Harry D. Shetterly Technician 5th Grade Medical Detachment, 112th Infantry Regiment

As compiled and understood by his son, David R. Shetterly (May 2021)

As the years march on I have become more interested in the World War II experience of family members.  A couple of years ago I focused on my Uncle Howard (my Dad’s younger brother) and his World War II service in North Africa and Sicily.  Writing the tribute to my uncle was very rewarding as it helped me better understand him and also bring his story to life.  Now my focus turns to my father’s service.

By way of background my dad was born November 24, 1915 in Peru, Iowa the second child of Daniel R. and Bessie Shetterly.  In the early 1920’s the family moved to northwestern Minnesota and in 1924 his father bought a farm north of Oklee.  That is where Harry grew up and worked.  The 1940 federal census shows him living on the farm with his parents and brother Howard, his younger sister Wilma, and two younger brothers Bob and Ben.  His older sister Milly had married and was living in Oklee with her husband Orlo Melby.  In 1946 he married a young woman from the south of Oklee, my mother Lorraine Parsley.   One of Harry’s best friends, my uncle Walter Hoaas, also lived north of Oklee and eventually married my mother’s younger sister Lois Parsley.  Dad eventually bought the family farm from his father.  Harry farmed the land until he relocated the family to Lakeland Florida in 1957.  He lived at a small home in north Lakeland with his wife Lorraine where they raised three children; David, Daniel, and Connie.  He died in 1994.

As the case with my uncle Howard I have very little information about Harry’s service.  I know that he served as a medic in Germany.  He would sometimes talk about a soldier that he called “Ole Pete” that I took to be an experienced combat veteran that helped him survive his years in Germany.  He also had a habit of sitting in the dark as he would wait at our kitchen table in Lakeland, Florida for me to return home after a night out with friends.  He smoked at that time and he would remind me that it was always smart to keep your cigarette away from the window so your presence wouldn’t be noticed.  It was probably a good strategy for any soldier in a combat zone.  He also mentioned a couple of locations in Germany that seemed important to him.  One is called Sarrlouis and the other Buss.  Both are in the Saarland area of Germany near the border with France.  Buss is the smaller with the two being separated by about four miles.  There is also a photo of Harry standing with another soldier in front of a streetcar.  The writing on the back says “This is a beatup streetcar in Buss”.  It is the only photo I have of Dad during his years in the military.  I really can’t recall any moment where he sat me down and talked about his service.  When he died in 1994 all of his thoughts and knowledge about what he did in World War II went to the grave with him.  His experience was more extensive than I envisioned and of course there is at least one unanswered question.  So here is the World War II experience of Harry D. Shetterly.

There is a minimal paper trail to work with for background information.  I made a request for Harry’s service records but the result was disappointing.  His records were part of a group of military service records that were destroyed by a fire in 1973 at their storage location in St. Louis, Missouri.  A major breakthrough came in 2018 when my brother Dan and his wife Joyce were able to locate Dad’s honorable discharge papers.  That opened the door for much of what follows.

His discharge papers show him entering service on November 19, 1942 and leaving service on November 20, 1945.    Available records do not show where he attended basic training.  What is known is that his military occupational specialty was Medical Technician 409.  His record shows that he attended the Medical Technician Course at Fitzsimons General Hospital in Denver, Colorado and completed the training on November 8, 1943.  To add context the Army Medical Department describes the duties of a medical technician 409 in the following way:

“Medical Technician; performs various medical duties to assist Medical Officers in care and treatment of sick, injured, or wounded. Gives emergency medical treatment to casualties and prepares them for evacuation. Cleans and bandages injuries and wounds, applies arm and leg splints, administers hypodermic injections, and sterilizes instruments and equipment. Assists Medical Officers by performing such duties as: keeping records of patients; administering medicines; taking temperature, pulse, respiratory rate; taking physical measurements; operation of electrocardiograph; treating minor injuries; and making blood counts and determining blood types. Completion of Medical Technician’s course at Army School or equivalent experience required.”

Harry’s first year of his service then was involved with training stateside.  During the period from December 1943 to March 1944 it is likely that he was assigned to Camp Livingston, Louisiana since it served as an infantry replacement training center and the division he was ultimately assigned to was stationed there.  His discharge papers show that on March 28, 1944 he departed the U.S. for the European Theater of Operations and arrived at that destination on April 8, 1944.  He went on to serve 1 year, 4 months, and 5 days overseas in Germany and England before returning to the states on August 8, 1945.  He was discharged from military service on November 19, 1945 at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.

A key piece of information from his discharge papers shows his organizational assignment as Medical Detachment, 112th Infantry.  Knowing his organizational assignment provided a means to track Harry’s general movement during his overseas period.  Using public information and internet resources I found that the 112th Infantry was one of three infantry regiments of the 28th Infantry Division.  The other two assigned regiments are the 109th Infantry and the 110th Infantry.   The 112th Infantry had 3 battalions with a total manpower of approximately 3,000 members.  The 28th Infantry Division has a combat history going back to the Spanish American War.  The shoulder patch used by the division is solid red in the shape of a keystone.  The story goes that German forces nicknamed the division “the bloody bucket” due to the color of the patch and the loose resemblance to a bucket along with the large number of causalities incurred by the division.   

The 28th Infantry Division departed the U.S. for England on October 8, 1943.  Since Harry did not deploy overseas until April 1944 I assume he would have caught up with his unit in England where they were engaged in field exercises and individual training in preparation for the Normandy invasion.  In mid July the division located to Southampton for movement to France.  The division arrived in Normandy on July 22, 1944 about 7 weeks after the D-Day invasion.  The 28th saw action in Normandy, northern France and participated in the liberation of Paris as well as other campaigns.  Men of the division marched down the Champs-Elysées on 29 August 1944 in recognition of the liberation of Paris.  

Towards the fall and winter of 1944 the combat action for the 28th Infantry Division intensified.  The division was a major participant in the battle of the Hürtgen Forest; a heavily wooded area on the German/Belgian border.  The battle lasted from September 19 to December 16, 1944 and is recognized as the longest continuous battle of World War II.  The 28th was also a participant in the Battle of the Bulge which lasted from December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945.  All in all the 28th Infantry Division was on the front line for 196 days of combat and participated in five campaigns; Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe.

This tracks at a macro level the movement of the 28th Infantry Division of which the 112th Infantry was an assigned unit.  On a more specific level in a book by Charles Whiting titled “Battle of the Hürtgen Forest”” there is substantial discussion of the involvement of the 28th Infantry Division and specifically the 112th Infantry.  The author writes about the role of the 112th around the towns of Schmidt and Kommerscheidt.  The author states that “In one regiment alone, the 112th Infantry, there had been 232 men captured, 431 missing, 719 wounded, 167 killed, and 544 nonbattle casualties, making a total of 2,093 out of the original 3,000 men that had gone into action two weeks before”.  

This had to have been a trying time for members of the medical detachment.  As a member of a medical detachment Harry would have been assigned to support one of the three battalions.  According to the Army Medical Department the mission of a medical detachment is 

“Detachments were responsible for first echelon medical service in combat situations, including emergency medical treatment in the field, removal of battle casualties, and establishment of Aid Stations for the reception, triage, temporary care, and treatment of casualties.” 

For further context The Office of the Surgeon of the 28th Infantry Division in his annual report dated February 16, 1945 provides further information on the conditions encountered in the Hürtgen Forest.

On October 25 the Division was relieved by the 4th Division and we moved north to the Hurtgen Forest area relieving the 9th Division. November 2, a coordinated attack by the air force with our Division was made with the town of Schmidt as the objective. Due to the lack of roads, “snow buggies” were used for evacuation of aid stations. One was attached to each infantry battalion aid station, and they were, of great value to us. Even so, it was necessary to have long litter hauls to battalion aid stations.

Because of the density of the forest, along the entire front and the concentration of enemy Artillery and Mortar fire, a great many “tree bursts” occurred causing an unusual large number of shell fragment wounds. The total casualty rate was very high. During the period, a four to six inch snow fall occurred and our Division admitted to the Clearing Station 625 cases of Trench Foot. This was due to the lack of Arctics in proper sizes, and to the lack of a sufficient number of arctics. Dry socks were made available at aid stations to all troops and instructions for the prevention of Trench Foot were continued. In some instances personnel used with good results, without shoe, the smaller Arctic, three pairs of socks and a card board insole.

Although Dad did not carry a weapon I am certain that he witnessed the horror of warfare at close range as he provided medical support to soldiers of the 112th Infantry.  For his service he was awarded three battle stars for the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge), Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns.  He was also awarded the following medals: American Theater Service Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.  

I think my father’s reticence to discuss his war experience is similar to many others of his generation.  As fate would have it I also served as a soldier in what was then West Germany from 1970 to 1972.  The little communities of Saarlouis and Buss were within about a two hour drive from my assignment location.  My mother and father visited me in 1973 for my wedding to my wife Margit who continues to be at my side.  We picked them up at the airport in Luxembourg and at that point were very close to Saarlouis and Buss and yet he never asked to visit or even mention a word about his war experience.  I suppose soldiers of his era were happy to be home alive and just wanted to get back to the life they once knew.  About 8 months into Harry’s service his brother Howard was shot down and killed over Sicily and that surely hung over him during his time in Germany.  Dad went on to live a very quiet but simple and productive life.  He had tremendous insight into human character and behavior. He also was quite well read in literature, philosophy, and the politics of the day.  Although his formal education only went to the 8th grade he knew a lot about life and how to lead it smartly.

I will end with some personal notes.  Dad told me about a soldier named Eddie SIovik.  He was the only soldier in World War II to be court martialed and executed for desertion.  As it turns out Eddie Slovik was a member of the 109th Infantry of the 28th Infantry Division.  The division commander recommended execution by firing squad.  The sentence was approved by General Eisenhower and Eddie Slovik was executed in January 1945.  It all makes more sense now as I realize they were member of the same infantry division.  It also illustrates the difficulty faced by leaders in maintaining good order and discipline within the ranks in the face of withering combat activity.  It had to have been a horrific time for all.

I also recall an incident from my childhood in central Florida involving a pepper tree that makes more sense now.  Me and another guy were picking the peppers from the tree and engaging in an activity where we would squeeze the pepper and spray the liquid in the other’s face.  Well I got the worst of it and was howling with pain and fear as I rubbed my eyes and the liquid around my face to the point that I couldn’t see.  Dad finds me and leads me back to the house.  He tells be to lie on the bed.  He disappeared for a moment and came back with cotton balls filled with milk which he used to dab my eyes.  Lo and behold it worked and my sight slowly returned and the pain was quickly gone.  I always wondered how he knew to do that.  Now I know!  It was his experience and training.  Thank you Dad for that field intervention and for all you did to support others during World War II.

There is one unanswered question though and it relates to that picture of Harry standing on a beat up street car in Buss.    When I was investigating the situation I couldn’t locate a city called Buss.  I then realized that the modern name for Buss is now spelled as Bous; the first being a German version and the latter a French version.  But it cast some doubt in my mind as to the exact location of where the photo was taken.  Did Dad misspell the name of the town or was the photo taken elsewhere?  I wasn’t sure.  The uncertainty was compounded when by tracking the movement of the 3rd Battalion of the 112th Infantry I couldn’t find any indication that the unit was ever in Saarlouis or Buss.  I made a trip to Germany in 2019 and visited the little town of Bous.  I made my way to the city hall and with the help of friends found a young woman that was kind enough to listen to my story.  She looked around a bit and came up with a book with pictures of Bous in earlier times.  As I leafed through the book two pictures grabbed my attention.  One was a pre war picture of a street car with characteristics similar to the one Dad was standing on in the photo.  The line served locations between Saarlouis and Bous.  The second was a photograph of two American soldiers standing next to a street sign at the entry to the town.  In bold letters it read Buss.  So Dad was right.  He did spell it correctly and he had been there.  The mystery is - what was he doing there!  To find out may be my next mission as I feel with a little work the answer is out there somewhere.

By David Shetterly