Alexandria's Veterans #6
A LEGACY OF SERVICE
Harry Hannahs lived on Granville Street's newest addition at 169 Granville Street. Harry was a blue-collar kind-of-guy born in 1894. Harry signed his draft card for World War I and dutifully stood up when called to service. Now as Private Hannahs, Harry served in the 158th Depot Brigade at the newly built Camp Sherman in Chillicothe. His unit's job was to receive and outfit soldiers headed for the fighting in France. When he returned home, Harry took a job in a new industry that was blossoming in Alexandria. The 1920 Federal Census lists Harry as a "Gas Weller." Harry also married Bernice Moore.
Harry and Bernice had two children. The first was a son named Robert. Then along came a girl they named JoAnn. Alexandria was in the inter-war years. The 'War to End All Wars' was safely in the past. The town was still rural in character... the automobile had taken over. Horse and steam power were giving way to the age of gasoline. Roads were deplorable, but the State of Ohio was making progress in creating State Routes which would include updates to Main Street as drivers demanded smooth, passable roadways on which to drive. Alexandria still relied mainly on local business. Robert graduated Alexandria High School in May 1941, to an uncertain future. Of note is one of his classmates, Robert Fisher who went to the US Army Air Force and served as a radio operator on a P-61 night fighter.
War was on the horizon. Adolf Hitler had invaded and plundered his European neighbors. Mussolini’s army was marauding through Africa while on the other side of the globe, Hirohito's Japanese forces were busy victimizing the Chinese. Meanwhile, our President, Franklin Roosevelt, was all but waiting for an invitation to declare war and acted as the central supplier of the Allied war machine. Somehow, Robert gained some experience assembling aircraft, so his service record states. While I have nothing to back up the next statement, I'm guessing that Robert got a job at the Curtiss-Wright plant the south side of the current John Glenn International/Port Columbus runway. There were a few people in town that did, Mrs. Johnson comes to mind. At the time, Curtiss was heavily involved with the development and production of aircraft to build up the war effort. Robert also enrolled with the Draft Board.
What does this have to do with me? Well, even though I did not come along until a decade-and-a-half later, there is a personal connection of sorts.
I arrived in Frankfort with my family on a frosty morning in November 1986. I was stationed at Alzey Communications Station, located on a high hill near Orbis that offered a commanding view towards the Rhein (Rhine) River valley and a perfect place for a ground-mobile radar. If you did not look too close at the tag on our uniforms - it clearly stated in blue capital letters "U.S. AIR FORCE" - we looked like the Army... we were the 'Ground-Pounders' of the Air Force. My quarters were well within walking distance of Frau Liesl Pfaller, the Gasthaus zum Kaisertisch, and our meager link to American culture, the video rental store. Every time we had guests from America, we took them to the Kaisertische. They had a deep-fried half-chicken that was a meal in itself. Try it!
In the closing months of World War II, when Patton was preparing to cross the Rhein, Patton's troops commandeered Frau Pfaller's house to use as his headquarters. I walked where Patton walked, sat where Patton sat, and saw what Patton saw. I talked in depth with Frau Pfaller about Patton; she personally met him. I've visited where Patton crossed the Rhein and even spent a week training at Infantrie Schule Zwei at Hammelburg where Patton's son was held as a Prisoner of War. I lived in what may be termed 'Patton-land.' The same can be said for Robert Hannahs.
You might have heard otherwise, but Patton was a beloved by his troops. Patton insisted that his soldiers received a clean, dry pair of socks every night. For the soldiers, this was a heavenly luxury; for Patton, this meant fewer soldiers with trench foot, fewer soldiers at sick call.
General Eisenhower's orders to Patton were simple. While Eisenhower led the preparations for D-Day, the invasion of Nazi held France, Patton would set up a ghost army in northern England as a subterfuge to the real invasion. Then, once the beachhead at Normandy had been gained on June 6, 1944, Eisenhower would form the central push against the Nazis. Patton moved his headquarters to Normandy a month later and assembled his Army. Patton's operations began on August 1, 1944, as he swung to the southeast, mopped up any remaining Nazi resistance in Eisenhower's rear, then to pivot east and protect Eisenhower's southern flank. The 26th Infantry Division would join the fight in early September having completed training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Patton's Third Army crossed the Moselle River beginning September 8, 1944, and immediately ran into intense combat. During that Fall, the Medal of Honor was awarded to several who fell in battle. It was during this period of intense fighting that Robert Hannahs gave his life at Albastroff, France. Robert's buddy, Ralph Koontz of Maryland, was at his side. Next, Patton's Third Army would swing north to ease the Battle of the Bulge before turning east again. Patton would arrive in Marnheim at Frau Pfaller's house the following March.
Harry, Bernice, and daughter JoAnn held a Memorial Service for Robert on December 24, 1944, at the Methodist Church. It was also Harry and Bernice's 25th Wedding Anniversary. W. Evin Huffman, Superintendent of Alexandria's Schools made the main remarks. Meanwhile, Robert had been buried in Limey, France. A couple of years later, Robert's body would be removed from Limey and brought home to Maple Grove Cemetery in the Village.
Despite the enormous toll the Village and Township paid during the American Civil War, Private First-Class Robert E. Hannahs, Company G, 104th Infantry, 26 Infantry Division "The Yankee Division," of the Third U.S. Army was our only casualty in two World Wars. Rest easy, brother.
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