King High Remembers: Howard Louis Beach

1. King High Remembers: Howard Louis Beach By: Jennifer Cuevas, Cobi Hopkins, Rachel Woods

2. Background: • State of Birth: Wisconsin • Born on June 8, 1925 • Attended the University of Wisconsin for 2 yrs. But dropped out • Has been happily married for 64 years since 1948 and has 5 successful children and 11 grandchildren • He was 18 when he joined the army • Enlisted June 19, 1943 • Dates of Service: 1943-1945 (2yrs. 4months and 10 days) • Branch of Service: Army

3. Battles: • World War II: • Battle of Bulge • Normandy Invasion

4. World War II Campaigns Battle of Bulge Normandy Invasion

5. Battle of Bulge • Commanded by Captain Filmore Ortof (replaced Captain James Long) • Started on the night of December 16, 1944 • He was in a unit of 2 squads of 12 men each • They encountered pockets of young paratroopers who were a combination of fanatic, confused and ineffective • Main goal: to capture Antwerp • Germans began their attack on the third day and as a result Beach and his partner suffered minor brain concussions before achieving victory

6. D-Day, The Battle of Normandy • Commanded by Generals: Louis A. Craig and Jessie A. Ladd • He was assigned to the Ninth Reconnaissance Cavalry Troop of the Ninth Infantry Division • His assignment was to be radio man/ turret gunner in an M8 armored car • All his combatants either got extremely wounded or suffered from traumatic stress except for him • Certain code names were used to tell the army how to attack and to prevent the opponent from knowing what they were doing • Operation overloard: Invade the northwest of Europe • Operation Neptune: began the main invasion of Normandy

7. When he first started the army… • Tried joining the marines but wasn’t accepted because of his sight • Voluntarily signed up for the army and they called him when they needed him • Started as only a potato peeler and then became a meat slicer • they sent him to radio school to learn Morse code • His reaction to the first day of combat: “The terror was as enormous as we could have imagined, if not more so.”

8. Howie Beach- “Eager to Serve”July, 1943

9. Morse Code Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment.

10. Places Beach has traveled…. • He has attended camps in: • Illinois • Wisconsin • Texas • Boston • England • Indiana • And several others….

12. Narrative Howie Beach signed up for the army at the age of 18 but didn’t get in because of his sight. He then voluntarily applied for the army for whenever they needed him. He started off in KP(kitchen patrol) as only a potato peeler and worked himself up to a stone cold killer in the front line of troops. One day in KP everyone in the service was sent to radio school to learn Morse Code. Howie caught on fast and was drafted immediately. He told us many war stories in Germany and described his experiences in combat. They would have to go long periods of time without eating and still remained physically strong. “It was so cold in Belgium when I got injured I couldn’t even feel the pain at the time.” They migrated in groups of 12 to keep a low profile and sometimes when they would capture a German and seek information rather than kill him.

13. Narrative Cntd… In certain places, large groups of drunk Germans waited for the Americans. The Americans used flame throwers to easily kill these enemies. The group of 12 later got separated into a group of five. His group of five ended up going against 90 Germans and he was the only survivor. “I remember running to safety and feeling the wind of the bullets brush past my shoulders. I’m just lucky to be alive.” One of his good friends was shot by mistake from a fellow American. When trying to escape a German plane in a jeep with four Americans, Howard had no other choice but to shoot the plane down. Luckily for him the plane ran out of ammo. After his time in combat he got to meet some Russians and Germans and he came to the realization that they were people just like our Americans. Therefore, he was not necessarily proud of all the people he had killed.

14. War Attire

15. War Equipment • Our veteran said his main weapon was the Garand M1 rifle and it was “truly a remarkable weapon” • The carbine M1 was another exceptional weapon in our Army’s arsenal • “German machine guns were probably the best during the period”

16. Howard Beach’s Certification of Military Service

17. Family • He has been happily married for sixty-four years • He had five children, eleven grandchildren, and four sisters • Two of his grandchildren were born in Sweden • One of his grandchildren is an amazing athlete who is currently playing college football and baseball on a full ride scholarship

18. Letters to Family

19. Howie Beach at King High Remembers Q: Why did you join the service? A: Felt it my duty to fight against any enemy threat to America. I signed a voluntary induction.

20. Achievements Highest Rank: Technician Five Earned five battle stars Only got wounded three times and survived many intense series of combat. Only survivor in his group of five against a group of ninety Germans Got the silver star 3rd highest award in the military

21. Interesting Facts about Howie: • He was left handed which gave him an edge in combat • he was an athletic runner • He met Tom Hanks • He chose to not to smoke even though all his buddies and family did

22. Interesting Facts Cont. • Mr. Beach wrote a book about his war experiences called “The Private War of Howie Beach” • He has a wonderful sense of humor even to this day • Previous Occupation: Milwaukee Paperboy

23. Thank you for voluntarily serving our country Mr. Beach!