Arnold Brown enlisted in the Army in 1936. Despite having only an eighth grade education, he rose in the ranks to become a rifle company commander in the 90th Infantry Division. He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for the battle of Oberwampach, where his company and tanks from my father's 712th Tank Battalion withstood nine German counterattacks.
Aaron Elson went to a reunion of the 712th Tank Battalion, with which his father served, in 1987. Two years later, he went to another reunion with a tape recorder. He's been preserving veterans' stories ever since.
Sunday, October 25, 2020
Thursday, October 15, 2020
My Father's Tank Battalion: Booze and War
A few years ago I began experimenting with themed audio CDs, where I would take stories from interviews with different veterans that had the same theme: Stories about jumping out of airplanes, about food on the front, about growing up in the Great Depression, about meeting General Patton, about romance and religion and strange events. In this episode of Myfatherstankbattalion, I present some excerpts from the double audio CD "Booze and War."
Friday, October 9, 2020
Lieutenant Dale Albee Part 3: Handlebar Hank
This is the 56th episode of the podcast and it seems like I'm just getting started. I want to thank all of you who have listened to more than one episode. You can find episode titles and supplemental material at myfatherstankbattalion.com and aaronelson.com. An edited transcript of the Dale Albee interview in booklet form and for Kindle is available at amazon under the title "From the Cavalry to Czechoslovakia."
Friday, October 2, 2020
Dale Albee, Part 2
Dale Albee enlisted in the Army in 1938, became a sergeant in the horse cavalry, earned a battlefield commission as a tanker, and led a platoon of light tanks through the Battle of the Bulge, the Siegfried Line, across Germany, and into Czechoslovakia.