Markman spent war years diffusing bombs
Hardy man fought his way through Normandy on D-DayBy SANDY MICKELSON, Messenger staff writer
By SANDY MICKELSON, Messenger staff writer
HARDY - His hands tremble oh, so slightly when he pages through a book called ''The 90th: Battle Route of the 90th Infantry Division in the European Theater of Operation.''
A sticky note tucked inside the pages marks a photo of him at work as a soldier in World War II. He found and defused land mines and explosives.
George Frederick Markman, of Hardy, fought his way through Normandy on D-Day, through northern France and through the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium and Luxembourg. Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge are considered two of the bloodiest battles fought by American soldiers in the war, but it was in northern France he was injured. For that, he earned the Purple Heart.
Markman's wife, Vivian, laughs when she says if her husband misbehaves, she'll just shove him up against the refrigerator. There's shrapnel in his backside that could be magnetic.
She also kids him about the good conduct medal he earned, wondering aloud about his conduct during the war, but grinning as his faced flushed slightly.
Now 88, Markman grew up in the Lu Verne area and attended Vernon Consolidated School in the country six miles northwest of Renwick. The school is gone now, but the gymnasium remains, he said, ''so the pigeons have a good home.''
He was farming in March of 1942 when he was drafted.
''I was glad I wasn't married,'' he said. ''I didn't have to worry about Vivian.''
In fact, they weren't even dating when he went to war.
''I was a technician fourth grade,'' he said. ''I didn't want to be a line sergeant to give orders.''
Attached to the 90th Division 315 Combat Engineers, his main job was demolition - booby traps and mines. He had to defuse them, he said, adding, ''I was sort of on my own. I did a lot of mine sweeping with a pattern.''
His wife listens to the stories, but can't stop herself from jumping in.
''And when he came home,'' she said, ''he'd go out and blow up rocks.''
After basic training at Camp Barkley, Texas, he went to Louisiana for swamp training and to California for desert training. He shipped out on a Swedish passenger ship and for the 21 days crossing the Atlantic, was fed hard-boiled eggs and green olives twice a day.
Still, he said, ''we didn't have too many dull moments. I had a lot of friends, but you meet a lot of crapheels, too.''
After landing at Glasgow, Scotland, the soldiers moved to Liverpool, then spent three days in the English Channel before landing at Normandy.
''The commander said we'd land on Utah Beach at midnight,'' Markman said. ''He said go to the beach, go to your right and capture the bridge. That first week so many of them got killed. They were clever, the Germans. They strafed us with our own planes. It took three days to take the bridge. It was a dangerous circus.''
Markman said he was in the first squad picking up mines. The second squad ran into trouble when a mine detonated in the trailer and seven of the soldiers were killed.
He was in a northern France minefield when he was injured.
''I thought I ducked in plenty of time,'' he said. ''It detonated and hit me before I even fell to the ground. They sent my Purple Heart home to my mother.''
He said he spent a week in the hospital, ''then I told my lieutenant I didn't want to leave my friends. You can get attached to those people. I did light work for a few days, a month or so, but I went back.''
While Markman defused land mines and bombs, his brother Leonard spent 28 months in the German Stalag 2B prison camp after being marched with other prisoners through Italy to Germany.
In northern France, the 90th Division uncovered a salt mine that was full of gold and paintings by the masters, Markman said. ''They put a guard on that right away.''
One day while sweeping mines along a mountain road, ''the lieutenant, a 90-day wonder, said we'd go as far as we could. Right away, I pulled back and then the Germans started shooting with machine guns. I lost my helmet, but I still had my gun. The guy I was with got it through the legs, so I drug him about 100 feet. He had a little bit of road rash.''
He said he met that man at a reunion years later and didn't like him any better than the day he dragged him to safety.
In his three major battles, Markman earned the Purple Heart, three bronze battle stars, the Bronze Star medal and Oak Leaf Cluster. ''I never asked for that stuff, but they gave it to me,'' he said.
Even facing the horrors of war, Markman said ''we had fun, too. I tell you, you'd go nuts if you didn't have fun. We ran out of gas once, in Rhines, France. I tell you, that's where the good champagne comes from.''
On the other side, he slept in a chicken coop one night and got lice.
''When we'd liberate the towns, they were so happy, they couldn't do enough for you,'' he said. ''We'd go about 100 miles a day. They'd bring out the best wine, but we had to be careful we weren't too stewed up because you never knew when you were going to meet the Germans.''
Once discharged and back home, the Markmans met, but dated three years before marrying on Feb. 14, 1948. They have three children.
Through the war and to this day, Markman recites to himself the Bible verse that he says kept him going. It was Psalms 118:1 - ''Give thanks unto the Lord for he is good because his mercy endureth forever.'' His pocket Bible was a gift from the Red Cross before he shipped overseas, and today it's in a case with his medals and papers.
Markman is a behind-the-scenes member of the committee that planned the Renwick Hardy Vernon Veterans Monument and he has served the Humboldt County Veterans Affairs since he got out of the service 63 years ago.
''I'm going to quit one of these years,'' he said. ''My mom always used to say, 'Life is what you make it.' Life is a trip, isn't it?''
Contact Sandy Mickelson at (515) 573-2141 or smickelson@messengernews.net
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CommonSense
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06-30-08 2:50 PM
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Great story!!! Let's see more like it. Thank you!
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