I am a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, and after retirement I settled in Habersham County, Georgia. For some years I wrote articles for two local newspapers, one in Habersham and the other in Rabun County, which was my place of birth. WW II veterans largely came home and took up civilian life without sharing their war experiences. After they began to age many did decide to share their stories, often urged by their children who were growing up.
Thus, I was blessed with writing stories concerning 20 or so veterans from each county. In addition to writing their experiences in war a brief summary of their return to civilian life was included. As an example, I think of Jack Tatum, a chaplain, who with the 29th Division, sailed on Sept. 27, 1942 from New York and endured a bad storm, losing a man overboard. At Nova Scotia, where the ship was repaired, Jack saw the ship on which President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill were then meeting.
On June. 6, 1944, Jack landed with the 29th Division on Omaha Beach and attacked the dug in Germans of the 352nd Inf. Division. His division lost 1,154 men killed, 2,834 wounded and 565 missing. Men were drowned, blown to bits or struck by bullets, and others shell-shocked. Jack reported, “The troops landed amid exploding shells, mortars and mines, and in the face of point-blank machinegun fire pouring down from the bluffs.” The 29th Division then went on to cross the Roer River on Feb. 23, 1945. After the cease fire, the division was on occupation duty at Bremen, Germany.
Jack served 45 years as an Army Chaplain, first in WW II, and in the Reserves in the North Georgia area. His wife was Martha Edna Tomlinson, who died in 2007. He also served in churches as a pastor or interim pastor. On May 22, 2009, Jack Tatum died in his residence at Magnolia Hills Assisted Living in Demorest. While Jack carried a Bible instead of a gun, he was a true patriot and committed his body to survive or die with the troops on Omaha Beach.
