Weber County's Greatest Generation
Weber County's Greatest Generation
One Family's Heartbreak: The Short Life of a D-Day Hero
Hi, this is Kim from Weber County's Greatest Generation. I have been researching the stories of our servicemen for almost 10 years and I know I always say this, but the stories are so incredible. I forget sometimes that these men, who went to war when they were so young, had hopes and dreams. They went to school, they dated, they played sports and then they went into the service. They dated, they played sports and then they went into the service. In the upcoming podcasts I will be focusing more on their early lives.
Speaker 1:Wynton Lund is another one of our boys who died in the Normandy invasion. He died on June 9th, six days after the initial landing. Wynton Lund was born on July 3rd 1923, to Carl and Petra Miller Young. Carl and Petra were both born in Denmark and immigrated to the US in 1915, moving to Ogden at 257 21st Street. They petitioned for citizenship in November of 1925. In the 1930 census it listed Danish as the language spoken in the family. Winton was the fourth child of nine children. The 1930 census lists Carl as being a mechanic at Browning Chevrolet. The family owned a house worth $1,800, which would be $27,200 in today's prices and they had a radio. Winton attended schools in the Ogden District and was active in Troop 6 of the Boy Scouts. The family was in the 3rd LDS Ward. You know how some families just seem to have an unfair share of troubles. This was the Lund family.
Speaker 1:On April 19, 1936, there was an article in the Standard Examiner. On April 19, 1936, there was an article in the Standard Examiner. Child Drowned in High Water Body Assault. Ogden River's raging floodwaters claimed their first victim of the year at about 3.30 pm when Marvin Dan Lund, 3-year-old son of Mr and Mrs Carl Lund of 257 21st Street, fell into a swift current near the Lincoln Avenue Bridge and was carried away before rescuers who jumped in the river could save him. The boy fell into the water while he and his twin sister Marion and their 12-year-old brother Winton were playing along the bank 100 feet above the bridge at 19th Street in Ogden. The elder boy told detectives that he had his back turned and didn't see his brother until the ladder was floating underneath the bridge.
Speaker 1:100 feet away, me Hardman of 3925 Ogden Avenue was driving along Lincoln when he heard screams and got out of the car as the boy's body floated under the span. He took off his jacket and plunged into the water, but he couldn't grab the child, wynton Lund, who was in the sixth grade at Grant School, said that as soon as he saw his younger brother in the river, he jumped in after him. The current proved too strong and he made for the shore after being carried under the Lincoln Avenue Bridge. Another passerby said he could hear the twin calling for her brothers. Mr Lund, the drowned boy's father, said the children were playing along the river in disobedience to his advice. I asked them time and time again to stay away from the river, but they wouldn't do it. I know the father was grieving and looking for answers, but I can't imagine the guilt that Wynton felt knowing that he had taken the twins to the river to play. Marvin's body wasn't recovered until May 25th, six weeks after he fell in, and in a bizarre turn of events his body was found just a half a mile north of my house by the trail where I walk every morning. The family's LDS bishop, myron B Richardson, and his brother decided that they were going to come west to see if they could find the boy's body when they saw a tiny pair of shoes and then the rest of the body came into view in the Wilson River bottoms. Little Marvin is buried in the Ogden Cemetery. But of course life has to go on for the family.
Speaker 1:And on January 8, 1937, the paper reported on Boy Scout troops in Ogden. In Troop 6, winton Lund gave us an exhibition of making fire by flint and steel. And then on March 20, 1938, there was another article that read it's knuckles down Bob Walker, daryl Faulkner, john Folger and Wnton Lund, prepared to make their aim steady and true for the important marble season, some of these chaps fired their precious pellets with the precision of guns. On January 22, 1940, central High School Science Club recently admitted new members, including Wynton Lund, and in the 1941 Ogden Telephone Book Wynton was listed as working as a yard man for Davis Motor Company. Again with the hard news for this family, on December 24, 1941, his father, carl, died of a heart attack. He was 47 and Wynton was 18. And Winton was 18. In May of 1942, winton graduated with his Ogden High School class.
Speaker 1:He was drafted and reported on January 19, 1943, for the Army. He was assigned to the 743rd Tank Battalion, company A. They embarked from New York on November 17, 1943, aboard the Aquitaine and arrived in Monroke, scotland, on November 25. On January 9, 1944, there was an article in the Standard Examiner. Two sons of Mrs Petra Lund, 257 21st Street, are serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. Second Lieutenant David H Lund is now stationed with the US Marine Corps at Quantico, virginia. He enlisted in 1941 and graduated from the University of Utah, being called into active duty in July of 1943. He is a graduate of Ogden High School, weber College and the university. Private First Class Winton Lund is serving in England with the US Army. He has been overseas since the first part of December 1943. He was inducted into the Army January 1943 and received his basic training at Camp Hood, texas. He is a graduate of Ogden High School, class of 1942. Private First Class Lund was assigned to the 743rd Tank Battalion.
Speaker 1:1st Kessland was assigned to the 743rd Tank Battalion. The 743rd was one of three tank battalions that would land in the first wave in the invasion of Normandy on June 6th and they would land on Omaha Beach. They were comprised of medium, specially equipped swimming Sherman tanks, called DD for duplex drive, which were equipped with flotation screens and propellers for swimming ashore. They began their special training in December of 1943. On June 2nd and 3rd the battalion were loaded into their assault craft for the D-Day invasion but because of weather delays. They stayed on this craft for three days before the June 6th launch. They were scheduled to land ahead and clear. The days before the June 6th launch they were scheduled to land ahead and clear the way for the 116th Infantry Combat Team on Omaha. However, given the rough seas, the battalion commander decided not to launch the tanks early to swim ashore, but landed them all on the shore.
Speaker 1:I mentioned before that Stephen Ambrose is one of my favorite authors. In his book D-Day he talks about Omaha Beach. If the Germans were going to stop the invasion anywhere, it would be at Omaha. It was an obvious landing site. No tactician could have devised a better defensive situation for Hitler A narrow, enclosed battlefield with no possibility of outflanking it, many natural obstacles for the attacker to overcome, an ideal place to build fixed fortifications and a trench system, on the slope of the bluff and on high ground, looking down on a wide, open killing field for an infantry trying to cross no man's land. The Allied planners hated the idea of assaulting Omaha, but it had to be done. This was as obvious to Rommel as it was to Eisenhower. Both commanders recognized that if the Allies invaded in Normandy they would have to include Omaha Beach. Otherwise the gap between Utah and the British beaches would be too large.
Speaker 1:One of the things that I love about researching is that there are so many resources available on the internet. I found the formerly restricted report called Action Against the Enemy concerning the 743rd. According to their journal history, june 6th Company B landed on Dog Green Beach at 0630. Water was very rough. Heavy enemy fire was encountered. Losses were quite heavy Seven tanks lost, three officers and six enlisted men killed and one officer wounded. Remained on the beach firing until 2130 or 930 pm that evening. Moved off the beach to Vieux-sur-Mar there again I'm butchering the French language. Sniper fire was very heavy. No casualties were sustained.
Speaker 1:Contact was made with 116th Infantry in preparation for support of the unit the next day and this was quite interesting because the air support that they were supposed to have was supposed to clear the beaches of the Germans before they went in. But the journal says air support on the beach was missing. The beach in Dagh Green had not been bombed and their manpower report listed 86 enlisted men. June 7th moved out at 0530 and supported the 116th toward Macy. Machine gun and sniper fire was very heavy. At 0900 encountered heavy artillery fire. Two tanks hit but no injuries sustained.
Speaker 1:One 57 millimeter AT gun destroyed, four prisoners taken, several MG nests destroyed, withdrew due to heavy fire, returned to Bivouac at Bearville for fuel and ammunition. Strength 86 enlisted men. I always have to wonder what they did with these prisoners. They're in the middle of a war and all of them are taking prisoners and somewhere these prisoners have to go, but I'm not sure where they went. So it talks about Macy. And that was a group of secret German artillery batteries. They were part of Hitler's Atlantic Wall fortifications. It was located approximately seven miles from the westernmost boundary of Omaha Beach and consisted of 12 88-millimeter anti-aircraft artillery pieces. So the German 88-millimeter anti-aircraft gun had become famous during World War II. It was highly effective against tanks and other ground targets. Its high muzzle velocity allowed it to effectively engage tanks at long ranges. It had the power to penetrate the armor of most Allied tanks, making it a most formidable anti-tank weapon.
Speaker 1:Going back to their journal, on June 8th, bivouacked in the vicinity of Veraville for maintenance and repair, relieved from assignment with 116th Infantry and assigned to the 115th to give support. Strength 86 enlisted men. June 9th is the date listed as private first class Lens death, but the journal notes are a little confusing. Moved to the Macy Battery where we received orders to move south, encountered several pillboxes which were destroyed. The 5th Rangers asked for support on these pillboxes, 125 prisoners taken Again, I don't know where all these men are going to go. No casualties sustained by our unit. Ordered back to Macy to bivouac at 1800 hours. And then it says the following EMs enlisted men were listed as missing in action since the 6th Staff Sergeant Heinen, staff Sergeant Walker, technical Sergeant Lockie, technical Sergeant Shea, corporal Giverson, corporal Graham. So the previous day they were reporting that they hadn't lost anyone after June 6th. But somewhere along the line they lost a few strength 74 enlisted men. The 743rd will continue to move forward into Normandy and would be eventually reinforced to 124 enlisted men. They would continue into Belgium and the Battle of the Bulge and finally into Germany. On August 1, the Standard reported soldier missing in action in France.
Speaker 1:Word has been received from the War Department that Private First Class Wynton Lund is reported missing in action since June 9 in France. He is a son of Mrs Petra Lund of 257, 21st Ogden. He entered the service in January 1943 and received training at Camp Hood, texas. He has been overseas since December of 1943. Private First Class Lund graduated from Ogden High School in 1942. Before entering the service he was employed at Cliffs Service Station. Another son of Mrs Lund, lieutenant David H Lund, is somewhere in the South Pacific in a tank division. That's got to be kind of frightening for her. She just lost one son in a tank division and the other one is also in a tank division. On September 15, 1944, the Salt Lake Telegram reported Private First Class Winton Lund, 20, previously reported as missing June 9, is now listed as killed on that date. Son of Mrs Petra Lund of 257 21st Street, ogden.
Speaker 1:On October 27, an article in the Standard Red Third Ward will be the scene of rights. Memorial services for Private First Class Wynton Lund, son of Mrs Petra Lund, will be held in the LDS Third Ward Chapel on October 29th at 7 pm. Private First Class Lund was killed in France June 9th 1944 during the D-Day invasion. He was first reported missing and his death was confirmed at a later date. We've talked before about how families were given a choice of having their sons buried in a national cemetery near where they were killed or bringing them back home, and in the case of Private First Class Lund, his mother requested that he be returned and she completed an application for his headstone on February 6, 1948. He was buried next to his father and his little brother Marvin. On February 2nd an article read Graveside services for Private First Class Wynton Lund, 20, will be conducted Wednesday at 11 am in the Ogden Cemetery by Bishop Thomas L Chekuts of the LDS Third Ward. Baker Merrill Post American Legion is in charge of military rights. His mother, mrs Petra Lund, resides at 257 21st Street.
Speaker 1:Private First Class Lund entered the service in January of 1943 and trained at Camp Hood, texas, and assigned overseas duty in December of 1943. He landed on Normandy Beach with the 743rd Tank Battalion and on June 3, 1944, was killed in action. Surviving are his mother and the following brothers and sisters Mrs Lillian Colburn, cunningham, pennsylvania. Mrs Evelyn Hill, palo Alto, california. Technical Sergeant 5. Brian Lund of the US Army, korea. Norman Frank, david and Marion Lund, all of Ogden. The mortuary 24th at Adams is in charge of the arrangements. So we have six more boys that are coming up that were killed in June of 1944, including two that died on June 19th. Their stories will be coming up in the next few weeks Meantime. Thanks for joining no-transcript.