Harry R. Crouch: Clifton's war hero
By Richard Harless
 Harry Crouch with his wife Nena at their home in Clifton. Photo by Richard Harless. |
He met Nena Byrnes two and a half weeks after the United States entered World War II. They were married on August 27, 1942, so they recently celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary. One year after their wedding, he was "called to service" at Richmond.
He came home to Clifton and Nena for one night in May 1945, before leaving for England. He was assigned to the 90th division of General George Patton's Third Army. On June 5, 1945, he and thousands of other young Americans were loaded onto ships for the short journey across the choppy waters of the English Channel. As his landing craft approached the Normandy beaches "the shells came in so thick and hard, the boat had to pull back." The boat was blown up by a mine and sank. Most of the men lost their equipment when the boat sank, so they spent the next three days trying to find replacements for the lost gear.
He spent his 23rd birthday wading ashore through "pink and red water" under murderous fire from the German defenders of occupied France. He says that from June 10 until the end of the war, a period of 330 days, he was never able to rest for more than 24 hours. He fought at Normandy, the Ardennes, the Rhineland, and central Europe. During the Allied crossing of the Moselle River, General Patton personally asked him to string communication lines across the river. For this he was awarded a Bronze Star with a citation: "The gallantry and disregard for personal safety displayed by this enlisted man reflect the highest credit upon himself and the armed forces of the United States." During the war Crouch was awarded four Bronze Stars and one Silver Star for his courage under fire.
As the Allies invaded Germany, so did the Russians from the east. The German army started returning towards the Allies in order to avoid surrendering to the Russians. He describes being "very scared" as many German tanks rumbled through into town with rags around their gun barrels, because they could have easily "mowed us down." He remembers Patton riding up and down the road like the "king of the world" with the Germans saluting him, "not a German salute but an American salute."
After the war in Europe ended, he had orders to train linemen for the Allied landing on mainland Japan. Forcing back tears, Crouch describes the day Japan surrendered following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as "the happiest day of my life." He had been offered $500 to stay in the army and $300 if he chose to leave. He laughingly says the discharge was the easiest decision he ever had to make.
For fifty years he did not talk about the war. When his granddaughter wrote a story about him and used his scrapbooks as a resource, he began sharing his wartime experiences. In April 2001, he received a certificate from the government of France, inscribed to the "American veterans of the Second World War who liberated France and changed the history of the 20th century." In November 2002, he was awarded the "World War II Veteran Honorary High School Diploma" by the state of Virginia. In March 2004, he was awarded a plaque and "chest badge" from the liberated French town of Saint Lo to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day. Private Harry Crouch is justifiably proud of his service to his country and Clifton is proud of him. He says that when he recently spoke to a group of schoolchildren at Fairfax Station, "even generals stood up and saluted me."
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