The Great Crusade
June 6 marks 66 years since the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, but memories from World War II remain in the nation's consciousness.
Although documents of war are preserved in museums and books, stories also remain among the dwindling troops who served there.
"Those things are all in the background now," says Roland Harding, 94, of Butler Township, who landed on Omaha Beach at "H plus 4" on D-Day.
According to that designation, Harding arrived four hours after H, or the hour when the invasion began. As part of the 1st Army's 3rd Armored Division, he crossed the English Channel aboard a landing ship (LST) after weather pushed the entire invasion back one day.
Although LSTs were equipped with landing crafts and other vehicles, the troops waded ashore through the heavy water so equipment wouldn't get stuck.
"On me (the water) was belly-deep," recalled Harding, estimating a distance of 200 yards to the beach. "If you had any pockets, they were full of sand."
Although the previous four hours allowed American troops to begin forcing the Germans back, rough terrain limited their advance to about a half mile from shore — making Harding and the others easy targets as they trudged with their gear through the water, then crawled through the sand.
"The water and sand were red with blood from the Allied soldiers," Harding wrote in a self-published book titled "Hello, Two Zero."
"The beach sand was also littered with body parts and blood. The medics were working hard to remove the badly mangled soldiers as fast as they could, a sight that I will not forget even if live 100 years.
"This was the most confusing and awful sight I ever expect to see, second only to what Hell is probably like," the text continues.
"The constant explosions were deafening."
With tanks and jeeps unloaded, Harding's unit began the job of clearing the Cherbourg Peninsula which juts northwest of Omaha Beach.Although his first days were spent as an artillery reconnaissance officer traveling in Sherman tanks, Harding's role quickly changed. He was called on to be an air observer when a soldier named Lt. Barnes was shot."He (Barnes) got shot through the seat of the pants," Harding said, explaining the canvas-covered frame of the Piper Cub offered no protection."They handed me Lt. Barnes' clipboard. It was all covered with blood," he recalled, noting the canvas sling that served as his seat also had become saturated."They gave us a towel to wipe the seat off," he said.For most of the following year, Harding traveled in the tiny L-4 Cub, which offered room only for Harding, his pilot Bill Tallant and their radio and parachutes.The duo was charged with flying across enemy lines to determine the coordinates of German artillery, then calling in the coordinates to U.S. ground troops who then knew where to direct their fire.Although Harding could see how to avoid German fire, he never knew exact locations of American troops. Consequently, he could not anticipate the timing or direction of their incoming shells."We lost four or five pilots and observers in the war that were shot down by American artillery," he said, noting he and Tallant were the only crew that began shortly after D-Day and remained intact through the Battle of the Bulge the following December.Occasionally, he or Tallant would comment "That was a close one" when they felt the draft of an American shell going by.The mandate to fly the plane with one side open was a mixed blessing during one mission, when a German jet fighter collided with the Cub, sending it into a roll.An alert came over the radio to Harding, that warned "Hello Two Zero. Scramble. Scramble."But the warning had come too late for Harding and Tallant, addressed as Two Zero and One Zero, respectively, during radio communication."I got blown out of the airplane," recalled Harding, who can't remember pulling his parachute chord and is thankful for no major injury. During another flight when Tallant was substituted with a temporary replacement, Harding had to land the aircraft when his short-term pilot was shot.
"I never got afraid, thank God," he commented, attributing his lack of fear partly to trust in God and partly to a lack of time for contemplating risk.Harding logged hundreds of hours in the small plane, having earned an air medal with 10 oak leaf clusters, each cluster marking 35 missions."Each mission has to be at least two hours," he calculated. "And sometimes they were four."His riskiest mission was voluntary, but an important component in the The Battle of the Falaise Pocket. The battle was fought in August of 1944, when Germans were surrounded by English on one side and Americans on the other. Whether unaware of the American presence or overshooting their mark, English shells were landing near the American soldiers. Harding offered to fly as a messenger to the English troops, knowing they might mistake the Cub for an enemy aircraft."Rollie, you're going to get us killed," Tallant had said with a sigh."He had no fear," recalled Harding's wife, Fern, 92, who spent Harding's service years with her family in North Dakota."He was so daring. If there was something to do, he did it," Fern said.Fern was pregnant when Harding shipped out for Europe in September of 1943. Their oldest son Roland "Freddie" Frederick was born the following January."The first time I cut Freddie's fingernails I sent them to him," said Fern, telling how one of her daily letters also included a lock of Freddie's hair.Fern also saved all of her husband's letters, sent via Victory Mail, or V-mail, overseas. The V-mail resulted from letters being photographed and reduced to tiny reels of microfilm, which could be shipped to the states more efficiently. Once stateside, the letters were enlarged to a quarter of their original size, then delivered to the recipient.Packed away in another room are treasures like Harding's dull, green combat helmet."That's my bathtub," he laughed, explaining how the hats doubled as wash basins after weeks or months without showers."If you'd look at my helmet, you'd see all the soap scum in it."
Also packed away in a closet are Tallant's handwritten journals that document his time in the air with Harding as his passenger.Tallant's wife, Mildred, gifted the journals to Harding years later, when her husband died of cancer.Although he holds a Silver Star as well as the Airman's Medal, Harding cites the journal entries as his most treasured commendation."I am glad Rollo got to go home on leave," one page read. "But the air section will miss him. He was one of the best air observers ever, bar none."In civilian life, Harding proceeded with equal success. He served as a legislator in North Dakota, earned his master's degree in pharmacy and a doctoral degree in science before retiring from the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C., as director of pharmacy services.He moved 22 years ago to Butler County, where his younger son, Stephen, resides.Like many veterans, Harding spoke little of his military service until recent years, when Stephen and others urged him to share his stories."The truth is, I didn't care much for telling people how many people I probably killed," Harding said.In the end, Harding did share, which resulted in his memoir, completed in 2009.
According to Stephen, 60, of Center Township, the book is but an extension of Harding's patriotism, present for many years prior."For Christmas one year he gave us all a flag and said this is what he fought for," Stephen said. "He was fighting for his country and to give his family a life."According to Harding, responsibility and loyalty also were factors."It was my job, and a lot of my buddies were depending on me doing a good job," he said.After leaving active service as a 1st lieutenant, Harding maintained membership in the U.S. Army Reserve, where he now holds the rank of lieutenant colonel."They've taken me off the pay status, so to speak," Harding said. "But "I'm still a member."Harding's book is available at amazon.com and some retail outlets.
• September 1939 — Germany invades Poland, starting World War II. Britain and France declare war on Germany.• April 1940 — Germany invades Norway and Denmark.• May 1940 — Germany invades Belgium and the Netherlands.• July 1940 — Germany begins bombing Britain.• June 1941 — Germany invades the Soviet Union.• December 1941 — Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. The U.S. declares war on Japan.• February 1942 — Japan captures Singapore.• May 1942 — Japan captures the Philippines and Burma.• June 1942 — The Allies defeat Japan in the Battle of Midway.• February 1943 — German troops surrender in Stalingrad, USSR.• May 1943 — Axis troops in northern Africa surrender.• September 1943 — Italy surrenders.• November 1943 — U.S. forces invade Tarawa.• June 1944 — D-day: Allied troops land in France and begin invasion.• October 1944 — Japan's navy is defeated near the Philippines.• December 1944 — Germans fight back in Battle of the Bulge.• March 1945 — Allied troops capture Iwo Jima.• May 1945 — Germany surrenders, ending World War II in Europe.• August 1945 — Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.• September 1945 — Japan signs surrender agreement, ending war.Source: http://www2.scholastic.com
