Weber County's Greatest Generation
Weber County's Greatest Generation
Chutes Over Normandy: When Ogden High's Class President Went to War
The sacrifice of our hometown heroes often becomes lost in the broader narrative of world-changing events. Today, we resurrect the memory of Sergeant Carl Yarrington, an Ogden native whose brief but impactful life ended on the beaches of Normandy during D-Day.
Carl's story embodies the quintessential American journey from small-town promise to battlefield heroism. As senior class president of Ogden High's class of 1938 and Lieutenant Colonel in ROTC, his leadership qualities emerged early. At just 16 years old, he followed family tradition by enlisting in the Utah National Guard, serving in the same unit his father had during World War I. What makes Carl's story particularly poignant is how his pre-war activities—coordinating school dances with military-themed decorations—would foreshadow his ultimate fate.
When war came, Carl volunteered for one of the most dangerous assignments possible: becoming a paratrooper with the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment. We trace his training across America before his deployment to Northern Ireland, where he prepared for what would become history's largest amphibious invasion. The chaos of D-Day unfolds through vivid accounts of misdropped paratroopers, anti-aircraft fire tearing through parachutes, and the confusion of landing miles from intended targets. Carl's final moments leading his men forward against impossible odds speak to the courage that defined the Greatest Generation.
Journey with us to the hallowed grounds of Normandy, where Carl now rests among fellow heroes, and discover how one Weber County son's sacrifice fits into the tapestry of American history. His story reminds us that freedom isn't free—it's purchased with the lives of hometown heroes like Sergeant Carl Yarrington.
Soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force, you are about to embark upon the great crusade toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe and security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year 1944.
Speaker 1:Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory. Good luck, and let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
Speaker 2:Hi, this is Kim from Weber County's Greatest Generation, and that was General Dwight Eisenhower speaking to the 82nd and the 101st Airborne Paratroopers. That would be the first to leave right after midnight on June 6, 1944. So you might have guessed that today's podcast is going to be about one of Weber County's paratroopers, Carl Yarrington, who was actually killed on June 6, 1944, during the Normandy invasion. In 2011,. We went to Normandy during a British Isles cruise and visited the National Cemetery, omaha Beach, pointe du Hoc and St Mary Glees, and that was one of the first places that I became interested in the men and women from Weber County who served during World War II. My sister Kathy and I recently returned from a trip to Paris and we were able to spend half a day in Normandy, which, if you've ever been there, you know that that is not nearly enough time. Normandy, which, if you've ever been there, you know that that is not nearly enough time. Luckily, we spent the night in this tiny little motel in St Mary Glees and walked down the street past the church and had dinner at this most fabulous French restaurant, but I would love to go back and spend maybe a month there. We were able to go again to the National Cemetery there are 9,387 servicemen who died on June 6th and in subsequent battles after D-Day, including Sergeant Carl Yarrington and Merle Pinkham Hell Errington.
Speaker 2:He attended Ogden City Schools and in the newspaper it said in his sophomore year he had a part in the opera Le La Walla. He was elected as the senior class president for Ogden's class of 1938, and at graduation he was awarded an O Achievement Award. Apparently these were nominated by the teachers, so if there's anyone out there from Ogden High that can tell us what an O Award is, that would be great. On February 21st of 1937, carl enlisted in the Utah National Guard at the age of 16. Until 1939, he served in the Guard as a private in Battery B of the 145th Field Artillery in the same unit which his father had served during World War I. He was the Secretary-Treasurer for the organization.
Speaker 2:While at Ogden High Carl joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps or ROTC, officer Training Corps or ROTC. In February of 1938, he coordinated the annual cadet hop, which was billed as the highlight of the ROTC social calendar. It was held each winter for the parents to mingle with their son's classmates and witness special drill exhibitions. In an article in the Standard Examiner he reported that the decorations would be machine guns, mounted cannons and hand grenades. And this is going to prove ironic, because two members of this class would die during World War II. In May of 1938, just before their graduation, lieutenant Colonel Yarrington presided at a ceremony where Sherman Smith, another Ogden High senior, was awarded the Outstanding ROTC Cadet of the Year. Sherman would join the Army Air Corps and as an aviation cadet he would die in a solo plane crash in Lemoore, california, on April 17, 1942. Carl enlisted in the Army that day. So the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment had been activated at Fort Benning, georgia, on July 20, 1942, and Carl volunteered to join them. He was assigned to Headquarters Company 1st Battalion and he finished jump school on September 12, 1942. By January of 1943, he had been promoted to sergeant.
Speaker 2:So in preparation for the D-Day invasion, troops were sent all over England, scotland and Ireland in order to train. On November 15, 1943, carl was shipped overseas on the SS Strathenavir and they made their way to Port Rush County, antrim in Northern Ireland. On January 14, 1944, the 507th was notified that it was being attached to the 82nd Airborne Division. The 82nd was originally created during World War I as a regular infantry division In the Second World War it became an airborne division consisting of the 505th, 506th, 507th and the 508th by the time they were ready for D-Day. The 82nd was comprised of thousands of paratroopers, had seven campaigns, four combat jumps and 467 days of combat time under their belt.
Speaker 2:As D-Day approached, the 507th moved to Fulbeck Station further south in central England, from where they would take off for the assault on France. The mission of the 507th and the 508th was to parachute and land west of the Merderet River to protect the Utah Beach landing area from an attack by the Germans, was also to assist the 505th in securing La Ferriere, which means fury bridgehead, and establish a defensive line running southwest from Gorbatsville to Renouf Sorry for murdering the French language. The 507th was then to take over the German-held village of Saint-Marigliese, was then to take over the German-held village of St Mary Glees. This town was seen as a key route that German forces would use to counterattack the troops landing on both Utah and Omaha beaches. And with that, operation Overlord, designed to infiltrate Europe, would be underway.
Speaker 2:One of my favorite writers is Stephen Ambrose, and he said about this the Allied problem was to land, penetrate the Atlantic wall and secure a lodgement in an area that was suitable for reinforcements and expansion. In other words, the first wave would need to hit the beach and move inland to make room for everything else that was coming in behind them. He said there had to be an assault. Even with all of the difficulties, the Allies had a defensive edge. Thanks to control of the sea and the air and to the mass production of a bewildering variety of landing craft, the Allies had unprecedented mobility. They would choose the time and the place to fight mobility. They would choose the time and the place to fight. So the Allies really had two problems getting ashore and winning the battle of the buildup. So to be successful, they would have to hamper any German army trying to get to the beaches, and that's where our paratroopers came in. So this did not turn out as well as they had hoped.
Speaker 2:The pathfinders went in first and their job was to meet the landing area for the 13,400 American and nearly 7,000 British paratroopers coming in behind them. I can't even imagine that number of people in the sky all trying to get to a specific location. It took 432 C-47s to carry the Americans to their drop zones and for almost every one of the C-47 pilots this would be their first experience in battle. When they crossed the coastline they hit a cloud bank and lost all visibility. Since all planes had been ordered to maintain radio silence, they had no way of knowing where any of the other 431 planes were. The pilots immediately separated, moving higher or lower to avoid a collision, and suddenly all hell broke loose as German searchlights, chasers and explosions filled the sky.
Speaker 2:Private Dwayne Burns of the 508th remembered my plane was bounding like something gone wild. I could hear machine gun rounds walking across our wings. It was hard to stand up and the troopers were falling down, getting back up and some were throwing up. Of all the training we had, nothing prepared us for this. So one thing that Ambrose had referred to in his book D-Day that I had to look up was a STICK S-T-I-C-K. A STICK is a group of paratroopers who exit the airplane from the same door or exit point during one single pass over a drop zone. So he continues. Most of the sticks jump much too low from the planes going much too fast.
Speaker 2:The opening shock was intense. In hundreds, if not thousands, of cases the trooper swung once and then hit the ground. Others jumped from far too high up. It seemed like an eternity before they hit the ground. One paratrooper reported After his jump. Private John Fitzgerald said he looked up to check his canopy and watched in detached amazement as bullets ripped through his chute. I was mesmerized by the scene around me. Every color of the rainbow was flashing through the sky. Equipment bundles attached to the chutes that didn't open fully came hurtling past me. Helmets that had been ripped off by the opening shock floated down Below me. There were figures running in all directions. I thought I'm going to land right in the middle of a bunch of Germans. That night a massive fire raged in St Mary Glees Town Square, forcing German soldiers into the streets about 1 am to monitor the townspeople who were trying to fight the fire with a bucket brigade. The fire illuminated the night sky and allowed the Germans to see the planes and hundreds of paratroopers floating down from the sky.
Speaker 2:Sergeant Errington's 507th was the most misdropped Allied unit. On D-Day Only three sticks of the 507th landed in the immediate vicinity of the drop zone and Carl's stick was not among them. So four minutes from the drop zone around 2.48 am the plane that Carl was in was hit by German flak. The left engine was immediately shot out and the right one was damaged, with the plane losing altitude, pilot John Prince ordered the 16 paratroopers to jump earlier than the planned attack because he was going to have to crash land. One of the paratroopers, private Anthony Leptuck, remembered that. Prince said he was like a glider pilot. He didn't have any power. He was able to hold it up until we got out. One minute after arriving at the drop zone all of the paratroopers successfully jumped out at about 700 feet.
Speaker 2:Prince figured the troops were dropped over five miles west of the target, probably around Les Hauts-Fences, saint-colomb, france. I need to take a French class With only one engine making it hard to maintain its speed and keep information. Prince turned far to the left and began flying north. The plane crashed about 2.45 around Montaigu-la-Bricette, france. I need that French class. Prince. Co-pilot Joseph Loeb, radio operator Ralph Charlton and crew chief Francis Schultz survived the crash landing with only minor bruises and the chipping of Loeb's front teeth. The plane did not burst into flames and the men began to destroy the IFF identification, friend or foe radar, bomber code and colors of the day. We ate the eatable paper overlays. But we did not burn the plane for fear of detection Going back to the paratroopers within the stick that Carl was leading.
Speaker 2:Everyone except two men were killed or captured Early in the days. Keyes was hit by a sniper and died. His body was not found until much later. Leptuck, who was behind Carl as he led his men, mentioned that sometime during the day, as the group was advancing along a ditch south of Gorbatsville, carl was quote moving dangerously. He got shot in the head and died before they could reach an aid station.
Speaker 2:After his death, the men continued moving on. However, some of them, including Anthony Leptuck, was captured five days later by German forces and sent to Germany POW camps. Almost a month after his death, on July 1st 1944 1944, carl was temporarily buried in Bloisville, about eight miles away from Gorbatsville. So this is another thing that I just can't quite fathom is you've got all of these soldiers who were killed. You have to find them, you have to identify them, you have to bury them and you have to keep some kind of records so everyone knows what happened to them. That all done without a computer. That's just amazing to me. On August 15th 1944, 13 weeks after D-Day, there was an article in the Ogden Standard Examiner Sergeant killed in Normandy fight Staff Sergeant Carl H Errington, 24, husband of Mrs Marjorie Gorman Errington of 3202, washington, and son of Mr and Mrs Herbert Errington of 3437, lincoln, was killed in action in Normandy on June 6. He was a paratrooper with the US Army Staff.
Speaker 2:Sergeant Yarrington was born on April 4, 1920, in Ogden. He enlisted in April of 1942 and received his training at Camp Roberts, california, fort Benning, georgia, and Alliance, nebraska. He was assigned overseas in November of 1943 and was stationed in Northern Ireland and England. He was in the invasion of France. Sergeant Yarrington served as Lieutenant Colonel in the ROTC at Ogden High School and in 1939, he attended Weber College. He was active in school athletics and dramatics and played football for the American Legion. Prior to his enlistment he was employed at the Bethlehem shipyards in San Francisco. He served with the National Guard of Utah in 1938, 39, and 40. Survivors include his widow, a son, mark, his parents and two brothers, private First Class Earl Yarrington at Oceanside, california, with the US Marines, and George H Yarrington of Ogden, his grandfather, alec A Yarrington of Vancouver, washington, and a great-grandmother, mrs Rhoda M Yarrington of Ogden.
Speaker 2:Memorial services will be held at the Marchuary at 3408, washington at 730 pm on Friday August 18th. And, by the way, that is Lindquist Mortuary, and it is still there. Bishop Rudy Van Kampen of the LDS 22nd Ward will officiate. The veterans of foreign wars will take part in the services. The family requests that no flowers be sent. Every single funeral that I have researched, the family requested no flowers. There wasn't a law against flowers, but you have to consider the availability of flowers at all during World War II and then the ability to deliver them to any specific place when you think about gas rationing. In 1949, carl was permanently moved and buried in Plot E, row 15, grave 16, in the Normandy American Cemetery. So we're going to have more deaths in June and even more in July. 1944 is a horrific year for us. Not only have we invaded Europe, but the war in the Pacific is not going great at all. We're going to have some huge battles in the Philippines coming up. Thanks for joining. This is Kim. You can find my podcast on my website, wwwwebercountysgreatestgeneration. Thanks,