Post by connie on Aug 2, 2024 15:43:55 GMT -5
Keebler, Willard H, 424/G
Post by Keeber's son looking for connections: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4429/thread
Here's a link to his story found under diaries on the Indiana Military Site: www.indianamilitary.org/106ID/Diaries/None-POW/Keeber-Willard-424G/Keeber-Willard-424G.pdf
In Dad's Footsteps One segment of the story written by Keebler's youngest daughter in-dads-footsteps.org/2018/08/09/a-gis-story-pfc-willard-h-keebers-wwii-military-service-part-2/
Link to other segments of this story: in-dads-footsteps.org/author/followingdadsfootsteps/
ASTP Program Name now listed under those taken from this program prior to assignment with the 106th Infantry Division: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/2237/thread
Mention in Posts by Floyd Ragsdale 424 G
Floyd Ragsdale mentions Keebler's coming to the division from an ASTP program: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/3601/thread
* On 424 G mortar team: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/3592/thread
Our mortor position was "dug in" & the sides were reinforced with sandbags. The area that thee 2nd Division covered was stagnant for about six weeks. Thus, the troops who occupied that area had time to "tidy up" their foxholes and bunkers. Example: the frontline foxholes were camouflaged with wheat shocks over them,yet the Soldier in the foxhole had a commanding view of the area in front of him. Also, there was a connecting trench between each foxhole. So, a Soldier could walk from one foxhole to another without being observed by the enemy.I'm estimating that those positions were around twenty-five yards apart. Our mortar was about the same distance from the foxholes and on the tree-line, or edge of the Ardennes Forest. The gunner (Willard Keeber) and assistant gunner (me) were on duty there all day, except when the assistant gunner went to get more ammunition for the mortar.
* On Trench Foot Prevention (with mention of ASTP connection also noted in Wartime Memories) 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/3601/thread
As soon as I was back in the Bunker, off came my boots and socks. We had a small gasoline stove that was lit almost constantly & they (socks & Boots) were put as close to that stove as the law wold allow. When it wasn't feasible to do that I buried my feet in my overcoat, blanket or whatever I could lay my hands on, then let my shoe's and socks freeze dry. During Infantry Basic Training we were instructed on how to "keep your feet dry" when exposed to the weather 24/7 for weeks at a time.
Soldiers who were in the Army's A.S.T P. program and were shipped into the 106th Division did not have (at least most of them) Infantry Basic Training. Willard Keeber (our Gunner) was in the A.S.T.P. Program when he was sent to the 424th Regiment. He got trench foot simply because he lacked the training an Infantry Soldier had. It was dangerous to let your feet stay wet for more that three days at a time...
To read complete post click on link.
During Retreat 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/2275/thread
...In the evening of the 18th of December, Willard Keeber and myself were stationed at our 60mm mortar position. We received an oral message from the Company Runner to vacate our mortar location and descend the hill to the Company C.P. The entire company (G) was being pulled off the front lines. We were instructed to pull out, one squad at a time. “Travel light, leave all heavy weapons behind”, was the word. So, our side arms and associated ammunition we had is what we carried with us.
As our squad left the area, a barrage of screaming memmies (rockets) traversed the area. They exploded, all around us with a deafening blast. All of us escaped that incident without a scratch. Somehow, the Germans must have known we were on the move. Their timing couldn’t have been any better. Wow! What a scary state of affairs that was.
Ammunition for our rifles came in bandoleers that were slung over the shoulder. One bandoleer held a respectable supple of ammunition. Enough, that is, to last a soldier through a good days firefight...
For complete post click on link
For Growing Compilation of Ragsdale posts: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4424/thread
Cub Magazine Nov. 2014 pages 35-36 notes from his wife:
Willard “Willy” H. Keeber (424/G)
From Beatrice Keeber,
“My late husband, PFC. Willard H. Keeber (then known as “Will” or “Willy”) served in the 106th’s Company G, 424th Infantry Regiment in the Battle of the Bulge. The next two companies were captured that first night of the German “Punch,” but Will’s unit of Company G was scattered when tanks threatened to run them over. Will and 8 to 10 others met up later behind enemy lines. For the next approximately three weeks, they dodged falling trees, Allied artillery fire, German tanks and snipers. Somehow, they survived all that and the vicious cold weather in which so many froze to death. Without losing a single one of their group, they eventually met up with an American tank unit and were transported back to the tank base from which they were sent to an Army hospital for treatment of trench foot, then returned to active service. After the war, Will was discharged at CampDix in November, 1945. He was so eager to arrive home in time for his mom’s Thanksgiving dinner that he left the Army with nothing but his discharge papers,not waiting for his ribbons and service badges. Years later, our sons convinced him to write to his Congressman for them. He was astonished to find a Bronze Star among them. For a couple of weeks, he occasionally, with a small smile, patted the top of that box on the table beside his chair, but then, he put it in his drawer along with the other badges and ribbons and I doubt he looked at any of them again. Our sons managed to learn a bit more sketchy information from him, but we never learned anything regarding the reason for the awarding of that Bronze Star. Can any readers of The CUB offer suggestions as to how to learn more? Or might any of the readers of The CUB be surviving members of that cold, ragged, hungry bunch with Will for those weeks? I would so like to hear from them! My husband, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 82, was 19 at the time of that wartime experience, so any possible survivors of that group must be a great age by now. Nevertheless, the Golden Lions are a hardy bunch so I hope I might hear from some of them (with that group or not) regarding my questions...”
Also of Interest: Info on Tom Wilson, commander of 424 G KIA. 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4412/thread. This includes a link to post by a relative. 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4412/thread
Post by Keeber's son looking for connections: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4429/thread
Here's a link to his story found under diaries on the Indiana Military Site: www.indianamilitary.org/106ID/Diaries/None-POW/Keeber-Willard-424G/Keeber-Willard-424G.pdf
In Dad's Footsteps One segment of the story written by Keebler's youngest daughter in-dads-footsteps.org/2018/08/09/a-gis-story-pfc-willard-h-keebers-wwii-military-service-part-2/
Link to other segments of this story: in-dads-footsteps.org/author/followingdadsfootsteps/
ASTP Program Name now listed under those taken from this program prior to assignment with the 106th Infantry Division: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/2237/thread
Mention in Posts by Floyd Ragsdale 424 G
Floyd Ragsdale mentions Keebler's coming to the division from an ASTP program: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/3601/thread
* On 424 G mortar team: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/3592/thread
Our mortor position was "dug in" & the sides were reinforced with sandbags. The area that thee 2nd Division covered was stagnant for about six weeks. Thus, the troops who occupied that area had time to "tidy up" their foxholes and bunkers. Example: the frontline foxholes were camouflaged with wheat shocks over them,yet the Soldier in the foxhole had a commanding view of the area in front of him. Also, there was a connecting trench between each foxhole. So, a Soldier could walk from one foxhole to another without being observed by the enemy.I'm estimating that those positions were around twenty-five yards apart. Our mortar was about the same distance from the foxholes and on the tree-line, or edge of the Ardennes Forest. The gunner (Willard Keeber) and assistant gunner (me) were on duty there all day, except when the assistant gunner went to get more ammunition for the mortar.
* On Trench Foot Prevention (with mention of ASTP connection also noted in Wartime Memories) 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/3601/thread
As soon as I was back in the Bunker, off came my boots and socks. We had a small gasoline stove that was lit almost constantly & they (socks & Boots) were put as close to that stove as the law wold allow. When it wasn't feasible to do that I buried my feet in my overcoat, blanket or whatever I could lay my hands on, then let my shoe's and socks freeze dry. During Infantry Basic Training we were instructed on how to "keep your feet dry" when exposed to the weather 24/7 for weeks at a time.
Soldiers who were in the Army's A.S.T P. program and were shipped into the 106th Division did not have (at least most of them) Infantry Basic Training. Willard Keeber (our Gunner) was in the A.S.T.P. Program when he was sent to the 424th Regiment. He got trench foot simply because he lacked the training an Infantry Soldier had. It was dangerous to let your feet stay wet for more that three days at a time...
To read complete post click on link.
During Retreat 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/2275/thread
...In the evening of the 18th of December, Willard Keeber and myself were stationed at our 60mm mortar position. We received an oral message from the Company Runner to vacate our mortar location and descend the hill to the Company C.P. The entire company (G) was being pulled off the front lines. We were instructed to pull out, one squad at a time. “Travel light, leave all heavy weapons behind”, was the word. So, our side arms and associated ammunition we had is what we carried with us.
As our squad left the area, a barrage of screaming memmies (rockets) traversed the area. They exploded, all around us with a deafening blast. All of us escaped that incident without a scratch. Somehow, the Germans must have known we were on the move. Their timing couldn’t have been any better. Wow! What a scary state of affairs that was.
Ammunition for our rifles came in bandoleers that were slung over the shoulder. One bandoleer held a respectable supple of ammunition. Enough, that is, to last a soldier through a good days firefight...
For complete post click on link
For Growing Compilation of Ragsdale posts: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4424/thread
Cub Magazine Nov. 2014 pages 35-36 notes from his wife:
Willard “Willy” H. Keeber (424/G)
From Beatrice Keeber,
“My late husband, PFC. Willard H. Keeber (then known as “Will” or “Willy”) served in the 106th’s Company G, 424th Infantry Regiment in the Battle of the Bulge. The next two companies were captured that first night of the German “Punch,” but Will’s unit of Company G was scattered when tanks threatened to run them over. Will and 8 to 10 others met up later behind enemy lines. For the next approximately three weeks, they dodged falling trees, Allied artillery fire, German tanks and snipers. Somehow, they survived all that and the vicious cold weather in which so many froze to death. Without losing a single one of their group, they eventually met up with an American tank unit and were transported back to the tank base from which they were sent to an Army hospital for treatment of trench foot, then returned to active service. After the war, Will was discharged at CampDix in November, 1945. He was so eager to arrive home in time for his mom’s Thanksgiving dinner that he left the Army with nothing but his discharge papers,not waiting for his ribbons and service badges. Years later, our sons convinced him to write to his Congressman for them. He was astonished to find a Bronze Star among them. For a couple of weeks, he occasionally, with a small smile, patted the top of that box on the table beside his chair, but then, he put it in his drawer along with the other badges and ribbons and I doubt he looked at any of them again. Our sons managed to learn a bit more sketchy information from him, but we never learned anything regarding the reason for the awarding of that Bronze Star. Can any readers of The CUB offer suggestions as to how to learn more? Or might any of the readers of The CUB be surviving members of that cold, ragged, hungry bunch with Will for those weeks? I would so like to hear from them! My husband, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 82, was 19 at the time of that wartime experience, so any possible survivors of that group must be a great age by now. Nevertheless, the Golden Lions are a hardy bunch so I hope I might hear from some of them (with that group or not) regarding my questions...”
Also of Interest: Info on Tom Wilson, commander of 424 G KIA. 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4412/thread. This includes a link to post by a relative. 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4412/thread