Heroes: the Army
"...My dad's two platoons of the 654th Tank Destroyer Battalion were most probably completely wiped out in the first major battle of Operation Lorraine at Troyes, also known as The Lorraine Campaign..."
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Remember A True War Hero
of Patton's Liberation of Paris Spearhead with 137th
The following is a story sent to us by Wesley Martz, the son of Col. George W. Martz.
My dad, Colonel George W Martz, served in General Sebree's Task Force S Infantry under General Baade that was made primarily of the 137th Infantry of the 35th ID under Bradley and Patton. I confirmed last month that the position of Lt. Colonel and Colonel were never filled under the main body of the 654th TD Battalion as a tribute my dad leading two platoons of the 654th TD Bn that was completely separate from the main body of the 654th.
I verified that by the Captain of the 654th who confirmed that there was not even a Master Sergeant over the main body of the 654th. The Master Sergeant and my dad filling the Lt. Colonel and Colonel positions were with the two platoons of the Task Force S Infantry. I found the report my dad felt had been altered by a Staff Sergeant by the same last name who had claimed he was the Lt. Colonel.
The story got sticky from that point; and eventually, this Staff Sergeant wrote a letter and an article that proved that he had taken the Colonel's patch my dad gave him as Patton's War Room jeep arrived to pick my dad up to be the final authorizer of Operation Cobra at Patton's War Room of July 25, 1944 as a unanimously selected stand in for the highest ranking Officer of WWII, ETO Joint Forces Commander Lesley J. McNair.
The Staff Sergeant spent his time searching for my dad rather than concentrate on fighting because he never heard of the 654ths two platoons of Official Army Records that fought under the 30th ID and with the 137th Infantry as a specially trained secret force especially trained to destroy Nazi tanks with what is officially reported as 100% accuracy. Their opening up fighting atop Hill 314 at Mortain killing 4 Nazi tanks with four shots fired simultaneously as is mentioned in the story below that recently appeared in Cleveland, Tennessee (new Metro City) just outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
THE ROLE OF THE 137th as part of TASK FORCE S INFANTRY was a secret from the world until Patton officially took over on August 1, 1944, taken out of wraps to take Hill 122 at St LO, the first major center point of victory in the Liberation of Paris at the very tip of Patton's Spearhead.
Here's the article I wrote about my dad's role with the 137th; the 137th that was the main body of Sebree's Task Force S Infantry:
Remembering A True War Hero
Print Article
6/16/04
By Wesley Martz
The theme of Memorial Day is that this nation will fight to free the enslaved under those attempting to rule as dictators. Veterans all say that this celebration of Americanism should not include the divisive themes of politics. Yet, World War II represents the political view that war is necessary to free people from those dictatorships.
Bush did not miss the opportunity to make this point clear in speaking of "Enduring Freedom," which is the name of our military operation in Afghanistan. The point was reemphasized by the decision to name our military's efforts to democratize Iraq and spread Americanism, Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bush ended the celebration on the nation's mall pointing out what World War II proved about American military might.
Our involvement in World War II began when this nation elected a Democrat president to a third term, who for a third time, promised not to become militarily entangled in European Affairs as we did in World War I.
Over 16 million Americans were in the Armed Forces from 1941 to 1945. About four million were killed; 50 million civilians and soldiers in total died during World War II.
World War II Veterans' average age today is between 76 and 77. Many are around 85 to 88. Their birthdates fall from about 1910 to 1927. Right under one quarter of them are still living and witnessed the much needed and long overdue World War II Memorial Dedication Day last Saturday.
According to the 2000 census, about 22 percent of all Veterans are World War II Veterans. About 12 percent of them were still working in 2000. Most will not be around 10 years from now. We can only hope they tell their stories for the advancement of the values of this, The Greatest Generation.
Every day 1,100 World War II Veterans die. That's every day,
1,100 of them are no longer with us! Bob Dole, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, Oliver North and I confirm that most of them have to have their war stories pulled out of them. Most have never, and refuse to write their stories down. That is why there is a campaign by NBC and even our local Museum Center, for all Rosie-Riveters and World War II Veterans to sit down and record their stories on CD for the good of future generations to intimately relate to, The Greatest Generation of World War II.One story that I'm now prouder of than ever before, with this dedication of the World War II Memorial, is one I pulled out of my dad, his war story. He was chosen 90 days after becoming enlisted to head up a small advance light tank destroyer company in December 1941. He took every officer's course twice, as well as all of the refresher courses dating to the time of leaving for war in Europe. His assignment was to serve in Bradley and Patton's Joint Forces, Task Force S Infantry representing the 654th TD Battalion, which was separate from the main company of the 654th. This Special Operations Team was made up of several infantry units leading Patton's Third Army in the Liberation of Paris.
My dad humbly never bragged about sharing in what would have been a suicide team against the Nazis, had he not trained his men to become expert. It's reported they hit with almost 100 percent accuracy. One such account of their nearly perfect accuracy involves the turning point in Patton's defeating Hitler's Operation Lattich at Mortain. This involved my dad's men opening up with four anti-tank shots that destroyed four Nazi tanks simultaneously.
My dad's men remained very accurate thanks to endless hours of practicing in private in the states and in Northern Ireland. They trained even though they were exhausted after having spent five and a half days surrounded by Nazis at St. Lo, and three days at Lessay directing the 121st Infantry's breakthrough there, and even after they traveled back to St. Lo.
They would be surrounded by Nazi forces one more time, for five days, in a show-down one recent book calls, "An Alamo-Style-Stand." They were the only ones of Patton's Task Force S Infantry, with significant ammunition and radio power, though it that was growing weak.
My dad's two platoons of the 654th Tank Destroyer Battalion were most probably completely wiped out in the first major battle of Operation Lorraine at Troyes, also known as The Lorraine Campaign. My dad having been made Lt. Colonel and Colonel of the 654th, which took its order from the 737th, spent time using his position to spurn those two special operations platoons into being almost perfect shots in knocking out Nazi tanks. I found out recently that the main body of the 654th TD Battalion worked without either a Lt. Colonel or Colonel. They found out from other soldiers that this was an anomaly, just as my dad had told me. This is a spicy event of conflict and controversy that is good for any book's or movie's success.
I learned of even more interesting stories my dad was involved in, though only by insisting he talk to me about his experiences in World War II. I spoke with members of his Infantry to confirm his story and compared it to history and a short unit report.
I discovered my dad won a Distinguished Service Award he said was granted to him while he was on Hills 314 and 317 at Mortain for pulling at least two soldiers to safety under direct Nazi sniper fire in the battle at Hill 122 at St. Lo. He brought home two Bronze Stars, lost two Bronze Stars and two Silver Stars. He said that there were probably other Bronze Stars he could have received had he not been constantly in battle and unable to inquire about those.
My dad finally told me that his greatest moment was being unanimously chosen by Patton's War Room on July 25, 1944 to make the final changes to Operation Cobra, which he made and signed. This move lead him and his two platoons to direct the huge breakthrough at Lessay that moved Patton's men to Avraches, as my dad's men moved back to lead the northern spike of Patton's attack. The fighting in the last day of the Liberation of Paris, August 28, 1944, has been recognized by a World War II Veteran on Fox News as, "the beginning of the end for Hitler." My dad said that he fought like Daniel Boone at the Alamo twice. The rest of the time he and his men were often being attacked from three sides by Nazi forces while they were at the very front of the northern spike of Patton's Spearhead.
If this inspires any of our Rosie-Riveters or World War II veterans to tell us their stories, by writing or visiting the Cleveland Museum Center or even contacting me, then this effort in writing about the World War II Memorial Dedication Day will have been worth it. Though the effort put into it editing it never could be.
----- Wesley Martz
The materials depicted on this page were reprinted with kind permission of the son of the subject of this essay -- Wesley Martz.
We, at the World War II Stories - In Their Own Words web site wish to offer to Mr. Martz our most profound THANK YOU for his Dad's poignant story of his personal experiences -- during World War II and especially for allowing us to share those memories. We will always be grateful for Mr. Martz's contributions to the war effort and to the countless other men and women who put forth their "finest hour".
Original story transcribed from an e-mail message received on 3 July 2004.
Story added to web site on 10 July 2004
Here are some interesting links that are related to this story:
American Battle Monuments Commission: WWII Honor Roll
National World War II Memorial
Veterans
Survey Form
September 5, 2002.
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Updated on 16 February 2012...1432:05 CST
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