Mark I. Jurras, Jr.
SGT Tech III
776thth AAA Auto WPNS BN
Europe ’42-‘45
SGT Tech III
776thth AAA Auto WPNS BN
Europe ’42-‘45
Mark Jurras was born on May 4th, 1924 in Montpelier, VT. just in time for the Great Depression. Mark was very matter of fact about those times when we spoke. His dad was the foreman at a large granite memorial manufacturing plant and was able to remain employed throughout the Depression. “There wasn’t much money. I remember dad bought a bunch of canned goods that he found that had been in a flood and had no labels.” They were always wondering what was going to come out of the can. Mark had a brother Max who was 11 years older and he found work in the granite business also. Max bought him a bicycle and a sled. “If he hadn’t bought those for me, I would never have got them.” Max was in the Vermont National Guard and he served 5 years in New Guinea. “He never talked about it.”
The war started as Mark graduated from high school in 1942 and he entered the Army in March 1943. He headed for FT. Devens and was assigned to 776Th AAA AW Battalion that included eight 40mm canons and 8 quad 50mm machine guns: an anti-aircraft battery. Next his unit was sent to FT. Davis in North Carolina for specific training in protecting airfields and strategic objectives against attacks by German planes. Mark was immediately assigned to Battalion Headquarters because of the 850 men he was the only one who could type.
When the time came to ship out to Europe, 850 men and 1,000 nurses boarded the Borniquen and headed to Scotland in a convoy of 100 ships. The North Atlantic was unforgiving, and the seas rolled and rolled. To make things worse, the Borniquen had a rounded hull that made the rocking more pronounced. Everyone aboard was getting sick and Mark decided to take his belongings topside and sleep on deck to avoid the smell. Eating was a problem. Mark searched through his C- rations and traded his cigarettes for tootsie rolls. He ate Tootsie Rolls for eight days and hasn’t eaten one since. Spending so much time on deck Mark was able to see some of the war closeup. At night the sky would light up red from time to time as German U Boats picked off ships in the convoy.
His unit made its way from Scotland to Wales and ultimately to Falmouth Harbour in southwestern England. In Falmouth his unit occupied a large English estate. The family lived in one end of the house and the US troops occupied the other. Mark and seven other GIs slept in the horse barn. During the day Mark did typing and prepared reports inside the HQ. Frequently the Colonel would want to play Cribbage and Mark quickly learned the game. At night there was a group that liked to play poker. However, their lack of card playing prowess was taken advantage of by the Medical Detachment. After complaining to the Colonel about constantly losing, he taught them the proper techniques and strategies of poker. After that their fortunes changed at the expense of the Medical Detachment.
After the D-Day invasion Mark’s unit headed to Omaha Beach in July 1944. They were anchored for several days off the beach waiting for their orders. “Every night was like the 4th of July. German aircraft would fly over, and nearby Navy ships would fire at them.” They eventually landed and headed for an orchard in the village of Catz. Mark had two memorable experiences in Catz. One night he and a Major were on duty in the underground command center. Eventually the generators powering the radios and lights ran out of fuel and being out ranked, Mark’s job was to refill the generators. Mark went outside and got the generators going again. On his way back to the command center he noticed a big white sheet hanging in the orchard that wasn’t there when he started refilling the generators. Upon a closer look it was a German parachute. Fortunately, the German paratrooper had bigger fish to fry than killing Mark. The German slipped by the sentries and was never found.
On another occasion, Mark was looking to take a much-needed bath. He filled his helmet with water and slipped behind a hedgerow in a nearby pasture behind a French home about 100 yards away. Mark stripped off his clothes and began bathing. As he was drying off, he suddenly sensed that he was being watched. From behind one of the cows peered the eyes of a small French girl. Embarrassed, Mark quickly dressed and headed back to HQ.
Shortly thereafter Paris was retaken from the Germans and Marks unit was sent to Paris. One of Marks most vivid memories of the war was what he saw while sitting in the back of a truck heading toward Paris. On his left there were burning German tanks, dead horses and scattered military equipment. On his right were hundreds of French civilians of all ages carrying bags of personal belongings, pushing baby carriages, pushing carts and carrying babies as they tried to escape the fighting.
After spending some time in a Parisian hospital having an impacted wisdom tooth extracted, his unit was dispatched to Senon, a small farming community not far from the Belgian boarder. This was around the time of the Battle of the Bulge. Mark and 4 other GIs lived above the blacksmith’s shop. The GIs became friendly with the Duvoye family and when Thanksgiving came Mrs Duvoy, who was a fabulous cook, made them a Thanksgiving dinner with rabbit. One day Mrs. Duvoy’s old Singer sewing machine, that was just like his mother’s, did not work and Mark was able to get it operating with a little gun oil. Mark kept in touch with the family after the war.
While in Senon, Mark observed the “Red Ball Highway”. The Allies had constructed an underwater pipeline from England to the European coastline to transport gasoline to keep the Allied equipment moving. In the evenings he started to notice very large balls of red flames on the skyline. He discovered that hundreds of trucks were transporting gasoline to the front. This was a long trip and during the winter the drivers needed a rest stop. When they stopped, they would light a 5-gallon container of gas on fire for warmth. Hence, the “Red Ball Highway”.
The 776th moved into Germany as the Allies pushed the Germans toward surrender. Another vivid memory was leaving the mess hall at the HQ in Germany. The GIs would walk outside and empty their plates into the garbage. Next to the garbage were German women and children reaching under the fence to try and get some food.
His unit moved down to Munich as the war was drawing to a close. In Munich, Eisenhower issued orders for all troops within a reasonable range to head to the Dachau Concentration Camp. Here another vivid image of the war was etched in his memory. “I remember the thing that struck me most were the piles of shoes in one of the rooms…bodies piled up like cord wood… It’s hard to imagine the horror of it.”. Eisenhower wanted as many American GIs as possible to see for themselves what atrocities had been committed because, “It won’t be many years before the people will deny that it ever happened.” Mark left Dachau and headed back to France on the same rail cars that brought in the Jews.
VE Day came and Mark was scheduled to come home after 33 months away from home. He left France on a US Naval shipped and disembarked when the ship docked in NY Harbor. As the ship sailed into the harbor Mark saw the Statute of Liberty. He now knew what his father saw in 1912 as his ship arrived from Brac, Yugoslavia. Mark was discharged on December 8th and headed back to Vermont. By the second week of December Mark was attending the University of Vermont pursuing a business degree.
Mark graduated and started a job with Connecticut General selling insurance. Although he hated it, he met a pretty actuarial trainee named Elizabeth. It was love at first sight and he and Betty were married on October 8, 1955. They were married for 52 years before she passed away. They had three children and 5 grandchildren. Mark used his Army Reserve network to land a job with The Royal Typewriter Company and the manufacturing world which he loved. While he was working there, he went on to get his MBA and have a successful business career in Employee Relations, which would be now called Human Resources. Mark Retired in 1991.
Mark is a true American Patriot who answered the call of his country and made the sacrifices involved in going to war. Like so many others like him we say, Mark, thanks for saving the world.
The war started as Mark graduated from high school in 1942 and he entered the Army in March 1943. He headed for FT. Devens and was assigned to 776Th AAA AW Battalion that included eight 40mm canons and 8 quad 50mm machine guns: an anti-aircraft battery. Next his unit was sent to FT. Davis in North Carolina for specific training in protecting airfields and strategic objectives against attacks by German planes. Mark was immediately assigned to Battalion Headquarters because of the 850 men he was the only one who could type.
When the time came to ship out to Europe, 850 men and 1,000 nurses boarded the Borniquen and headed to Scotland in a convoy of 100 ships. The North Atlantic was unforgiving, and the seas rolled and rolled. To make things worse, the Borniquen had a rounded hull that made the rocking more pronounced. Everyone aboard was getting sick and Mark decided to take his belongings topside and sleep on deck to avoid the smell. Eating was a problem. Mark searched through his C- rations and traded his cigarettes for tootsie rolls. He ate Tootsie Rolls for eight days and hasn’t eaten one since. Spending so much time on deck Mark was able to see some of the war closeup. At night the sky would light up red from time to time as German U Boats picked off ships in the convoy.
His unit made its way from Scotland to Wales and ultimately to Falmouth Harbour in southwestern England. In Falmouth his unit occupied a large English estate. The family lived in one end of the house and the US troops occupied the other. Mark and seven other GIs slept in the horse barn. During the day Mark did typing and prepared reports inside the HQ. Frequently the Colonel would want to play Cribbage and Mark quickly learned the game. At night there was a group that liked to play poker. However, their lack of card playing prowess was taken advantage of by the Medical Detachment. After complaining to the Colonel about constantly losing, he taught them the proper techniques and strategies of poker. After that their fortunes changed at the expense of the Medical Detachment.
After the D-Day invasion Mark’s unit headed to Omaha Beach in July 1944. They were anchored for several days off the beach waiting for their orders. “Every night was like the 4th of July. German aircraft would fly over, and nearby Navy ships would fire at them.” They eventually landed and headed for an orchard in the village of Catz. Mark had two memorable experiences in Catz. One night he and a Major were on duty in the underground command center. Eventually the generators powering the radios and lights ran out of fuel and being out ranked, Mark’s job was to refill the generators. Mark went outside and got the generators going again. On his way back to the command center he noticed a big white sheet hanging in the orchard that wasn’t there when he started refilling the generators. Upon a closer look it was a German parachute. Fortunately, the German paratrooper had bigger fish to fry than killing Mark. The German slipped by the sentries and was never found.
On another occasion, Mark was looking to take a much-needed bath. He filled his helmet with water and slipped behind a hedgerow in a nearby pasture behind a French home about 100 yards away. Mark stripped off his clothes and began bathing. As he was drying off, he suddenly sensed that he was being watched. From behind one of the cows peered the eyes of a small French girl. Embarrassed, Mark quickly dressed and headed back to HQ.
Shortly thereafter Paris was retaken from the Germans and Marks unit was sent to Paris. One of Marks most vivid memories of the war was what he saw while sitting in the back of a truck heading toward Paris. On his left there were burning German tanks, dead horses and scattered military equipment. On his right were hundreds of French civilians of all ages carrying bags of personal belongings, pushing baby carriages, pushing carts and carrying babies as they tried to escape the fighting.
After spending some time in a Parisian hospital having an impacted wisdom tooth extracted, his unit was dispatched to Senon, a small farming community not far from the Belgian boarder. This was around the time of the Battle of the Bulge. Mark and 4 other GIs lived above the blacksmith’s shop. The GIs became friendly with the Duvoye family and when Thanksgiving came Mrs Duvoy, who was a fabulous cook, made them a Thanksgiving dinner with rabbit. One day Mrs. Duvoy’s old Singer sewing machine, that was just like his mother’s, did not work and Mark was able to get it operating with a little gun oil. Mark kept in touch with the family after the war.
While in Senon, Mark observed the “Red Ball Highway”. The Allies had constructed an underwater pipeline from England to the European coastline to transport gasoline to keep the Allied equipment moving. In the evenings he started to notice very large balls of red flames on the skyline. He discovered that hundreds of trucks were transporting gasoline to the front. This was a long trip and during the winter the drivers needed a rest stop. When they stopped, they would light a 5-gallon container of gas on fire for warmth. Hence, the “Red Ball Highway”.
The 776th moved into Germany as the Allies pushed the Germans toward surrender. Another vivid memory was leaving the mess hall at the HQ in Germany. The GIs would walk outside and empty their plates into the garbage. Next to the garbage were German women and children reaching under the fence to try and get some food.
His unit moved down to Munich as the war was drawing to a close. In Munich, Eisenhower issued orders for all troops within a reasonable range to head to the Dachau Concentration Camp. Here another vivid image of the war was etched in his memory. “I remember the thing that struck me most were the piles of shoes in one of the rooms…bodies piled up like cord wood… It’s hard to imagine the horror of it.”. Eisenhower wanted as many American GIs as possible to see for themselves what atrocities had been committed because, “It won’t be many years before the people will deny that it ever happened.” Mark left Dachau and headed back to France on the same rail cars that brought in the Jews.
VE Day came and Mark was scheduled to come home after 33 months away from home. He left France on a US Naval shipped and disembarked when the ship docked in NY Harbor. As the ship sailed into the harbor Mark saw the Statute of Liberty. He now knew what his father saw in 1912 as his ship arrived from Brac, Yugoslavia. Mark was discharged on December 8th and headed back to Vermont. By the second week of December Mark was attending the University of Vermont pursuing a business degree.
Mark graduated and started a job with Connecticut General selling insurance. Although he hated it, he met a pretty actuarial trainee named Elizabeth. It was love at first sight and he and Betty were married on October 8, 1955. They were married for 52 years before she passed away. They had three children and 5 grandchildren. Mark used his Army Reserve network to land a job with The Royal Typewriter Company and the manufacturing world which he loved. While he was working there, he went on to get his MBA and have a successful business career in Employee Relations, which would be now called Human Resources. Mark Retired in 1991.
Mark is a true American Patriot who answered the call of his country and made the sacrifices involved in going to war. Like so many others like him we say, Mark, thanks for saving the world.