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Matney Woodard

Christian Stories for Kids, Songs, and Sermons

Jul 20

15

Letter Home – June 1, 1945

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The war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945. Now came the occupation and reconstruction of the continent. Allied soldiers took their place keeping the peace, and overseeing efforts to make sure Germany would rejoin Europe, sans all Nazi influence. Allied leadership was aware of a plan for German citizens to continue fighting as partisans against the occupation. Fortunately, none of that came to fruition, as the vast majority of German folks were done with the conflict.

My Father landed in picturesque Starnberg, Germany. This was a small town in Bavaria, 30 minutes Southwest of Munich, and next to Lake Starnberg. The American Army had liberated the city on April 30, 1945, just days before the official end of the war.

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Jul 20

15

Brownie

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Like many soldiers, my Father, a farm boy and lover of animals, adopted a little black dog while overseas. While the dog was claimed by the entire unit, he seemed to spend a lot of time inside my Father’s jacket to stay warm and dry.

The little black dog had been wounded in the crossfire. After nursing him back to health, Brownie became their unofficial mascot.

My Father loved sharing the story of Brownie, probably more than any other memory from his time overseas. It was a way of minimizing the hard times, and focusing on a few brief joyful moments. This was a short anecdote he shared about Brownie. I hope you enjoy! — Harrison Woodard

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Jul 20

15

Hollis Woodard

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I was Blessed with parents who were both Spirit-filled Believers and creatively gifted. They did not use their gifts selfishly, but instead, sought to use them to glorify God. In the case of my Father, Hollis Woodard, he was called to teach. For most of his life he was a Sunday School teacher, as well as a lay minister for senior centers in the area. My parents would often work together, with my Mother providing the music ministry, and my Father preaching the Word.

The Great Flu Panic of 2020, while inconvenient, provided me time to dig deep into their work. And it is with great pleasure to post some of it here, sharing it with the world. Read the content below, and follow the links to see his work.

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Jun 20

22

Bronze Star – Part 8

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President Roosevelt authorized the Bronze Star Medal by Executive Order 9419 with the following commentary.

“There is hereby established the Bronze Star Medal, with accompanying ribbons and appurtenances, for award to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard of the United States on or after December 7, 1941, distinguishes, or has distinguished, himself by heroic, or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military or naval operations against an enemy of the United States.”

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Jun 20

22

Operation Dragoon – Part 6

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By the Summer of 1944, the war in Europe had evolved and the momentum was definitely on the side of the Allies. The Soviet Union was on the offensive, pushing their way through Eastern Europe towards Germany.

The Allies secured North Africa, and were making slow progress up the boot of Italy. It was now time to open another front in the West.

The much anticipated invasion of Normandy took place on June 6,1944, dropping 150,000 fresh Allied troops on Germany’s doorstep. There had been discussion about invading Southern France on the same date, but due to the logistics involved, there was no way to support both operations on the same date. Instead, my Father would participate in Operation Dragoon on August 15, 1944. This would place Allied forces in the Southern half of France, an area under the authority of the Vichy French regime, and left largely undefended by Germany. – Harrison Woodard

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Jun 20

22

Victory In Europe – Part 7

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In the Winter of 1945, the Germans launched one final assault in the West known as the Battle of the Bulge. Where capable, other fronts saw limited German offensives including in Southern France. These were largely ineffective outside of the main thrust. However, it did reveal that Germany had some fight left.

However, by the end of January 1945, only the truly zealous Nazis remained in the fight. They were retreating back towards Berlin, planning to make one last glorious stand against the Red Army. The Allies had all agreed to allow the Soviet Union to destroy whatever remained of Berlin.  While the Red Army closed the noose around the German capital, the Allies secured the remaining occupied nations in the West, and mopped up what remained of the German Army in the South – most willingly surrendering to US troops, rather than being captured by the very angry Red Army.

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Jun 20

6

The Woodard Boys Go to World War II – Part 1

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Hollis and Frank Woodard, two brothers from Winnsboro, Texas leave for basic training. They will eventually land in North Africa during World War 2.

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May 20

6

Rome – Part 5

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The Allies progress up the “boot” of Italy all but stopped when they hit a series of German defensive lines known collectively as the Winter Line. The lines ran from sea to sea, anchored by high points such as Monte Cassino. From January of 1944, until the breakout after the Anzio landing, the Allies threw everything at the Germans with little success. With Rome less than 100 miles away, the Allies decided on a risky move, an amphibious landing just North of the German defensive line.

On January 22, the Allies landed several hundred thousand soldiers hoping to either entice the Germans into weakening the Gustav Line, allowing the Allies to finally penetrate the Winter Line, and opening the road to Rome. The Allies ran into much stiffer than expected resistance, and the Winter Line continued to prove to be a most difficult barrier.

Those who made it through the Winter Line, the Anzio landing, and the 6 months of fighting, were welcomed as heroes by the citizens of Rome.  – Harrison Woodard

The Woodard Boys Go to World War II

From Monte Cassino To Rome – Part 5

By Hollis Hood Woodard

(1917 – 2009)

If I live to be a hundred, I shall never forget entering The Eternal City.

We were not able to make any progress up the boot of Italy in the mountains. It was obvious something else needed to be done to make the war easier. They decided to invade above our lines at Anzio. They didn’t want all our Battalion for this invasion and decided they only needed one battery and selected A Battery. This was the battery that Frank was in and I found myself again with a problem. I knew that was going to be a rough assignment and I was worried about Frank’s welfare. I wanted to go with him, but I was in headquarters battery and was told that they needed me to stay back with the battalion.

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Mar 20

22

Monte Cassino – Part 4

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The Italian Campaign lasted nearly two years, from July of 1943 to May 1945. Even though the Italian government surrendered and switched sides in 1943, Germany flooded the country with troops, and fought for every inch of Italy like it was Germany itself. Not only did Italians turn on Germany, but the Nazis faced a true international coalition of troops representing numerous nations including the US, UK, Canada, India, Poland, Greece, Brazil, New Zealand, South Africa, France, and Greece.

With its high mountains, rain-swollen rivers, and mud streets that would stop anything on wheels, even Italy’s geography seemed to favor the Germans. With each successive defensive line breached by the Allies, the Germans had prepared another. Nothing would come easy for the Allies in Italy.

My Father would spend most of his time overseas in Italy, taking part in several major actions, including the attack on Monte Cassino. — Harrison Woodard

The Woodard Boys Go to World War II

From Naples To Monte Cassino – Part 4

By Hollis Hood Woodard

(1917 – 2009)

All I could do was pray, and I prayed hard, believing God would protect him.

After we got to Italy, Frank and I decided we had to find H.L. I found out what regiment and company he was in and started looking. First, I had to find the 36th Division Headquarters to find out what section his company was assigned to hold. When I got this information, I went to his company headquarters the first chance I got but missed him by about five minutes. They went into the lines that morning. You can imagine how I felt when I realized my kid brother was up on the front line and in combat. We had talked to other soldiers in the 36th Division and they had told us they were attacking the Germans nearly every day and nearly every day being pushed back. We were able to stay in contact with H.L. through the mail. The mail traveled pretty fast between units there in Italy.

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Mar 20

8

Sailing To Africa – Memories of World War 2 -Part 2

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During World War 2, a trip with a convoy across the Atlantic was a high risk venture. But by the Summer of 1943, the Allies had greatly reduced the threat of attack by surface vessels. However, the German U-Boat threat, although on the decline, was still very real. And if you found yourself separated from your convoy, or dead in the water, even the US Navy required Divine Favor to make it to their destination.

My Father’s memories of World War 2 continue in this second part of The Woodard Boys Go To World War II, where he discusses his time aboard the USS Monticello (AP-61), a converted Italian ocean liner, and his trip to Oran, Algeria in North Africa.

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Dec 19

5

From Oran To Naples – Part 3

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It took nearly 3 years for the Allies to finally force Italy and Germany out of North Africa. When the Allied forces met in Tunisia, they had killed more than 40,000 Axis soldiers, destroyed 8,000 aircraft, and captured more than 430,000 soldiers, preventing them from returning to Europe. Germany had to supply and support an army of 500,000, which took some pressure off the Soviet Union, who were facing nearly 4 million German invaders.

By the time my father arrived in Oran, the Battle for North Africa was largely over. The goal had been to push the Axis forces out of North Africa, take control of the Mediterranean Sea, and prepare for the invasion of Southern Europe. In this third part of The Woodard Boys Go To World War II, my Father discusses his experiences in North Africa and the preparations for the coming invasion of Italy. One of his nighest priorities was reuniting with the 3rd Woodard, H.L. who was fighting with the 36th Division in Italy. — Harrison Woodard

The Woodard Boys Go to World War II

From Oran To Naples – Part 3

By Hollis Hood Woodard

(1917 – 2009)

It was like I had gone back in time about fifty years.

We left the ship at Oran, North Africa about 10:00 AM. It was like I had gone back in time about fifty years. The first thing I noticed was a camel train loading up on the dock to go inland. The dress of the Arabs was quite unusual. I didn’t have time to do much looking around before they had us in formation to march us away from the dock. It was already getting hot and we were dressed in our wool uniforms. One thing I will never forget was this red-headed First Lieutenant attempting to march us out from the docking area. He had us in columns of fours and I was in the front row on the left. As we marched up the hill we were expecting to be given the command to go to the right. This First Lieutenant got excited and gave the command, “column left”. Being on the left, I made a nice turn to the left followed by my three buddies in the front rank. When we made this turn we marched right up to a box car that was parked on the railroad track. In fact, my nose was about six inches from this car. Well the Provost Marshall came running up and started chewing on this First Lieutenant and told him to get us out of there. The First Lieutenant came up and tried to get on my case by telling me I knew we were supposed to go to the right. I told him I knew that, but he had commanded us to go left and he was in charge. We finally got out of that situation and up to the staging area. We were to wait for trucks to take us out to our camp. When the trucks finally arrived, we were all so hot that our wool uniforms were wet with sweat. They packed us on trucks and I happened to be on one that was so loaded that my rear and my pack was hanging over the tail gate. We were being hauled by another outfit because our trucks were on another ship and had not been unloaded. We arrived at our camp later in the afternoon and I was so tired I found a tent and spread out my blanket on the ground and went to sleep. I slept right through the “C” ration supper that they had passed around. I was awakened in the night about to freeze. Everyone in the tent was fishing for another blanket. We had the sides of the tent up so I got up and let them down thinking it would make it warmer in the tent. When day came the heat came back. Within an hour, we were rolling the sides of the tent back up and getting ready for the heat. When the sun was out it went over a hundred degrees every day, but the nights were very different. We were there only a short time before the rainy season hit. This was something else. There were hot rainy days followed by cold rainy nights. Our Division bugler would always get us up and play some tune that would go with the weather. One cold morning it was, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”. One morning when there was thunder and lightning he played, “Stormy Weather”.

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