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| Then 2nd lieutenant Felix Sparks with his wife and later as a Lt. Col. halting men executing captured SS guards at Dachau. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=21763149&ref=acom http://wmrokuhistorii.blogspot.com/2015/05/rzez-w-dachau-czyli-krwawa-zemsta.html |
Unlike most of those profiled each day here, Felix Sparks returned home. He was one of most distinguished officers to serve in the army during World War 2 and this week marks 100 years from his birthday.
He was born on August 2, 1917 in Texas. His father was also born in Texas and his mother was born in Mississippi. His father worked as a warehouse clerk and later as a warehouse foreman. Felix had one brother (who also served in the war) and three sisters. He grew up in Miami, Arizona. Times were tough during the depression and Felix helped feed the family by hunting in the nearby mountains. As a teen he joined the Citizens' Military Training Program.
He first enlisted in the army in March 1936. He convinced his superiors to have him trained in photography and can a side business in Hawaii that earned him enough to pay for school when he got out of the service in 1938. He joined again in February 1941. He rose from the rank of lieutenant to lieutenant colonel in the 45th Infantry Division. From leadership at the company level he eventually commanded the 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment.
From stepping onto the beaches in Sicily in July 1943 until the surrender of Nazi Germany, Lt. Col. Sparks was pretty much in combat or ready to go back into combat for more than 500 days. Twice he lost huge numbers of the men he commanded when overwhelmed by enemy force. Sparks earned the Silver Star in January 1945 for attempting to rescue men pinned down by German SS troops. The only reason it was not the Distinguished Service Cross was because his superior officer was mad at him for complaining about the superior's failure to order his men out of harms way, resulting in hundreds of needless deaths and prisoners.
Near the end of the war Sparks was the commander of the task force that liberated Dachau. At the time he and his men were entirely unaware of the purpose of concentration camps. They found thousands of dead bodies. Some of his men, upset by what they saw, killed some of the SS guards after they surrendered. An inspector general report blamed Sparks for being in command. General Patton met personally with Sparks over the matter and tore up the report, confident that Sparks was innocent.
After the war he became a much respected lawyer in Colorado. He served a term on the Colorado Supreme Court and was made a general in charge of the Colorado National Guard. In his spare time he did all he could to help and honor the men who served with him during the war.
He died on September 25, 2007.
His grave is at Crown Hill Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.
General Starks' biography is excellently told by Alex Kershaw's 2012 book "The Liberator: One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau".
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
To mark having over 100,000 visits to my project to honor the fallen of WW2 on their 100th birthdate, I created this video to share. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
I would have been honored to serve with such a person who did not see the color of a man's skin as being the ALL of him/her. His bravery and devotion to his duty and his Soldiers were unquestioned. I served in Vietnam...Leaders of his caliber were few, Damned few.
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