ABOVE: Rev. Walter Stitt, Secretary/Treasurer of the 3rd Armored Division
Association (WWII), closes the final national reunion on Sept.
18, 2010, in Columbus, Georgia, the home of Ft. Benning. Filmed by Vic Damon of 3AD.com staff. The
closing included Walt's favorite poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay"
by Robert Frost and a heart-felt rendition of "May the Good
Lord Bless and Keep You."
Two books compiled by Bill
and Lale Ruth of the fascinating details
of 3rd Armored Div. WWII veterans returning to their old European
battlegrounds in 1992 & 1994. Full of great text and photos!
SPECIAL NOTE: Patience please. These are 68-page & 219-page
PDF's respectively, and each about 60MB in size. Downloading
can take between 1 min. and 8 min., depending on your computer
and Internet connection.
3AD WWII video achieves over 160,000 views
on YouTube and still counting
Above screen-shot is from 3AD.com's video of Spearhead's
advance into Cologne, Germany, in 1945. It includes the famous
footage of a 32nd Armor Regiment Pershing tank destroying a German Panther
tank at the Cathedral Square. The video was first posted on YouTube in January,
2007, and after reaching 100,000 views, we replaced it with an improved version with better resolution and improved
sound-track, but otherwise the same footage. As of July, 2012,
that second version had gone over 60,000 views. Restoration, enhancement, and editing of the original silent footage, including the adding of the music sound-track, was done by Vic Damon of 3AD.com Staff.
Sampling from 3AD.com's growing
Spearhead WWII photo archive
TOP PHOTO as used by filmmaker
Ken Burns as the opening graphic for his acclaimed WWII television
documentary "The War" which first aired nationally
in 2007. The two 3AD soldiers huddled behind a Sherman tank were
Cpl.James L. Gregory (left) and T/5 Omer G. Taylor of Hq Co,
1st Bn, 36th Armored Infantry Regiment. Both survived the war.
See caption further down for description of other photos.
SECOND FROM TOP: Sherman M4's
of the 3AD's 32nd Armor Regiment move off of Omaha Beach after
disembarking LST's. NEXT: A blast from a 155mm M-12 Self-Propelled
Artillery Gun of the 991st Field Artillery Bn, attached to the
3AD. NEXT: The Seine River is crossed on a pontoon bridge built
in one day by the 23rd Engineer Bn. NEXT: Shermans of the 32nd
AR are used as artillery inside Germany. NEXT: A wounded German
POW is treated by 45th Medical Bn personnel after the Battle
of Mons.
