• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sandhenge Publications

Jim Potter, Author

  • About the Author
  • Author Blog
    • Sign Up for Jim’s Posts
  • Podcast
  • Book Reviews
  • Contact the Author
  • Check Book Reviews
  • Sign Up to Receive Blog Posts
  • All Books
  • Listen to the Audio Blog

Medical Support of the Fifth Division in World War II – Part 1

April 29, 2022 by Jim Potter 8 Comments

Share this blog post

Email
Share
Tweet

(To  listen to the audio of this blog post, use the purple play button.)

 

Medical Support of the Fifth Division in World War II (Part 1)

By Harold L. Potter (1998); Presented to the Sojourners group, near Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Edited and audio recording by Jim Potter

Lt. Harold L. Potter

Harold L. Potter, 1st Lt., Fifth Inf. Div., Third army, medical department supervisor of evacuation of combat casualties in the European theater. Overseas March 1944, serving in Normandy, northern France, Ardennes, and Rhineland campaigns, battle of Metz, Third army’s crossing of Rhine, the battles of Bulge and Ruhr pocket, and action in Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. Formerly with 35th Div. Was Pvt., in medical detachment, 130th F. A. when it mobilized in Hutchinson, Dec. 1940. With 35th Division at Camp Robinson, AR, and in CA. To Europe from Camp Grant, IL, with hospital train, serving as a combat medic in ETO in five campaigns. In service five years, Dec. 23, 1940 to Dec. 8, 1945.
Army Medical Service Corps officer insignia lapel pin

Army Medical Service Corps officer insignia lapel pin

My military experience started on August 25, 1938, when I joined the Medical Detachment of the 130th Field Artillery Regiment of the 35th Division of the Kansas National Guard. In those days, we normally had one weekender per month in the sand hills north of Hutchinson, plus our usual weekly Monday night at the armory in Hutchinson. Our Division entered federal service on December 23, 1940, and went to Camp Robinson, Arkansas, for our one year’s training.

Many of you will remember the hit song, “Goodbye Dear, I’ll be Back in a Year.” In my case, that became five years before I was released to the Reserves where I was fairly active until I was retired in 1964 with 25 years of service.

In 1942, the organization of the infantry divisions was changed from “square” divisions to “triangular” divisions. At the end of that year, I was recommended for Officer Candidate School (OCS). At the time, I was young and full of “piss and vinegar,” as they used to say, and had experience as a Drill Instructor (DI). After graduation, I found myself a Second “Looey” and assigned to “Tent City” in Camp Grant near Rockford, Illinois, in April of 1943.

Camp Grant, Illinois, July 1943. L-R: Lt. Rocky Ostrander & Lt. Hal Potter

It was called Tent City because several training battalions were formed every spring in the Medical Replacement Training Center. It was torn down in the fall because the winters were too cold for tent living and the training of “rooks.”

We managed to get in two 13-week training sessions that summer. For the first session, our training battalion was a trainload of fresh new rookies from the hills of North Carolina, then for the second session we had a similar sized group of brash rookies from Brooklyn by way of Camp Upton on Long Island. Another lieutenant and I had gone to Long Island and brought them back to Camp Grant by train. When our company officers divided up the subjects and prepared the training schedules, I was fortunate in receiving most of the tactical subjects which I particularly enjoyed. That would include field subjects, map reading, etc.

Our training was quite intense. We had what we called the “gestapo” officers from the 37th Battalion Headquarters popping in on us unannounced, but after training periods we were ready for combat and getting anxious to get overseas.

The Fifth Army (Red Diamond) Division shoulder patch
Lt. Potter’s Combat Medic Badge and campaign ribbons

The training schedule was prepared each week. If a class was set up for one hour, we had to be sure that the class lasted exactly 50 minutes, then took a 10-minute break, remembering that the gestapo was checking on us. But this concentrated training paid off because we turned out some good soldiers. They weren’t quite as anxious to get into combat as we were, but they were ready.

The Fifth (Red Diamond) Division had a very distinguished combat record during World War I. The Red Diamond Division of WWI was remembered by many civilians of Luxembourg. General Pershing once said that the crossing of the Meuse River in France by the Fifth Division in WWI was one of the most brilliant military feats in the history of the American army.

– TO BE CONTINUED –

Harold L. Potter was born near Rolla, Kansas, in 1920, the son of Clarence and Cleo Crandall Potter. He lived in the center of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s and moved to Hutchinson with his family in 1934. Potter graduated from Hutchinson Junior College prior to his military service, and earned a BSBA degree from Washington University, St. Louis, in 1947. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. He entered active duty as a private in December 1940 and transferred to the reserves after the end of World War II. He was discharged as a major in 1964.
While stationed in Illinois at Mayo General Hospital in 1943, “Hal” met Nell Armstrong of Galesburg. She was a civilian employee in medical supply. Hal and Nell married in July 1945 after Victory in Europe (VE Day), prior to Lt. Potter being trained for the Pacific theater, including the invasion of Japan.

Happy writing and reading,

 

 

Share this blog post

Email
Share
Tweet

Related

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. j alex potter says

    This will be interesting to hear about your dad. I don’t remember him really talking about his experiences overseas.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      I should have been a better listener.

      Reply
  2. Karen Y. says

    You’ve whetted our appetites again, Jim!

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      Thanks, Karen. At least, to my knowledge, dad never had to eat sawdust (like Mo).

      Reply
  3. Charlotte Crawford says

    Those of us who had parents who served in WWII wish we had asked more questions. Your interviews with your father are a treasure.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      Thanks, Charlotte. Tell me about your parents and military service.

      Reply
  4. Shelley Stephens says

    Jim, This blog about your dad is so interesting. Glad you have this information about him and his service. Your blog helps keep the history of WW2 alive and not forgotten. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      Thanks, Shelley!

      Reply

Comment Form: Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Jim Potter, Author

author

New Blog Post

  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Author Talk
    March 16, 2023
    I started with a question. “When you were a child, were you ever asked," ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’” […]

Recent Posts

  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Author Talk
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Reevaluating Schedule
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Avoidance
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Be Prepared
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Being in the Moment

If you prefer to listen . . .

If you prefer to listen to my blog posts, you can do so here. … List of podcasts about Podcast Episodes Bad

Recent Posts

  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Author Talk
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Reevaluating Schedule
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Avoidance
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Be Prepared
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Being in the Moment

Footer

Follow Jim on Facebook

Follow Jim on Facebook

Interviews with Jim Potter

Video interview with James Lowe outside Bookends Bookstore July 21, 2022

Print interview with author Bill Bush September 1, 2022

Print interview with author Cheryl Unruh February 28, 2019

Hutchinson Magazine Article

Copyright © 2023 Sandhenge Publications · Website by Rosemary Miller