Book Synopsis
In 2014 while the author was preparing a monograph about his father-in-law’s farming experience, the family mentioned that he had been held briefly as a POW in the weeks shortly after crossing Omaha Beach in June 1944. Regretfully that information – a brief, but significant, detail of his lengthy military service – was not shared until long after his death in 1986, so first-hand details were unavailable. If there was to be a more detailed story, the author was determined to pursue the details. In November 2019, while researching S/SGT John Edgar Scott’s unconfirmed appearance in the iconic June 1944 photo of soldiers climbing through the E-1 draw in Easy Red sector of Omaha Beach, the author rediscovered a set of newspaper stories that his father-in-law had clipped from the Stars & Stripes and mailed home. A previous, cursory read of the article about a four-day battle during the Battle of the Bulge provided no evidence of a personnel connection – it referred to an infantry regiment, but not the sergeant’s ordnance company. But, there was a clue written on the article that led to a reevaluation of the contents and to a new clue. The two clues refocused the author’s research, the results of which buttressed the family report of S/SGT Scott’s capture. A second, related article punctuated how fortunate he was to have been rescued – had his period of capture been any longer, he may never have found himself incarcerated in a Stalag, let alone back with his buddies in the 702nd Ordnance Company, Second Infantry Division.