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On Invasion Day, who jumps in before Paratroopers: the Pathfinders

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Guest Columnist
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Bob Ford
Guest Columnist

We at the Kansas Press Association honor those brave men and women who served our country with this Veterans Day special story, thank you for your service!
June 6th, 1944, two minutes past midnight, a C-47 carrying 20 men entered enemy air space over France. It’s the beginning of D-Day. These men are part of the 101st Airborne Division but their mission is different from the large attacking force that will follow, they are Pathfinders.
In modern day warfare Pathfinders lead invasions, identifying, securing and marking Landing Zones ( LZ’s) and Drop Zones (DZ’s), for the attacking paratroops. “First used in World War II, the Pathfinders, like many of the invading paratroopers on D-Day, were scattered all over Normandy,” so states Kevin Drewelow, Director of the Combat Air Museum at Forbes Field in Topeka.
Operation Overlord, was the largest amphibious assault in the history of warfare. More than 5,000 allied ships and 13,000 aircraft participated in the historic landing. Full moon, high tide and the deception on where exactly the invasion would take place worked, but there was one variable the allied commanders could not control that caused havoc,…the weather.
Pathfinder’s mission is to set up radio and visual equipment guiding the following paratroopers safely to the ground; it doesn’t always work as planned. Utilizing high frequency radio waves along with red and green holophane lamps, the teams would try to establish a safe and secure LZ. If the area was compromised by the enemy a red light signaled the LZ closed. In the daylight the squad would signal using red and green smoke grenades.
Germans were everywhere in Normandy and the invading troops landed miles off target mostly due to the wind and dense cloud cover. That’s OK according to Lieutenant Dick Winters of Easy Company, “we are paratroopers, we’re supposed to be surrounded.”
Glenn Braddock from Cherryville, Kansas jumped into France early that morning. Of the 150 Pathfinders who went in on June 6, only 58 came out. Braddock survived, his story along with the history of the Pathfinders can be found at the Combat Air Museum.
Operation Overlord was a costly success that saw over 10,000 allied casualties but the troops gained a crucial foothold in Nazi occupied Europe.
The going was tough for the allies fighting off the beach onto hedgerow after hedgerow, months went by with heavy casualties without significant gains. The allies looked for another way to flank the enemy and enter Germany
Operation Market Garden was an airborne invasion plan to drop troops into Holland, designed to end the war by entering Germany from the north. The Pathfinders would be called on again to lead the way.
The Operation was designed to capture a series of bridges, some over the Rhine, then advance a huge force utilizing those bridges into Germany. The strategy was British General Bernard Montgomery, “Monty’s,” brain child to redeem British pride after the Dunkirk debacle.
First to go in was Glenn Babbcock and his Pathfinder team to guide the invading paratroopers. Similar problems that altered D-Day affected Market Garden. Weather, in war it seems it’s always about the weather, when you are planning an invasion with 10’s of thousand men and women, you can’t keep soldiers on stand-by for days waiting for blue skies, if at all possible you gotta GO!
Along with rainy, overcast skies and muddy roads the Nazis had moved a couple Panzer divisions, undiscovered by the allies, into Holland. The most strategic bridge was the Arnhem Bridge over the Rhine, after heavy fighting it was never captured, think, “A Bridge Too Far.” The allies would have to find another way into Germany.
Towards the end of 1944, several allied commanders thought Germany was close to surrendering. The Russians were carving through Poland headed towards Berlin itself while the allies on the western front continued to maneuver eastward.
Hitler however had one last “hail Mary,” assault in him. Maybe the Germans could hold their own on the battlefield one more time,… everyone was tired of fighting. If the Nazi’s could create a stalemate on the front lines, I believe, they wanted to negotiate for peace rather than having to accept a surrender unconditionally.
The Battle of the Bulge would turn out to be America’s costliest battle of the war.
The 101st Airborne was in trouble. Hitler attacked the thin American line through the dense Ardennes forest surprising the allies and ultimately surrounding the “Screaming Eagles,’ in Bastogne Belgium. On December 16, 1944, the Germans threw everything they had left in the West into the attack, think of “Band of Brothers.”
Two Panzer Armies and their 7th Army consisting of 557 tanks and 405,000 men struck. The stunned allies countered with 483 inferior tanks, and 228,000 soldiers who had hoped the war would have been over by Christmas.
As the Germans advanced the American troops held out in Bastogne during horrific weather, making receiving additional units and equipment to the surrounded troops impossible. Time went by as the freezing 101st Airborne held on, without proper winter gear, minimal ammunition and exhausted medicine supplies. As said, it was the highest United States casualty count for a battle of the war, 81,000 brave souls, with losing an additional 800 tanks.The exhausted Germans fared worse, 103,000 soldiers killed, wounded or captured and 550 tanks destroyed.
Two days before Christmas in 1944 the weather cleared, again in came Glenn Baddcock and his fellow Pathfinders to guide a mammoth airdrop. The drop zone had to be precise for our troops and not the enemy, to receive the tons of supplies brought in. Hundreds of C-47 transports in what many called the “Christmas miracle,” battled anti-aircraft fire and what was left of the Luftwaffe to deliver life saving munitions and food. Thanks to the Pathfinders the airlift worked and the rest is history. Germany surrendered a few months later.
Pathfinders are unsung heroes in our military annals, as many front line veterans remain humble concerning their experiences, we honor all those who served, survived and sacrificed through tough times, thank you!
You can find more of Bob’s work on his website, bobfordshistory.com and videos on YouTube, TikTok and Clapper. Bob can be reached at [email protected]

Anonymous donor launches Facebook challenge to support Food Bank of Reno County

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Guest Columnist
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HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A generous anonymous donor has stepped forward with a creative way to help the Food Bank of Reno County reach more people and raise critical funds for its new facility.

Between now and Thanksgiving Day, the donor will contribute $1 for every new Facebook follower — up to $5,000 total — to the Food Bank’s Nourishing Our Future capital campaign.

“This challenge gives everyone with a Facebook account a simple, no-cost way to make a difference,” said Angela Penner, executive director of the Food Bank of Reno County. “Every click of the ‘Follow’ button adds $1 to the campaign and helps us spread the word about the good work happening here.”

Community members can participate by visiting facebook.com/foodbankofrenocounty and tapping “Follow.” Each new follower automatically adds $1 to the campaign fund.

Building a better future for Reno County families

The Nourishing Our Future capital campaign aims to raise $1 million to renovate and equip the Food Bank’s new facility at 921 E. 4th Avenue in Hutchinson. The new space will be three times larger than the current location and will feature:

  1. 300% more cold-storage capacity for fresh and frozen foods
  2. Safer, more efficient volunteer areas
  3. Space for multiple families to shop at once with privacy and dignity

So far, the campaign has raised $525,000 toward its goal. The Facebook challenge will help bring the project closer to completion.

To learn more about the campaign or to make a donation, visit FoodBankofRenoCounty.org/campaign. Donations for daily operations can also be made online or by mailing checks to the Food Bank of Reno County at 700 N. Walnut, Hutchinson, KS 67501.

The Food Bank of Reno County provides nutritious food to more than 15,000 residents each year, supporting 12 local pantries and serving as a cornerstone of community resilience.

Soybean, corn growers urged to scout for disease threats after harvest

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Guest Columnist
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Kansas farmers wrapping up harvest season are being urged to stay alert to crop diseases that could impact next year’s yields, according to Rodrigo Onofre, row crop plant pathologist with K-State Extension.

For soybean producers, the primary concern remains the soybean cyst nematode (SCN) — a microscopic pest responsible for the greatest yield losses in U.S. soybeans.

“The soybean cyst nematode is the number one yield-limiting pathogen of soybeans,” Onofre said. “In Kansas, we’re seeing high levels of SCN, especially in central Kansas.”

The nematode has now been identified in 64 Kansas counties, accounting for more than 85% of the state’s soybean production. Because it often causes no visible symptoms during the growing season, Onofre said it can silently rob producers of 2 to 10 bushels per acre.

“It’s a difficult pathogen to identify in the field,” he said. “Sometimes we don’t even see it during the year, but then the harvested crop is lower than usual.”

Onofre recommends testing fields for SCN soon after harvest when soil conditions are good for sampling. “It’s going to be easier for you to collect those samples and start planning for next year — either for a better variety, a rotation, or even a seed treatment, depending on your levels,” he said.

Samples can be sent to the K-State Plant Diagnostic Lab in Manhattan, or producers can contact their local extension agent for help submitting soil samples.

Corn growers, meanwhile, face increasing challenges from tar spot — a fungal disease that has expanded its reach across Kansas in recent years.

“Tar spot has been in Kansas for three or four seasons now,” Onofre said. “We’ve seen it move toward the western and central parts of the state. That worries me a little bit because those were late-season detections.”

The disease has been especially active in northeast Kansas, but recent reports in Lincoln and Smith counties mark its westward spread. Western Kansas’ reliance on irrigation, coupled with cooler fall temperatures, can create ideal conditions for the disease to thrive.

“Producers should still be scouting for tar spot, but consider adding a corn hybrid that is resistant to tar spot,” Onofre said. “Through resistance alone, we can see yield benefits of up to 10 bushels compared to susceptible hybrids.”

He advised producers to watch for black lesions that resemble insect droppings but don’t rub off the leaf surface. Crop rotation offers limited protection, he added, so hybrid selection remains the best long-term defense. In-season fungicides may also provide benefits.

This fall’s wetter-than-average weather has also increased the risk of corn ear rots, including Diplodia, Gibberella and Aspergillus.

“Moisture is a good thing, but it brings humidity and lower temperatures, which are ideal conditions for moldy ears and potential mycotoxins,” Onofre said.

Diplodia ear rot does not produce mycotoxins, but Gibberella does — posing risks to livestock if infected corn is fed as grain or silage.

For assistance in identifying diseases in corn or soybeans, growers can contact their local extension office or the K-State Plant Diagnostic Lab at 785-532-6176 or [email protected].

PAT MELGARES
K-State Extension news service

Sly harvest trucker

By
Milo Yield
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Thayne Cozart
Milo Yield

This is a true harvest truck driver story from decades ago. A 60-something farmer used his seniority on his farm to claim the job as harvest truck driver, while all the younger members of his harvest crew were assigned the sweaty, itchy, boring jobs.

Now, this farmer, ol’ “Poppa” Topp, liked two thing about harvest truck driving. One, he could have someone in the cab of his truck to keep him company and listen to his constant chatter. And, two, he could drink beer on the job and not have to worry about wrecking the combine. Poppa, apparently, saw no danger or hypocrisy in drinking beer and driving the truck back and forth to the grain elevator. But, remember, this was back in the days of more lenient driving laws.

On the day of this story, Poppa asked a 9-year-old neighbor’s son to ride with him to the elevator. On the way back to the field from dumping the grain at the elevator, Poppa stopped in front of a local bar and grill, handed some money to the kid, and instructed his youthful passenger to “go inside and buy me a six-pack of cold Hamm’s beer.”

The innocent kid went inside, climbed up on a tall bar stool and said to the barkeep, “Gimme a cold six-pack of Hamm’s.”

The barkeep, who didn’t recognize the kid, replied, “Son, you’re way to young for me to sell you beer.”

The kid replied, “Oh, it ain’t for me. It’s for Poppa Topp.”

“Oh, well,” replied the barkeep. That’s different. Sure. Here’s your beer.”

When the kid returned to the truck, he handed the six-pack to Poppa, who quickly took a cold can from the package, snapped it open and took a long, cold satisfying draw.

Then he shoved the rest of the cold-six pack under the truck seat and took out the remnants of a hot six-pack of Hamm’s, smiled at the kid, and said slyly, “We’ll give these cans to the crew when we get back to the field. Keep your mouth shut about the cold ones.”

And, that’s what happened.

***

On occasion, I get to have very interesting conversations with dedicated column readers. The most recent wuz a phone conversation with a 96-year-old reader, ol’ Bitsan Rowells, from close to Greeley, Colorado.

Bitsan liked some of my recent columns about Old Iron and had an old-iron story to share. He said he graduated from high school in 1947 and his first job was working for a farmer near Holly, Colo., who owned land on both sides of the the Kansas/Colorado border.

The story he told wuz that the farmer bought a 15-foot one-way disk, but he didn’t have a big enuf tractor to pull it. However, he did own two John Deere model 30s, one with an electric starter and one with a crank starter.

So, the farmer got creative and engineered himself a more powerful tractor. He took the front tires and axle from the crank tractor and somehow welded the rest of the tractor to the rear of the electric-start tractor. Then he hooked the one-way to the hitch of the rear tractor, put it into a desired gear, and then started the front tractor, and put it into the same gear as the rear tractor.

Then he put Bitsan in the seat of the front tractor and Bitsan started driving. The pulling immediately started the rear tractor and away he went with the dual-tractor rig.

Bitsan told me that the dual-tractors had plenty of power to pull the one-way, but turning them around was problematic. It wuz unwieldy, to say the least. But, Bitsan said he got all the land tilled with the innovative rig.

We ended our conversation with Bitsan telling me that later in his life he began making bits and spur for folks with horses. Then he started collecting bits and spurs and has put together a nice collection. All in all, it wuz a very pleasant conversation.

***

Living in today’s U.S.A. can make a person gnash his/her teeth. Three things that bug me are the government shutdown, the ever-growing intrusion of big government into our personal lives, and disfunction in our educational system.

So, I did what I often do. I wrote three limericks about the situation. Here they are:

***

Our Congress is broken — I stress —

And gotten our country in a mess.

It shut the government down,

And promptly left town,

And left us voters under duress.

***

Our Founders sought limited government.

Personal independence was their intent.

Now our bureaucracy rages,

And has created 175,000 pages,

Of rules and regs, sadly, with our consent.

***

Our education system is quite numbed.

And, to “money’s the answer” succumbed.

Yet, the more money we send,

For our schools to spend.

Declining test scores leave us all bummed.

***

Words of wisdom for the week, after all the recent election results have been tallied, come from former Supreme Court justice, Louis Brandeis. He said: “The most important office, and the one which all of us can and should fill, is that of private citizen.”

Wise words, indeed. Have a wonderful fall week.

 

The Burn Unit

By
Lee Pitts
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lee pitts

I hate to admit this but of the 11 books I’ve written the second best seller was a cookbook… and I CAN’T COOK!

Oh sure, I can push the numbers on a microwave and I know my way around a can opener. I know the recipe for ice cubes and I’m quite good at making them. I can make Campbell’s soup and it only boils over the pan about half the time. There are even some frozen dinners I can make without the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms going off. I burn the salad and can never adjust the toaster right and that’s why we keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. If I try anything any more complicated even the hogs we raised wouldn’t eat it. Having said all that there are people who have eaten my cooking and have gone on to lead normal and mostly healthy lives.

I should know how to cook because my mom was a great cook but I think I inherited my grandma’s cooking gene. She was a very talented singer and musician but she never learned how to cook from her mother because they had a live-in maid who did all the cooking. So Grandma always burned the bacon until it became elemental carbon and that’s why we called her kitchen the “burn unit.” Her biscuits were known far and wide as “sinkers” and she had to get help lifting them out of the oven. The white gravy she made for chicken fried steak tasted like the library paste you tasted in kindergarten. You had two choices of how you wanted your eggs: black or brown. At grandma’s house we prayed AFTER the meal asking God to not let us all die from food poisoning. Her cooking was the reason Grandpa was so thin he had to run through a shower twice to get wet.

As for me, for 33 years now I can hardly eat anything and I eat the exact same thing every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For ten years of my life I lived on cans of Ensure and I think that destroyed all my taste buds and that’s why my cooking always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Now I live mostly on potatoes, noodles and soup so learning how to cook would be a huge waste of time. But there was a time 50 years ago that I wanted to learn how to be a cook because in reading the want-ads I learned that being a cook on a ranch paid more than being a cowboy. But I guarantee if I went out with the chuckwagon as a cookie it would have been known as the upchuck wagon.

Not knowing how to cook became a real problem for me in college when I shared an apartment with three other roommates and each us had to take one week a month cooking supper. After the first meal I prepared one roommate sent his food back, another staggered and collapsed on the couch and yet another spent the night in the bathroom with my Hamburger Helper heaving out both ends. Even the garbage disposal got ulcers. So we all agreed I would trade and do dishes two weeks a month and leave the cooking to the guys who actually knew how to do it.

As a kid I often had to make my own lunch and my favorite recipe was a minute steak covered with Hormel chili beans. And I made a mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich, although my wife says instead of a “PBJ” mine was actually a “PBBJ” sandwich because I made it with peanut butter on one piece of bread, jelly on the other and both sides were slathered with butter. This horrifies my wife who says that using butter on a PBJ is akin to putting ketchup on vanilla ice cream.

I absolutely love brownies but I could never make them because it required cracking open an egg and I HATE EGGS. Actually, my I Hate Chicken Cookbook should have been called The I Hate Eggs Cookbook and just the thought of someone breaking open the yellow yolk of an egg over a perfectly good pancake or mixing it in with delicious hash browns is enough to send me into cardiac arrest or anaphylactic shock.

 

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