(5/29) As every year goes by, America loses more and more members of the greatest generation. This is the generation of Americans that answered the call to join the military to fight against fascism in Europe and imperial expansion in the Pacific during the Second World War. As of 2021, per research done by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs, there are only about 240,000 vets still alive from World War Two. It is so important that we remember these people, so that their stories are not lost, and the people and events of the war are remembered. One local story, in Woodsboro, that of Jim Derry, who is 102, still remembers his service during the war.
On a May afternoon over the phone, Jim Derry, along with his son, Denny, recounted his service time, from Basic training all the way up the end of the war. Born in Buckeystown, just outside of Frederick, Derry moved to Woodsboro when he was 21 years old and was drafted into the Army a year later. Jim Derry stated, "I was 22 when I went into the army, I was in the 42nd Infantry Division, the 242nd Infantry Regiment, Anti-Tank Company." The 42nd, better known as the Rainbow Division, was a U.S. Army infantry division that fought in the Alsace-Ardennes during the winter of 1944 to 1945, repelling German attacks into France during the Battle of the Bulge and fought deep into Central Europe to the Rhineland. The division was made up of national guard unites from many different east coast states, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland.
Upon his draft into the Army, Derry was sent to basic training in Oklahoma after he was drafted into the Army in August of 1943. A little more then a year later, Derry and the rest of his regiment were sent to Europe, landing in the southern French port town of Marseille. His regiment was soon sent to the eastern part of France to counter a German offensive known as "Operation Northwind", and it was during this counter offensive when Jim Derry won his Bronze Star.
Derry recalled, "I was in a building, we were getting our lunch from the lunch truck, and [the Germans] dropped a bomb right behind it…it dropped the whole building right down on us. I had a sandwich and a cup of coffee, and when I reached for the handle of the door it blew in on my face." This happened to Derry’s unit in the town of Rittershoffen, a town located in eastern France today in the region of Alsace. This region has been fought over for centuries by both the French and the Germans and has changed hands between the two nations.
Derry also described a very dangerous duty he was given during the battle by his commanders: "The captain sent me after land mines, I had to pick them up and bring them to where the tanks headed." Derry described putting the mines at the entrance of the town that they were defending in the anticipation of a German attack on the town. For his actions during Operation Northwind and the Battle of the Bulge, Derry received a Bronze Star Medal from the Army, which is awarded to soldiers who performed meritorious or heroic achievement while serving in combat. Derry added that he was also the driver of the captain of the company, Vincent Carragola of Altoona, Pennsylvania. Derry also talked about a photo album he had, put together by the Signal Corps divisional photographers of the 42nd Infantry Division that chronicled their unit, from landing in France to all the way till the end of the war in Germany.
"When the war [in Europe] was over in 1945," Derry explained, "I had enough points to come home, and I came home…we were training for the landing in Japan, but then when they [the Empire of Japan] gave up, they went on into Korea." The "points" that Derry referred to was the system in which soldiers were sent back home to the states from either Europe or the Pacific. They garnered points through injuries sustained during the war, service time and/or medals won in combat.
As every Memorial Day comes and goes, it is important to learn from the stories of veterans. When asked of what younger generations can learn from veterans, Derry said, "that is a hard question to answer because it depends on the person themselves of what they want to do with their life. Go to school and get all the education you can get, because the more education you have, the better you are going to be off. That’s the best thing I can tell anybody."
Jim Derry lived in Woodsboro along with his wife, Cleo, for 62 years, after he retired, they moved to Florida. But Derry was back in Woodsboro on May 28 where he served as the parade marshal for the Woodsboro American Legion’s Memorial Day parade.
