A Nebraska 2nd I.D. Veteran

Here is an article from the Omaha World Herald's Monday, April 13th edition. It is a biography from their ongoing "Greatest Generation" series which tells the stories of different World War II participants from around the Midlands. This one caught my eye right away when I read of Mr. Johnson's service in the 2nd Division. Here is the article...

L.L. (Swede) Johnson
Age: 84
Town: Bloomfield, Neb.
Service: U.S. Army
In the war: He was drafted into the Army shortly after graduating from high school and was sworn in at Fort Crook, the predecessor of Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue. He was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and then Camp Walters in Texas, where he spent 16 weeks training. After a few more stops, he left New York City on the Queen Mary, heading for Scotland. He later arrived at South Hampton, England. He was assigned as a replacement to the Second Infantry Division, First Army. He was sent by landing craft to Omaha Beach. During the drive through France, he was injured by an artillery shell, which caused the loss of his right leg above the knee. For his combat wounds he received a Purple Heart; he earned many other medals during his time in France. Sixty years later, he received a letter from the French government thanking him for defending that country.

In his words: Before we left South Hampton, the Germans sent buzz bombers to this harbor and destroyed many buildings. This was very scary, but it did not hit where we were. At about the middle of the English Channel, we were then loaded on landing craft and were taken to Normandy, Omaha Beach. By the time we got there, which was several days, our troops were a few miles inland. It was tough going as they could not get through the hedgerows until such time someone put knives on the front of the big Sherman tanks. They then could bust through those hedgerows of trees, rock and dirt. I believe all units moved much faster then until they got to Saint Lo, France. The Air Force was called in to bomb Saint Lo on July 26, 1944. They almost leveled Saint Lo. The Second Division was on one flank there. From this point I remember that we moved into Vire, France. This was a small manufacturing town, and the Germans wanted to keep it as they pushed our forces out of it two or three times. Outside of Vire we were pushing forward when an artillery shell burst above me, striking my right leg, which in time caused the loss of the right leg above the knee. This happened in the forenoon and medics did not get to me until 11 p.m. We were in the hills and vehicles could not get to us. Other fellows were wounded, too, so they carried us out to Jeeps. We stopped at Company Aid and from there to Battalion Aid. From there to the shores of France, to U.S. 28th Evacuation Hospital (a big tent with many wounded soldiers). The time spent at these places is unknown by me because I had lots of pain pills. I was put on an airplane as well as other wounded soldiers and was flown to 101st General Hospital in England. I had several operations in this hospital. The doctors there tried to save as much of my leg as they could, but it did not work. In November 1944, I and many of the wounded soldiers were put on the Queen Elizabeth ship and taken back to the USA. We landed on Staten Island, N.Y. When we arrived, the Red Cross came on the ship with ice cream and milk, which was a real treat. I am proud to have served my country of USA, and if I had to I would do it again.

This article is by DeDra Robb