Post by floydragsdale on May 26, 2014 17:05:53 GMT -5
The Infantry Soldier of WWII
The Infantry Soldier faced diverse situations every day. He wore the same clothes 24/7 for weeks at a time. Ate when there was food and he had the time to consume it and sometimes while he sat on the frozen bodies of dead enemy soldiers.
He used his steel helmet as a pot to shave, cook chow, wash his socks in and to relieve him self while standing in a fox hole.
For a place to sleep, he dug slit trenches long and wide enough for his body; then placed logs and pine boughs on the top of it for protection from artillery shells bursting in treetops and to help hold body heat
He went to sleep while walking; used his knees as a desktop when writing a letter to his loved ones back home. In winter months he struggled to survive days and nights of freezing hell in temperatures as low as twenty five degrees below zero.
He saw his fellow Solders fall, mortally wounded while obeying orders that demanded “Hold your positions at all costs.” Translated, that means stay where you are and fight until you’re dead.
In battle, the American Infantry Soldier fought to save our nation. A country, with the best flag and the best Government ever given to man. For a brief moment in history, American Infantry Soldiers, and those who supported him in combat, held the fate of our nation and the world in their hands. These Soldiers and the others like them are the servicemen, who, in the hours when the earth’s foundation quivered, and the ground shook, stood firm amid the whine of bullets, the blast of mortars and the zinging sound of jagged artillery shrapnel filling the air around them.
Now the majority of WWII service men and women have left the framework of life. A few are left behind, and are waiting for their summons to follow their comrades in arms. All served this nation with the meager pay of a soldier; yet, with a code - - - duty, honor, country. They’re worthy to take their place in history alongside those Soldiers who fought in the armed conflicts at Valley Forge, the Alamo and Gettysburg. Summoned by our nations’ call to arms, they came from across our country. Their generation had a rendezvous with destiny. They met it head on and came out with the trophy of victory and freedom for our country. May God bless their memory to future generations of the U.S.A.
They merit a salute this Memorial Day.
Floyd D. Ragsdale, Veteran of the 106th Infantry Division , 424th Regiment WWII.
The Infantry Soldier faced diverse situations every day. He wore the same clothes 24/7 for weeks at a time. Ate when there was food and he had the time to consume it and sometimes while he sat on the frozen bodies of dead enemy soldiers.
He used his steel helmet as a pot to shave, cook chow, wash his socks in and to relieve him self while standing in a fox hole.
For a place to sleep, he dug slit trenches long and wide enough for his body; then placed logs and pine boughs on the top of it for protection from artillery shells bursting in treetops and to help hold body heat
He went to sleep while walking; used his knees as a desktop when writing a letter to his loved ones back home. In winter months he struggled to survive days and nights of freezing hell in temperatures as low as twenty five degrees below zero.
He saw his fellow Solders fall, mortally wounded while obeying orders that demanded “Hold your positions at all costs.” Translated, that means stay where you are and fight until you’re dead.
In battle, the American Infantry Soldier fought to save our nation. A country, with the best flag and the best Government ever given to man. For a brief moment in history, American Infantry Soldiers, and those who supported him in combat, held the fate of our nation and the world in their hands. These Soldiers and the others like them are the servicemen, who, in the hours when the earth’s foundation quivered, and the ground shook, stood firm amid the whine of bullets, the blast of mortars and the zinging sound of jagged artillery shrapnel filling the air around them.
Now the majority of WWII service men and women have left the framework of life. A few are left behind, and are waiting for their summons to follow their comrades in arms. All served this nation with the meager pay of a soldier; yet, with a code - - - duty, honor, country. They’re worthy to take their place in history alongside those Soldiers who fought in the armed conflicts at Valley Forge, the Alamo and Gettysburg. Summoned by our nations’ call to arms, they came from across our country. Their generation had a rendezvous with destiny. They met it head on and came out with the trophy of victory and freedom for our country. May God bless their memory to future generations of the U.S.A.
They merit a salute this Memorial Day.
Floyd D. Ragsdale, Veteran of the 106th Infantry Division , 424th Regiment WWII.
