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After Detroit, Michigan, native Harold Layman graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1943, he enrolled in Lawrence Technological University, Highland Park, Michigan. Completing two semesters, his studies were placed on hold when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in February 1944 at age 18.
Assigned to the 95th Infantry Division, Layman underwent basic training at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation in Pennsylvania. Initially receiving training as a combat engineer, Layman was later transferred to the 377th Infantry Regiment as a rifleman.
After mountain training in West Virginia, the division sailed from Boston aboard the West Point arriving at South Hampton, England on August 17, 1944. After three weeks of preparing for movement to the European continent, the 95th Infantry Division landed on Omaha Beach on September 19, 1944 at D + 105.
Moving across France on foot and by World War I vintage French 40 & 8 boxcars (40 soldiers or 8 horses capacity), Layman's regiment arrived at the front lines near the city of Metz in France's northeast amid the rumble and flashes of artillery and sporadic bursts of machinegun fire.
After his division relieved the 5th Infantry Division, the men of the 377th Infantry Regiment were introduced to a regimen of aggressive night patrolling. With each patrol, Layman and his comrades had to painstakingly crawl through enemy minefields, endure enemy mortar and machinegun fire and suffer the inevitable casualties.
A particular patrol etched in Layman's memory occurred after his division assumed the sector previously held by the 90th Infantry Division, which extended from Uckange to Gravelotte in northeastern France.
As a member of a 15-man night combat patrol charged with securing and holding the Fereau Mill, a four-sided stone building, Layman experienced his most intense combat. Feeling its way in the darkness for mines and booby traps, the patrol succeeded in reaching the mill only to be completely cut off as it tenuously held one end of the building while the Germans held the other end.
Throughout the night and into the morning, a fierce exchange of gunfire and hand grenades interspersed with the whispers of friend and foe ensued. During one of the exchanges, Layman's buddies, "Heisty" and Earl, were seriously wounded. A bullet tore through Heisty's jaw leaving him unable to speak and shrapnel ripped into Earl's eyes blinding him. Amazingly, they were able to fumble their way back to friendly lines with Heisty guiding them and Earl giving the password when challenged.
Fortified by the 23rd Psalm, Layman survived numerous close combat engagements without a scratch until November 9, 1944 while participating in his division's attack to take the city of Metz.
Moving along a railroad track paralleling the Moselle River, his unit received a deadly barrage of mortar fire. A round landed in a puddle next to Layman miraculously failing to detonate. Spared for a moment, another mortar round exploded close by tearing a large hole in his buttocks and lacerating his right heel. Bleeding profusely, a sergeant stuck a first aid gauze pack in the hole and a comrade carried him piggyback under enemy fire to an aid station.
From there, Layman was carried by four captured German soldiers on a litter to a jeep that evacuated him to a medical collection point for transport to a military hospital in Paris where he underwent surgery. Following surgery, Layman was evacuated to a hospital in England where he was confined to bed for 39 consecutive days.
Layman returned from the European Theater of Operations on the Queen Mary as a litter patient in the ship's hospital bay. After arriving in the United States, he spent more time recovering from his wounds in hospitals in Chicago and Camp McCoy, Wisconsin.
Discharged in April 1946, he returned to Lawrence Technological University earning a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. After several years with Dow Furnace, Layman had a successful 33-year career with Chrysler Corporation in automotive engineering, body design and production design. Upon his retirement in September 1986, he and his wife Pat moved to Sugarmill Woods where he enjoys golf and traveling the world with his wife.
Layman is a Life Member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH), a charter member of Aaron A. Weaver Chapter 776 MOPH and a member of the 95th Infantry Division Association. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge, Layman, like every infantryman who has experienced close combat on the battlefield, is most proud of the coveted Combat Infantryman Badge.
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