MSgt George Herman

I’ll start this dedication to Veterans by adding my dad. My dad retired from the Army with the rank of Master Sargent after 38 years of service. My dad joined the Army April 25, 1942 during WWII.

I wish I knew more about that phase of history, but like most of us, we think of these questions when it is too late.

Here are a few interesting links about Patton’s 8^th Armor Division:

8th Armored Division (United States)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_Armored_Division_(United_States)

THE 8TH ARMORED DIVISION

http://www.8th-armored.org/

Rooster http://www.8th-armored.org/rosters/7svc-rst.htm  

http://www.8th-armored.org/rosters/7svc-rst.htm

Order of Battle of the US Army – WWII – ETO
8th ARMORED DIVISION

https://history.army.mil/documents/ETO-OB/8AD-ETO.htm

Later my dad joined the Army Reserve where he served in the 84^th Division in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he reached the rank of Master Sargent and was assigned control of the Mechanics Committee. MSgt George Herman had the honor of serving along side his sons Sgt Ronald Herman and Corporal Dennis Herman. The Mechanics Committee was assigned the task of 4-Wheel Vehicle Training as a Reserve Unit. In the event of war, regular forces would be sent overseas while Reserve Units would be moved in to take their place and train new troops.

84th Training Command (Unit Readiness)

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/84d.htm

At a later date I want to add information on some of the events and battles the 8^th Armor Division faced during WWII. One of those events concerns the liberation of certain Nazi Concentration Camps and how those scenes effected my dad. In the mean time you can enjoy the pictures and read more on the links provided.

I want to remind you. If you have information and pictures on a Veteran you want to honor, leave a comment, send me a message, and we will get your veterans added to this section of USA-eVote. It is so important to remember the sacrifices our Armed Forces men and woman have made.

WWII Experience

I finally had to get around to writing more about my dad, MSgt George Herman, I’ve given this a lot of thought and still don’t know how to proceed But here is a little.

Today is September 2^nd, VE-day. For those of you who don’t know what that means, it is Victory in Europe day. My dad fought in Europe under General Patton. That is one thing I’d like to tell people about my dad. He was a mechanic in the armor division. Much of his work was in the back lines after major battles. He helped put parts of tanks together to make a working tank to send up to the front lines. Although that may sound like a safe position to be in, the Germans were famous for leaving snipers behind to disrupt the rear support. Germany wanted to kill Patton as much as the US wanted to kill Hitler. People in the rear were shot at, bombed, had shells launched at them, and for lack of a better term, were in a war. Maybe more on that a little later.

Today I decided to get into the end of the war. That was one of the stories I learned about my dad that really effected his life. My dad could never believe in God. Something he saw in WWII told him a God could not exist. He never explained it. But a few years after he died, I saw a documentary on public TV. This was a 5 part documentary about the concentration camps in Germany. At the beginning of they program they explained that much of the original film they used had been locked away for 50 years. It was so graphic the government feared a major backlash on German Americans.

Those films were taken by Nazi SS men to document how they ran concentration camps. Those films hid nothing. At the end of that series they showed films of American soldiers freeing those camps and the scenes they witnessed. I was on the edge of my seat. I couldn’t believe what I was watching.

Today I can’t find that documentary anywhere. It seems it doesn’t exist. Did it offend people? Was there fear of a backlash on German Americans lingering in the shadows? I’m not sure. You can find bits and pieces, but not the entire documentary.

I know something effected my dad all his life. After seeing those films I could understand. If you saw something like that, smelt death like that, buried that many starved bodies in mass graves, would you believe God would allow something like that to happen?

To close on a good note. 3 days before my dad died, he did accept Jesus on his death bed. Wasted away by old age, looking much like the people he helped free from those concentration camps, my dad did accept Jesus.

Now to get serious. With over 500 visitors and over 3000 page views in this past thirty some days on USA-eVote, not a single person has offered to write about any other Veteran. I’m not sure why. No one has posted a single comment. USA-eVote has only 3 other sites providing a link to it. We do of course have over 100 requests to post links and put up comments for people trying to sell products. Most of which lead to scams, identity theft, and of course porn.

Is that what my dad and other veterans fought for? For lazy ass people (most requests to add links and comments are from overseas) to post all kinds of junk on the Internet? How disrespectful is that?

I read all kinds of posts claiming this or that offends them and we should accept beliefs and ideals it was embarrassing to talk about a decade ago. Is that what freedom is? Does freedom give us the right to throw the memory of those who fought and died to protect this freedom – to the side of the road so small minorities who claim to be offended can go on with life with a clear conscience. If the memory of my dad offends you, learn to live with it. I am proud of my dad and everyone he served with. And I am not going to let this new pansy ass generation tear those memories away from me.