Download Lloyd Leary 2011 - King High Remembers

Gregory Hughes, Joshua Barnes, Austin Pereira
Corona
U.S History Per. 1
5/19/11
King High Remembers Group Essay- Lloyd Leary
Lloyd Leary is a veteran of World War II. He fought in the European Campaign
and saw combat at Normandy, Brittany, Luxemburg, and Germany. Lloyd was born in
1923 in the country town of Meadville, Pennsylvania and soon moved to Jamestown,
Pennsylvania with his family. He had five brothers and one sister while growing up.
Lloyd was very athletic and in high school played many sports like baseball and
basketball. He was a junior in high school when his dad died. During and after high
school any money he made in jobs went to supporting the family. During this time World
War II had already started in most of the world. Hitler and the Nazis were quickly taking
over Europe, and Japan was taking over the pacific. America responded to this by not
giving scrap or oil to Japan. The Japanese were angry at this because they needed the fuel
to keep waging war. On December 7th, 1941 the Japanese Navy launched a surprise on
the American fleet in Pearl Harbor. The attack left 2,400 men dead and the American
Fleet almost completely destroyed. Lloyd, recently graduated from high school, was
playing touch football when he heard the news that afternoon. Lloyd waited until he was
drafted, but some of his brothers didn’t. His older brother went and served in the army in
Europe. His second oldest brother served in the marines in the pacific. And his older two
brothers served in the Navy. In 1943, the notice came and Lloyd was drafted.
Lloyd was selected to be an aviation student for about seven months. He traveled
all over the United States training to be a pilot. When he was almost finished with
training, the Airforce had enough pilots and navigators, so they sent Lloyd back to train
in the infantry. He was sent to Camp Wheeler, Georgia. In 1944, Allied forces sent the
largest landing force to Normandy. The force landed on five beaches, the Americans
landed on Utah and Omaha, the British landed on Gold and Sword, and the Canadians on
Juno Beach. Even though many men were lost trying to secure the beaches, the Allied
forces attack was a success and gave them a foothold in Europe. Lloyd was shipped
Normandy shortly after D-day.
Lloyd was sent to Carentan as a replacement in the 83rd division. The 83rd
division, also known as the “Thunderbolt Division” arrived in England on April 16, 1944.
They trained in Wales and shortly after D-day the 83rd landed on Omaha Beach. After
moving into Wofmondy, they entered the hedgerow south of Carentan. After relieving the
101st in Carentan, the 83rd reached the St.Lo-Perlers Road and operation Cobra began on,
July 25th. Operation Cobra was designed to break out of the hedgerow country by
bombing it. When he joined the 83rd division, Lloyd was made a second scout for the
squad. While moving up a road in enemy territory, Lloyd passed two dead American
scouts and realized that could have been him. Another time when his squad was moving
through a field where the crops were torso high, a German machine gunner open fired on
them. His squad hit the ground and remained there for awhile. No one was doing
anything to neutralize the threat, so Lloyd got into crouch position, shot and killed the
German gunner. Today Lloyd has never forgotten about killing the German.
Patton’s third army was racing across France and the 83rd was protecting his
flank. The 83rd got stuck in Luxemburg because the supply line needed to catch up. Lloyd
and his squad were in a winery. The building had a modern toilet but no running water.
So when they went to the bathroom they would use sparkling wine to flush the toilet.
While in Luxemburg, Lloyd saw three V2 being launched. He did not know at this time
what they were. The 83rd was the sent to the Hurtgen Forest. By this time Lloyd was
made a squad leader. On the morning of December 16, 1994, Lloyd and the other squad
leaders were together getting orders from command. When a mortar hit behind Lloyd
sending shrapnel into him. He was rushed to the hospital. He had wounds in his back and
side. While in the hospital, Lloyd was moved to different hospitals, eventually going to
England, because the needed space for the wounded men coming from the battle of the
Bulge. The Battle of the Bulge was Germany’s last offensive in the war. It was a massive
attack the surprised the Allied forces in the Ardennes Forest. Its objective was to break
the allied lines and capture key bridges so the Germans could split British and American
forces and the capture Antwerp, Belgium. The Germans were only able to make a big
bulge in the Allied line. They were stopped at a town called Bastogne where men from
the 101st Airborne were defending it. It was a terrible defeat for the Germans and put
them on the defensive for the remainder of the war.
Lloyd was wounded on the morning the Battle of the Bulge began and came back
to the 83rd as they were going to cross the Rhine River leading the Americans further into
Germany. After crossing the Rhine the raced across Germany. Lloyd was among the first
to cross the Elle River at Barley. It was on that day that he learned of President
Roosevelt’s death from a German man who was drinking in celebration of Roosevelt’s
death. East of the Elle, the Russians moved into Berlin, and met the 83rd. Lloyd was sent
to Bavaria until the end of World War II. Because of his actions in Germany, he was
awarded the Silver Star which is the third highest award given in the military, the Purple
Heart because he was wounded in battle and also awarded the Bronze Star.
When he came home to Jamestown, Pennsylvania there were no parades or
celebrating because all that had occurred. After the war he went to college on the G.I Bill.
He then played baseball for the White Sox’s minor team. He started dating, six months
later married Laurel Leary. He started to teach high school math and taught for 37 years.
He went to Penn Sate and earned his masters degree. He now lives in Marietta, California
and loves being with his three daughters and four grandchildren.
Lloyd would later say, that his time in the service was life changing. He didn’t
think he would have gone to college and become a teacher for such a long time. He
would not have moved to California and raised a family there. He never thought that he
would have lived through some of the situations he was in. Even though he was in the
service less than three years and overseas for a year and a half, he doesn’t think there has
been one day in his life since that some sound, smell, thought, sight or something from
that time takes him back. Lloyds experiences brought him to feel there were too many
lives destroyed and so much was ruined. War is hell! He would not wish it on anyone.