09/09/2014
It was a pleasure having Col.John J. Wessmiller and his friends stay at our B&B at the end of his visit to Normandy, his first time since the war, we had a wonderful dinner and it was great pleasure meeting you Sir,
John J. Wessmiller LTC USA RET 9th Infantry Division.
Trained in Fort Bragg, NC, was enlisted in the military at the age of 20 years, attached to the newly formed 9th Infantry Division.
In 1942, he participated in operation Torch in North Africa.
In April 1943, fought in the battle of Tunisia, in August, was involved in the Sicily landings. In November of the same year, after the conquest of Sicily, Patton sends the 9th I.D. in England to prepare for the Normandy landings.
Arriving at Liverpool, he trained at Wi******er.
In 1944, he landed in Normandy on 10 June.
Wessmiller is one of only two officers on the ship landing on the position the most westerly of Utah Beach.
The opposition is so fierce on the beaches that soldiers try to mutiny and the captain of the ship wants to abandon the operation.
Wessmiller led a counter operation to put down the mutiny and assumed command of the ship. He then led over 600 men on to Utah Beach.
As he was leading 600 soldiers and there ant-tank vehicles ashore, Wessmiller suffered a leg wound during the off loading when artillery exploded on the deck close to him, knocking him to a lower level, through a cargo hole.
Several days after completion of the landing ( D+6 ) Wessmiller was ordered to support Comanding Officer Col. Buchanan to establish a forward H.Q. post closer to the Germans lines.
A convoy of 5 Jeeps where dispatched and crossed the peninsula attempting to reach St Mèrè Eglise.
The convoy got lost near the town of Barneville despite Wessmiller's repeated warnings to his Commanding Officer that they where not where they should be and that he "couldn’t shake a feeling of dread". Upon rounding a corner on the country road, the small convoy is startled by a marching force of 1-2 thousand Germans moving into position for a counter attack on the beaches. This sudden and deadly ambush killed all 12 members of the convoy except Wessmiller, who escaped the immediate danger by getting blown from the Jeep and going prone, using the surrounding hedges and environment to mask his slow crawl away from the enemy soldiers, Wessmiller stumbled on to a French home close by that looked abandoned and crept inside.
He shed his uniform to appear to be a civilian.
In the house, he found a bicycle, borrowed it , and then peddled out onto a road heading back in the direction of the beach, all the while singing "all Claire De La Lune" in his best French accent, in his disguise, he miraculously made it back to friendly lines and HQ after a 2 mile bike ride and met up with a sergeant that he knew from previous operations.
Frantically, Wessmiller then warned a nearby colonel of the location of the advancing Germans, who immediately called in combined fire to slow the enemy's advance.
Early the next morning the German force did reach within artillery range of HQ and launched a heavy barrage of fire. Many comrades where killed in the attack and Wessmiller was seriously wounded by shrapnel, parts that are still embedded in his body 70 years later.
The injuries were severe enough to end Wessmiller's active participation in WW2 and he was confined to a hospital through to the end of the war in Europe.
In 1946, returning to the United States, Wessmiller was camp aid to two officers at Fort Meade in Maryland.
In 1948 he was Chief of staff at the Military School of Frankfort, Kentucky, and then to Fort Benning, Georgia.
In 1949, he was sent to Alaska as an advisor to the unit of the National Guard in Alaska.
In 1952, he served as an instructor at the Milatary School USAWC "Army War College".
In 1959, was appointed Adviser to the Royal Army of Thailand in Bangkok.
In 1960, now Colonel Wesmiller becomes the Director of the 'Army Security Agency School Center at Fort Devens in Massachusetts.
In 1962, Wessmiller reluctantly agrees to retire for medical reasons (cardiac accidents).
To conclude, Col. John J. Wessmiller ( retired ) you've had a great career,
MY RESPECTS SIR!
