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How many artillery rounds did it take for a New York National
Guard artillery battalion to help win World War II?
According to 93-year-old Charlie Brown, a WWII veteran of the 258th
Field Artillery Battalion, the answer is 33,902.
That’s the
number of rounds Brown and his unit fired during ten months in
combat from the Normandy Beaches in July 1944 to the heart of
Germany in May 1945.
Brown, from Olean, New York, visited the
New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs November 20, 2017
to meet with museum director Courtney Burns and current 258th Field
Artillery members to discuss his experiences and display a
collection of artifacts and details about his service in the war.
Brown, a 19-year old private first class who served in
the battalion headquarters battery, kept detailed notes and
records in a diary.
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Army PFC Charlie Brown, then 19, a native of Delavan, New York,
stands behind a 50 caliber M2 anti-aircraft gun in a field outside
Teilleul, France on October 8, 1944 with other members of
Headquarters Battery of the 258th Field Artillery. On the back of
the photo, Brown, who is now 93, noted that the unit was bombed and
straffed here. Brown still has a knife that was hit by shrapnel that
night. (Courtesy Mr. Charles Brown)
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Brown’s service included five European battle stars for
the battalion’s 302 days in combat and the crossing of nine
rivers on his path from Utah Beach in Normandy on his way
towards Berlin.
His original documents and details
about the movement and combat operations of the 258th Field
Artillery shed new light on the experiences of a New York
Soldier in WWII.
Brown shared his copy of the original letter to allied troops for
the invasion of Normandy, his notes regarding the battalion’s
movements and combat actions, and a captured Hitler youth flag
during the unit’s drive towards Berlin.
“It’s a tremendous
resource,” said museum director Courtney Burns. “Not only the
documents that he has brought but the stories that he’s bringing
with them, so we’re going to be able to conduct an oral history
interview with him and have him actually explain what all this stuff
is, so that it’ll be available for future researchers.”
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November 20, 2017 - World War II Army veteran Charlie Brown of
Olean, New York displays his captured Hitler Youth battle flag from
his combat experience in Europe as part of the 258th Field Artillery
Battalion with Lt. Col. Peter Mehling, right, and Capt. Steven Kerr,
left, the current battalion commander and operations officer of the
New York Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery
at the New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs, New York. (U.S. Army photo by Col. Richard Goldenberg,
New York National Guard)
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Brown took time to discuss his experiences and share
unique documents, photos and artifacts of his service with
the modern descendants of the battalion, Lt. Col. Peter
Mehling and Capt. Steven Kerr, the commander and operations
officer of the New York Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion,
258th Field Artillery, based in New York City.
“The photographs of the batteries in action are especially
important since so few for this unit exist,” Burns said. “Not only
is this great documentation for the unit, for which we have little
material available for this period, Mr. Brown's clear recollection
and vivid stories provide an additional level of meaning and
significance.”
When the battalion broke out from the Normandy
beachhead in the summer of 1944, Brown kept notes showing how many
miles the battalion advanced each day and the number and type of
artillery rounds fired.“The maps and overlays presented are
priceless,” Mehling said after looking over the battalion’s
movements through Europe. “Those documents convey with complete
detail how the battalion fought from Normandy to Magdeburg. This
data and level of detail simply does not exist for many units.”
The 258th would go on to serve in the Hurtgen Forest and the
Battle of the Bulge before their drive into Germany took the
battalion to the Elbe River.
“That’s one thing about the 258th Field Artillery – we weren’t
backing up for anybody,” Brown joked with the modern day Soldiers.
“We may have gone sideways once or twice, but never backwards.”
What does Brown consider among his most important artifacts? A
simple two-dollar bill.
“I had a two-dollar bill, and every
country I was in, I’d pull it out and write it down,” Brown
explained. “Starting in Scotland, then Wales, then England and on
into France, Belgium, Holland and finally Germany. So this
two-dollar bill has got all sorts of dirt on it from pulling it out
of my pocket everywhere I went,” he said.
“The more things
change, the more they stay the same,” Mehling said. “For my service
in Iraq and my Soldiers, it’s remarkable how the American Soldier is
an American Soldier no matter what country, what decade.”
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November 20, 2017 - World War II Army veteran Charlie Brown of
Olean, New York discusses his experiences in Europe as part of the
258th Field Artillery Battalion with Lt. Col. Peter Mehling, center,
and Capt. Steven Kerr, right, at the New York State Military Museum
in Saratoga Springs, New York. Brown met with the museum director
and the current Soldiers of the 258th Field Artillery to review his
collection of artifacts and information about the battalion's WWII
combat service.(U.S. Army photo by Col. Richard Goldenberg, New York National Guard)
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Brown’s lifetime spent gathering additional information
led to a unique partnership with fellow western New Yorker
Jack Drouin, a retiree and historian who helped Brown
organize and research his unit’s service.
“It has
been haunting him not knowing what might happen to all this
material, to all this information, when he’s gone,” Drouin said. That led Drouin to contact the military
museum and Courtney Burns to schedule an oral history and review of
Brown’s information for future archiving.
Brown’s documents,
overlays and data not only add to the museum collection, but bring
life to the WWII narrative of the 258th Field Artillery and its own
unit history, Mehling said.
“Units build esprit de corps by their understanding of where
their unit has been and the challenges they have overcome,” Mehling
said. “Perhaps most importantly at the individual Soldier level, it
gives them a sense of their place in history. It tells them just how
much what they are doing matters to our country. In passing this on,
Charlie is still serving our country.”
Charlie Brown was born
in August, 1924 in Delavan, New York, near Buffalo. He graduated
from high school on June 26, 1943, and was drafted into service that
summer.
Following basic training at Fort Bragg, North
Carolina where he was taught communications and fire direction
skills, Brown joined the 258th Field Artillery and boarded a
troopship for Europe in January 1944. The battalion arrived in
Normandy on July 1st and 2nd in 1944 and served as part of
Brown's last day of combat was May 4, 1945 in Germany.
“The
names change, the uniform and the equipment changes, but the
Soldiers just stay the same all the time. It’s amazing,” Mehling
said.
By U.S. Army Col. Richard Goldenberg
New York National Guard
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2018
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