Old Hickory Recon, Memories of the 30th Infantry Division 1943-1945 - Marion M. Sanford

I sent you an email, bjvrdh.

 

Yes, we have copies available. I will send you a private message. Look in the upper right hand of this page and click on the red envelope.

 

Here is a news story about Mr. Sanford made while we were in Limburg. The interview was in the Glaspaleis (Glass Palace).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7F-ssnbqxU

 

Well, I finally got a Kindle version of the book ready and is available here:

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In this version I have made a few edits to some of the original stories after discovering some further information. I also added a few more photos that were located after the publication of the printed copies.

If you buy a copy, please feel free to let me know here that you did.

For those of you who already have a printed copy of the book, I am going to see what i can do about getting you a complimentary copy of this new digital version.

 

Thanks, I hope that you enjoy it.

 

I was talking to Mr. Sanford yesterday about the new version of the book. The conversation drifted to lost or missing records and made a comment that he never gave any thought that someone now days would want to see any of the paperwork that they maintained. We talked a bit further about saving personal items and documents and he regrets that he did not make the effort to save anymore than he did. He just didn't think at the time that anyone would care,

After the war, he felt that people just did not have an understanding of what they went through. He had one civilian acquaintance say to him not long after he got home in 1945 that he (the acquaintance) was sure glad the war was over and that Mr. Sanford sure had it easy, not having to deal with rationing. I commented back, "Yes, but you had to deal with bullets, and land mines, and friends getting killed, and artillery." He said yeah, I don't think most people can really appreciate what it does to man to have artillery shells land nearby. He said it bounced him around (in his foxholes), sucked the air out of his lungs if it was close enough and make the side of the hole "bend in."

Now I don't know if the dirt "bent" but I think I understand what he was saying, what with the effects of the concussion and shock waves traveling through the earth. It was probably the only way he could describe it. He said the fear of a round landing on top of him would also gnaw at him because he knew that there was "nothing whatsoever" he could do about. He said shooting at the Germans soldiers with his carbine or the half-track's machine gun did induce fear, but that it was different. At least he had something to do while the fight was going on other than waiting on the unknown.

We talked a bit more about modern movies and how I thought it gave people a little better idea of what the soldiers went through now than back in years past and he thought so, too. He said the current movies (that he had seen-he doesn't usually watch war movies) did a better job of showing the horrors than did movies made in the 1940s and 50s.

One of the corrections in the narrative that I made was to change the location of one the casualties. Mr. Sanford remembered Merlyn Castner as being killed in an unknown town in Germany. As I was doing some followup research after the book was published, I began to try to determine the locations where each man from the 30th Recon was killed. It took me a little while, but after matching up individual names with known dates of KIAs in the AAR, I was able, by a matter of deduction, determine that Pvt. Castner was killed about 20 miles from Paris. (Eventually I found his grave and the dates matched known KIA dates) I had mentioned this fact to Mr. Sanford before but nothing had clicked then. Yesterday, as we were talking, he said, yes, it was near Paris. He said "We were not too far from the Seine [River] and we had just crossed it." That was correct. I had found the grid coordinates in the AAR showing where Castner was killed and he was not much more than a mile or two over the river and they had been driving about 200 yds away, parallel to it.

 

I have an audio recording of Capt. James Hume talking to a reporter for the Army Hour on the eve of the Rhine crossing. He answers the reporter's questions but says nothing of real value, no doubt due to the need for security. He sounded very tired, as I suppose he was.

Capt Hume assumed command 2 September 1945 in Tournai, Belgium, after the then CO, Capt. Kenneth Cornelius was gravely wounded.

Capt Hume was well loved by his men.

 

Thank you for your kind words about the book. I truly appreciate it. I will pass your comments along to Mr. Sanford and I will enjoy seeing his devilish grin.

Mr. Sanford is perking right along and planning to attend the 30th ID reunion in Nashville this month. He wanted me to go with him, but several important factors mitigated against me making the trip. His mind and body are still in great shape and he is a joy to talk to, which I do about once a week.

You mentioned his memory. As I have said before, I was amazed at how close he was with dates of most of the events when compared with the AAR, which I am in the midst of posting elsewhere on the forum. Of course, there were a few times where he was off a bit, but I think most of those were because he didn't necessarily know what day it was at the actual time when the event occurred.

 

I second mcoffee's comments. Jeff has written a remarkable book of Mr. Marion's exploits and tribulations. It highlights just what the war meant to the ordinary soldier. As the son of one of these "ordinary soldiers", I found this book explains how it unfolded for them. They were unaware of the grand strategy of the leaders. They just went about their business. The fact that Mr. Marion was able to recall so much detail is nothing short of amazing. My father died 25 years ago but my mother said recently that he was very proud of his role in the war. Kudos to Jeff and Mr. Marion.

 

Mr. Sanford is profoundly ill following a surgical procedure Tuesday. I will post more information as his family wishes.

He was in good spirits when I talked to him Sunday and was looking past the surgery so he could get back in his garden.

Mr. Sanford, his family, his friends and I appreciate your kind thoughts and prayers as he looks toward recovery.