1st spread

My lack of recent posts was due to the loss of most of my artwork in a crash...I was transferring the work to an external HD when it crashed my machine. Don't ask...it was painful and I'm in the process of reconstructing EVERYTHING.

Here's the first finished page that just needs kerning and tracking:

red tape, hurry up and wait

ok. It's been the 3 months you're supposed to wait to hear from the govt. about getting replacement medals and medals that haven't yet been awarded to vets. I filled out reams of paperwork and applications last May to see if I couldn't get my father's, especially his POW medal. I sent so many applications to multiple addresses, probably duplicates many times over.

The only one he managed to save was his Bronze Star for Meritorious Action. I'd had it framed for his 70th birthday and gave it to him at a surprise party. This was nearly 15 yrs. ago. (Wow, that went fast!) I'd like to get his others and frame them also. He doesn't really care about all this, but I'm doing a lot of it for my own pleasure. I still like the framing.

first battle, last battle

Here are a couple of close-ups, the top one the evening of Dad's first battle on New Year's Eve, 1944, near Rimling, France. And the bottom one near the Jagst-Kocher Rivers...he was caught just a day before this engagement and the grey line shows his POW route.

yum!

don'tcha just love this blog's new title typeface??

troop movements

This will give you an idea how the troops came up from Marseilles in the south, to the northwest shoulder of France (the grey shaded area) and west through the Sarreguemines, then pushed into Germany eastward through the insane Siegfried Line (West Wall) of fortifications. Where the red troop line stops and the grey one begins shows Dad’s capture point and subsequent convoy through prison camps south to Augsburg. The 3 red lines sweeping southward through the grey POW route, represents Dad's regiments of the 63rd as they continued their push through Germany, after his capture.

When you think that this is only part of one Regiment...there were thousands of troops orchestrated by SHAEF in Rheims, France, Eisenhower's Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (pronounced "shāf") during this time. The logistics of this war are astounding. Close-ups are above.

Operation Undertone~Nordwind

If you enlarge this map, note in the upper left quadrant, the pink box with the white cross...that is where Dad's 253rd Infantry was attached for a few weeks to the 44th Infantry Division, under Haislip's XV Corps. Here you can also note, they were being beseiged by the fanatic 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division, and a French division was at their backs. It was such an even fight, they stayed in the same place for a week. I'm currently researching an eye-witness account by a German soldier, "Seven Days in January". Fascinating reading. The forward is written by Theodore C. Mataxis, Brigadier General, US Army (Retired).

shoulder insignia~"Blood and Fire"