D-Day - Millard Edwin Tanner

When World War II started my grandfather, Millard Edwin Tanner was living in Los Angeles, California with his mom, his two brother's, sister and grandmother. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941 and the United States was now at war. Millard was 21 years old and taking classes at the college and working.  According to his mother Hazel's journals, on August 27, 1942 he received his induction papers to the Army though he did not have to start training until April 28, 1943. He was a radio operator and assigned the 17th Signal Battalion of the Army. He left for Fort McArthur at 8:30 a.m. on May 15, 1943 and was sent to Camp Kohler on the 21st.

Back Row: Millard, Albert Berkovitz, Charles Rogers,
Front Row: John Ludins, Tom Keller, Stan (Smitty) Smith

Millard, Albert Berkovitz, Ted Sydor & Stanley (Smitty) Smith

In September he was given a 3 day pass and hitch hiked home to see his family. In August, Hazel received a letter that he thought he might be going to Washington D.C. but instead was sent to New York where he was through the end of the year. Before Easter he was sent overseas and was able to spend Easter weekend with his brother Lewis in England. Lewis was in the Army Corp of Engineers and had been sent overseas the July before.
On June 5, 1944 he left England on the Heavy Cruiser the Augusta on on June 5, 1944, D-Day, he was manning the radio communications between the landing parties and the General Staff. A couple of days later he landed on Normandy and they made it all the way to Berlin.

Millard's Itinerary

At one point he was in a convoy and some German Messerschmidts (jet) strafed, or repeatedly attacked with bombs or machine-fire, the group and caught an ammunition truck on fire. Millard jumped into the truck and drove it into the field where it blew up away from the rest of the convoy. Another time in the area of the Battle of the Bulge, he and a partner were scouting ahead of the group in the Arden's forest when they saw the German's coming. They hid in some hedgerows till they passed and then they informed the troops the German's were coming. Their company also help liberate the German Concentration Camp Buchenwald. Like many other soldiers, he didn't talk about his experiences to his family. At some point their company came across a Nazi warehouse which they helped clean out. I don't have pictures of all the stuff he got, but I do have a couple of postcards.

Following are many pictures in his files.  Most of them are not labeled, so we don't know who they are. Those that were labeled on the back I have put the handwritten labeling on the front as a caption.

Millard in Belgium

Millard & unknown at Balmoral Hotel in Spa, Belgium

Millard

Millard & Stanley Smith

Millard is upper left

Millard & Stanley Smith

Millard & unknown

Spa, Belgium

The European Theater ended on May 8, 1945 when the Germany surrendered.  Millard arrived home on Tues, July 17, 1945 for a 30 day furlough and was supposed to be sent to the Japan. Thankfully Japan announced it was surrendering on August 15, 1945 ending World War II on September 2, 1945 and Millard didn't have to go anywhere else. 

http://17thsignal.tumblr.com/ is a blog dedicated to the 17th Signal Battalion. I have tried to submit these pictures but have never heard a response. I don't know that it is actively managed anymore. 

Stories are from his son. Also, information is from is mother's journals. Itinerary given to me from his wife about 1995. Pictures are in his daughter's possession. The story of the end of the war was told to me by his wife (my grandmother) when telling her life story.