Page 26 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2018- Online Magazine

John McDonough
J ohn McDonough, now 94
years old, still stands tall. In
1943, he was 19 years old and
stood 6’ 2” tall. In 2018, that
doesn’t sound particularly tall,
but the average male soldier
during WWII stood around 5’ 6”–
5’ 8” according to various sources.
John was born to John and Minnie
McDonough on December 16,
1923 near Plainview, Texas. He
had two brothers and three
sisters. He graduated from
Petersburg High School in 1942,
where he played basketball and
preferred Math classes. Both of
his brothers served in the military;
one served
during the
Korean War
Era and one
during the
Vietnam
Era. John
also
attended
Lippert’s
Business
26 Lubbock Senior Link
The Tall Texan
by Larry A. Williams
School until he was hedgerows. We received a lot of
drafted into the Army AP (armor-piercing) bombs and
on February 19, 1943. strafing.”
Basic training for John “The first French town we
was at Camp Hulen, came to (St. Lo) was completely
Texas. He was assigned destroyed,” he noted. “We (our
to the newly created unit) were the support for the
Headquarters Battery front-line troops. We had a twin-
554th Anti-Aircraft mounted Bofers 40mm gun on a
Artillery Battalion. four-wheel trailer.” The rapid-
Next, he was sent to firing gun could operate up to 120
Tennessee Maneuvers rounds per minute in bursts. “We
for combat training. had a commander who wanted us
In Ft. Jackson, South to see Paris, France, and I had a
Carolina, his unit one-day pass; I just happened to
learned to fire on targets. be there the day it was liberated
His unit received (August 25, 1944).” The 29th
overseas orders and was Infantry moved on up through
sent to Camp Kilmer, France, liberating small towns
New Jersey, where they as they went. John noted that
boarded the Queen he was “in Heerlen, Holland for
Mary (converted to a Christmas and was there when
on March 1, 1944. “The Queen were close to the British units
the Battle of the Bulge began. We
troop ship) and sailed
for Glasgow, Scotland
and were part of seven divisions.
our division. We were the only
Mary changed course every All of them pulled out except
seven minutes (to avoid German
submarines),” John pointed out. ones left to hold the front line.”
His outfit was attached to the The 29th was in Holland from
29th Infantry Division. Sent to December to February.
Leek, England for a time, the
unit boarded a small ship for When asked about the scariest
the trip to Normandy, France time in combat, John shared,
on June 8, 1944. “After sitting “I was headed back to HQ to
on the water for five days due to pick up the mail (John was in
rough seas, we finally landed at charge of the mail for 850 men)
Port-En-Bessin-Huppain in lower with another soldier in a 6X6
Normandy around June 12, 1944.” truck when we were strafed by a
This was only six days after the German airplane while crossing
Allies landed. “The front was only the Rhine on a pontoon bridge.
four to five All you can hope for is that
miles away. the pilot was a bad shot!” “We
We could hear chased the Germans all the way
the gunfire. to the Ebb River, which was only
The bodies 22 miles from Berlin. We were
of Americans ordered to stop there, so the
and Germans Russians could take Ebb and then
were lined Berlin.” Once more a witness
up like to history, John happened to be
cord wood on a three-day pass in Brussels,
along the Belgium on V.E. (Victory in
Europe) Day when Germany