Encoded for the Experiencing War web site for the Veterans History Project.
The recording of the interview with Gene Plumly was digitized.
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March 22, 2012; 6:50 to 7:29 p.m. Westerville, Ohio Interview of: Gene Plumly. Date of birth: February 6, 1926. Served in the United States Army, World War II. Highest Rank: Tech Corporal Interviewer: Celeste Dawley, Court Reporter and friend of Gene Plumly's daughter, Rena Shepherd Also present: Rena Shepherd and Sean Shepherd, daughter and grandson of Gene Plumly This interview is being conducted for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.
Today is March 22nd, 19--2012. I am the interviewer, Celeste Dawley; and I am interviewing Gene Plumly. His date of birth is February 6, 1926. He is a veteran of the United States Army, and he was in the Army from August 5, 1944, to July 2nd, 1946. How are you tonight, sir?
All right.
As a veteran of the Army, did you enlist?
No. I enlisted into the Navy, but the last guy in the line just smeared "Army" all over my sheet.
Pardon me. So, how old were you when you--
Oh, just out of high school, 18.
Were you married?
No. I had a steady girlfriend, but--
And you went in the Army--oh, it says 1944.
Yeah.
So where did you do basic training?
Blanding, Florida. Six inches of sand.
Six inches of sand?
Well, I like to stretch it a little.
How long did that last?
17 weeks.
And then where were you stationed?
Now, I came home on a 10-day delay en route, and then I went to Europe.
How did you get there?
Queen Elizabeth.
A ship.
Yeah. A big one.
How long did that take?
Five days. Greenock, Scotland--or close.
Tell us about the transportation over there on the ship.
Well, a big ship. It rocked a little. But that little tub I come back on was a Victory ship, and, man, it went all directions, and I up-chucked twice or three times. But I was sick going over, but I never up-chucked.
But coming back--you came back on the Queen Elizabeth2?
No. Chapel Hill, a Victory ship. It was about as long as the Queen was wide, roughly.
So when you first were in Europe, where were you stationed?
Well, England, just for 10 days or so. Then we went to Le Havre, France. Then we started across France, and that took about a week, more or less. And we pulled up out of Le Havre, and the railroad bore to the right. So they set up the chow right here so we didn't have to go too far, since it was on a curve. Of course, we only ate twice, I think. Of course, that is all we ate going overseas, was twice.
Twice in five days?
No. Twice a day.
Oh, okay. What was your position? What was your rank?
I was a hip-hop three four boy.
Hip-hop three four boy?
Yeah. Infantry. By then--I lucked out. When the officer lined us up around the outside of the room, why, you two in the first, shoot--what do you call them things, Sean?
Officer?
No, the company.
Is it like a unit or a command or--
Well--
Company--
Company, but--
A platoon?
No. It was bigger than that.
Battalion?
No. It wasn't that big. (Pause) Now I forget about wherever I was at now.
That is all right.
He was saying you two--
Well, we went across France north of Paris. Then we finally wound up in--I can't even think of that. But we had to--they finally stopped the train, and we got off and walked six hours. Well, we rode on a truck a while, and then we stopped and walked six hours. We had colored drivers. I don't know whether that had anything to do with it or not, but.
Was this in the winter, or--
Well, yeah. I left home on New Year's night. I got home about the 23rd of December, and then, of course, I had to go back in 10 days. And I reported to Fort Benning--no, Meade, in Maryland.
And then where you left off, you were in--you went north of Paris.
Yeah. Across France. And, of course, about three weeks after I was down at the landing, I got started in my basic, why, I got a letter from my girlfriend that [pause] her brother had been killed.
Was that in World War II also?
Oh, yeah. He was a little bit older than me. So he never went to senior class, but the school board gave him his diploma. Of course, it never helped him. Well, I forget that town we was in in France. It was down below Bastogne. Then we went up to Luxembourg, not too far from Bastogne. We went by it, you know. And then, of course, when I got to the company, why, the next morning I went to the sick call, because I had rode across France sitting in the door because I wanted to see the country. [Coughs] Then when we got up to Luxembourg, I was in the machine gunners the first night; and I went back to the medics. Then when I come back from the medics, I was gone two days or two nights, and they put me in a house with five other soldiers. And then this fella that owned the house--and then, of course, our medic was in that group, and he could speak French. So him and that fella chatted once in a while. Of course, I didn't understand them. And this was just after the Bulge. So I never--I got the star for the Bulge because I was in the area, but I never done any fighting. And I got three stars, the Bulge and Rheinland and Central Europe. Then about a year after I was in the Army, why, I saw this car coming up the road, big star on the bumper, and I didn't do anything, just stood there. When he pulled up, "Name, rank, and serial number, soldier." I suppose he thought I was drunk. That was Patton. He was on his way from one parade down Fussen to another one. That Fussen is where that castle is that Disney used the outline of, Neuschwanstein. And after the war was over--well, let's see, I spent 10 weeks in Marktoberdorf, and then we went to Fussen. And then while I was at Fussen, why, some officer got a bunch of horses back where the town where we was at when the war was over, Windischgarsten, Austria. And he got a GI, and then he got--the GI got two or three guys to help him, and they rode them horses over a hundred miles, I expect. I don't know how they got hay and stuff. The officer may have went with them. And I saw 10 weeks of combat. I slept in a foxhole 11 nights. So I was on the tail end of it. And I was strafed once. Of course, it only lasted seconds. So old Plumly, he clumb (ph) off and started out across the field, because in basic we wasn't supposed to hit the ditch, because that is where the Germans machine gun. So I took out across the field, and finally I saw the bullets landing ahead of me. So then I stopped. I was the only guy in the whole darn convoy that took off. Of course, I was new. And then, let's see, we went from Fussen to Kochel. That is east of Garmisch, Parterkirchen, about 20 miles. And there we had nice beds, because there was a kind of a summer camp deal for the German civilians, and, of course, me and Red Jones slept the one night. Then we ate breakfast. Then went back to bed. Then we ate dinner and went back to bed, and ate supper. And the next day we started the same thing, and some sergeant wanted somebody, and he knew where we were at. So he broke up that for us in one of them nice beds. Before, we were just sleeping on the floor for about two and a half months. The sergeants, they would take the bed. And then the Germans had a thick thing. Instead of using blankets, they used this thick thing, and then the sergeant, he would throw that off on the floor, and then either me or somebody would lay on it. [Pause] Then, of course, we was in a little village. I don't know--it was a little farm village. It seemed like there was a tank up the road under a tree on the left, and at that time we didn't know it, but this guy opened up with his machine gun, but he had his aim too high, and then we were stooped over, and so nobody got killed, to my knowledge. [Coughs] Then we went from down in the hollow up on the hill south of the fence row, and this guy in that tank--he was just one fella, I think--that is the way they kind of got to doing to finish the war, they would take one tank and put fuel in it, and then another tank. They would take a line or a chain and pull it out to the end of town, turn it around, drop the turret. Then somebody never inspected it. Well, then we lost eight tanks of ours, because they was just parked down the road about from here out to Yellowhammer. So I don't know how many guys was killed. Of course, I wasn't in the tank. So then later on, why, we walked by this Tiger tank factory. And then about two months ago I heard on TV where the Americans bombed it--I don't know the date now--but they lost 16 planes, I think. And then the next day they bombed it again, and they didn't lose any. Of course, the Germans wasn't expecting them to come back the next day. And then when we left this particular town--I can't think of the name of it now--but we was in a convoy, and it was at night, and it was through a pine grove. It was dark in there, and the guys had run cat eyes. You could see the guy behind a little bit, but you couldn't see the guy in front of you. So this one truck went off to the left. It never upset, but he went about 40 feet from the road, and we hadn't gone 40 more feet until we was in a ditch on the right. We got out of that pretty quick. And this big hill was near Bitburg, and then there was a village by the name of Prum; but I was never in either one of them. I thought that the Reds run east. My granddaughter got a map for me, and it turned out that them darn Reds run north. And then we started out about 4:00 in the afternoon and, of course, I went through the fence--the fence row, and I picked up a blanket, a brand new one that some infantry guy had throwed away, because whenever they went into attack, they threw everything away but their field jacket and their gun. [Coughs] So I carried that blanket the rest of combat, and then I kept it until I left Europe. And then I gave it to Meany (ph). That was one of my buddies. Then when we crossed the Rhein, that was on the 28th of March, and I guess they had crossed the Rhein that week in five places. So we must really have been a shoving. And that was at--shoot--my granddaughter was there. I can't get my bearing. But then we went up--from where we crossed the Rhein, it was--I can't think of that town. Then we went north to where this Tiger tank factory was. We stayed up there about two weeks, and then we came back to--I can't think of that town. It may have been Nuremberg the first time. We pulled guard--our guard then, we was in a jeep. That was the only time I had a mounted guard patrol. And then we was in the old section of Nuremberg--and I was in Nuremberg later, but I never looked up the old section. That is pretty well--of course, we was in Windischgarsten when it was over with. They was just coming in on horses and walking and riding motorcycles and trucks. They turned in one International truck. I suppose Lenin (ph) leaves gave it to Russia, and then the Germans captured it off the Russians, and they turned it in to us, because we didn't have no International trucks, only that one, and we didn't have it very long.
Did you have enough fuel and--
As far as I know. Of course, that wasn't my end of it, you know, but, yeah, we never got short of fuel. And then of course Hollenbeck (ph), the medic, he must have thought I was a one-horse mechanic, because he got a five-gallon can of gasoline. We poured it in this vehicle, and then after that, why, civilians told us it was--part of the distributor was gone. So we couldn't never get it started. They probably siphoned the gas out and put it in something else.
Did you have plenty to eat?
Oh, yeah, such as it was. Yeah, I never missed--couple of meals I think is about all I ever missed all the time I was over there.
Then you got letters from home, and--
Oh, yeah, yeah.
--from your girlfriend.
Oh, yeah. That kept me going. [Pause]
What was your major job in the--
Ammo bearer. We carried three rounds, about probably shy of 10 pounds a round, maybe about 30 pounds. I was the ammo bearer. I never got up no place. I was third gunner. When we retreated from the fence row down out around the hill a little distance, why, Poncho was in the medics getting tuned up--he had a cold or bronchitis or something, so I think I carried the base plate to that position. Then when we went to leave, well, Poncho was there, and he carried it, but he kind of--well, he was weak, and he lost his balance. And I happened to be just watching him. So then I pushed him a little, and that straightened him up. He never fell or nothing.
What was the item you were carrying, the--
Base plate.
Base plate.
That is third gunner. And then there was a tripod. Then there was a tube. We was in the mortar. There was three different gunners, first, second, and third; and then there was three of us ammo bearers.
Where did you get the ammo, if I can ask?
Oh, a dump, Army dump. They kind of used the German place where they had their ammo, I think, this one particular time. And I went back there to get chow, and, of course, I wasn't too smart, and I wound up carrying water. And I finally put a stick through the water can handle so two of us could carry it. Then, of course, on the hillside the darn 10-gallon -- or five-gallon water can slid down ag'in the other fella, and we was walking out a cow path. There was only room for one. Then we carried that water for a mile and a half, probably. Only time I think I ever had to go back after chow. [Pause]
When you were--when you got out of the military, was your two-year enlistment up, or how was that--
Oh, yeah. I didn't have any enlistment.
You didn't have any--
I was just drafted. I got out a month and--well, it was, let's see, July, August. I went in on August the 5th, and I got out July the 2nd. So it was just a three days shy of eleven month--or 21--23 months.
And the war was over by that time?
Oh, yeah. I pulled a--up to 11 months in occupation. And one time after the war was over, some reason or other, they shipped a truckload of us guys from Germany, and we was going to Italy. We only traveled one day, and we only got about halfway there. I never understood why they couldn't get guys out of Italy to fill up the--whatever that is. The old Tito--they had a little trouble settling him, and then he finally settled. That is why they shipped us down there, because he wouldn't settle. He was causing trouble.
Did you have a particular job over there, or--in Italy, or--
I never got to Italy.
You never made it.
We just rode that one day, I suppose about halfway.
Then you just went back to--
Yeah. And then we was there about 10 days, roughly. Me and some other boy--I don't remember who he was--but it was my idea to try to find a crevasse. There was a big bunch of rocks just right above the house where we was staying in. So I went to the left, and this boy was with me--I don't know who he was now--and the very same day another guy went to the kitchen and got him a little dinner and took with him, and he went to the right, and he went up over the hill. He got--he found a crevasse, and he found a sheep herder up in there, you know, because it was summertime. But then just as soon as we hit the road, I was in one track, and this other boy was in the other, and we heard a funny noise. So we split and went to the ditches, and then here come a civilian through on a bike about 30 mile an hour, probably. If he had hit one of us, he would have probably killed us, because them foreign people, they don't ride their bike brake much. They get off and run two or three steps to get slowed down.
Did you have any time off over--did you get to travel any, or--
Well, since I didn't go anyplace, somebody put me in ski school. Of course, I didn't fight it. So I was in ski school for two weeks. One week was training. I had been on roller skates, which helped. And then after the ski school, why, we went to Garmisch, and I happened to see them skating, and they only had half of a ice skating rink in gear, because it was March. So I skated a couple hours that day, and that was the only time I was ever on skates. But that was the slickest things that I ever got on, ice skates.
How did you like the skiing?
Oh, I liked it. Of course, I didn't know much about it. I suppose they wanted it in case they needed some guys that knew how to operate skis. They wanted to train a few of us. Of course, it gave us a vacation or whatever. And then the second week, why--they called it mountain climbing, and we picked up another civilian. We had this one fella was the ski instructor. Then old Simon, he was the mountain climbing guy. But we never clumb (ph) any mountains. One of the boys knew a little bit about skiing. He went up above over where we was at, and he come down, and he just about went over the crevasse--or whatever you want to call it--coming down through there lickety-split, but he stayed up on the top and survived.
Was this in Germany also?
Oh, yeah. It was real close to this Kochel where we had them nice beds--because I met a girl there that--she recognized me, and she asked me about another fella. I said, well, I suppose he is in America--because he was older than me. And then an Army truck was supposed to pick us up, and this civilian truck came along. It had a hot box on the side of it. That was a little stove that the exhaust of this truck, or the exhaust of the chimney of this hot box went through the motor, but they didn't have much power. They go like the devil downhill and on the level, but then as soon as you get it headed uphill, why, we was in low gear immediately. Of course, his truck was only about a ton and a half. But he got us to Garmisch, and we gave him a bunch of cigarettes. So he may have met the ski bunch every week. I don't know. There must have been about 10 or 12 of us, because we had Simon and this other guy. And he had been on the Russian front, and he had his elbow shot up, and it was stiff, and he couldn't scratch his nose. But he just--but he was smart enough to have his arm so he could hold a ski pole the right way, and so, you know, he had that foresight.
That I sounds like some people I know. How did you--did you--you came back from Europe on a ship, or--
No. Chapel Hill, a Victory ship, little tub. It went all directions. I up-chucked twice at least. Going over I was sick a couple of days. I would go to chow. Then I would lay down and lay until the next chow. Only had two chows. But there was two days of it I didn't feel very good.
How long did that take to come home?
Nine days. Just about twice as many as going over, because they wasn't in a hurry to bring me back.
Where did you land?
Oh--
Newark.
Newark, or whatever. And then they got us out on the 2nd of July. So we didn't have to stay in the Army them two or three days, and I was home the 3rd. [Pause]
I really appreciate your taking the time, sir--
Okay.
--to speak to me. Is there anything else you would like to add?
I can't think of anything right now. As soon as you leave, I will think of two things. Of course, I have been going through this some with Sean and stuff.
Well, I think that they explained about--we can--we will go off the record, and I will show you the paperwork and everything and what this is for. Thank you so much.
Okay.