World War II Central Illinois Stories

Oral history interview with Ralph Woolard, Part 3

 

Ralph Wagner Woolard, Veteran with the U.S. Army 36th Infantry Division 142d Regiment 3rd Battalion, served from April 1943 to October 5, 1945. He was in an intelligence squad and his highest rank at the end of the war was Staff Sergeant. Ralph Woolard was in combat for the majority of his service in Europe except for recuperation from wounds (twice). He saw action in some of the bitterest battles in Italy, France, Germany and Austria (for example Monte Cassino, Selestat, on the Siegfried Line). His decorations are two Purple Hearts with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star, and the Combat Infantry Badge.