Leon Hirsch

Leon “Leo” Hirsch was born in Brooklyn, New York in October 1918. Growing up in the city during the Depression, he did not have a good chance of securing higher education or employment after high school graduation. Luckily, through a mutual connection, however, Hirsch landed a job at American Commercial Steel, where he made $15 a week, with pay increases as time went on, facilitating the purchase of his first car.

As a young man in New York City, Hirsch was aware of trouble brewing across Europe with the rise of Communism and Fascism. During his interview, he humorously remarked that his father, who was a World War I veteran, would “deck” any Communist he encountered back in those days. Hirsch was raised in a Jewish family, and was proud of his religion and culture, as well as extremely patriotic and proud of his American nationality. As news of the atrocities of Hitler and the Nazis became known, Hirsch’s family grew to hate them. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, inspired him to enlist in the US military, but another reason was to fight the Nazis and what they stood for, especially for someone who was Jewish.

When the war began, Hirsch left his job. Along with a friend, he investigated the branches of military service, including the Navy and Marine Corps, to decide on which one to join. Hirsch decided to join the Army Air Corps (later renamed the Army Air Forces) after his friend was unfortunately rejected by all the branches. Hirsch enlisted at a recruiting office on Whitehall Street in New York City; he received a letter instructing him to report for duty on January 2, 1942.

Hirsch underwent extensive training, beginning at Miller Field, Staten Island, New York, for a month, during which time he married his girlfriend Abby, and then at Fort Dix, New Jersey, for another month. He was sent to Tampa, Florida, where he and other soldiers were tasked with building Drew Army Airfield. Hirsch remarked on how the jungle ecosystem, humid climate and abundance of rattlesnakes, water moccasins and mosquitoes in Florida was a new experience for a youth from New York City. The airfield the army created would later become Tampa International Airport.

Hirsch was sent to the Fort Myers, Florida, gunnery school where he discovered that the noise of machine guns was affecting his hearing. After gunnery school, he was sent to Camp Charles Wood, a subdivision of Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, where he was assigned to the 3104th Signal Service Battalion, a unit organized at the Camp. The 3104th left for Europe from Hoboken, New Jersey, in a large convoy of 400 ships. Hirsh was transported on a Norwegian ship called the Rangitata, where he was assigned to man anti-aircraft guns in case of an attack.

Hirsch and the 3104th landed in Liverpool, England with his convoy. They were stationed in a town called Teddington, a suburb of London. During his time in Florida, he had worked in offices, gaining considerable knowledge and administrative skills. The skills would come in handy in England, where Hirsch was promoted to staff sergeant and placed in charge of an administration section.

On the night of June 5, 1944, Hirsch and his men were playing cards, when they suddenly heard what they thought were enemy fighter planes roaring above. He was subsequently told that it was part of General Eisenhower’s “invasion dry run” to distract the Germans. The invasion of France came on the next day, June 6, forever since referred to as “D-Day.” Hirsch landed on Omaha Beach on June 8, where he saw harsh scenes of dead bodies and unearthed land mines.

Once the Germans were pushed out of Normandy, American and Allied forces began their long combat march across Europe. Hirsch and his unit initially reached Valognes, a French town in Normandy, where they camped next to an apple orchard. He noted that it rained for forty-five days straight, and the grounds were extremely muddy.

While in Valognes, Hirsch left on a night patrol in a jeep and almost ran into American tanks and vehicles on a nearby road. He quickly drove away as they were “in a shooting mood” and would have shot at him, since they could not tell who he was. His quick exit resulted in a jeep accident and a knee injury that impacted him for the rest of his life.

American forces entered Paris in August 1944, and the 3104th followed them to the French capital. While in Paris, Hirsch had the opportunity to sleep in a real bed in the Hotel Diana. Unfortunately, the former German occupants left lice behind when they withdrew. In Paris, as an administrative noncommissioned officer, Hirsch helped set up a signal center, and he supervised pay to troops. He also secretly got his clothes cleaned by a French nun. His commanding officer caught wind of this and asked how his clothes were getting so clean; and, so the secret was out, and all the other men started going to the nun to get their clothes cleaned!

As the Allies continued their inexorable drive towards Germany, the 3104th moved into Luxembourg to set up another signal center. Large battles, including the Battle of the Bulge, were constant. As spring dawned, the German army collapsed and surrendered on May 8, 1945. After the surrender, the 3104th left Luxembourg and returned to Paris.

After their arrival in Paris, the men of the 3104th prepared to leave France for home via airplane. Each man was restricted to forty pounds of luggage before boarding, so Hirsch had to leave behind items including his cherished war trophy German Luger pistols.

The following day, the 3104th received new orders to deploy to the Pacific Ocean to prepare to invade Japan. Before leaving France, the unit was treated to a Bob Hope USO show. On August 5, 1945, the 3104th boarded the Henry Gibbins to cross the Atlantic, go through the Panama Canal to Hawaii, and from Hawaii on to the Philippines.

On August 6, the transport commander announced on the ship that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima. Several days later, there was another announcement that a second bomb had been dropped on Nagasaki. A final message advised the soldiers on board about docking in Massachusetts now, since the Japanese had surrendered. After landing in the United States, Hirsch and his comrades went home on leave. He was officially discharged from the army on October 24, 1945.

As his oral history interview ended, Hirsch spoke about how he learned that his first cousin, one of the first men who landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, was killed in action. His brother Teddy served in the army as well during World War II and came back alive.

Hirsch returned to his wife Abby and baby daughter, Barbara. He had to restart his relationship with his wife, and help raise his daughter, which he described as the greatest thing in his life. Hirsch would later have two sons. He closed with advice for future generations, emphasizing the importance of the United States as a haven of hope, justice, and opportunity that must be preserved so others can enjoy it.

The interview ended with Hirsch showing old military photos of himself, his brother, his cousin, and many of the men who served with him during the war. He returned to France for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. While there, Hirsch received a medal for his service by the French government. In closing remarks, he stated that he was grateful to God for being given the opportunity to visit France again, and a special thanks to the men who fought in WWII and all who are currently serving.

This interview concluded with a bonus forty-minute slide show that includes photos of Hirsch’s service in World War II, as well as his footage from the D-Day 50th anniversary when he returned to France in 1994.

Leon Hirsch died on October 25, 2007 at the age of 89.