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| Tec 5 Owen Sutton served in the 2nd Cavalry from France to Czechoslovakia. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/47118646/owen-worth-sutton https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/armoured-vehicles-2/m8_greyhound/m8-greyhound-armored-cars-2nd-cav-gr-enter-brehal-normandy-august-2-1944/ |
Owen W. Sutton never had a chance to reach 100 years old. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
I began this project on January 1, 2017. It will conclude on September 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War 2. During the intervening time, a different fallen serviceman was profiled every day on his 100th birthday. I have decided to round out the project by profiling one of the fallen born between December 7, 1916 and December 31, 1916. This will result in one of the fallen being profiled for every day America was engaged in World War 2. The total will be 1,367 men and women. That's enough for only 13 stars out of the 4,048 on the Freedom Wall of the World War II Memorial.
Owen was born on December 8, 1916 in La Grange, North Carolina. His parents George and Rachel were also both born in North Carolina. His father worked as a farmer and later owned a gasoline station. Owen had two older brothers and one older sister. By 1940 Owen had completed seven years of schooling. He was still living with his parents and his wife of five years (the former Beulah Dare West) while working as a farmer.
He was drafted into the army on February 3, 1943. He eventually reached the rank of Tec 5 in the 42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 2nd Mechanized Cavalry Group. The 2MCG was converted from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment which was still equipped with horses in 1942. The mech version traded the horses for M8 armored cars, jeeps, self-propelled howitzers, and light tanks. It was mainly used to patrol behind American lines to round up German stragglers and protect supply lines, but it also filled in where needed in a defensive capacity, especially protecting the flanks of less mobile units. Sometimes it did conduct reconnaissance behind enemy lines, but that was somewhat rare.
The 2MCG arrived in Normandy in July 1944 and was attached to Patton's 3rd Army. It participated in the race across France, breaching the Siegfried Line, and fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. During February through April 1945, the 2MCG advanced through Germany and by April 28 it was in Czechoslovakia where they freed 300 Allied POWs at Hostoun.
Sgt. Sutton and the rest of the GIs learned the town was also the home of 670 horses, including the famous Lippizaner stallions. German SS units counterattacked the next day and Sgt. Sutton was wounded. He died on May 1, 1945. A few days after this, the 2MCG rescued the famous Lippizaner stallions on the orders of General Patton, to keep them from falling into the hands of the Russians. It was made the subject of the Disney movie Miracle of the White Stallions.
His grave is at Westview Cemetery in Kinston, North Carolina. His widow remarried and died in 1998.
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!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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