MY
COUSIN, CLARENCE
This is a story I wrote about five years ago (2000) and it
concerns the war experiences of my first cousin Clarence Hulbert who was killed
during World War II in the early days of the invasion of Europe. He was
the only member of our "immediate" family who died as a direct result
of that war. Two other first cousins, Clarence's older brother Ray
Hulbert, and Richard Goethals also served during that war, but as far as I know
neither of them were involved in actual combat.
Clarence was a little older that my brother John and I,
probably about our oldest sisters age. He was born in Idaho and lived most
of his life in the city of Lewiston. The Hulbert family, including cousin
Ray, Clarence, Helen and little Celine, would travel down to visit the family
(Grandma and Grandpa) almost every year, and so since we were the kids next door
to Grandma's house, the Leibert kids would have opportunities to entertain our
relatives from Idaho.
- Peter J. Leibert
CLARENCE HULBERT:
APRIL 9, 1925 – JULY 28, 1944
Clarence's
War
During
World War II, Clarence Bernard Hulbert was drafted into the newly reactivated 83rd
Infantry Division of the US Army and assigned to the 331st Infantry
Battalion. On April 6, 1944, after
extensive training in the state of Indiana, the 83rd Division
traveled to New York harbor and left for England.
During their Atlantic Ocean crossing, their troop transports
were part of a very large convoy – wall to wall ships. In two weeks the division arrived in Liverpool and trains
shuttled the troops to various camps in the vicinity of
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
Less
than two months later, (D-Day plus
ten - June 16, 1944), they departed the Midlands area of England and headed for
the southern ports.
During their
trip over to France, the weather was not very cooperative, so it was almost a
week before the troops climbed down onto the landing barges, and set foot on
Omaha Beach. The 83rd
was there to relieve the 101st Airborne Division in the Carentan
region of the Contentin peninsula (south of the port city of Cherbourg).
During
the dark moonless nights of 26-27 and 27-28 June, the 83rd division
relieved their airborne comrades. The
331st Battalion made their new home in the fields north and west of
the town of Meautis, France. This
is “hedgerow country” and the 101st had found it to be a rough,
hotly contested battle area.
Even
though the men of the 83rd were now “face-to-face” with the
enemy, the dense hedgerow growth of trees and vines formed a solid screen
preventing them from seeing anything. Enemy
troops wouldn’t be seeing the men of the 83rd either, but there was no doubt
that the combatants were there. The
sounds of mortar shells, artillery and machine gun fire were continual
reminders.
On
July 4th, the 83rd launched their first major attack.
It was a battle of hedgerows, 50 feet forward this time, and then 75 feet
forward to the next one. This was
also an area that the enemy knew – and that the new replacements did not.
To make it even more difficult, during the entire month of June 1944,
there had been a continual rainfall and this swamp-type terrain was now all
deep-sludge. Movement at night was
impossible - the cloudy moonless nights made it absolutely black.
There
were no fantastic charges, nor sensational advances, but the 83rd did
move forward, crawling between hedgerow after hedgerow.
In two days, the new troops had moved past St. Quentin and La Maisentrie
that is only about a mile or so from where they had started.
Two more days and the town of Hotot was in their hands.
Two more days after that and the area around Sainteny was taken.
This was slow, costly movement, creeping and crawling – truly - from
hedgerow to hedgerow.
Rain
kept coming down constantly from the clouded skies above, soaking the earth,
filling their fox holes, and drenching the already muddy combatants.
The area around Tribehou was actually always a swampland.
And just think about it - there was no air support for these
“battles”. The rain and clouds
made sure of that. About the 17th
of July, the troops of the 331st Infantry Battalion crossed the Taute
River and for the first time got a foothold on the La Varde Peninsula.
The 83rd had advanced about 4 miles during the two weeks.
On
July 25th, the weather finally broke and on that day the air was full
of all kinds of bombers, fighters and reconnaissance planes.
The 83rd division jumped off again moving south of the Taute
River, and soon forced their way into Le Mesnil Vigot.
The hedgerow terrain was now behind them and they could see thousands of
yards, even for miles. By July 31,
1944, the 83rd Division was fanning out in all directions, out of the
Cotentin Peninsula, into Brittany, into Northern France.
Private
Clarence Bernard Hulbert died July 28th, 1944 as a result of these
battles.
Adapted
from The
Thunderbolt Across Europe; U.S. Army, 83rd Division,
A History of the
83rd Infantry Division, 1942-45; 940.5412
Our
Visit to Normandy
During
the summer of 1986, my wife, Virginia, and I traveled to Europe for the first
time. As part of this trip to traveled to France and visited the cemetery
where Clarence is buried. He was never returned to the United States
because his parents had a very hard time accepting his death. I think we
all did.
But
regardless of the reason, he still buried at Normandy, which is close to where
he was killed.
When
we visited the cemetery in St. Laurent-sur-Mer we were subjected to a wonderful
reception by the cemetery's staff. Here I was, a cousin, and yet they
treated us like a more direct member of the family. They not only provided
us with a lot of information about Clarence, but one of them drove us out to his
grave where they took pictures of the visitation. We choose to take some
time there, just visiting, and then walked back to the entrance. Before we
left the location, they gave us copies of photos related that they taken related
to this visit.
The
cemetery is located on a beautiful site. It is quite near to Omaha Beach
where so many of our American soldiers died. The grounds are well groomed,
and in a well tended location.
As
part of this visit to the cemetery, we also spent a lot of time visited the
beaches surrounding Normandy. It certainly is a recommended place to visit
as far as I am concern.
Clarence
Bernard Hulbert
Buried
in the
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial
Plot
F, Row 12, Grave 39
The World War II Normandy American Cemetery
and Memorial is situated on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English
Channel in Colleville-sur Mer, France. It is just east of St. Laurent-sur-Mer
and north west of Bayeux about one hundred and seventy miles west of Paris. The
cemetery may be reached from Paris by automobile via Highway A-13 to Caen, then
Highway N-13 through Bayeux to Formigny, then following D-517 to St. Laurent-sur-Mer
and D-514 to Colleville-sur-Mer.
A large stone directional sign designates
the cemetery entrance. There is regular rail service between Paris (Gare
St. Lazare) and Bayeux, where taxicabs and tour bus service are available.
Travel by rail takes three hours. Hotels are available in Bayeux and
Port-en-Bessin. The cemetery is located on the site of the temporary American
St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944, the
first American cemetery on European soil in World War II.
The cemetery is at the north end of its one
half mile access road and covers one
hundred and seventy two acres. It contains the graves of 9,386 American
military Dead, most of whom gave their lives during the landings and ensuing
operations of World War II.
On the walls of the semicircular
garden on the east side of the memorial are inscribed the names of 1,557
American Missing who gave their lives in the service of their country, but whose
remains were not located or identified. The memorial consists of a
semicircular colonnade with a loggia at each end containing maps and narratives
of the military operations.
At the center is a bronze
statue titled, "Spirit of American Youth." An orientation table
overlooks the beach and depicts the landings at Normandy. Facing west at
the memorial, one sees in the foreground the reflecting pool, the mall with
burial areas to either side and the circular chapel beyond. Behind the
chapel are statues representing the United States and France.
The cemetery is open
daily to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm except December 25 and January 1.
It is open on host country holidays.
When the cemetery is open to the public, a staff member is on duty in the
Visitors’ Building to answer questions and escort relatives to grave and
memorial sites.
