SGT. WILLIAM JAMES WILLIAMS |
Willard James
Williams served as a Sergeant in the 304th Combat Engineers 79th Division, Europe. "On June 2, 1942,
my brother and I accepted Uncle Sam's invitation to join him. We were taken to Jefferson Barracks for our
physicals, shots and given our uniforms. "After intensive
training, we were shipped to Boston to board ship for Europe. Three other fellows and I went on as advanced
guards on ship April 1, 1944 (1943?). Seven
days later they put M.P. band on my arm and I was to tell other soldiers where to go as
they came on ship. Imagine my surprise when I
looked up and there was my brother. We were
happy to see each other. "While on ship,
we were together as much as possible. When we
landed in England, we saw each other occasionally while we were waiting for the D Day
invasion. Our advanced unit went in on Utah
Beach six days after D Day. They were still
shelling and bombing there. "We would see
each other at times on our trip through France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Germany,
Czechoslovakia and Austria. I feel like this
was really something for us to run into each other during the thick of battles. "We both
survived the war. I came home in September of
1945 and my brother came home a month later. Home
sure looked good to us." |
The DAILY JOURNAL, St. Francois County., Wednesday, April 26, 1995.