On the D-Day thing; we went shopping in Bowling Green yesterday. When we left I saw what I though was a B-17 on the down-wind leg of landing. We drove off and as I went down Lover's Lane I say him on final. He was less than a 1/2 mile away.
It was the first time I ever saw a real B-17, in flight, in my life. Of course you can't believe your lying eyes but today there was an article about a bunch of ventage planes in Bowling Green. My old 76 year old eyes did not let me down.
On D-Day: in Smiths Grove I have a distant cousin named Leon Tarter. He is a D-Day vet and is still alive. Also one of my favored cousins-in-law was Bill Sittley. This is boring but this is my story of him on Ancestry. It has been authorized by his wife:
Bill Sittley was one of my heros growing up.
Bill married my mothers cousin Evelyn Minyard. Evelyn Minyard was the daughter of Mazilla Cook. Aunt “Zillie’s” husband Shobe Minyard died in 1941 and Aunt Zillie lived with Bill and Evelyn in Louisville, KY after they were married until her death in 1979. Several times a year Bill and Evelyn would come to the country to see the extended family. My grandmother Sarah Jane Cook Elmore, Mazilla’s sister, lived next door to my parents. Because of these frequent trips I got to know Bill Sittley quite well.
Bill was an Army veteran of both World War II and Korea. He was one of the few World War II veterans that I knew who would actually talk about the war. Bill’s record was exemplary. He landed on Omaha beach on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) in Normandy France. He was one of three from his “Higgins” boat that survived the landing. Bill was shot twice before he found cover. He had a perfect 8mm scar on the front of his knee and a star shaped scar where the bullet exited. Additionally he was shot through the hand.
All of his Army buddies told him he had a “million dollar” wound (a “million dollar” wound is one that you survive but get sent back to the United States. He was hauled back to a ship for medical treatment and in just a few weeks instead of being sent back to the U.S. he was sent back to his unit fighting the Germans in the French hedgerow country in Normandy.
After rejoining his unit Bill was waking besides one of the infamous hedgerows where he encountered a German who, out of ammunition, ambushed Bill by hitting him in the head with the butt of his rifle. Bill allegedly killed the German but Bill always said that he did not remember anything after the rifle butt hit his jaw.
Again Bill’s Army buddies told him that he had a “million dollar” wound. Bill was again taken back to receive medical treatment for his jaw that was broken in two different places and several teeth missing. The medics wired his jaw shut and for 6 weeks Bill was on a liquid diet. But he was not sent back to the U.S. Instead after his jaw healed he was sent to Belgium for a little R&R. It was generally assumed that Belgium would be a quite place for units that had been beat up pretty badly to recuperate. So Bill got to enjoy some R and R for a few weeks.
Bill was feeling really good about Belgium until Hitler ordered the last great offensive of World War II in what would become known as the “Battle of the Bulge”. And there in the middle of it all was Bill Sittley, the GI who had already received two “million dollar” wounds but was still in Europe instead of the U.S. But Bill survived the “Battle of the Bulge” without being wounded. He just camped out in the snow and fought the Germans.
Bill’s last wound in World War II came in Germany when Bill (and this is his quote) ‘fell off a mountain’ and got part of a limb stuck in his upper leg. (He got drunk on Hitler's booze.)
Bill Sittley was one of those special people who never had a down day. Bill awoke every morning happy and in a good mood. His stories about World War II and Korea were funny stories. He laughed at how close he came to death and still survived. He would tell funny stories about the characters in his Army units. In other words Bill was just a joy to be around. His wife Evelyn states that until his death Bill Sittley was one of the very positive types.
I suppose after his experiences in France, Belgium, Germany and Korea he was just grateful to be alive and remained happy to the end.
Below is the data from the “U.S. Veterans Gravesites”. The U.S. saluted for his selfless service to the nation by allowing him to be buried in a special place for heros.
U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775-2006
Name: William Francis Sittley
Service Info.: WOJG US ARMY WORLD WAR II, KOREA
Birth Date: 17 Sep 1919
Death Date: 27 May 2001
Service Start Date: 1 Feb 1941
Interment Date: 4 Jun 2001
Cemetery: Florida National Cemetery
Cemetery Address: 6502 SW. 102nd Ave. Bushnell, FL 33513
Buried At: Section 411 Site 1074
