Germany started in shelling the town this morning. He threw in two shells every 5 minutes. He quit about 8 o’clock and started again at 11 o’clock. Some of them came pretty close. Shrapnel has been flying all around. Wrote some letters. Made out a few requisitions and took a run down to the Battalion. It has been snowing the last two days.
Your Son, ‘Chick’
Seventy years ago today (1/6/1945) my dad’s brother, Richard (Dick) Russell Ingram (one of the uncles for who I am named), was killed in a small town in Belgium during WWII’s “Battle of the Bulge”. He left the relative safety of a Sherman tank to assist a fallen GI who had been hit by German fire. Unfortunately, he too was struck and killed by enemy fire. Uncle Dick received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star post-humously for his actions that day. There is a recently released movie, “Fury”, which portrays the lives and interactions of a Sherman tank crew during this same battle in the Ardennes. Watching it brought me closer to my uncle and made me appreciate what these guys endured throughout the war. Uncle Dick is buried in the family plot in New Union Cemetery in Lincoln, IL along side his parents and my parents. May they rest in peace.
Rick,
A wonderful remembrance of your Uncle. Thanks for sharing it with our readers and thanks to your uncle for his service.
John Bruns