A Veteran's Journey

Q – In what movie did we meet the character, Clarice Starling?
Q – Who said, “Each day provides its own gifts”?
Q – In 1969, which musical artist introduced us to “Crimson and Clover”?

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For Christmas 1984, my dad gave me and my sister, Anne, a 200-page, three-ring binder titled, “A World War II Diary.” I had no clue that he had kept a diary of his time during the war, so this was a total surprise.

Of course, I knew he had fought in WWII in Patton’s Third Army with the 80th Infantry Division, but little else. Here I was, in 1984, holding a day-by-day account of the most tumultuous time of my father’s life.

And so began my World War II “journey.”

Like many baby boomers—sons and daughters of World War II veterans—I grew up hearing occasional “war stories” and learned enough to know what a good job our soldiers had done. But like so many other veterans, my father simply did not talk about the real war: the blood, the death, and what hurt the most—the loss of his men and his Army buddies.

I read his diary within a few days. I reread it again and again. Each time, I learned something new about my father. It was hard for me, a child of the 60s, to fathom what he had been through, what he had witnessed, and what he had lost.

But there it was, right in front of me, in black and white.

Well… I got busy with… you know… life.

While I was able to share a few stories with my father, I was never able to make the time to really talk with him about the war—more than what was in the diary. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure he wanted to talk about it. I think writing this diary helped bring closure and put the war behind him.

My father died in June 1989, a few days shy of his 68th birthday.

A year later, I scanned his diary into the computer (I am a computer guy). This was way back in the days of DOS 3.3 and WordPerfect 5.1 (those were the days). Since it was a diary, a day-to-day journal, I wanted to organize it (chapters), expand on it (research), and possibly publish it.

Little did I know what I was getting myself into at the time.

My initial thought was to get the diary/book in a form that I could pass along to my children, family & friends, and other 80th Division veterans. When I first seriously started to consider publishing the book, I found only a handful of WWII memoirs. I don’t know why, but perhaps it’s because “The Greatest Generation” didn’t talk much about their war.

Several years later, in October 2005, Casemate Publishers published, “You Can’t Get Much Closer Than This – Combat with Company H, 317th Infantry Regiment, 80th Division,” by A. Z. Adkins, Jr. and Andrew Z. Adkins, III. It was immediately selected as the “Book of the Month” for the Military Book Club in November 2005.

I was a proud son.

When those first books arrived at my front door, I literally cried. I inscribed the first one to my father and took it out to the cemetery to share with him. If nothing else, that simple gesture (I have tears flowing as I write this, even after 14 years) brought me closer to my father.

Stay with me. The journey hasn’t ended.

Since that time, I became more involved with the 80th Division Veterans Association, my dad’s old Army division. I created the 80th Division website (www.80thdivision.com), digitized more than 100,000 pages of WWII Morning Reports, General Orders, Unit Histories, After Action Reports, and dozens of Miscellaneous Reports. All are free and available for download from the website. I also became the association’s National Secretary for several years and was awarded, “Honorary National Chairman.”

My initial intent to get more involved with the 80th Division was simple: I wanted to know more about my father. Many times over the years, I have been humbled by meeting some of the 80th men he fought alongside with during the war. Unfortunately, most of them have since passed away. But at the time, I was sure other veterans’ children and family members would want to know about their fathers and grandfathers, too.

Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

I also know that at least six books have been written and published by other 80th Division veteran family members with information gleamed from the documents I’ve placed online. This is why I do what I do.

Even today, I continue to receive about 4-5 emails a month from family members seeking additional information about their 80th Division veterans. In most cases, I can point them to specific reports. I personally know from my own experience that when they see their father’s (or grandfather’s or uncle’s) name on a Morning Report, it has an immediate emotional impact.

I cannot tell you how many gracious emails I’ve received from these family members. This is such a simple task for me and I am honored and pleased to be able to help. I am thankful that so many people want to continue the legacy of these courageous men. I know other WWII historians who also recognize the importance of our mission.

This is one of those continuing rewards that I never expected when I first published the WWII book in 2005.

I’ve read some of these emails to my sister and to my wife to let them know, “This is why I do what I do.”

I’ll share with you an 80th Division veteran family member request. Several years ago, I was contacted by an individual who wanted to know anything I could find about his uncle who had served with the 80th Division. He provided a little information about him (you always need to know what unit) and I began my research.

Normally, a soldier appears in one, two, or three Morning Reports (MR). For example, if a soldier is WIA (Wounded in Action), his name would appear on the daily MR when he was wounded. His name may appear a few days later if he RTD (Returned to Duty), or if he DOW (Died of Wounds). That’s how the Army company clerk reported the unit’s daily activities.

In this one particular case, I found the soldier who, on the first report, was a Corporal, but went AWOL (the MR never states “why”). He was picked up a few days later (the next MR) and returned to his unit. A few days later, he was busted (demoted) to Pfc (Private First Class). A week or so later, he went AWOL, again. Then returned. Then busted to Pvt (Private). This went on for several more reports over the course of at least a month. All in all, I believe there were more than a dozen MRs where his name appeared–going and coming, so to speak.

I doubled checked to make sure I was reading the Morning Reports correctly. I had the right ASN (Army Serial Number) on all the reports.

How do you inform someone that their veteran family member went AWOL and was busted multiple times? The only approach I could take, which I learned was the best approach, was to NOT try to analyze what happened and why, but to simply report the facts. Which I did.

The family member sent me a gracious email. Something along the lines of: “Well, that was Uncle Jack. Always a troublemaker, but he was a good man with a big heart. Thank you for helping us better understand why Uncle Jack was the way he was.”

And that is why I do what I do.

Until we meet again,
Andy

Andy Adkins is a US Navy veteran (’73-77) and the author of several books. His newest novel, NEVER FORGET, is the story of A Vietnam Veteran’s Journey for Redemption & Forgiveness. NEVER FORGET is FREE (eBook, PDF) for all veterans. Download your FREE copy HERE.

Answers:

1. Silence of the Lambs
2. Marcus Aurelius
3. Tommy James and the Shondells