Merry Christmas, President Roosevelt: Seasons Greetings from the Troops in World War Two
Great article about soldier cards at Christmas from the Franklin D. Roosevelt library HERE
From Military Railway Units 743rd top and 727th below.
Merry Christmas contact me if you had a MRS solider in your family.I'd love to hear about him. Nancy
Thanks so much to Jerry Jensen for sharing this wonderful information about his dad, Merle Jensen.
Merle Marion Jensen was born and raised on a farm in Quenemo, KS on May 26, 1918. He worked one year with the Santa Fe Railroad prior to being drafted in the US Army in 1942, serving into 1946. He served with the 761st Railway Transportation Company seeing service in the Rome-Arno Campaign, Naples-Foggia Campaign, Rhineland Campaign, and Algeria-French Morocco Campaign from Aug ’42 through Feb ’45 and then received healthcare in the Bruns Military Hospital in Santa Fe, NM. After his military service and release from the hospital, he worked as a Brakeman, then Conductor, with the Rock Island Railroad out of Herington, KS until is death in 1969. He was an avid fisherman, hunter, and greatly enjoyed helping his parents continue to farm. He was survived by his wife, Dona Lloydine Jensen, daughter, Terri L. Jensen, and sons Gerald D. Jensen and Mark L. Jensen. He received a military burial at Sunset Hill Cemetery in Quenemo, KS.
I do not have much more information to provide. Other than a letter from President Truman thanking him for his service and some of his original discharge and orders assigning him to the Bruns General Hospital in NM, we don’t have much information. Also, other than applauding the good trade he made while in Northern Africa (he traded a carton of cigarettes for a beautiful native knife with a carved wooden sheath wrapped in leather), he didn’t talk much about his years of service nor his hospital care following his active duty. Being a farm kid from central KS, I’m certain his travels in WWII were eye-opening. He returned to his railroad career following his medical recovery spending his entire career as a brakeman and conductor for the Rock Island Railroad serving between the Oklahoma border south of Wichita and northeasterly to Kansas City, until his early death in 1969 at the age of 51.
Merle M. Jensen served in the 761st Railway Transportation Co, with service in the Rome-Arno Campaign, Naples-Foggia Campaign, Rhineland Campaign, and Algeria-French Morocco Campaign from Aug ’42 through Feb ’45. He was sent to the Bruns General Hospital in Santa Fe, NM with tuberculosis and afterwards to the VAF in Excelsior Springs, MO. Those soldiers in the same railcar traveling from NM to MO with my father included, Tec 5 Harold W. Furneaux, Pfc Verdie W. Williams, Pfc Ernie T. Mears, and Pvt Fred S. Copeland. Two Attendants were Ted 5 Ingvar F. Magnuson and Pfc Morton Koplik.
I have attached six photos, two in the service, one railroading (white hat), one younger (leather jacket), and one older (black shirt), one family photo from 1919 (smallest child)
Hisdtoricasl report of last 3 months of 1944 and reports early in 1945
GALLOWAY -- Tyra Oscar Galloway, 85, passed away on April 4, 2008. He was born in Corona, NM on January 11, 1923, to W. M. and Essie Galloway. The family moved briefly to Gran Quivira and then, in 1928, to Belen, where he became a lifetime resident.
Oscar began his career with the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1941 after graduating from Belen High School. In 1944 during World War II, Oscar served in the U. S. Armed Forces as a member of the 746 Operating Railway Battalion stationed in Germany. He returned to his position with the AT&SF Railway and, after 41 years, retired as Train Yard Foreman in 1982. He is survived by his loving and dedicated wife, Freeda, of 66 years; daughter, Nancy and husband, Bryan Lunsford; sons, Lynden Galloway and Myron Galloway; his loving grandchildren, Vance and Travis Lunsford, Kristyn, Jeffrey, Charlene, and Evan Galloway; one brother, Floyd Galloway, of Bridgeport, TX, and many nieces and nephews.
Preceding him in death are his parents; his brothers, Bill and Mac; and sisters, Virgie Jones and Lavon McKinley. Oscar was a senior member of the First Assembly of God Church in Belen, serving as Sunday School Superintendent, member of the building committee, Deacon and a musician with the Music Department. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. The family thanks the nurses and staff of the Kaseman Presbyterian Hospice for their professionalism and gentleness in caring for our loved one.
Donations may be made to the Kaseman Presbyterian Hospice, 8300 Constitution N.E, Albuquerque, NM 87110. Services will be held Monday, April 7, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at the First Assembly of God Church, 19398 N. Hwy 314, Belen, NM. Interment will be immediately following at Sandia Memory Gardens, 9500 San Pedro Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM. Daniels Family Funeral Services 7601 Wyoming Blvd, NE Albuquerque, NM 87109 (505) 821-0010 www.danielsfuneral.com Published on: Sun April 06, 2008
Sample third part
Heroic Railroad Men Put Lifeline Across Continent Under Nazi Fire
(Third of a series of four stories outlining some of the highlights of railway operating battalions sponsored by lines directly serving Birmingham.)
In the witching hours of May 26th, 1945, a locomotive hauling 38 cars brim full of coal, puffed into the railroad receiving yards at Bremen, Germany. The crew manning that train was personnel from Co. C, 722nd Railway Operating Battalion.
For the Germans, this pre-dawn arrival was proof that the Americans had moved to stay. To tired, grimy Military Railway Service people, it meant that the whole scheme, no matter how costly in men and materiel, to get supply which began at Cherbourg soon after D-Day had ended in a glorious achievement. The fact is that—to the Germans, was proof that the Americans had moved to stay. To tired, grimy Military Railway Service people, it meant that the whole scheme, no matter how costly in men and materiel to get supply which began at Cherbourg soon after D-Day had ended in a glorious achievement. The fact is that—
The railway warriors knew that the locomotives the Yanks wished to operate for them were not made in Germany. Some of them were born at Cherbourg. The big S-160 Consolidations assembled in the States were loaded at Bristol, England, were unloaded from liberty-hull type LSTs.
Once on the ground, this rail unit, which included Americans from all the southeast area, reached Belgium, Holland and Luxemburg. Arrived at the German frontier, the smoke and cinder GIs promptly punched their way on into Central Germany to begin their job: Perform, how much artery of supply for our Army of Occupation in Southern Germany.
IT IS SINGULARLY APPROPRIATE that the Ardennes-sponsored 722nd of the Seaboard Air Line Railway should have run the first train to the shell-torn area at Bremen. Co. C of the 722nd is recruited from men of Watskinville, Ga., and former superintendent C. C. Shook of the Seaboard was largely instrumental in getting the 722nd activated in January, 1943. After receiving training at Camp Forrest, Tenn., the outfit was sent for more training. Not until the pre-invasion day of May 6th, 1944, at which time the battalion shipped as a unit.
The whole outfit had headquartered itself at Liege, Belgium, under its own steam; but moving into France as the Germans continued their retreat, the Yanks halted at the “Battle of the Bulge” sector. In the now famous St. Vith district, Fronten, as a matter of fact, the 722nd boys had to erect signs all of one night to keep from getting lost. A short while later the unit again got a crash order. The Nazis were on retreat and the Army of Von Rundstedt was pushed back.
Across the Rhine and the 722nd doggedly worked its way to Warburg.
That first train into Bremen was a major accomplishment. The locomotives and rolling stock made possible a new operations yard. American and German tramp engines fanned out to find the tracks to the Kiel Bay.
The first train itself was in charge of C Company commander, Lt. Hart C. Barnett, of Rochester, N.Y. Barnett is former road foreman of engines for the New York New Haven & Hartford Railroad and his iron horse was driven into Bremen in civilian life by the N.Y., N. H. & H. He is employed by the N.Y., N. H. & H. in civilian life (C Company has recently been stationed in Bremen at the former German luxury liner Europa.)
ONLY AFTER ORDERS WERE RECEIVED to transfer kit and caboodle from Warburg to Bremen, was Bremen’s railroad center, recently pulverized by plane bombing, dug out, put in ship shape, cooking facilities were put back in shape, almost as soon as the depot powerhouse switches and automatic signals and switches.
A thoroughly modern yard with three roundhouses, eight receiving tracks, 44 classification tracks and 12 platform tracks, complete with power switches and locomotive–handling facilities represents the present layout; already the work was started by the Germans that restoration to full capacity was realized in minimum time.
Steel highways needed to meet the heavy demands of a city that is feeder for all freight going to our army in Southern Germany have already been rebuilt and worked with renewed vigor and additional tracks.
On June 11 of this year, the 722nd inaugurated passenger service from Bremerhaven to Hanover, named the “Seaboard Express;” this train still performing its tasks. It operates on a fast schedule and is staffed by personnel and mail.
So it is that the Seaboard Battalion, first and only military railroad unit to reach full operations at a German seaport, is now in position to establish passenger service just as you might like it.
Joking aside, however, the 722nd is the lifeline of food and supplies to our Army of Occupation. And so far as anybody has known, two “Seaboard Expresses” will run between here and Hanover “till the boys come home.”
Both my father and uncle were officers and served in rail units in both wars. I've felt this unique service was being lost and forgotten. Luckily, so did the British author, Christian Wolmar. He contacted me about 2 years ago with his idea for this book and I've worked with him as his research assistant on this project. I am beyond thrilled to present:
The Liberation Line: The Untold Story of How American Engineering and Ingenuity Won World War II (U.S. Title)
The epic story of the railwaymen who ensured Allied victory in World War Two, published to coincide with the eightieth anniversary of D-Day.
As the Allied forces advanced through France following the Normandy landings, just behind the frontline the US Military Rail Service and their counterparts in the Royal Engineers were at work, ensuring that crucial supply lines were up and running – without them the liberation of France and the invasion of Germany would founder.
Based on original research, The Liberation Line thrillingly reveals how the railwaymen overcame enemy attacks, sabotage and booby traps to repair many hundreds of miles of destroyed railway tracks and dozens of bridges and tunnels in order to deliver victory. Packed with tales of individual heroism, this is one of the last great untold stories of the war.
The book will be published in May 2024 in conjunction with the 80th anniversary of D-Day. You can
per-order Amazon here: https://amz.run/76Q4
Christian will be doing a US tour with the book if you'd like him to speak to your organization email me. If you are interested in an autographed book or to have Christian speak to your group email me at militaryrailwayservice@gmail.
If you have any information on a soldier railroader I would love to hear from you! If your father, grandfather or other relative served let me know something about them. I would love to do a blog post about them. Nancy email: militaryrailwayservice@gmail.
You can order a signed copy from me here
Christian Womar April 4th, 2024 promotional video!
