Born: 1922
Reason for entering military service:
Barron volunteered to complete required military service. He left
Valley Junction to join the Iowa National Guard but his entry was
delayed until February of 1941.
Assigned: Company C, 168th Infantry Regiment, 34th Division, also known as the "Red Bull Division"
Rank: Sergeant
"...and to this day I say it was Rommel because of the vehicles that they were in and the trademark with the cap and goggles."
Background:
During the battle for Faid (fa-YEED) Pass, Sergeant Barron's mortar squad was nearby, perched on a hill, waiting to protect the retreating Allied troops. Barron began to survey the road below his position with binoculars. Unknown to Barron, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, supreme commander of all German troops in Africa, was closer than he thought.
Transcript
During the battle for Faid (fa-YEED) Pass, Sergeant Barron's mortar squad was nearby, perched on a hill, waiting to protect the retreating Allied troops. Barron began to survey the road below his position with binoculars. Unknown to Barron, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, supreme commander of all German troops in Africa, was closer than he thought.
(Aurelio Barron)
There was vehicles, small convoy, comin' up
the road and turn right in front of our, where we could see. Like I
said, it was about 400 yards maybe away from us and to this day I say
it was Rommel because of the vehicles that they were in and the
trademark with the cap and goggles. Next thing we hear artillery coming
in, fortunately they were shooting and hitting over behind us, they was
throwing it at us. And then you hear a clinkety-clink. There were tanks
and armored vehicles, the armored infantry. The company commander says
everybody for himself, everybody get out of here.
Links
Iowa's WWII Stories: Home Front Interviews
www.iptv.org/video/browse.cfm/tag/home%20front
Iowans who were at home had major roles to play in winning the war. Their sacrifice helped determine what kind of conditions, both political and social, would exist once the war was over.
Iowa's WWII Stories: Battlefront Interviews
www.iptv.org/video/browse.cfm/tag/battlefront
More than 276,000 Iowans went into military service during World War II. 8,398 never returned. Iowa Public Television brings you the stories of a few Iowans that did return from the battlefront.
