Ancestor: Conrad Dean Maney
Descendent: Lynn M.
I interviewed my father, Conrad Maney, about his service during WWII. The following is an excerpt from the interview. My Dad died August 3, 2017.
It is 1944, and Conrad Maney is 18 years old. It is about three months past the date he graduated from high school and has been drafted into the Navy. Wanting to follow his three older brothers, he asks to serve in the Army, and his request is granted. Feeling excited about getting to see parts of the world he has only read about, he boards a ship, sails to Europe, and arrives in Liverpool, England to begin his service for his country.
He was transferred to France where he joined the 70th artillery division, part of the 9th army. Conrad’s division left soon after his arrival for Belgium to join in the Battle of the Bulge. The 9th division was located to the north of Bastogne, just above the town of Aachen. Their assignment was to protect the 82nd division surrounded by the German army. The commander of the 70th field artillery told them that “we will not retreat; we will fight to the end.” Conrad could still remember the freezing cold and snow (the temperature during January of 1945 was the coldest on record). A vivid memory was of the frozen bodies of both the German and Allied soldiers scattered on the fields. The arrival of General Patton’s tank division saved the 82nd.
My father was immensely proud to serve his country during World War II. As we were growing up, he told us stories of his experiences in the war, which made me and my two sisters very proud of him, and inspired in us a pride for our country.