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| PFC Jack Powers served in the 29th Infantry Division on Omaha Beach on D-Day. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56648929 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/800374164998657452/ |
Jack Gilbert Powers never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Jack was born on April 18, 1920 in Bedford, Virginia. His parents Henry and Alice were also both born in Virginia. His father worked as a tobacco factory fireman and later as a tire factory engineer. Still later he was a rubber plant fireman. Jack had three older brothers, one younger brother, and one younger sister. By 1940 Jack had completed seven years of schooling. He was still living at home and was a rubber plant laborer.
He enlisted in the army on February 3, 1941 when his Virginia Army National Guard unit was mobilized into the regular army. His brother Clyde, five years his senior, served with him in the same unit. Jack became a private first class in Company A, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. 34 other men from Bedford were also in the 1st Battalion, most of them in Company A. Jack stood out, weighing more than 200 pounds with a height over six feet.
The 29th Infantry Division arrived in England at the early date of September 1942. While other units were sent to fight in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, the 29th Infantry Division stayed in England, training for 21 months.
Jack was made a sergeant and volunteered to serve in a ranger unit made up of 29th Infantry Division men. When the unit was disbanded, Jack was dismayed that his months of training were a waste so he went AWOL. He was busted down to private first class and sent back to Company A.
When the plan was set to invade at Normandy, Company A was selected to be the first to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944 at section Dog Green. Other men said Jack appeared to be distraught as his ship crossed the English Channel. Company A was the tip of the spear -- its men went in on the very first wave divided among seven landing craft.
Clyde Powers was on a different landing craft than Jack and it was sunk while far from the beach. He was fished out of the water by a boat returning to the HMS Empire Javelin. They were not sent back to the beach in another boat and returned to England. He would not set foot on Omaha Beach until five days later. After leaving the beach and waiting to be reunited with the 116th Infantry Regiment, Clyde had some time to visit a nearby makeshift cemetery. Going to the section of the cemetery for the P's, he found his brother Jack's dog tags on a cross. A total of 19 out of 34 Bedford Boys died on D-Day.
Jack Powers' grave is at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Clyde Powers survived the war and died in 1986.
To learn more about the boys from Bedford, I recommend the excellent book The Bedford Boys by Alex Kershaw.
Last year on this date I profiled submariner John Moffitt, USS Tullibee. You can read about John here.
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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