WWII - From North Africa to Germany - Corporal Hershel Kiedell Sholar US Army WWII

   Hershel Kiedell Sholar, "Kiedell"as he was known by family and friends in Trigg County, KY grew up on a farm with his brothers and sisters in the southern part of Trigg County south of Cadiz. He was a blonde headed, blue eyed son of James Edward Sholar and Christie Ethel Chewning Sholar born on September 4, 1921. He grew up like most farm boys doing chores, swimming in the creek, fishing, hunting, and playing baseball. All the pursuits a typical young boy of his time would be doing. All of this was about to change for there was a terrible war in Europe that would soon change Kiedell's life and, the lives of many young men just like him forever.

  Not long after his 21^st birthday, Kiedell received his "Greetings from the President" letter notifying him that he was to be drafted. His older brothers, Brandon and Robert were already in the army. After departing the Hopkinsville train station, Hershel was inducted into the army on September 29, 1942 in Evansville, Indiana. He received his basic training at Ft. Belvoir, Maryland and was promptly sent to Tunisia by military transport ship where he saw his first combat action in North Africa.

 He was in the 1^st Division, Combat Engineers Battalion, Company "B". This is where he earned the knick name "Tommy". The name stayed with him the rest of his life. He said he acquired the name during the war because he carried a "Thompson" machine gun. He was also a specialist in automatic weapons including the Browning automatic rifle (or B.A.R.) and was an expert in demolitions, the laying of mines, and the demolition of "pillboxes" with high explosives. These skills were all capably employed in the upcoming events. Pillboxes are reinforced concrete bunkers that are usually manned with heavy machine guns and are heavily fortified.

 On November 8, 1943, private Sholar participated in Operation Torch which began by assaulting the coastal beaches of North Africa near Oran, Algeria by amphibious landings where they were fired upon for the first time. Although resistance was light, some of the 1^st Division men were killed. They pushed their way through Algerian and into Tunisia. During the combat operations in North Africa, 1^st Division Combat Engineers Battalion, Company "B" was awarded it's first of four Combat Unit Citations for outstanding performance of duty during combat action for an attack on Gafsa, Tunisia March 17, 1943.

EXTRACT - - - - - -  BATTLE HONORS ----- Citations of units

Battle Honors as Authorized by Executive Order No. 9396 (sec. I, Bulletin 22, WD, 1943), superseding Executive Order No. 9075(sec. III, Bulletin 11, WD, 1942), Citation of the following unit in General Orders No. 18, Headquarters First Infantry Division, 10 May 1944, as approved by the commanding General, First Army, is confirmed under the provisions of Section IV, Circular no. 333, War Department, 1943, in the name of the President of the United States as public evidence of deserved honor and distinction. The citation reads as follows.

The First Engineer Combat Battalion is cited for outstanding performance of duty in action. The First Engineer Combat Battalion was assigned the difficult missions of reconnoitering and seizing areas from which an attack scheduled 17 March 1943 could be launched on Gafsa, Tunisia and re-construction and repairing a road for which thousands of assault troops could travel. Despite persistent hostile artillery and mortar fire and intermittent sniper action, the removal numerous antitank and antipersonnel mines employed by the enemy for delaying action was essential. In its' advance the battalion encountered demolished bridges, road blocks and giant craters, all heavily mined and booby trapped and working parties were continually strafed by enemy aircraft and attacked by enemy tank and infantry formations; yet the personnel of this battalion heroically continued their task and displaying a single efficiency and splendid energy and spirit pushed 35 miles beyond our outposts and seized vital assembly areas. Meanwhile, with unique resourcefulness, they constructed 70 miles of new road to these assembly areas over the mountains, plains and wadis of Bled es Zamla. As this construction neared completion, torrential spring rains swept away miles of the new road that had been built in the wadis. Undismayed, the battalion continued fighting off enemy attacks and by ceaseless day and night labor rebuilt two roads so that the attack could be made as planned. The only Allied troops in this stretch of no-man's land, the First Engineer Combat Battalion covered the forward movement of our attacking forces, protected the de-trucking and assembly areas, and cleared mines ahead of assault troops launching the attack on Gafsa. This battalion has fought and endured the rigors of campaign with superb indifference to anything except the determination to move forward to display its' courage and resolution to the enemy. The First Engineer Combat Battalion contributed gloriously to the successful advance of our forces which culminated in the defeat of the enemy in North Africa.

 By the order of the Secretary of War: G. C. Marshall Chief of Staff

During the Tunisian campaign nearly 5000 men of the 1^st Division were either killed, captured or wounded.

After the North African Campaign, Kiedell participated in the American landings, code named Operation Husky, for the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The original planners of the invasion had no plans of including the 1^st Division. But, due to the exemplary record and performance of duty in the North African campaign and, at General George Patton's insistence they were now going to be a major player in capturing Sicily. With General George Patton leading the way from the landing beaches at Gela to Messina, his company was in constant, heavy combat for 38 straight days as they battled their way yard by yard up the Sicilian coastline. Just 8 days before the battle ended and during a German heavy counter attack, he was nearly killed when wounded in the chest by shrapnel from an exploding German artillery round. He was sent back to a North African hospital for 2 months to recover. While in Africa he spent a day and a night with Hulett Carr just before he died. Hulett was severely wounded by exploding ammunition during the Sicilian campaign. Hulett Carr's name is on the Memorial Marker in front of the Trigg County Court House in Cadiz, KY. Kiedell also saw John Howell, Charles Futrell and Guy Cunningham, all young men from his hometown in Cadiz, Kentucky.

 After recovering from wounds, he was sent to England where he re-joined his outfit. Once there, "Tommy", with the men of the First Division trained for the invasion of Europe. The First Division was stationed in and around Weymouth, Portland in southern England.

   Long before dawn, on the 6^th of June 1944, the men of the First Division began climbing over the sides of their ships and down the rope nets to the awaiting landing crafts.  Some 11 miles out to sea in the English Channel, the landing crafts were tossed around like toys in the heavy seas and a 20 mph wind. At 7½ miles per hour the landing crafts would take about 2 hours to hit the beach. Many of the men were without sleep and were seasick. The landing crafts were awash with vomit as they slowly made their way to the shores of France.

  In the history of warfare, this was the largest armada ever assembled poised and ready to strike the coast of France. The once calm, sandy coastline on the English Channel would soon become the site of bloody battle and courage. Corporal Sholar, participated in the largest invasion force in history, code named "Operation Overlord". A force comprised of more than 2 million men, 9 battleships, 23 cruisers, 104 destroyers, and 71 large landing craft of various descriptions as well as troop transports, mine sweepers, and merchantmen-in all, nearly 5,000 ships of every type. There were more than 8,000 aircraft, bombers and fighter planes approaching their targets against the coast of France.

 The men of the 1st Division began going ashore on the Normandy beach, D-Day as it was to be called. It was also known as "The longest day". At exactly 6:36 a.m. the ramps from the first wave of Higgins boats are dropped and the men began jumping off into the water anywhere from waist deep, to higher than a man's head. This is the signal awaited by the Germans atop the bluffs overlooking the beaches. Already pounded by deadly mortars, the floundering line of men is instantly swept by the murderous machine-gun fire that crisscrossed from both ends of the beach. Many of Kiedell's comrades were killed instantly, drowned or seriously wounded. One particular boat that came ashore, as soon as the ramp was dropped the machine gun fire roared straight in and killed all 30 men aboard before they even had a chance to exit the craft. Some of them had never even been in combat.

The Germans were very well dug in and waiting for the allied landings. They had been preparing for the allied attack for several years. The awaiting German gunners had zeroed in on every inch of the beach. A German soldier later reported that he quit firing his weapon only because he simply was just too tired to pull the trigger any longer.  Besides the lethal MG fire and mortars, there were booby traps, land mines, and other deadly obstacles lying in wait for these young, brave American soldiers. For many of these young men, this was their first combat mission.

The Americans assaulted the beaches in 3 attack waves.  The first wave was nearly decimated by the horrific firestorm. As the bodies of the dead were rolling in the surf tinged red from the blood of the attacking GI's and, with the situation very much in doubt, Corporal Sholar came ashore in the 2^nd wave onto Omaha Beach "Bloody Omaha" as it was called was littered with dead, dying seriously wounded and scared men along with destroyed material, weapons and all the contrivances of war. The din of war was accompanied by billowing clouds of smoke and the smell of cordite and burning fuel and metal which hung heavily in the air. Corporal Sholar now was a veteran of his 3^rd amphibious assault. "Omaha", a code name, was one of the 5 code names used for landing beaches the allies went ashore on. The others were Utah, Juno, Gold, and Sword. The Allies succeeded in bringing ashore a massive force consisting of sixteen divisions in five days.

The price of victory was nearly 10,000 deaths on June 6th alone. 3000 allied soldiers were either killed or wounded within the first 4 hours of fighting. 1100 were members of the 1^st Division. Colonel George Taylor, Commander of the 16th Infantry Regiment, told his men "There are two kinds of people staying on this beach! The dead and those who are going to die! Now let's get the hell out off this beach!"

  It wasn't only the rough seas that hampered the invasion at Omaha near the town of Vierville-sur-Mer, but there were four draws that were heavily guarded and reinforced with concrete walls. Defending the beach were eight concrete bunkers with 75 mm or larger guns, 35 pillboxes, 4 artillery batteries, 18 anti-tank guns, 6 mortar pits, 35 rocket-launching sites and 85 machine-gun nests. "Tommy" and his combat engineer battalion were instrumental in breaching the German defenses and allowing the American army to break out of the beachhead and inward to the deadly hedgerows of France. This came at a high cost including 35 engineers being killed attempting to clear a path through the heavily fortified German defenses. The First Engineer Combat Battalion received a unit citation for their heroic efforts. It reads as follows:

                                                   EXTRACT

BATTLE HONORS ----- Citations of units......... Section VIII

  VIII BATTLE HONORS.---2. As authorized by Executive Order No.9396( sec.1,Bull. 22 WD 1943), superseding Executive Order No. 9075( sec. III, Bull. 11 WD 1942, citation of the following unit in General Orders, No. 49, Headquarters 1st United States Infantry Division, 26 July,1944, as approved by the Commanding General, First Army, is confirmed under the provisions of section IV, Circular No 333, War Department, 1943, in the name of the President of the United States as public evidence of deserved honor and distinction. The citation reads as follows:

 The 1st Engineers Combat Battalion took part in the Assault on the coast of France on 6 June 1944 with the mission of performing engineer work necessary to allow assault forces to breach coastal defenses and exploit the bridgehead. Burdened with heavy loads of explosives and engineer equipment, the unit came ashore under heavy artillery, antitank, mortar, rifle grenade, machine gun, and small arms fire. Despite heavy casualties and continuous enemy fire the 1st Engineer Combat Battalion, with courageous determination, cleared gaps in barbed wire and mine fields to gain the beach. Working at times ahead of the infantry the engineers cleared a beach exit through antitank ditches, road blocks, and minefields and opened a vehicle transit road inland. Until the morning of 7 June 1944 this beach exit was the only one in operation. For 24 hours all task force tanks, supporting weapons, and vehicles that were landed passed through this one exit. Mine detector teams and road repair parties cleared inland roads aggressively, at times engaging enemy infantry, capturing prisoners, and obtaining valuable information concerning enemy installations. Minefields and barbed wire were installed under fire in front of our infantry defensive positions inland. While the enemy was still on the outskirts of Caumont, the engineers entered the city under enemy artillery shelling, extinguished great fires, demolished tottering buildings, and cleared streets of debris. The extraordinary heroism of the officers and men of the 1st Engineer Combat Battalion and their foresight and technical skill under difficult and hazardous conditions were a material contribution to the establishment of the bridgehead and exemplify the highest standards of the United States Armed Forces.

                By order of the Secretary of War:

 Official:                                                                                                G.C. Marshall,

            J.A.ULIO                                                                                    Chief of Staff

           Major General

        The Adjutant General

With death tugging at their elbows on a daily basis, the Allies make a lightning breakthrough, first in France, and later in Belgium. With General Hodges' 1st Army through the center, flanked by General Patton's 3rd Army on the right, and the 2nd British Army on the left. The Allies are headed for Germany.

 One story that dad told me was of a time when they were in the French countryside moving forward against German positions. They were moving through a village when dad and some other soldiers came upon a building that was full of casks. He said that the casks were filled with what he said was "apple jack". Apple jack is sort of a hard cider. He said that he took his Tommy gun and put a burst into the casks. With their canteens in hand, my dad and the other soldiers quickly ran through in single file filling their canteens on the double with the beverage as it ran freely from the bullet holes left in the casks while the remainder simply ran freely onto the floor.

  After they had their canteens full, my dad and his fellow soldiers retired to a nearby apple orchard to enjoy their recently acquired beverages. He said that they all were all feeling pretty good when suddenly the Germans attacked. He said they all sobered up really quick like when the shelling started. Interestingly, many years after hearing this story, I later would find a book called "4 Stars to Victory". It's a book that was written that recounts the many exploits and battles the 1^st Division was involved in during WWII.  In the book I found a very similar story that dad had once told. It described an account of soldiers from the Big Red One while in the Calvados region of Normandy, France that the soldiers found the very expensive Calvados brandy in the many casks stored there and did partake quite freely in the spirits prior to moving on.

  After the difficult and dangerous battle through France, the Big Red One moved into Belgium. While in Belgium, Corporal Sholar was billeted with a local civilian family, a well deserved reprieve after battling through the French and Holland countryside. The long hard fight through France was now over. Many brave men lost their lives during the fighting through France and those who had survived thought the war in Europe was soon to be over. There was a saying of the day, it was "Home alive in ‘45". Many troops thought they would be home by Christmas, 1944. This was popularized by a favorite song of that time, "I'll be Home for Christmas." This was not to happen.

 While in Belgium, the 1^st division became heavily involved in the Hurtgen Forest campaign.  Many historians and military analysts believe that this campaign should not have taken place. But it did with a large amount of losses. On a mid December day at 5:30 A.M., on one of the coldest, snowiest "in memory", and three powerful German armies plunged into the semi-mountainous, heavily forested Ardennes region of eastern Belgium, and northern Luxembourg. When the Germans counter attacked allied positions in and around Bastogne, the 1^st was once again, with Kiedell, heavily involved with what would become known as the Battle of the Bulge. His combat engineer company was busy blowing up bridges and laying mines in an effort to deflect the onslaught of the attacking German Panzer tanks and determined infantry divisions. Dad said the combat was worse than that of D-Day. You weren't only fighting a very determined enemy but the weather was bitterly cold. "We were freezing our asses off," he said, "Death was everywhere, your own men, the enemy, civilians and animals. The worst sight imaginable was the sight of the frozen, dead men and their twisted bodies. The German artillery, mortars, machine guns and tanks all took their toll."

  The Battle of the Bulge which lasted from December 16, 1944 to January 28, 1945 was the largest land battle of World War II. More than a million men participated in this battle including some 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans, and 55,000 British. The German military force consisted of two Armies with ten corps (equal to 29 divisions). The German offensive was code named "WACHT AM RHEIN", or "Watch on the Rhine". In its entirety, the "Battle of the Bulge," was one of the worst battles in terms of losses to the American Forces in W.W.II. My dad said it was far more terrible than the Normandy landings. There were 100,000 German casualties, killed, wounded or captured. The American casualties totaled 81,000, including 23,554 captured and 19,000 killed. A total of 800 tanks were lost on each side and 1,000 German aircraft were destroyed. Even though the German offensive achieved total surprise, nowhere did the American troops give ground without a fight. Within three days, the determined Americans would stand and await the arrival of powerful reinforcements that insured that the ambitious German goal was far beyond reach. Four weeks after it began, after grim fighting and heavy losses on both sides, the Bulge ceased to exist along with Hitler's plans for world domination.

The allied armies continued on and pushed their way across the Rhine River. In Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), Germany Corporal Sholar was slightly wounded by schrapnel, but not seriously. In February 1945, near Dern, Germany, he was seriously wounded in the right foot. This would take him out of the war and into a long rehabilitation period. He was sent by plane to Paris and then on to England where he remained until Germany fell. On June 1st he left England for the States and landed in New York June 11^th. From there he was sent to the Holoran General Hospital in New York. After a medical examination there he was assigned to the Thayer General Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.

He was discharged from the Army at Fort Atterbury, Indiana August 11, 1945. At the time he was discharged, he had accumulated 114 points. A total of 2 years and 10 months spent in the service of his country.

  For Corporal Hershel K. Sholar's actions and bravery under fire he was awarded the Purple Heart with oak cluster (for being wounded a second time), the Good Conduct Medal, the WWII Victory Medal, Meritorious Unit Emblem, European-African-Middle Eastern-Campaign Medal, several Unit Citations, Honorable Service Lapel Pin, the French Croix de Guerre, and 4 bronze battle stars. His Honorable Discharge is recorded in Veterans Discharge Book No. 2 at page 81 in Trigg County Clerk's Office, in Cadiz, KY 10th day September 1945. R.A. Macgraw, clerk,T.C.C.

Although the guns of war had been silenced and the war was now over for many years, my mother told me that it would return to him in his sleep. For many years after the wars' end, he would be awake in the middle of the night screaming and yelling as he recalled the unspeakable horrors and events of war. For years he quietly dealt with these horrors on his own. The war really never left him. I can remember a time when I was about age 10 working in the backyard alongside dad. I had a rake and was spreading around topsoil that dad had just dumped from a wheel barrel. A small plane had just flown over head when suddenly my dad grabbed me and through to the ground covering me with his left arm and ducking his head under his right. I lay there momentarily wondering what had just happened. I finally asked what was going on and my dad replied. "Didn't you see that swarm of bees?" I said I didn't and we stood up. I continued to look around without seeing anything but a small plane disappearing slowly to the south. We carried on about our business of spreading the topsoil and that was it. It wasn't for years later that when I recalled that event had I realized what had taken place. He was having flash-backs.

  After obtaining his medical records from the Army I noticed he had fainting spells shortly after returning home from the war. He was obviously suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.  In all the years he suffered in his private hell with this terrible pain he never once complained, sought professional advice, or sympathy for that matter. Although qualified for more disability from the government he never sought additional compensation. He very rarely spoke of his war time experiences other than stating the obvious. He simply wanted to place the whole terrible experience behind him and to get on with his life.

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