My Dad in World War II

For about two weeks I've been corresponding with Jim Moncrief, who during World War II served with my dad in the Sixth Armored Division -- known as "The Super Sixth" -- of Patton's 3rd Army. About my dad Billy R., who died in 1968 of a heart attack at age 53, he had this to say in his first letter to me --

Dear Will:

Yes, I knew Bill R. very, very well. He was the Asst. G-4 of the Division and I was the G-1. The G-4 Section and the G-1 Section were always billeted near each other in each bivouac area occupied by the Division Headquarters. Bill was the assistant to Cale Boggs who was the G-4 throughout the war. Boggs later became governor of Delaware and later, still, Senator from Delaware.

My wife and I...have in our collection (somewhere) a picture of your Mother and some other ladies of the 50th Armd Regt made in Palm Springs California. (Was Bill - your dad - in the 50th Armd Regt prior to being assigned to Div Hq in the G-4 Section - do you know?) There was a gang of us who sort of hung out together: The Frys (George and Nell - both now dead); the Smiths (F.A./"Smitty" and Geniveve, both now dead); and the Langstons (Joe and Petsey, the latter died about a month ago). [Jim Moncrief himself is 92 years old] I wonder if you've ever heard of any of them. It is conceivable that my wife, Jerry, and I were at the wedding of your mother and dad - at this stage, I do not remember. I will try to find the photo of your mom and send it to you.

Somewhere in my collection I have two other photos in which your father appears. One was made while we (the Division Headquarters) were in Southern England waiting to board the ship which was to take us across the Channel. The G-4 and G-1 Halftracks were, as customary, side by side or in column; and the picture I have shows all the people off in the shade waiting for the word "go". Another picture I have was made when Gen. [George] Marshall and Gen. Patton visited the headquarters of the 6th while we were in Nancy, France. The pic shows Gen. Grow (our Division Commander) escorting Marshall and Patton into a room where many members of Grow's General Staff had been assembled. Your dad is among those of us shown in the pic. I will try to find that pic and have a copy made for you - if you are interested.

I have written three books, each of which has a lot of military stuff - stories, chapters or "squibs" as I call them...In one of the books, As You Were, Soldier, I have a squib which describes a bull session occurring amongst the members of G-4 and G-1 (officers and enlisted men); and I was describing the diverse group: Lenert from the wilds of Texas; Boggs, the learned lawyer from Delaware; Moncrief, a country boy from Georgia, etc; and I mention "R., a member of the South Carolina elite", or words to that effect.

Will, it was great hearing from you. Your letter sure brought back pleasant memories.

My wife, Jerry, joins me in sending our fondest regards.

Jim Moncrief

This afternoon I received a letter from Jim Moncrief with three original photos from the war enclosed: one of my mother at 22 with four other Army wives relaxing at the camp in Palm Springs, where the 6th Armored trained in the desert for fighting in North Africa; one of my dad with Jim and another officer shortly before their return to the states at the conclusion of the war in Europe; and one of Jim and my dad with two other officers in Arkansas, around the time my folks met and married. I edited this last photo to show just Jim Moncrief and my dad, Billy R.:


Jim Moncrief and Billy R. 1945

Jim Moncrief led a distinguished career in the Army; but it is his WWII service in Europe which, in my opinion, stands out. Jim was the first Allied soldier to see the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945, having been told by an escaped prisoner that the Nazi guards and officers had fled the camp upon hearing the 6th Armored Division's tanks firing close by. He investigated on his own, after informing his superior officer; and with a small contingent of soldiers discovered the secret Nazi horror that was Buchenwald. The next day tanks of American soldiers (including my dad)arrived to provide medical care, food, and other services for the survivors. If there was a single event of the war that affected my dad above all others, the sight of Buchenwald was it.

It took some time for my dad, like so many others, to recover from his experiences in Europe. He told me when I was younger that he'd had a nightmare one evening after his return to the states wherein he was strangling a Nazi soldier; he awoke to find his hands at my mother's throat.

My dad hated war, but he loved the honorable group of men he fought with and was proud of his service. He never talked about the war much, except to answer questions people had, almost always to clarify an historical event. He was quite bitter about all the death he'd seen; when I was about 12 he handed me -- completely out of the blue -- a copy of Robert Frost's poem "Out, Out--". When I'd finished, he said to me, "That's what people are like!" War, I believe, had everything to do with the cynicism he shared with Frost.