BEACON PHOTO/AL EVERSON
War and remembrance — J.D. Womack, flanked by his wife, Dollie, and daughter, Peggy Bellflower, wears the medals he was awarded for service in World War II. Womack fought with the 1st Armored Division in North Africa and Italy.
PHOTO COURTESY J.D. WOMACK
Meeting Dole in D.C. — World War II veteran J.D. Womack, center right, meets former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, center left, at the National World War II Memorial in Washington. Dole, who was severely wounded in Italy, led the fundraising efforts to build the memorial.
By Al Everson
posted Dec 2, 2008 - 9:22:19am
When J.D. Womack was in Italy more than six decades ago, the country was anything but a pleasant place for tourists.
"We sat up there watching the Germans, and they were sitting over there watching us," said Womack, 89, describing the standoff in the Apennine Mountains of Northern Italy.
The Germans had retreated northward from the boot of Italy in the south and Sicily, but they remained formidable opponents following the collapse of Benito Mussolini's fascist government. The standoff continued until the war ended elsewhere in Europe.
The former rancher fought on two fronts in the war. Womack and other GIs had been helpful in shrinking the Third Reich, beginning in North Africa.
Going to war
Drafted into the U.S. Army in February 1941, Womack left his home in Okemah, Okla., for basic training at Fort Knox, Ky.
J.D., by the way, is his real name. His parents gave him the name, even though the initials do not stand for actual first and middle names. He was assigned to the 1st Armored Division.
"I went to Northern Ireland, Scotland, and then down through England," he recalled.
Into Africa
The 1st Armored was put under British command for Operation Torch, the code name for the invasion of North Africa, which took place Nov. 8, 1942. Womack was in one of the first tanks to hit the beach of Algeria-French Morocco. He remembers it well.
"The first time I went into battle, I was so scared I had to reach up and see if my helmet was still there," he said.
The Germans were not the only enemy awaiting the Allies.
"We fought the French for three days," he said, referring to the forces of the pro-Nazi Vichy government. "They were like us. Their equipment was pretty old."
Still, the French were slow to lay down their arms and give ground to the Allied invaders.
"They sank some of our ships," Womack explained. "My tank commander was hit."
As the Allies moved across the Sahara Desert, they confronted the formidable German foe in Tunisia.
"That's where we met the Desert Fox," said Womack, referring to Field Marshal Erwin von Rommel and his Afrika Corps. "He was well honed in that part of the country."
Womack's battalion once scouted for the enemy about 70 miles in advance of the main British-American force. They were supposed to be on a reconnaissance mission.
"We weren't supposed to be fighting," Womack said.
The 1st Armored was defeated by Rommel's Panzer forces at Kasserine Pass in Tunisia.
"We lost one tank battalion," he remembered. "We lost over 200 tanks there."
Desert warfare was especially grueling, both on the troops and the equipment, which required frequent repair.
"It's hot and dirty," he said.
One of the most enduring memories was "the Stuka dive bombers. That's the worst thing," said Womack.
It was also in Tunisia Womack witnessed how dehumanizing war too often becomes.
A British soldier with a wounded arm asked the Americans if there was any "petrol," or gasoline, to spare. He took what they offered to him, and then went over to a pile of corpses of German soldiers, poured the fuel on the ghastly heap and made a funeral pyre, rather than burying the dead and marking the graves.
Womack recalled the British officer in command said, "Fellows, I know you don't approve of things like that, and neither do I, but last week German bombers bombed his home and killed his wife."
At the same time, the British retained their custom of afternoon tea, even under the harsh conditions of desert warfare — and sometimes even during combat with the Germans.
"When 3 o'clock came, they stopped for tea. When I first started drinking it, it was bad, but I got to where I liked it," Womack said.
The 1st Armored soon came under new command: Gen. George S. Patton.
"Patton came up and took over the Americans in the 3rd Corps," Womack said. "He was not very well liked in my outfit."
Part of Patton's style involved having his soldiers dress neatly.
"He made us put our leggings on," he added. Infantrymen also had to wear ties. "My outfit didn't really care much for him."
Out of Africa
After Rommel's defeat, the 1st Armored was transferred to Gen. Mark Clark's Fifth Army for the invasion of Italy. Womack and his unit went ashore at Anzio.
"I got two tanks knocked out. One got the gun shot out," he remembered.
The Germans also fired "Anzio Betty," a huge cannon mounted on a railroad car and moved in and out of a cave. The weapon terrorized the Allied invaders, until it was located and destroyed by bombers.
"They looked for it and tried to spot it," Womack said. "It was mostly firing on the ships."
Womack said the Italians generally welcomed the Americans as liberators.
"The Italian people were kind. They would put flowers on our tanks. They lined the streets. They acted like they really appreciated us," he said.
Although the Italians were weary of the war, the Germans remained tenacious. Womack and fellow American soldiers pushed north into the Apennines, the rugged, mountainous spine of Italy. The nights were especially dark and lonely, because of blackouts along the front lines.
"We would set up there and see Switzerland. All the lights burning there made us think of home," he said.
The enemy also used some nonhuman warriors.
"The Germans had dogs with cameras, and they would come sniffing around. We had orders to shoot all dogs. They were trained," Womack said.
His unit "liberated" one of the canines.
"We had a German shepherd in our company as a pet. That was in Italy. He got killed. One night he got caught in artillery fire."
Peace at last
As the war in Europe drew to a close, Mussolini remained at large, even though his country had dropped out of the war. Womack recalled getting a glimpse of Il Duce.
"It came out on our radio Mussolini had been spotted in the area and to block all roads," he said. "I didn't realize I had seen him till after. ... I could have shot that driver."
Mussolini was eventually caught by Italian partisans and shot.
Germany surrendered May 8, 1945, and the guns became silent throughout Europe.
"I never got to Germany. They were looking for volunteers. They said it wouldn't interfere with coming home, but I didn't want to take that chance," Womack said.
After almost three years overseas, Womack returned to the United States. Then a tech sergeant, he was discharged from the Army July 20, 1945, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
After leaving the Army, Womack worked as a rancher in Big Spring, near Odessa, Texas.
After his first wife died and he married his current partner, Dollie, he retired in DeLand to be near Dollie's daughter. The new Womack family is a blend of a son and Dollie's son and daughter from their first marriages.
Womack has visited the World War II Memorial in Washington. There he met another veteran of the campaign in Italy: former U.S. senator and former GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole.
Dole was severely wounded in the Po River Valley near the end of the war, losing the ability to use his right arm.
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