Vivid Memory of World War II Service
by Lt. Colonel James Wise Kitchen
United States Army
U.S. soldiers of Pennsylvania's 28th Infantry Division march along the Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe in the background, on Aug. 29, 1944, four days after the liberation of Paris.
All periods of my wartime service had to do with grisly combat with the exception of an experience which place me on a United States Postal three-cent stamp.
On 27 August 1944 my regiment, the 110Th Infantry of the 28Th Division, was located at Versailles, France. We were ordered to march directly through Paris to fight on the far side. (The French 2nd Armored division had already cleared the city.) On the night of 28 August, we moved into Paris in drenching rain and prepared for the "parade" through town the next day, 29 August.
This parade through Paris marked one of the high points of our regimental history. We formed near the Bois do Boulogne and marched twenty-four abreast down the Avenue Foch by the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de L-Etoile, architectural hub of the city; then down the Champs Elysees de to the Place de la Concorde.
Thousands of citizens thronged the streets on this occasion, for it was the official celebration of the liberation of Paris. General De Gaulle, representing the French forces, and Generals Bradley and Hodges, together with our division commander, General Cota, representing the Americans, reviewed the division. The reviewing stand, boasting the tri-color of France as well as the Stars and Stripes, was set up at the Place de la Concords, the whole an impressive background for the solemn but triumphant occasion.
As the troops approached the reviewing stand the 28Th Division Band struck up, amidst the cheers and shouts of "Vive L'Amerique!" Correspondents from all over the world were on hand to record details of the event, and cameramen scrambled for advantageous positions from which to take pictures.
Of the latter, one in particular was to become famous: A U.S. three-cent postage stamp was issued showing our regiment marching down the Champs Elysees with the Arc de Triumphe towering in the background. I was marching in the center front row, my head turned facing the reviewing stand as we passed by. The original photograph from which the stamp's engraving was made came from a two-page photo in Life Magazine published shortly after the event.
The Parisians, who crowded the streets to cheer for these, the first American troops to march through the city in World War II, showered flowers, fruit and bottles of Cognac on the un-protesting soldiers; jumped into vehicles to shake hands with the occupants; urged their pretty French patriots to kiss as many of the grinning G. I. 's as the willing traffic would bear; and finally, linked arms with their U. S. Allies and marched exuberantly to the far edges of the city. Whatever has been recorded in the book of international relations before or since, the march through Paris offered a chapter of amity and good will, which, if continued, might have marked a new era in the diplomatic age.
Twenty miles outside of Paris, four men who were in the front row of the photo were killed in action.
Note added by his son: My father was awarded the French Croix de Guerre medal for action in Colmar, France; capturing 110 German soldiers, taking a town, and an important bridge with 20 of his men.
My father was later wounded in the Herken Forest. He was awarded the Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars.
Thank You for posting such a clear image of this commenmorative picture which ultimately became a famous U.S. Postage Stamp.
ReplyDeleteI have been told that James Flynn, my uncle on my father's side of the family, was also in this front row with your father. I know that James Flynn was wounded in action and returned home with one remaining lung. In fact, he may have rejoined the war effort and continued to fight before this photograph was taken.
"Uncle Jim" and his wife "Es" (nee Esther Knapp) lived in Moodus, CT for many years until the mid 1970's. I believe they may have lived in the area of Washington D.C or in the state of Maryland previously.
Jim & Es were inseperable from each other and had the ability to still celebrate life, continued to discuss and editorialize politics and world events, and allowed me at age 8, with my parent's permission, to taste their version of 'Egg-Nog" heavily flavored with nutmeg heavy with rum and bourbon!
Uncle Jim had seen so much from the war and even though he and Aunt Es never had children, they simply loved the time when my parents with my three siblings came to visit.
There are thoughts and feelings about james Flynn that are always with me, and which I knowingly live by. I was with my uncle only a handful of times between the ages of 7 to 10 years old. His compassion for others, love of life, pride of Country, strength of conviction, and determination to be aware of others and to fearlessly speak out for what is right sticks with me.
I believe your father, Lt. Colonel James Kitchen, and my uncle, James Flynn, are of the same person whom battled during World War II and then brought home their enduring vision of what freedom truly is. I also believe your father provided this same effect upon you.
Thank you for that. It gives a good feeling. My father was also wounded in the Herken forest, after this picture was taken in Paris, France, but he survived the shrapnel wound to his face and continued serving to in Korea.
DeleteHI GREG, BET YOU DONE FERGOT ME, TOMMY, YOUR COUSIN, BUT I STILL REMEMBER YOU AND, OF COURSE, YOUR DAD, MY UNCLE JIM. BEAUTIFUL ARTICLE. BE WELL, TOM POLHAMUS
DeleteThey were so thin and gaunt. They went through extreme physical hardship. So many of them actually slept on the ground many, many months, sometimes years. They ate food out of small boxes and cans. They couldn't bathe. The often could not properly brush their teeth. They very, very often went hungry. And thirsty. Their lives went from normal to utter, abjectly abnormal. The lived with human death almost every day. They did not know whether they would see the next morning. They went through absolute living hell on Earth.
ReplyDeleteTime in History. Tears come to the eyes. This is the moment they marched before the populace of Paris. The Americans, marching. The days just before this moment, they fought towards, it and died on the way to it, fighting for every inch to get there. The liberation of Paris. Now they march. The ones who SURVIVED. In drill order. For the people of France, for the throngs of Paris. To show them.
ReplyDeleteThat they were now FREE.
I was in the parade as member of Co K, 109th Infantry. If you or anyone else in the parade, please contact me at fook.eng@gmail.com., Fook H. Eng
ReplyDelete