Stories I Have Told

Stories I Have Told By Charles W. Gregory Published through Global Printing & Graphics, Inc. Wxw|vtà|ÉÇ I dedicate this book to my beloved wife of 53 years, Betty Lee Thompson Gregory, who listened to my stories for all those years and urged me to write a book to record all the stories that I could recall. I regret that she is no longer with us to see that her wishes have been fulfilled. I also thank all my grand children who have spent hours listening to my recollections of my past. They have all inspired me to finish putting the stories I remember into a book. Also, I thank our five great children for their urging and help on this project. Note: The contents of this book have been recorded as part of our family history and are the sole property of the author. None of the contents of this book may be used in any way without the written consent of the author. Table of Contents PART I P. 1 My Childhood Memories P. 49 Pictures From The Past PART II P. 52 Stories About A War Called WWII P. 53 Prologue P. 55 Military Service Of Charles Gregory P. 56 Chronological Record Of Military Service P. 59 Service Pictures P. 62 College Days At West Virginia University P. 75 My Route To A Commission P. 98 Training Soldiers For Combat P. 117 The Century Division P. 130 Crossing The Atlantic Ocean P. 138 Combat At Last P. 159 Battle For Bitche P. 182 Fight To The End P. 203 Occupation: Part One P. 231 Occupation: Part Two P. 276 Homeward Bound PART III P. 287 Cassandra J. Blackford - Essay On Grandpa P. 291 Original ‘Sons Of Bitche’ - By Chris Gregory Part I. MY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES “BILL” I was born, CHARLES WILBUR GREGORY, on the morning of October 14, 1921, in Mooresville, North Carolina. I frankly do not recall much about my entry into this world as I am sure that mother was busy and I was upset about leaving my shelter to enter the world. Do not have any recollection of getting acquainted with my parents or brother, John, Jr. My mom was concerned that kids would call me “Wilbur or Willie” so early on they nicknamed me “Bill” and that is what I was called until I finished college and entered the U.S. Army. When I was about a year old, my mother entered me in a baby contest and I won first prize which I was told was five dollars, a tidy sum in those days. I have a news paper article that appeared in the local paper on the contest that is in my scrapbook. My best recollections of my childhood begin when we lived in Statesville, N.C. I have some memories of the first house we lived in there. I think I would have been four or five years old then. I recall it was a big house with a big curving porch on it. We had a big bull dog named “Bell” and he followed us around all the time, protected us and we dearly loved him. If I knew what happened to Bell, I do not now recall. One day we were suppose to go somewhere and the lady who was our housekeeper dressed us all ( myself and brothers John and Clinton ‘nicked named C.B.’) in white shirts and short pants. Mom had gone somewhere and was to come back and get us. We went across the street from the house and played in a large open dirt ditch that mom had told us not to get into. Of course we got awfully dirty and had to change clothes and I recall the spanking we got for disobedience. I have memories of our housekeeper who was a nice lady and we all liked her. She did correct us and make us mind. I have a vague memory of one time when great grand- mother Amacker was visiting us. We did not mind her and when mom came home we all got a real hurtful spanking and then we had to go in one by one and apologize to great grand mother for being bad. I recall that during this time frame our family Doctor was a Dr. Tatum. In those days the doctors make house calls and we saw him more at our home than in an office. I can recall him coming to our house many times but can only recall one time that we went to his office. He came to our house to examine us kids, give us vaccinations and shots and to treat us for illnesses. The 2 three of us boys use to run from him and hide. One of our spots was under the front porch. I truly recall the doctor crawling under the porch and pulling us out to give us shots. I especially recall one time he crawled under the porch and pulled C.B. out as he was in a hurry and was a bit angry at him. Of course all three of us yelled at the top of our lungs as he gave us vaccination shots. Dr. Tatum was a, for real doctor, as I also recall him outrunning us and chasing us down and making sure that each of us boys got all our shots. I think that Dr Tatum knew the hiding places of all the kids in town. Dad was an insurance agent for a major company and had an office downtown. I recall one Saturday that he took the three of us with him to his office as he had some work to do. Not to our credit I remember running around the office and getting into things. We behaved quite badly and dad was upset with us and did not take us to his office again, that I can recall. How well I remember that first day of school. Mom got me dressed up and was telling me that she would have to leave me so I could get acquainted with all the kids. I remember holding her hand and I was panic stricken. I will never forget going up the walk toward that large building holding tightly to moms hand. That front door looked like it was made for giants and all those strange people standing around. It was panic time as I knew that mom was going to leave me and I was scared and I mean, I remember that I was scared. Through the eyes of a six year old I remember seeing those kids and their moms or dads disappearing through those giant doors and I did not know what was on the other side. I know I tried to pull away and run but mom held my hand assuring me that I would like school and the kids. WRONG. I do not remember much about going into the class room and meeting the teacher. But mom leaving was imprinted on my mind and being scared to death I guess I retreated into a shell. I do not remember much about the class- room and the teacher as I wanted nothing to do with school. I am told that I refused to talk to anyone, refused to answer any questions and would not cooperate with anyone but kept strictly to myself. I guess that I was one really unhappy trooper and did not get over it. One thing that has always stayed with me and I recall with no pleasure was the recess periods in the first and second grades, 3 at which times we went outside for recreation and I kept to myself (at least that is what I have been told) and did not engage in play activities. I vividly recall the lunch periods, at which time we were lined up in two lines one for boys and one for girls. We were marched down to the basement and into the huge rest rooms. A male warden watched us to make sure we relieved ourselves of liquid, of no further value, and then we went out into a hall way where we were lined up in two lines by women teachers who doubled as wardens. We were then marched to the sinks where the senior warden told us to stick out our hands at which time she pushed on a plunger and liquid soap spurted onto our hands. The senior warden watched carefully as we lathered and washed and rinsed our hands. Then we were marched into a room and allowed to eat our sack lunches we had brought from home, all done under the careful and watching eyes of several wardens. I don’t recall much of the classes but was told that I hated school and totally disliked the teacher. I vaguely remember the day that mom told me that I had failed the first grade and would have to attend summer school. Here I was, a wee chap, hating school and looking forward to a summer away and am told I have to attend school during the summer. Do not really recall much about going to the summer school. Guess I disliked it so much my mind just blanked it out. The one draw back to summer school was that the teacher for that session was my first grade teacher. Not surprisingly, I guess, I also failed summer school and had to repeat the first grade the next year. Mom was upset to say the least, She told me that she began to investigate the circumstances and talk to a lot of people and found out that after she left me at the school alone, I had to all intents and purposes, with drawn from the human race.

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