World War II Honoree

Willie Addington

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Pound, Virginia

Honored By

Roberta Addington & Johnny Addington

Relationship

Wife & Son

INDUCTED INTO THE U.S. ARMY ON JUNE 14, 1944. SENT TO CAMP BLANDING, FLORIDA FOR BASIC TRAINING. ASSIGNED SERVICE NUMBER 33823106. FOLLOWING BASIC, HE WAS GIVEN A TWO-WEEK LEAVE IN ORDER TO VISIT HIS WIFE AND FAMILY, THEN TRAVELED BY TRAIN TO BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS AND WAS SHIPPED OUT ON DECEMBER 9, 1944. HE WAS ABOARD THE USS MOUNT VERNON WHICH WAS A LUXURY LINER CONVERTED TO TROOP TRANSPORT AND ON THIS CROSSING CARRIED 9,000 MILITARY PERSONNEL. THE SHIP LANDED IN SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND ON DECEMBER 14, 1944 AND HE WAS ASSIGNED TO THE U.S. THIRD ARMY, 80TH INFANTRY DIVISION, 318 REGIMENT, COMPANY L. HE WAS ISSUED AN M1 GARAND RIFLE, SERIAL NUMBER 1825182. DUE TO THE MASSIVE GERMAN ARMY ATTACK THROUGH THE ARDENNES FOREST AREA ON THE GERMAN/BELGIUM BORDER AND THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL MANPOWER, HIS OUTFIT WAS IMMEDIATELY SENT TO FRANCE FOR TRANSFER TO THE FRONT. FROM ENGLAND, HE LANDED ON OMAHA BEACH IN AN LST AND WAS TRANSFERRED BY THE RED BALL EXPRESS TO THE FRONT LINES IN FRANCE, BY 40 & 8 RAILWAY BOX CARS AND AGAIN BY RED BALL EXPRESS DIRECTLY TO A FRONT LINE AREA IN BELGIUM SOMEWHERE NORTH OF BASTOGNE. IT WAS EXTREMELY COLD AS HE WAS MARCHED TOWARD THE ACTION, ABOUT -20 DEGREES F. HE TRUDGED THROUGH SNOW ABOUT A FOOT DEEP, THIS EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD GREEN REPLACEMENT WITNESSED A JEEP TRAVELING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, HAULING FOUR DEAD AND VERY BLOODIED, AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND HE BEING ONE OF THEIR REPLACEMENTS, THOUGHT HIS FATE WAS SEALED. HE, AS WELL AS MOST OF THE OTHERS, WAS TERRIFIED. THE COLD WAS UNBEARABLE, IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET WARM, FEET ACHED FROM THE COLD AND WIND BURNED HIS EXPOSED SKIN. BUT IN SPITE OF ADVERSE CONDITIONS AND BEING OUTNUMBERED, HE AND THE AMERICAN INFANTRYMEN HELD AND THEY WERE ABLE TO ADVANCE AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING ODDS. BECAUSE IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO DIG INTO THE FROZEN SOIL, WHENEVER POSSIBLE, HE USED GERMAN FOXHOLES AFTER EVACUATING THE FORMER TENANTS. ONE NIGHT IN A TWO MAN FOXHOLE, WHEN HE AWOKE, IN PANIC, WITH HIS GREEN FOXHOLE MATE FIRING HIS .30 CALIBER M1 GARAND AT GERMAN SOLDIERS THAT TURNED OUT TO BE FENCE POSTS. THE 3RD ARMY, OF WHICH HE WAS A PART, CAME INTO BASTOGNE FROM THE NORTH, AS PART OF THE RESCUE EFFORT OF THE SURROUNDED HOLDOUTS OF THE 101ST AIRBORNE AND ASSISTED IN BRINGING ABOUT THE FAILURE OF THE GERMAN ARDENNES OFFENSIVE, WHICH BECAME KNOWN AS THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE. THE NEXT OBJECTIVE OF THE 80TH INFANTRY DIVISION WAS TO CROSS THE SAUER RIVER IN BELGIUM, TO BEGIN THE PUSH INTO GERMANY. HE ASSISTED THE COMBAT ENGINEERS IN AN ATTEMPT TO BUILD A PONTOON BRIDGE ACROSS THE RIVER. HE AND FIVE OTHER MEN WERE CARRYING A SECTION OF THE PONTOON BRIDGE DOWN THE RIVER EMBANKMENT WHEN GERMAN ARTILLERY FIRED 'SCREAMIN’ MEEMIES' AND ALL WERE KILLED EXCEPT HIM AND ONE OTHER SOLDIER. THE GERMANS KEPT KNOCKING THE PONTOONS OUT AS FAST AS HE AND THE ENGINEERS COULD PUT THEM TOGETHER, SO IT WAS DECIDED TO CROSS IN INFLATABLE BOATS. HE OBSERVED THE GERMANS MACHINE GUNNING THE INFLATABLE BOATS AS THE SOLDIERS ROWED, WHICH KILLED MEN AND CAPSIZED BOATS IN A FIASCO. ABOUT 200 MEN, INCLUDING HIM, WERE ABLE TO ROW ACROSS TO THE ENEMY SIDE JUST AFTER DARK, BUT MACHINE GUN FIRE KEPT THEM ON THE RIVER BANK. IN A COORDINATED ATTACK UPON THE MACHINE GUN NESTS, BY USING THE SEMIAUTOMATIC FIRING CAPABILITIES OF THE M1 GARAND, HE AND THE REST OF THE 200 SOLDIERS SHOOTING AND CHARGING, WERE ABLE TO OVERRUN THE MACHINE GUN NESTS. HE FOUND THE SURRENDERING GERMAN SOLDIERS TO BE OLD MEN AND YOUTHS. HE FELT THE SEASONED SOLDIERS HAD FLED TOWARDS GERMANY WHEN THEY REALIZED THE PRESSURE THE ALLIES WERE EXERTING. HIS OUTFIT WENT INTO GERMANY, FAR BEHIND ENEMY LINES, BY TRAVELING AT NIGHT IN A LONG ROW, EACH MAN HOLDING ONTO A TELEPHONE CABLE AND BEING CAREFUL TO ESCAPE DETECTION BY TIGER TANK CREWS. INSIDE THE GERMAN BORDER ON FEBRUARY 17, 1945. HE WAS WOUNDED BY SHRAPNEL FROM A GERMAN MORTAR SHELL, BEING HIT IN THE LEG WITH A PIECE OF WHITE HOT METAL THAT FELT LIKE A FIREPLACE POKER HAD BEEN THRUST INTO HIS FLESH. WHILE WOUNDED AND WITH JUST HIS M1 GARAND AND ANOTHER SOLDIER WITH AN M1 CARBINE, THEY TOOK 19 GERMAN PRISONERS. BECAUSE OF THE SEVERITY OF HIS WOUND, HE WAS NOT ABLE TO WALK WITHOUT ASSISTANCE, SO WITH ONE GERMAN SOLDIER ON EACH SIDE OF HIM FOR SUPPORT, THEY HEADED FOR THE U.S. COMMAND POST. DURING THE TREK, HIS RIFLE SLIPPED FROM HIS HANDS AND CLATTERED DOWN AN EMBANKMENT ON THE FROZEN GROUND. A GERMAN SOLDIER RAN AFTER IT, RETRIEVED IT AND CAME BACK TO HIM WITH IT CRADLED IN HIS HANDS WITH HIS ARMS OUTSTRETCHED AS AN ACT OF SUBMISSION. AT THE FIRST AID STATION, THERE WERE NO MEDICINAL PAIN KILLERS AVAILABLE, ONLY SCHNAPPS AND HE DISCOVERED SCHNAPPS HELPS TO EASE PAIN. HE WAS THEN SENT BY PLANE TO A REHABILITATION HOSPITAL IN SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND. HE WAS STILL IN THE HOSPITAL ON MAY 8, 1945 WHEN THE GERMANS SURRENDERED. FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL REHABILITATION AT THE END OF MAY 1945, HE WAS SENT TO A BASE NEAR PLZEN, CZECHOSLOVAKIA FOR OCCUPATIONAL DUTIES. TOWARD THE YEAR'S END, HE WAS SENT BACK TO GERMANY, THEN TO FRANCE AND ON TO SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND ALL THE WHILE BEING JOINED BY MORE TROOPS FOR RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES. SHORTLY AFTER THE NEW YEAR IN 1946, HE BOARDED THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LAKE CHAMPLAIN, WHICH HAD BEEN NEWLY COMMISSIONED AND NOT USED AS A CARRIER, BUT TEMPORARILY CONVERTED TO TROOP SHIP DUTIES. HE, ALONG WITH APPROXIMATELY 10,000 OTHER SOLDIERS, SAILED TO NEW YORK CITY LANDING ON JANUARY 15, 1946. HE WAS HONORABLY DISCHARGED AT FORT MEADE, MARYLAND ON JANUARY 22, 1946. HE EARNED THE FOLLOWING MEDALS: COMBAT INFANTRYMAN BADGE, PURPLE HEART, EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN MEDAL WITH TWO BATTLE STARS FOR RHINELAND CAMPAIGN AND CENTRAL EUROPE CAMPAIGN, BRONZE STAR, WWII VICTORY MEDAL, ARMY OF OCCUPATION MEDAL WITH GERMANY CLASP, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, HONORABLE SERVICE MEDAL, SHARPSHOOTER–RIFLE AND MARKSMAN-BAR.