A Good Man Goes To War

 "Demons Run when a Good Man goes to War"
 - Steven Moffat 

My father, James Edward O'Donnell, was born on July 25th, 1920 in a tiny coal town in Clearfield county, Pennsylvania. He grew into a tall, bright teenager with movie-star looks and a cutting sense of humor. In 1940 he married Betty Jane Shively and the couple moved to Johnstown to get a job at the burgeoning Bethlehem Steel plant there. Like untold others, he heard the call to defend his country and entered the U.S. Army on September 4, 1942. This was despite the fact that his wife was pregnant with my oldest sister at the time. He chose the new Army Airborne, and was assigned to the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment (13th Airborne) when it was created in December, 1942.

He spent most of the next year being trained to jump out of perfectly good airplanes, how to shoot, and how to save lives as well. His regiment was bounced around from training area to training area, including Fort Benning, Fort Bragg, and, in January 1944, to Camp Mackall in North Carolina. In March 1944, they were sent to train Camp Forrest, Tennessee and transferred to the 17th Airborne.

After months of intense training, the 513th was sent to Camp Miles Standish in Massachusetts. From there they boarded ships to England ... and continued to train.

At this point, my 24 year old father, who had never been out of the state of Pennsylvania in his life, had been shuttled around 4 other states and now a foreign country. 

The members of the 513th were frustrated that they did not get to participate in the D-Day. While in England they were "in reserve" during the ill-fated Market Garden operation and did not get to join the 101st Airborne paratroopers in the operations.  Had Market Garden succeeded, the 513th would likely have never seen action in the war. But it was a spectacular failure, and the war continued.

On December 16, 1944, with the tide turning against Germany, Hitler's generals devised a surprise "breakout" of German troops through the Ardennes Forest into Belgium. It caught the Allies completely by surprise, and the operation's success would have given the Germans a decided advantage and prolonged the war for years. Needing men to plug the gaps, paratroopers from the 101st and 17th were all ordered to be sent to "The Bulge" to defend the strategic city of Bastogne - basically the crossroads of Belgium.

My father and his regiment - which had done dozens of training jumps but not one single jump into battle - were once again denied their very purpose. They were flown to France, put on trucks, and rushed to the front lines.

The tremendous book and series "Band of Brothers" outlines the details of that horrific period of the war far better than I ever could, but suffice it to say that the paratroopers held, with tremendous casualties, until Patton arrived and sent the Germans scurrying back home.

My father suffered injuries from an artillery shell for his first purple heart during this campaign. On January 6, 1945, he was separated from his unit and again wounded. He was declared KIA, then MIA, then located in February. Hints from my father and some records from the time period leads me to believe that he and others of his company were captured and eventually either escaped or rescued when the German position was eventually overrun. My father never wrote or spoke openly of this period.  I often wonder if the events during this time led to many of his post-war problems.

Send back to France, the small number of survivors of the 513th readied for it's first and only combat jump - in the largest airborne assault of all time, Operation Varsity. What Montgomery had tried to do largely with tanks in Market Garden was now done correctly, and this operation broke the back of the German army, leading to it's now inevitable surrender.

After Operation Varsity, my father and his regiment were sent back to France to a "redeployment center". This was understood to be "somewhere to keep the troops trained until we can send them to Japan".

Fortunately for my Father, the Japanese surrendered on September 2, 1945. My father's war was over.

He had served 4 and a half months doing infantry basic training, 6 months as a rifleman, then 6 months as a Medical Technician. His last 13 months were as a Sargent Surgical Technician. The things he must have seen patching up his buddies I can only imagine.  

He returned to Johnstown with his wife and daughter (who had been born during his service) and worked as a "scarfer" (his term for someone who smooths steel, often with a huge blowtorch)  at Bethlehem Steel until 1977, when the Johnstown flood caused so much damage to the plant it offered men of his tenure early retirement. He took it.

His was not a happy life. He had three more children and took some enjoyment in Pittsburgh sports and crossword puzzles (in ink). His relationship with my mother soured after he returned, for a variety of reasons not germane to this article. He suffered from alcoholism, depression, and what we now know as PTSD for the rest of his life. Despite this he provided for his family admirably, hardly ever missing a day of work and always being first to volunteer for overtime.

One Sunday in 1988, my father lost the battle to whatever demons were torturing him, and he took his own life.  Perhaps he escaped the demons. As he left no note and told nobody he was even considering this, we will never know on this side of the veil why specifically he did it. I have referred to him as the "last casualty of World War II", but I am aware that many other veterans of that war eventually ended their lives. 

This article is to preserve his service and sacrifice during World War 2. Below are transcriptions of letters he wrote both before and after the war. (Heavily censored letters he sent during the war exist but disappeared after he died). They give an insight into the mind of a World War II GI... more concerned with those he left safely at home than his own life. Desperate for any contact from home. I hope they add to the legend and story of the Greatest Generation.

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This is a letter sent from one of the stateside camps he was stationed at. It is undated, and was to his Mother and Wife.

Mom – I want some more chicken when I get home, so don’t kill them all. Hope your feeling better & dad too. Don’t worry cause I’m not in the least danger & don’t think I ever will be. Write soon and tell Bus to be real good to Betts. I told him to & I guess he will. It sort of hurts her when someone SNAPS at her.

Let me know how Stines[?] case came out. Don’t forget.

Now this is for you Betts. I suppose it is sort of lonesome without my big mouth back home, but, honey, we’ll just have to stand it for awhile. I’ll come home as soon as I can. I guess you know that. I sure had a tough time leaving you but I guess you & I will run into a lot of tough times before we’re married 20 years. Won’t we?

Take care of your tummy. It’s carrying something precious.

Write me a big long letter & tell me everything. Don’t hold anything from me that you think could worry me ‘cause I want to know everything. I have your ring on my key chain & on my finger too. Tell Mom to keep her pressure down & tell dad to keep his up. I miss them a lot too.

Trust me Betts & remember I sure didn’t go wrong when I married you.  I guess I love you and miss you more every day I’m away. Be real good and write soon & give my love to Dad & Mom & Bus.

I’ll be waiting to hear from you all.

Loads of love and kisses.

From your husband Jim.

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Again, a letter to my mother while he was still stateside.

Dear Betts:

I just got a letter from you, so I’ll start to answer now & finish up this evening. The picture was O.K. honey. You didn’t look exactly like yourself, but I could tell it was you.

Send me a picture each time you get a chance, don’t forget. I’ll get some taken of me the first chance I get.

I know how you feel about those letters, honey. But I forgot all about those girls even before I met you. When I met you, I learned to love you & that was all there was to it. When a fellow falls hard for a girl, he generally asks her to marry him, & that’s just what I did. I’ll always love you honey. Forget about those letters. I’m sorry I didn’t burn them before if they made you feel bad. I feel bad too because I can’t take care of you the way a husband should. But, give me a little time, honey, & I’ll make up for all we’ve lost after we’re back together.

Maybe I don’t say much in my letters, but I miss you so damn much that lots of times I feel like crying & I mean it. So just read between the lines a little and you’ll understand how I feel. I don’t want you to doubt me for one minute. I’m living for the time when we’ll be together again & I can take care of you forever & try to make you happy.

The baby must be a lively little guy, the way you say he moves around. It has to get a little exercise, so I suppose that’s what he’s doing when it moves.

Honey, I want you to spend some of that money. You won’t feel right if you don’t spend a little dough. When that bond comes in, cash it in if you want to & have a good time or buy yourself something.

We’re going to play a game of mushball with company “B” after supper so that’s what I’ll be doing for awhile this evening. After that I’ll take a bath & go to bed. Our laundry just came in so I’ll have to put it away.

This is all for now so I’ll start to close. Don’t forget to ask me anything you want to know. I’ll tell you everything I know. Be good & take good care of you & baby.

Don’t forget I love you and always will. All my love & a barrel of kisses.

Your loving hubby

Jim

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This letter was dated "Thurs 12".

Dear Folks:

I just got in from dinner so I’ll drop you a line or two while I’m not busy.

First, excuse this writing. I have a small pencil & its not so good.

We’re still doing the same old grind. We’re always busy doing something or other.

How is everyone? Hope your all feeling good. How is the Ford working?

I’m still feeling good. I’m tipping the scales at a little better than 181 now but I’m not fat. I can notice now though, that I’m a little bigger. I only weighed 165 when I came in. so I ought to notice it a little.

How’s your pressure, Mom? Betty said Dad had a cold. Hope he’s feeling better now.

Don’t forget to pass on any scandal that you hear to me. I’m still interested in it. Have you heard anything about Harry [?]? I wonder if he’s in the army.

Betty should get that bond soon. I wrote to Johnstown & told them to send it to her. She can add it to her bankroll. She ought to be able to cash it this time. I mean the 2 month period must be up.

I imagine that there are very few young fellows running around loose back home. I imagine they’re sort of scarce.

The chow bell if about to ring so I may have to finish this later.

Dad, the next time you start the 35 Ford, see if the heater works. If it doesn’t, there’s a little rubber tube that fits onto the carburetor that may be off. I don’t think that it will rust but it might.

Now, I just got back from dinner. We had sliced beef or something like that, carrots, gravy, salad & beans.

I feel better now. I don’t know what we’re going to do this P.M.

This is about all for this time. Write soon & send the news. Don’t worry cause I’m O.K. Tell everyone I said hello & to be good.

Don’t forget to write.

Love

Jim

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Another letter from either stateside or England

Dear Betts:

I got two letters from you today. One you wrote Thursday & one on Friday. I hope you are getting my letters pretty regular.

I’m pretty tired tonight. We were on a heck of a long hike today. The bunk is going to feel pretty good.

That picture you drew was rather exaggerated, wasn’t it? I hope you’re not that big. Anyway, I get the general idea. I’ll sure be glad when the baby is born & you are feeling better.

Bob Tiderman’s wife was in town this week end & he was telling me how her baby kicks her & moves around. Just like our baby does. She was tickled about it. She says that it often wakes her up at night when it kicks.

I went to a show last night. A bunch of us went to see one of our corporals who is in the hospital & then went to the show. Saw “Once in a honeymoon” with Ginger Rogers & Cary Grant & it was pretty good.

I got a carton of cigarettes from Sis & Jack today. I’m sure being well supplied with cigarettes. I haven’t bought a pack for a long time. I’ll have to write & thank them.

I don’t suppose I’ll run our Ford any when I get home. I was just thinking, there probably isn’t any water in it & I wouldn’t want to buy antifreeze just to run it a little bit. Dad probably has taken the battery out too. A battery will freeze up if it gets real cold & the car isn’t being run. It would be a lot of bother to get it running. It’s cold down here now. We had overcoats on this morning.  This won’t last long, though.

The fellows are telling stories now & my attention is being interrupted. They aren’t very good stories. So I won’t repeat them.

I’ll sure be glad when I get to see you. Don’t worry too much, honey. Everything is bound to turn out alright. When I get home we can make up for a lot of hugs & kisses what we’ve been missing. I love you so damn much honey. I don’t know what to do. I know I’ll be the happiest guy in the world when we can be together again to stay. I miss you so much & time isn’t making any difference.

I’ll be dreaming about you. Write soon & be good.

All my love and kisses from your hubby.

Jim

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This is the most significant letter of them all. Written to his brother Thomas (Bus) on  June 21, 1945, from France, it contains the most information he ever volunteered about his service.

Dear Bus,

I got your letter while we were still in Germany & we were getting ready to move, so I didn’t get a chance to answer it. I was real glad to hear from you. Was also glad that you got a little time at home. The picture was good. The first picture of any of you for a long time. What do you think of Bonnie? She must be quite a kid.

I hope you get to spend all your Army career in the states. I know I wanted to come over here too & see some of the excitement, but it didn’t take long & I wished I was back in the states. So you just stick around where you’re at as long as you can & don’t go volunteering for overseas duty. Take my word for it. Mom & Dad have worried enough about me. I’m a lucky guy, a lot of my buddies aren’t coming back. I got awfully tired of the army in the states, but in one week over here I wished I was back there. To take my advice & stick it out there If you can. I realize “When you gotta go, you gotta go”, but don’t hurry it up. The Pacific war may surprise us & be over before we think it will.

We’re in a redeployment camp here in Nancy, France. I suppose you read about those. We think we’re going home soon, but you know how these things are, someone has to stay in Germany. But we’re pretty sure we’re going home soon.

You should see this land of Hitler’s. it’s sure one hell of a mess now. It’s hard to describe just how bad it is torn up. They really got the works. Whole cities like Pittsburgh & Philly got completely smashed & leveled.

I have 70 points so I don’t have too much time to spend in the army yet I hope. 70 points is high in this division, as I am one of the oldest men left.

That picture you sent me was dated March 25. That was the day after we jumped into Germany. This regiment jumped 10 miles behind the Rhine. The rest of the armies broke through to us pretty quick, about 30 hours & saved our ass. We jumped the C46. I suppose you’ve seen lots of them. We ran into all kinds of flak & the plane I was in got hit before we got to the jump zone. I was sitting at the front of the plane, right beside the motor that got hit. It never touched any of us in the plane. It was burning like hell & we got out of it in a hurry. The crew didn’t get out. I saw it crash after I landed. They knew we were coming, somehow & were really really sending flak & small arms fire into the chutes while we were dropping. You can imagine what happened. I didn’t get scratched then, but we took over a Jerry tank a little later & I was gunner & didn’t know shit about it & got my left hand smashed by the turret. It’s o.k. now but it’s still a little weak. We threw some of their own ammo back at them for awhile. In the Bulge in January I got practically blown out of my hole by a German artillery shell. It knocked hell out of my and my buddy, we both went to the hospital but we were both O.K. in a few days. The first day we were back with the outfit, we captured a town & got 300 prisoners. After that we were moved into Luxembourg & occupied a town. Didn’t do much fighting there, but the Jerries were dug in across the river & shelled the hell out of the town while we were there. After that we were moved back to France to get ready for the jump.

We started fighting in the Bulge with 150 men in my company & went back to France to get ready for the jump with 22. So you see, it’s rough. But Von Runstedt’s drive was stopped. I’ll tell you more about it when I get back home. I hope I don’t see any more of it. Write to me and tell me all you’ve been doing & what you think you’re going to do. Did dad & mom seem to be feeling good when you were home? I worry a bit about them because I know they’ve been worrying about me. I’m feeling as good as ever now & heavier. Weigh 182 stripped so you can see I put on some weight since we’ve been resting. I dived in a hole after I landed in the jump & couldn’t get out for about 15 minutes. So I cut off a piece of my chute. I’ll send you a little piece for a souvenir.

Don’t forget to write & I’ll send you word if I’m coming home. Take good care of yourself. I’m still a PFC and will continue to be if I have my way about it. Keep on the ball & be good.

Your brother,

Jim

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My father's Jump Wings

One of the letters my Mother received about the time period my father was MIA. Note that my grandfather (Vere) actually intercepted it from the post office

The Airborne patch is likely his, the other two he most likely traded with other soldiers.

PFC James Edward O'Donnell