Hill 192

[helmet2id]

On this date 79 years ago my Uncle Charlie, "the Heebie Geebie Greek on the BAR", C Company, 23rd, 2nd ID, was engaged in the most desperate combat of his life (and he was one of the few from the 2nd ID to land on Omaha on June 6th) during the first day of the battle for Hill 192, a crucial fight that opened the door to St. Lo. C Company was on the "attack" that day. He rarely talked about Hill 192 and when he did, he often trembled as he recounted what he and his comrades endured during those 2 horrific days of combat. He said the shelling was deafening and terrifying. One time he told me that early on C Company was pinned down by a machine gun crew. Charlie put down his BAR and took it out with a few rifle grenades. He lost a lot of his friends that day. That battle clearly haunted him for the rest of his life. Jim G.

[Reibert]

The Heroes of Hill 192 - Warfare History Network

[Watchdog]

Hi Jim, you don't say but I assume that is his helmet?

What a wonderful piece of family history to have!

Thanks for showing.

Regards

Mark

[helmet2id]

Hi Mark, Unfortunately, none of these helmets are my Uncle's. He was grievously wounded in Brittany on 9/14/1944 and everything was left on the field (or "disappeared" while he was in the field hospital) including his helmet (through which an MG bullet passed in the burst that wounded him) and the 2 P38's he carried into the filed to give him some fire power while he reloaded the clips for his BAR while in combat. He told me he didn't have an "Indian Head" on his helmet, no net, he just wore the standard issue M1. He was a character. We lost him in 2009, and I miss him. Jim G.

[Reibert]

When I searched for the term "Hill 192" in the www. I was looking, unfortunately I also came across this, bad, incident ...

Incident on Hill 192 - Wikipedia

Heroism and cruelty often go very close together in war, even if this crime was committed in another war many years later! ...

[helmet2id]

This incident took place during the Viet Nam conflict. It was actually the subject of a 1989 movie - Casualties of War. The perpetrators were court martialed, but the sentences were shockingly lenient. This episode was a real black eye to the military justice system.

[Tank Destroyer]

Jim,
Thank you for sharing this power story of your uncle and of the brave men that served with him.
My grandfather served with 644th TD’s and some were attached to the 2nd in Brittany at the time your Uncle was wounded.

Marty