during those dangerous missions.
L-R: Sandra and me in B-17 cockpit /The Tablet Honoring the Blue Hen Chick B-17 crew in the Memorial Garden at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, Savannah, GA (author photos)
Of the more than 200 airfields used by the U.S. Eighth Air Force during WWII, only a few remain intact – including the airfield in Rattlesden, England where Uncle Gordon and his B-17 crew was based.
My husband and I visited that airfield, which is now used by private glider pilots. It is hard to express the depth of emotion I felt as I stood on the control tower walkway and looked out at the runways. I thought about Uncle Gordon and all the other B-17 bomber crewmen based there. Many of them never returned.
Vietnam War: Captain Joseph Milligan, U.S. Air Force:
Mary Dodge Allen is currently finishing her sequel to Hunt for a Hometown Killer. She's won a Christian Indie Award, an Angel Book Award, and two Royal Palm Literary Awards (Florida Writer's Association). She and her husband live in Central Florida. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Faith Hope and Love Christian Writers.
Thank you for posting this eloquent tribute to veterans. Thank you for sharing some of your own heroes from your family. As always, the veterans' stories were touching. It hurts my heart that they were so young, yet thrust into horrible situations on behalf of our country. We can never repay the debt we owe them.
ReplyDeleteHi Connie, I totally agree. They sacrificed so much for all of us. God Bless them all.
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