In Their Own Words

LTC Cornelius G. Hinchy 

U.S.Army

WWII and USAR 

European Theater, Cuban Missile Crisis 

WWII:  F Company, 310 Infantry, 78th Division

Rhineland, Ardennes, Central Europe, Remagen Bridge

 

It was just luck the bomb didn't explode 

The twelve previous patrols sent across the infamous Ludendorff Bridge had all been killed. Now Hinchy, only 19 years old, was ordered to take a patrol over the river into heavily guarded German territory.  

After capturing several Germans, his patrol headed back, following the same path they’d walked through before. They had no idea they were walking through a mine field until Hinchy’s foot hit a shoe mine that popped up but didn’t explode.  

The men continued on, retracing their footsteps across the Ludendorff Bridge. Breathing a sigh of relief that the entire patrol made it back successfully, his patrol headed towards their base in relief. 

Hinchy’s superior officers watched in disbelief from their post - first, that the patrol made it back, prisoners and all. And second, that the bridge fell as soon as they crossed over..... 

In Their Own Words briefly describes a specific historical story told during an APHA interview that is used as short stories for the media.

In Their Own Words

S/Sgt. Carlyle “Van” Van Selus

U.S. Army Air Corps

WWII

European Air Campaign

B17 Bomber 

Ball Turret Gunner

92nd Bomb Group, 326th Bomb Squadron

Shot down on his 13th combat mission 

The French Underground 

Van’s dedication to his mission had already been tested in December 1943 when his ball turret door was blown off. Despite minus 55 degree temperatures, Van choose to stay in place so the enemy wouldn’t see an empty turret. It had taken some time for him to recover from the extensive frostbite he endured - a result of being in the extreme cold for several hours until the mission was completed.

But his will was tested again on his 13th mission in February 1944. Number two engine was on fire and the crew had to get out fast before the plane exploded. Without any training, Van managed to parachute out into the freezing air, landing in German occupied territory, where he was captured by a couple of soldiers.

Thrown into the back of a truck, Van suddenly found himself unattended in the French countryside, while his German captors stopped at pub.  Wasting no time, he made his way across the French countryside and into the care of the French Underground...

In Their Own Words briefly describes a specific historical story told during an APHA interview that is used as short stories for the media.

In Their Own Words

Staff Sgt. Jess Gomez

U.S Army Air Corps

WWII

Left Waist Gunner

POW for 14 months

8th Air Force, 458th Bombardment Group, 753rd Bomb Squadron

Air Defensive, Europe, Normandy, North Africa, Rhineland, Ardennes - Alsace

 

A POW for 14 Months 

 The mission - bomb Berlin. One thousand aircraft were en route. But one prop on their plane wasn’t working. After dropping their bombs, they were heading back when they came under heavy enemy attack. Flack ripped through the plane like butter, hitting Jess in his wrist and knee. Flames engulfed the plane. 

Jess had no training in parachuting, but he remembered seeing a poster in the cafeteria at boot camp in California that said “Count to 10. . .”

In Their Own Words briefly describes a specific historical story told during an APHA interview that is used as short stories for the media.

In Their Own Words

Lt. William Sharpless Jackson

U.S. Army

WWII

Counter Intelligence

 Leyte Gulf, Phillipines, Ryu Kyus, Okinawa

Arriving at Leyte and Okinawa

Immediately after graduating from college in 1942, William Sharpless Jackson was drafted into the U.S. Army.  Landing in Hawaii, he jumped at an opportunity to join Military Intelligence, keeping an eye out for suspicious behavior in the Japanese community on the island. These orders didn’t last long. With war tensions building, he received new orders: report aboard a troop ship heading for the invasion of Leyte.

His story of what it was like to land on a contested beach and head for cover under machine gun fire, aerial bombings and Kamikaze attacks at Leyte are in vivid contrast to his Easter Sunday landing in Okinawa - a “casual stroll” at first.  But the stroll lasted only a few days until the full fury of the Japanese military was unleashed. 

In Their Own Words briefly describes a specific historical story told during an APHA interview that is used as short stories for the media.