Email Address:. Unangst of Hanover, Illinois. Member of the th Ordnance MM Company. Unangst passed away in Illinois at the age of 85 in I dedicate this story to my eight grandchildren with whom I have been blessed, in the hope that they or their children will never have to be a part of such a massive war. I single them out only because they now lay under the white crosses where once I walked, in Normandy, France, overlooking Omaha Beach.
I must add that without the officers and men of the 8th Air Force and the British Air Force, the invasion of France on D-Day would have been a disaster. For 18 months prior to D-Day, the above forces fought and died to gain command of the sky.
In that time frame alone, 5, members of the British Air Force died defending their island and during bombing raids on German targets. LeRoy Robinson, who graduated with my brother George, commanded one of the B bomb groups stationed in England. On January 23, , Betty and I were married. On June 30, , I was required by law to register for the draft.
I had to go to the Draft Board in Galena, Illinois, to do that. In the late spring of we had disposed of much of our furniture from our first home at Wapello in Craig Manor. Knowing full well that I was going to the service, we had moved in with Grandma Beckett.
These were not good times for Betty, who was five months pregnant and the fact that Grandma Beckett was not so easy to get along with. Betty was also continuing to work as a weaver in the woolen mill. I was working seven days per week on the Depot. My good friends and neighbors on the Draft Board decided that I would not have to report for duty until after our baby was born.
