Mount Ephraim Servicemen who participated in D-Day

To mark the anniversary of D-Day, I wish to remember 3 servicemen from Mount Ephraim who took part in this momentous occasion.  



Sergeant Joseph Kelly was the radio operator aboard a C-47 aircraft that transported paratroopers into France in the early morning of June 6. "It was the greatest show on earth and I am certainly glad to say I was on it. We dropped our troops and supplies right on the bullseye amid all the flak that was being thrown at us." Kelly, a 1942 Audubon High School alumni, lived at 722 Gaskill Avenue. He enlisted in the Army after graduation and was sent to radio school in Chicago. Kelly was assigned to a troop carrier unit at Maxton, NC., where he was stationed for several months before heading to England in early 1943. 



Corporal William H. Munro Jr. was a paratrooper who saw 37 days of action in France. He injured his knee upon landing deep into enemy territory on D-Day. His regiment was scattered as were dropped in the wrong area. Munro was listed as MIA for 9 days as a result. Of 18 reported missing, only he and 4 others safely returned to their unit. William lived at 718 Gaskill Avenue in Mt. Ephraim and had attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden until 1941 at which time he joined the Army. He received his first training at Ft. Dix, NJ.  



Corporal Delbert K. Sandt was with the invasion force that crossed the English Channel to the France on D-Day. He served with Headquarters Company of the 747th Tank Battalion.  Del and his crew were only spectators to the landings on June 6th, 1944. The British LCT (Landing Craft-Tank) which transported his tank, was waiting a few miles offshore of "Omaha" Beach. The mass of machinery and manpower cluttered the landing site leaving them with nowhere to disembark. The next day, Sandt drove his tank, nicknamed "Hellzapoppin," onto the Normandy beach and got right into the fight. Del unfortunately was killed in action on June 16th in the area of Couvains.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

James W. Dye, Jr.

Image
Branch: NAVY Service Number: 2452293 Rank: Aviation Radioman Third Class Unit: Torpedo Squadron 82 (VT-82)  As preface to this story, I have used many excerpts from the novel," Flyboys: A True Story of Courage" by author James Bradley. Mr. Bradley was able to interview several of Jimmy’s family, friends, Navy buddies, captors and even the executioners to get a true feel for his life. His work was invaluable to be able to tell Jimmy’s life story. While his death was much more graphically depicted in Bradley’s book, I have chosen to spare the reader from the most, but not all of the ghastly details. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED 41 W. Buckingham Avenue James Wesley Dye, Jr.,  who went by “Jimmy” to his friends and “Buddy” by his family,  was born on November 27, 1925 in Gloucester City, NJ to parents James Wesley Dye, Sr. and Kathryn Teresa (Brannon) Dye. It appears he was baptized on the same day by the Highland Park Methodist C...
Read more

Delbert K. Sandt

Image
Branch: ARMY Service Number: 32485863  Rank: Technician 5 th  Class (Corporal) Unit: 747 th  Tank Battalion, HQ Co., Attached to 29 th  Infantry Div. Delbert Kirk Sandt “Del" was born on June 2, 1922 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to parents Luther Blaine Sandt and Agnes (Meyers) Sandt. He was baptized on October 22, 1922 at C.C. Hancock Memorial Methodist Church at 17th & York Streets, in Philadelphia by Reverend Amos E. Crowell. The Sandt Family had originally lived in Reading, Pennsylvania. After their infant son Howard passed away at the age of 5 months in January 1907, Luther and Agnes moved to 2133 North Dover Street in the Strawberry Mansion section of Philadelphia. In November 1910, Russell Calvin Sandt was born. Two years later, the Sandts would receive and early Christmas present with the birth of Luther Victor Sandt, born on December 20th. In December 1915, a daughter, Thelma Elaine Sandt was born in Camden, NJ. The family ...
Read more

Robert A. Dixon

Image
Robert Dixon (left) and brother, William  Branch: ARMY Service Number: 13002955 Rank: Private Unit: 3 rd  Infantry Div, 15 th  Infantry Reg, Co. “C” Robert Albert Dixon was born on August 2, 1909 in Port Carbon, Pennsylvania to parents Albert Dixon and Mary Riley. Robert had a twin brother Richard Edward Dixon, who died of pneumonia on March 13, 1912 at the age of 2. Only five days prior, a more joyous occasion took place for the family. The twins had been baptized at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Port Carbon by Reverend Charles W. Eberwein. Their sponsor was their paternal grandmother, Justina Dixon.  Albert had 3 sons from a previous marriage, Leo born in 1893, Arthur in 1899 and William in 1902. They all resided on Third Street in the coal mining community of Port Carbon in Schuylkill County. This is located approximately 80 miles northwest of Mount Ephraim. Robert's mother passed away around 1915, when he was just a young boy. He attended pu...
Read more