Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 20, 2020 -- THREE
Finding the Forgotten Soldier
By David Sykes
The following article
was first published in the
Heppner Gazette-Times
Nov. 8, 2008. It was then
reprinted in “The Libera-
tor” the official newsletter
of the 14 th Armored Division
and then on several WWII
web sites and blogs. We are
reprinting it here in honor
of Memorial Day and all
those who have died for
their country.
Following is a story
of remembrance. It is also
a story about my uncle,
Guy Beverly Sykes, a sol-
dier killed in war. Guy, my
father’s younger brother,
was killed in WWII. Until
recently this was virtually
all I knew about him. Fol-
lowing is not only a story
about my efforts to learn
more about this forgotten
soldier, but also a story of
how he fought and died
for his country and for
our freedoms. I write this
not to glorify my uncle, as
there are many who have
also fought and died, but
more so that his, and all
veterans’ sacrifices, will be
remembered.
I was born five years
after the end of World War
II. I am a baby boomer.
Growing up it seemed
as if most of the adults I
knew had served in the
war. My mother and her
sister served in the Wom-
en’s Army Corps together,
another uncle served in the
army, another in the navy
and my father also in the
navy fighting the Japanese
in the South Pacific.
I remember visiting my
cousin’s home and there
was army gear, helmets,
canteens and gas masks all
over the garage. We had fun
dressing up. At my home,
in the back yard, was a
large rubber raft my sister
and I would fill with water
and use as a swimming
pool. Later I learned it was
similar to what my dad’s
Underwater Demolition
Team had used on two is-
land invasions. The remains
and memories of war were
everywhere.
We had many fami-
ly gatherings when I was
young, and everyone was
there, all the veterans; ev-
eryone except my uncle
Guy Sykes. Growing up
I had heard stories about
Guy. I heard how he liked to
camp at Yosemite Park, and
how his family all went to
Mexico and got lost. But I
never heard anything about
his army service, or his
death. For whatever reason,
neither my father nor my
grandparents ever talk-
ed about him. All I knew
was that he was killed in a
tank somewhere in Europe
“during the war.”
Over the years I be-
came curious. I asked my
father and mother more
about him before they died
and was told nothing new.
Several years ago, I be-
gan checking books at the
bookstore and library with
names of war dead, hoping
PFC Guy Sykes KIA Jan 12, 1945
to maybe see him listed
there. I found nothing. A
couple of years ago I began
using the Internet, and then
one day out of nowhere af-
ter lots of searches I found
something. There it was,
on a single Internet page,
dedicated to an American
cemetery in France, was his
name in big block letters. I
stared almost in disbelief.
That page told me more
than I had ever known about
my uncle. It told me he
is buried at the Lorraine
American Cemetery near
St. Avold, France. I was fas-
cinated. His body had never
been brought home. The
page told me he had been
a private first class serving
with the 14 th Armored Di-
vision, 48 th Tank Battalion.
And it told me he had died
Jan 12, 1945, a date I had
never heard before. This
was more information than
I ever had, and at that point
I began to fill in the blanks
about a man I knew nothing
about but was connected to
by name and blood.
I was determined to
find out more, and I dug
deeper. I looked up infor-
mation on the 14 th Armored
Division and learned they
fought bravely against the
German’s counter offensive
called Operation Nordwind
in France during the winter
of 1944-45. I also learned
they were nicknamed the
“Liberators” because of the
200,000 allied troops they
later liberated from German
prisoner of war camps. The
division also liberated a
Jewish death camp after
entering Germany. I found
out there was a book written
on the history of the 14 th Ar-
mored Division. It is out of
print, but with the Internet
I am still searching. Then
one day last month I came
across an Internet site that
virtually broke the dam. It
was the home page for the
association of the 14 th Ar-
mored Division, and there
was a name and an email
address on the web site. The
name was Jim Lankford,
National Historian and ed-
itor for the “Liberator,” the
web site and official news-
letter of the 14 th Armored. I
quickly wrote Jim an email
asking for any information
he could give me about my
unknown uncle. I didn’t
want to get my hopes up.
Then I received the fol-
lowing email: “David. As
luck would have it I caught
Darrell Todd at home when
I telephoned. Darrell was
a tank commander in C
Company, and remembers
your uncle Guy. He is more
than happy to talk with you,
and can probably put you in
touch with others in his unit
that might remember Guy.
Just so you will know, Dar-
rell became a tank ‘ACE ‘
by destroying five German
tanks during the war, two or
three of them at Hatten-Rit-
tershoffen. Best Regards,
Jim.”
Thinking there was
someone still alive who
knew my uncle was excit-
ing and fascinating to me.
It somehow seemed almost
too good to be true. Again,
not wanting to get my hopes
up, I waited to hear from
Darrell. Then one day not
long after on a Saturday
morning the call came. Dar-
rell Todd from California
was on the phone. Yes, he
said he did indeed know my
uncle. He told me Guy was
a hard worker and a quiet
and dependable man. He
said he and Guy were in the
same tank company. There
were five Sherman tanks
in C Company and Darrell
was the commander of tank
number 1 and Guy was the
loader in tank number 3.
This was amazing in-
formation. He went on to
say that my uncle was killed
in the battle of Hatten-Rit-
tershoffen, a large tank
battle near two small towns
in northern France. The
battle raged from Jan 9-21
and was one of the largest
tank battles of WWII. It was
overshadowed and did not
receive as much publicity
as the Battle of the Bulge,
which was going on at the
same time. I listened as this
man I had never met told
me more about my soldier
uncle than I had ever heard
before. Darrell said Guy’s
tank was hit January 11,
1945 in the turret by a shell
from a German Tiger tank,
and that out of the five crew-
men, Guy and two others
were killed (Guy died the
next day on Jan. 12). Darrell
told me that because of the
high casualties, my uncle, a
private first class, had been
promoted from a loader
to tank commander, and
actually had a lieutenant as
driver working under him
when he was killed. The
story was fascinating. I was
mesmerized as I sat in my
home in Heppner, Oregon,
while this 83-year-old-man
whom I did not know talked
of our shared history from
half a world away over 60
years ago.
He spoke of the bitter
cold of that winter of 1944-
45, and the hardships they
had all endured. Darrell told
me how his tank knocked
out three German tanks
in one day, and two more
later on. He spoke of how
his tank was eventually hit
Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial near St. Avold,
France where 10,489 Americans from WWII are buried.
and one of his crewmen
went out the top and was
killed by German machine
gun fire, and he and another
man went out the bottom
escape hatch and crawled
to safety in a potato furrow.
This was the kind of com-
bat my uncle was experi-
encing in France. Later in
the spring Darrell said his
tank was hit again. He was
injured and airlifted out of
France. While on the plane
he heard that the war had
ended. He said when he left,
he had believed the Allies
were losing because of the
heavy casualties and fierce
fighting Company C was
going through. We talked
some more on that Saturday
morning and then said our
goodbyes. I thanked him for
all he had given me, and he
said he would send some
photos and other informa-
tion he had. Later I received
a packet with a picture of
the whole company along
with some other personal
recollections.
It was done. I felt a sol-
id connection to my uncle,
and the pieces of his young
life had finally begun to fall
into place. After that I took
out and read some papers
I had. I read Guy’s letters
to his mother and father
written in December 1944.
He wrote how cold it was,
and that, just like lots of the
other guys, he had caught a
cold. He complained about
his hands being cut up from
loading the shells. He was
22 years old when he died
the next month. Then there
was the most heart wrench-
ing of all, a letter from my
grandfather to his other
son, my father Earl Sykes,
telling him of his brother’s
death. “We know you will
take it as we do, one of the
worst tragedies that can
befall a family like our own.
The only thing worse would
be something that would
bring shame or dishonor to
any of us. We are hopeful
that it will not leave you in
a bitter frame of mind. It
is a difficult thing to bear,
let alone try to understand.
Since it has happened there
is no retreat from it and we
still have to go on,” Earl
Sykes, Sr., wrote to his son.
Although I will never
know this uncle, after re-
search and talking about
him I can now think clearly
about the end of his young
life, and someday I want to
travel to that cemetery in
France, where Guy Bever-
ly Sykes and 10,488 other
Americans are buried, and
stand at Section E, Row 46,
Grave 29. I just want to say
hello, and goodbye, to the
soldier and uncle I never
knew.
Endnote: Since I first
wrote this article in 2008
there have been some
changes of course. Darrel
Todd, the tank Ace who
served with my uncle in
Company C, and who I
came to know, died. I called
and talked to his widow
and told her how much he
meant to me. I sent flowers
with a note to the family. I
also found a book about the
battle my uncle was killed
in. It was written by a Ger-
man tank commander who
participated in what the
Germans called Operation
Nordwind. Nordwind was
billed as “The last great
operation by the Waffen-
SS Panzer divisions in the
west.”
I also found many more
letters written between
my uncle and his parents
during the war. One stood
out as particularly diffi-
cult for me to read. It was
several pages long and
written by my grandfather
to his son. My grandfa-
ther wrote how much his
son was missed, and how
happy they would be when
the war was over and the
whole family was home
together again. However,
the letter was unopened. I
then noticed it was mailed
several weeks after my un-
cle’s death. The letter was
written and mailed before
the parents were notified
their son was dead.
David Sykes
Summer art packs to be distributed
Heppner Elementary
School’s art teacher, Jamie
Mullins, has put together
190 art packages in back-
pack bags to be distributed
to the schools’ kindergarten
through sixth-grade stu-
Happy Birthday
Father Thankachan Joseph
May 22
We are so happy you are here!
We appreciate all you do!
dents on Thursday, May 21.
The bags will be delivered
on the HES bus routes or
can be picked up at the
school.
The funds for the art
packs were provided by
Left: Supplies for art packs are arranged on the table.
Above: Completed art packs are ready to be distributed.
a grant from the Morrow
County Coalition. The grant
has been used for the past
two years for Mullins to
teach art classes at HES but
due to Covid-19 she was
unable to do that. Instead
the funds were used this
year to purchase backpacks,
art supplies and art projects
for the students to use at
home.
The Heppner Gazette-Times will be closed
Monday, May 25 in observance of
Memorial Day.
Have a safe weekend.
Happy Memorial Day from all of us at
Sykes Publishing and
the Heppner Gazette-Times
The deadline for news and advertising for the May 27 issue is
Friday, May 22 at 5:00pm.
Have a news story or photo for the Gazette? e-mail editor@rapidserve.net
call 541-676-9228 or stop by the office on Willow St., Heppner Today