Brad Beeler joined the Army in 1943 and went through basic training with the Army Corps of Engineers. Beeler was later selected to participate in the ASTP to become an officer, but quickly found himself reassigned to an infantry division to help fill ranks.
Beeler would land in Normandy after the invasion and travel across France en route to Germany clearing villages along the way. In Germany Beeler would be awarded the Bronze Star for his actions in combat.
Brad Beeler passed away on June 14, 2020.
VIDEO HERE (15:30 minutes)
I know one guy who was on the beach 3 weeks after d-day with an engineering company. He thinks Biden is the right guy. Might have been the greatest generation but i
ReplyDeleteOld guy likes seeing old guy in charge. Some of that in my family.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got back from Desert Storm my WWII uncle who never talked about the war got me and my cousin who was also at DS and shared a bottle of 1942 Cognac and his story of WWII.
ReplyDeleteMy uncle AJ was 101st and got shot in the hip just after the D-day invasion. He spent 6 months back in England healing up. He could not jump again or march for extended periods so he was reassigned to 3rd Army under Patton as Supply Sergeant. He drove a Deuce hauling supplies and mail for most of the remainder of the war. He had acquired a M2 and had customized his Deuce with light armor and a turrent. He got his second Purple Heart at Bastogne where he caught some shrapnel in his buttocks early in the battle. After surgery they put him and another wounded soldier in the church steeple to direct fire and report on battlefield conditions. That got him his Bronze Star and another stripe to make him a Staff Sargent. Two months later he was leading a convoy for re-supply/mail run when they ran across a British unit that was pinned by Germans. He lead the attack that wiped out the Germans and received a Silver Star and was soon promoted again.
He was a bad-ass back in the day. He never talked about it afterwards but he shared his war experience with us. My cousin was a medivac chopper pilot. He gave O-6 and above sight seeing tours before the war kicked off and only made two injury runs after the war kicked off. I was USAF Commo running a message switch that ran itself and a telephone switch. I was in the rear with the commo gear making sure the real hero's could make their Mama calls back home. I made it into Kuwait after the Iraqis had been run out of the country.
What an honor that your uncle shared his stories with you!
DeleteThanks for sharing them with us.
Obviously the poor man has dementia.
ReplyDeleteever stop to think how hard it was for him to talk and relive that time ?
ReplyDeletemost vets only talk about those times with others who have bein thru the same shit.
after coming home, I got chance to hear a few stories from my uncles and my dad.
never knew he had a navy cross until he was buried down in dc.
funny thing, had a naval commander as a guide or something, they put mom up for the night, me and my brothers and in laws where all army. so he asked why.
I told him, dad always called the navy "the fucking navy" he laughed his ass off at that.
then said, with his medals he could call it whatever he want to