The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.     Site Home     WW2 Home     Add Stories     WW2 Search     Library     Help & FAQs  WW2 Features     Airfields     Allied Army     Allied Air Forces     Allied Navy     Axis Forces     Home Front     Battles     Prisoners of War     Allied Ships     Women at War     Those Who Served     Day-by-Day     Library     The Great War  Submissions     Add Stories     Time Capsule     TWMP on Facebook     Childrens Bookshop  FAQ's     Help & FAQs     Glossary     Volunteering     Contact us     News     Bookshop     About Advertisements World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

239923 S/Sgt. Melvin Howard "Dutch" Lachelt Bronze Star United States Army 3rd Btn., G Coy. 320th Infantry Regiment from:Glenwood, MN My dad, Melvin Lachelt, entered the Army, but would have rather joined the Marines. He would laugh and say he never was in the Army, because he was at the rear of a large group of men being inducted, he did not raise his right arm when the induction ceremony was held. He did his basic training at Camp Wolters, TX. He was deployed to San Luis Obispo and then redeployed to the east coast for training in preparation for moving oversees. He also trained in England near Exeter, and moved with the 35th Infantry Division, 320th Infantry Regiment to Normandy about 3rd of July 1944. He marched to St. Lo and took part in the battle to liberate St. Lo. He became part of Patton's 3rd Army and started the sweep around Paris. They passed through Pithiviers and Chateaudun. He witnessed female collaborators having their heads shaved in Chateaudun. They moved to the Moselle river region, between Nancy and Metz. My dad fought and was wounded on 31st October 1944 in the battle near Foret de Gremecey. He remembers the awful tree bursts of artillery that showered wood splinters down on soldiers. He ended the war near Le Havre recuperating from wounds. When he left the line there were only four men left from the original group that landed in Normandy. Ron Lachelt Add to this record.  Related Content: 320nd Infantry Regiment US Army D Day and the Battle of Normandy Battle of St Lo Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area? If so please let us know. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.

The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items. The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.