Decades later, France comes 'cross the sea to honor American WWII vets
Maybe there is nothing that can make a young man mature beyond his years faster than war.
Perhaps it was with that thought in mind that the French Government recognized American soldiers who fought, sacrificed and agonized their way through France and on into other European countries to the heartland of Germany.
As part of a nationwide program, a special ceremony held at Soldiers and Sailors Hall, Pittsburgh, Sunday, Honorary Consul of France, Jean-Pierre Collett, presented certificates of appreciation to several hundred surviving western Pennsylvania World War II veterans who liberated France from Nazi domination. Two of those recognized for their efforts were Armstrong County men, Ford W. Shankle, of West Kittanning, now a retired Armstrong School District teacher, and Marion Shuster of Distant, a retired steel mill and brick yard worker.
Although the two never met until Sunday, in June of 1944 Shankle and Shuster found themselves on French soil with the cold, choppy waters of the English Channel to their backs. Ahead, they faced murderous small arms and artillery fire from well entrenched German troops.
"It was hedge row country," Shuster recalled. "There were just rows and rows of tall hedges with nothing but open fields in between. The Germans waited for us to cross the fields and just mowed us down.
"I landed on D-Day plus 6, that is, 6 days after the invasion, on the afternoon of June 12. When the front end of the LST opened all we could see was water. We jumped in and waded to shore. We didn't get too far. In six days our army only made it about a mile and a half inland.
"We gained some ground, but at a terrible price. Every day was a bad day, some worse than others. One of the worst for me was July 10. About 10:30 in the morning there were six of us on one side of a hedge row and six on the other. As we crossed a field, the Germans opened up. Nine of our 12 never made it. Two of us, including me were hit. I was hit when I neared a hedge row and lobbed a grenade over it at Germans on the other side.
"One man returned fire at the last second and I was hit in the chest. For some reason, I never knew I was hit until several minutes later."
Shuster said on that day, during the first half-hour of fighting, Americans had 71 casualties.
Before the war ended, Shuster would be wounded twice more, by shrapnel. He received his first shrapnel wound on Aug. 27, 1944, 48 days after a bullet tore through his chest. He was hit by shrapnel again April 18, 1945, on what he said was the last day of heavy fighting for his infantry unit.
"The Germans surrendered on May 8 I believe, but our outfit didn't encounter any heavy resistance from April 18 on," he said.
Six days after Shuster waded ashore at Normandy, another Armstrong County youth, Ford Shankle, entered the fray as part of the 80th Division Field Artillery.
"We went in D-Day plus 12. We still weren't too far inland, about 15 miles. It was nearly two weeks since the invasion but the fields were still littered with dead bodies, both Germans and Americans. I recall there was lots of bombing going on, but it was mostly by our planes because the (German Air Force) was pretty much decimated by then. We did, however, take a lot of shelling by German artillery
"At the outset we had two men in my company killed. I remember the first one quite well. He was a General and also a World War I veteran. He was killed by tank fire."
On a positive note, Shankle remembers the excellent mail service that kept battle weary GIs in touch with friends and family back home.
"It was simply amazing," he said. "Here we were in the midst of a war and with communications and everything being bombarded, somehow our mail came through. I usually got letters or packages from my wife in three days. She sent me cookies and candy and one winter, when a lot of guys were suffering from wet, cold feet because we didn't have proper winter boots, she sent me two pairs of rubber boots."
Shankle's job was shelling German troop positions. He served as a staff sergeant through France, to the Battle of the Bulge and on to Germany. Both Shankle and Shuster fought their way through France, Belgium Holland and Germany.
The other positive note of the war for both men was meeting the French people.
"They were grateful to see us," Shuster said. "We were kicking out the Germans. The French were wonderful people and whenever we met them they treated us well. Very nice people. France took a beating during both World War I and World War II. Some of the people there were in both wars. I felt sorry for them."
Shankle remembered the children.
"I'll never forget the little kids," he said. "They were 8, 9 or 10-year-olds. They weren't very well dressed and they were hungry. We gave them what food we could and we gave them fruit and candy. That was the special treat for them. To give a kid and orange or a piece of candy and see their eyes light up and a smile come on their faces - that's something you don't forget."
Apparently the French people didn't forget their brief, bittersweet encounters with American troops either. In 2000, the French Government decided to honor American World War II veterans who served in France with the special certificate of appreciation presented to area veterans in Pittsburgh, Sunday. When American troops entered France, Collet was only six, but he said he remembers the time well.
"We are doing this to say thank you to the (American) soldiers for being there," he said, "to thank them for their courage and dedication."
The award was a pleasant surprise for many veterans.
"I never expected to get anything this late," Shuster said. "Like I said, the French people treated us fine. They took a real beating but they sure welcomed us. It's nice to see this token of their appreciation."
