By Stephen Smoot
On the Sunday before Memorial Day, approximately 80 gathered under beautiful summerlike blue sunny skies to hear a presentation on soldiers lost to Pendleton County during World War II.
Brenna Mitchell, from the Pendleton County Historical Society, shared her research and thoughts on the Sugar Grove servicemen remembered as Our Five Boys, as well as others whose sacrifice took place in connection to, as a result of, or at close to the same time as, the invasion of Normandy that occurred 80 years ago next week.
It was entitled “Pendleton’s Normandy Heroes and Our Five Boys.”
As is customary, the presentation came after a brief business meeting led by Paul Clayton, society president. He opened by saying “it’s a pleasure to have everyone here today,” and reminded all in attendance that the Pendleton County Historical Society Museum at Boggs House in Franklin will remain open on Saturdays all summer between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., or by appointment.
He also thanked “Allen Moats and members of the VFW for making this available for us today.”
The Pledge of Allegiance was started by Carly Mitchell, a recent preschool graduate, aged five. One of her uncles, Frank Pitsenbarger, was one of Our Five Boys and was a part of the proceedings.
Brenna Mitchell opened by sharing the importance of remembering and reminding about local heroes, saying “as time passes, the names become a name on a wall,” and that stories of those who “give their life so that we have the liberties we do today” remain fresh.
She briefly discussed the history of the Normandy invasion, as was also portrayed in movies such as “Band of Brothers” and “The Longest Day.” Then she started with the story of Garrett Nelson, born in November 1917, approximately one year before the end of World War I. Nelson was named after an uncle who died fighting “the war to end all wars,” as the conflict was briefly called.
Nelson had one of the most dangerous jobs in World War II, serving as a crew on a B 17 “Flying Fortress” bomber. Overall, those on the crews had a 50/50 chance of surviving their service. He died when his bomber was shot down on a May 12, 1944, mission to destroy German synthetic oil production. He died at the age of 26 and was interred at Cedar Hill Cemetery.
Next, Mitchell talked about Ralph Wimer. He served in the “Easy” Company portrayed in the film “Band of Brothers.” Born in 1921 in Hunting Ground, Wimer died during the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions’ glider assault. John Wayne played the commanding officer of Airborne troops here in “The Longest Day.” The glider on which Wimer rode, according to accounts, crashed and exploded on impact. He was buried initially at St. Mere Eglise, then moved in 1948 to Cherry Hill Cemetery.
Cecil Cayton, born in June 1921, landed on Utah Beach over a week after the landing, but soon saw action in the dreaded hedgerow country. Mitchell described in detail how the hedgerows that formed boundaries between farms and penned livestock together became significant obstacles for Allied soldiers pushing inland against the entrenched Wehrmacht. Just less than two thirds of U. S. soldiers who fought in the hedgerow country did not survive. Swamps and trenches also helped Germans hide effectively.
Cayton is buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Franklin.
Theodore Samuel Ratliff (or perhaps Samuel Theodore) served on a glider with the 82nd Airborne. The Fort Seybert native also entered the Normandy battlefield on an 82nd Airborne Division glider. Mitchell explained that accurate anti-aircraft fire pushed the gliders off course, preventing their landing at the spots precisely selected.
Ratliff’s glider landed on top of the German position, but the soldiers somehow evaded the danger. Their first day they assembled their big guns. He died on July 1 at the age of 26.
Mitchell next shared the story of Willie Greenwalt from Kline. He served in the 83rd Division and landed on Omaha Beach. He was wounded on the Fourth of July during a six-day battle in which the United States Army took 1,400 casualties, both killed and wounded.
By comparison, in 20 years of fighting in Afghanistan, the United States had 2,459 military deaths.
Greenwalt’s injuries got him sent home, but the C 54 transport on which he was placed disappeared over the North Atlantic. No trace was ever found of the plane or its passengers.
When Mitchell got to Roscoe Eckard of Sugar Grove, she showed family photographs that featured him and said, “He was someone’s little boy. He was someone’s big brother.” Eckard served in the 39th Division and landed on Utah Beach on June 10th.
In his letters home, Eckard asked about his sister, Judy May (Rader). He wrote, “Tell her I said the grasshoppers will eat her toes this summer” if she goes around barefoot.
Judy May’s big brother served in some of the toughest fighting of the war. His unit engaged the Germans for more than three weeks straight near St. Lo. He made it farthest of any of the Pendleton County killed in action during Normandy and was the youngest lost. Eckard lost his life on July 17.
Oather Simmons, born on Sept. 20, 1921, served in the 908th Field Artillery of the 83rd Division. Mitchell told that those serving in artillery normally had a safer job than other soldiers. His task lay in keeping phone lines connected between the artillery and other positions.
Mitchell shared that on the morning of his death, Simmons and Eckard actually saw each other. Eckard told his fellow West Virginian to “please be careful” as he went about his job that day. A shell fragment, however, found Simmons and he died in late July.
Simmons is in Arlington National Cemetery. He was one of nine killed in his unit in the war.
Frank Pitsenbarger was born in June of 1922 and hailed from Sugar Grove. Pitsenbarger’s job lay primarily in taking care of wounded soldiers as a medic. He received his assignment on June 19 and saw his first action outside of St. Lo, a town utterly destroyed by the battle that raged in and around it.
Pitsenbarger died on a day in which approximately 260 of his fellow soldiers lost their lives. He exemplified the Bible verse in which Jesus said “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” German soldiers killed Pitsenbarger as he bent down to tend to a wounded soldier.
The young man buried at Arlington was remembered as “a great boy who loved cutting up,” Mitchell related.
Charlie “Paul” Smith came from Sugar Grove as well and was born at the end of September 1921. His brother, Eddie, came to the presentation on Sunday. Smith’s father had served and gotten wounded in World War I.
Smith gained renown in his hometown for having tremendous strength, to the point where he could lift 100-pound bags with either hand individually and even his teeth. He also took up boxing and earned a heavyweight championship while in the military.
He flew P 38s in the South Pacific as one of the self-proclaimed “Bloody Butchers of Rabal.” On Nov. 8, 1944, Smith flew in formation with his fellow pilots into a dense cloud bank over New Guinea. The pilots struggled to locate each other as they passed through.
Smith’s plane disappeared in the murky opaque skies. No trace was ever found.
Sugar Grove also lost Leo Mitchell in 1944. He was born in May of 1922 and served in the 8th Division. He served in Italy, landing at Naples and taking part in their drive to Rome. After Rome surrendered itself as an open city, they continued their push north into a mountain range.
Leo Mitchell’s unit found itself at the bottom of a rocky mountainside, Germans firing at them from three sides and rolling grenades down into their midst. He died on Sept. 25 as they were ordered to take the mountain.
Bedford, Virginia, Brenna Mitchell pointed out, achieved fame for how many of its own that the war took from them during the Battle of Normandy. They lost 19. Analysis of census numbers shows that the much less populated Sugar Grove suffered an even harder toll than Bedford with its five boys paying the ultimate sacrifice within a few short months of each other.
In 1947, Sugar Grove still felt the losses so profoundly that VFW Post 9666 named itself in their honor. To this day, the post and dedicated historians, as well as loving family, keep the memories of these and other Pendleton County soldiers alive – a duty of both love and honor.
