Wednesday, June 12, 2019

D-Day and Algoma Seamen Gerhart, Lessmiller & Nessinger

USS Nevada at Normandy


June 6 was the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Under General Dwight D. Eisenhower, over 160,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, to gain the European foothold in Europe that led to the defeat of Germany a year later. History tells that more than 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the invasion. Of the landed troops, more than 9,000 were killed or wounded. Cousin Cal was there and said some drowned jumping from the Higgins boats into the rough surf as the heavy packs pulled men under. Whether it helped if one could swim, Cal didn't think so. Men died in the water and as soon as they hit the beach. That was from fire. The dying continued.

D-Day – or any other war or invasion – just didn’t happen “over there.” Kewaunee County has been touched by all the wars. Even the War of 1812. Then British sloops Felicity and Archangel were patrolling Lake Michigan to keep an eye on the French and alliances they might be forming with the Indians. Joseph McCormick who first visited the area in 1834 came out of that war with the rank of Major. He is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery. Civil War veterans were buried in Ahnapee/Algoma before McCormick, but his service was the earliest. Algoma men were among the Kewaunee County men who served, and Algoma men were at Normandy too.

During late summer 1944, Algoma Record Herald carried a reprint from Canton Repository. The article looked back at D-Day saying that America was not then fighting with money and material, but with thousands of lives. The Repository said that until war struck home, it was estimated, but not understood. It was happening daily with telegrams from the Secretary of War saying he “regrets to announce…..” or “he died heroically.” The article went on to say that survivors paid in sorrow for the sacrifice of the dead and only survivors were qualified to speak of the war.

This 75th anniversary marks the last time World War ll veterans will be in attendance. For the next big anniversary event, the 100th anniversary, there won't be any veterans left and few who lived through World War ll will be alive by then. Who will begin to understand the sacrifices made at Normandy and all over the world? 

Algoma men wee among the over 156,000 U.S. men who stormed Normandy beaches where more than 4,000 lost their lives. Thousands more were wounded or were missing. 

U.S Navy Seaman Melvin F. Lessmiller was one who took part in the invasion of Iwo Jima and in the invasion of the Philippine Islands. He also took part in D-Day aboard the Texas. Another was Pharmacist’s Mate 3c Melvin Nessinger who was aboard the battleship Nevada, the Texas’ sister ship. Gunner’s Mate Ray Gerhart was another Algoma man on the Nevada that day. When Pfc. Thomas Kaye returned to Algoma, the Record Herald noted his certificate from his commanding general, Maj. Gen. Charles H. Gerhardt, who recognized the unusual fighting toughness of his 29th Infantry Division at Normandy. All participants of Normandy were entitled to one star on their theater ribbons.

When Melvin Nessinger wrote from the Nevada to his parents, he told them D-Day was something Hollywood could never reproduce. He said several hours before H-hour, the sky was lit with dropping shells, but the men didn’t know whose shells they were. He said their minds were torn by what they’d find, and the mines that lined roads. Nessinger told how the ship vibrated in the drone of over 800 bombers and shells hitting an 8-mile stretch of beach, while contrasting the tracers’ beautiful patterns across the sky.

Shore batteries were firing on the invasion fleet when just after dawn Messerschmitts came out of a cloud bank to meet tracer fire. For Nessinger, hours melted into days and nights, and during the days, one could see Allied transports from horizon to horizon as bombers and fighters worked to find enemy positions. Melvin thanked folks for their letters and the prayers which he said were being heard. Melvin was proud to be serving on the ship and glad his parents had heard how well the men on the Nevada accounted for themselves. The Nevada set new records for accuracy that day.

Lessmiller was both at Iwo Jima and Normandy and told his parents that the Marines have “what it takes, and they take what they land on, no matter what.” Nessinger and Gerhart went on to remind Algoma residents to keep buying war bonds because on D-Day alone the Nevada presented “the Germans with a gift of a million and a half dollars in ammunition alone.”

The Nevada was the only ship present at both Pearl Harbor and Normandy, and Gerhart was aboard. Being launched in 1914 and serving in World War l, the old battleship was the flagship at the Utah Beach landing. Hit by 7 bombs and 2 torpedoes at Pearl Harbor, the ship lost 120 men.

Judge Donald Gleason spoke at Algoma’s commencement, offering graduates advice and encouragement. He referenced the war and D-Day saying the graduates would never forget their “graduation and D-Day – the day of the European invasion.” It is doubtful that any ever did.

A week of two later, the Record Herald editorialized about the thousands and thousands of “American boys” were giving their lives to “erase Nazi tyranny from the face of this globe.” The paper pointed out that such tragedy stirred others and how a steady flow of war materials was necessary. The paper went on to say that maybe production wasn’t as dramatic as men struggling against machine guns but production was imperative. It opined that one day Algoma residents might learn that Algoma-made airplane and glider parts played a role in the invasion of Europe. Residents did indeed learn the role of Algoma Plywood made pieces.

And the U.S.S. Nevada? Wikipedia tells us that Nessinger and Gerhart served aboard the 2nd U.S. Navy ship to be named for the 36th state. Launched in 1914, it was the lead ship of two Nevada-class battleships and the first of the “standard-type” battleships. Trapped at Pearl Harbor during the attack on December 7, it was the only battleship to get underway during the attack. The damaged ship was salvaged and modernized to serve in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. When the war was over, the old battleship was used for atomic bomb practice. It was decommissioned in August 1946 and later sunk for naval gunfire practice.

Nessinger, Gerhart and Lessmiller told some of their D-Day stories. Stangelville’s James Steinberger never did. He was one of the thousands killed at D-Day. The Record Herald said that “up and down the quiet streets of this country and along rural highways, the homes of America were paying the price for D-Day.” Casualty lists were beginning to catch up.





Raymond Julius Gerhart was born in Algoma on September 4, 1921 and died on October 15, 1979 in San Diego, California. He is buried in El Camino Memorial Park. 



Melvin Nessinger's stone in Pioneer Cemetery, Shortsville, New York









Sources: Algoma Record Herald; Carlton Repository online article; Find a Grave; Wikipedia.
Photos: Naval vessels online; Find a Grave.

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