|
Jack Neitz Womer (18 June 1917 – 28 December 2013) was a decorated American World War II veteran and a member of the Filthy Thirteen who was known for his World War II exploits. Womer was a member of the 29th Ranger Battalion, the 101st Airborne Division and the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (506th PIR). Throughout his service in the 101st Airborne Division, Womer was assigned to the Demolitions Platoon of the 506th PIR Regimental Headquarters Company in the section known officially as the First Demolitions Section and nicknamed the Filthy Thirteen. Known for his astuteness in battle, which he attributed to his rigorous training by British Commandos while in the 29th Ranger Battalion, Womer was never injured in combat.〔 Womer was among the members of the Filthy Thirteen who parachuted into Normandy, France, on 6 June 1944 as part of the Normandy Invasion (Operation Overlord). He was the only one that remained in the Filthy Thirteen and participated in Operation Market-Garden in September 1944, the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, and the advance on Hitler’s home in Berchtesgaden, Germany, in 1945. At the time of his death on December 28, 2013, Womer was the last living member of the original Filthy Thirteen. In May 2012, Womer’s biography, ''Fighting With the Filthy Thirteen: The World War II Story of Jack Womer: Ranger and Paratrooper'', co-written by close friend Stephen C. DeVito, was published. == Personal life == Womer was born on 18 June 1917 in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, as the fourth child of Methodist parents— mainly of Dutch descent. His father, William Walker (“Walk”) Womer, worked as an open-hearth melter in a steel mill in Lewistown. Womer’s mother, Roxie Womer, was a housewife.〔 A few months after Womer was born, Roxie became ill and sent Womer to Sunbury, Pennsylvania, to live with her sister Dolsie. In 1922, Womer was still living in Sunbury with his aunt; his father decided to move the family from Lewistown, Pennsylvania to a small row house in Sparrows Point, Maryland. In 1930 the eight-member Womer family relocated to a larger, single family house in Dundalk, Maryland. Womer attended public and private schools. He was quite athletic and was awarded an athletic scholarship to attend the Franklin Day School, a private high school in Baltimore, Maryland, where he enjoyed dancing in nightclubs. During the late 1930s Womer was known as the best jitter-bugger in Baltimore, and was nicknamed “jitterbug”.〔 Womer began his employment in 1936 at Bethlehem Steel and, except for the four-and-a-half years he served in the military during World War II, continued working there until he retired in 1982. Womer married Theresa Cook in November 1945 in Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church in Baltimore. They remained married until Theresa’s death in 1987. They had two children; a son, John, and a daughter, Ellen.〔 John died in the early 1990s. Soon after Theresa’s death, Womer moved from their home in Dundalk to a single family house in Fort Howard, Maryland. Womer died at 96 years of age on 28 December 2013. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jack Womer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|