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Private Garnie L. Grizzle

  • Unit: 2nd Infantry Division, 23rd Infantry Regiment
  • Service Number: 34826350
  • Date of Birth: November 30, 1923
  • Entered the Military: November 30, 1941
  • Date of Death: June 13, 1944
  • Hometown: Coopers Creek, Georgia
  • Place of Death: Hill 192, outside of Saint-Lô, France
  • Award(s): Purple Heart
  • Cemetery: Plot J, Row 25, Grave 14. Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France
Contributed by Evelyn Johnson
Mentored by Mr. Clinton DeMooney
Troup High School
2017-2018

Early Life

Coopers Creek was a very small, isolated farming community in the mountains. They did not receive electricity until the 1950s, and many of the roads remained unpaved throughout the war. The Great Depression hit the area especially hard because of the drought that had already decimated crops. They were cut off from the rest of the country and continued to struggle to make a living throughout the war.  

The Grizzle family in Union County, Georgia, 1930. National Archives and Records Administration.

Homefront

Coopers Creek was a very small, isolated farming community in the mountains. They did not receive electricity until the 1950s, and many of the roads remained unpaved throughout the war. The Great Depression hit the area especially hard because of the drought that had already decimated crops. They were cut off from the rest of the country and continued to struggle to make a living throughout the war.  

Military Experience

In early 1942, Private Grizzle was drafted and assigned to the 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division. His division, nicknamed the “Indian Heads,”  first moved to Northern Ireland in late 1943 and then to England in April 1944, where they trained and drilled. The infantrymen of the 23rd Infantry Regiment were all rookies, however the officers were veterans of World War I.

Private Grizzle’s division landed on Omaha Beach on June 7, 1944 with the objective of capturing Hill 192, a German stronghold. The rookie regiment was the point of the spear. They marched inland 20 miles south and four miles east of the war-torn town of Saint-Lô. The Hill that loomed ominously before them was guarded by a 16,000-man German Parachute Division. It was one of the most heavily guarded areas in the American portion of the front. The company saw small battles along the way, but it was clear this would be a whole new form of combat. It was in the second wave of the attack that Private Grizzle fell. 

Eulogy

Private Garnie Grizzle was killed in the German counterattack in Normandy on June 13, 1944. It was in this battle that the American infantryman retreated and where Private Grizzle fell. He was shot through the head and killed instantly while defending his company on Hill 192. By July, the 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division would succeed in taking the Hill, establishing a much-needed hole in the German lines that Operation Cobra could utilize, making Private Grizzle’s sacrifice valuable and awarding him the Purple Heart.

Through the Grave Registration Services and War Department Private Grizzle’s father was notified. Lewis Grizzle decided to leave Private Grizzle’s body overseas to lie in the Normandy cemetery. It was Private Grizzle’s sister, Lizzie, who requested information on Private Grizzle’s whereabouts and the details of the death, burial, and care of the cemetery. Lizzie was told of the victory that led to the liberation of Hill 192 and most importantly of her brother’s contribution to that vital victory.

Garnie Grizzle’s grave at Normandy American Cemetery, June 26, 2018. Courtesy of Evelyn Johnson.

Reflection

Each of us has been touched with a knowledge more personal than any learned from a textbook. We have stepped into a life and we have stepped out breathing hard, with pounding hearts and shimmering eyes. Wisdom is a powerful thing. Our wisdom is a new definition of sacrifice. A new definition of what it meant for these soldiers, for Private Grizzle, to stand up for the United States against death itself. That wisdom is now ours, to be carried and more importantly shared because we hold in our hearts, our hands, and our minds, a powerful message of a lifetime, a sacrifice, and a victory.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Garnie L. Grizzle, Individual Deceased Personnel File, Department of the Army.

Garnie L. Grizzle, Official Military Personnel File, Department of the Army, RG 319, National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Georgia. Union County. 1930 U.S. Federal Census. Digital Images. ancestry.com.

Georgia. Union County. 1940 U.S. Federal Census. Digital Images. ancestry.com.

Secondary Sources

“Baseball’s Connection to World War I and World II Helps Frame Our History.” American Battle Monuments Commission. Accessed May 27, 2018. www.abmc.gov/news-events/news/baseball%E2%80%99s-connection-world-war-i-and-world-ii-helps-frame-our-history#.XBleWlxKjIU.

Lefebvre, Laurent. “Omaha Beach – 2nd Infantry Division.” American D-Day. Accessed May 24, 2018. www.americandday.org/D-Day/2nd_Infantry_Division-Order_of_battle.html.

Thompson, Peggy. “World War II Honor Roll of Union County, Georgia.” Genealogy Trails History Group. Accessed February 25, 2018. genealogytrails.com/geo/union/honor-roll.html.

Torp, K. “Union County, Georgia History.” Genealogy Trails History Group. Accessed April 14, 2018. genealogytrails.com/geo/union/history.html.

“The Twenty Third United States Infantry, 1812-1945.” Lone Sentry. Accessed May 24, 2018. www.lonesentry.com/unithistory/23rd-infantry/index.html.

“Union County Historical Society, Union County, Georgia.” Union County Historical Society. Accessed February 12, 2018. www.aboutnorthgeorgia.com/uchs.html.