Ham's memories are of action on the European Front
BY JOY POWERS

J. Thurston Ham
World War II - Europe
93rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron

J. Thurston Ham enlisted with the Army Signal Corp. in 1942. He was sent to Camp Kohler in California for his Basic Training where he was given a test along with other men. The test consisted of these men receiving messages in Morse code. Then a second message would come and ask the men would be questioned about the messages. If you scored high on this test, you would be trained to be a radio operator. Thurston passed the test and began his training at Camp Kohler to be a radio operator and was stationed there for nearly one year. From there he went to Pasadena Jr. College at Pasadena, California for approximately six more months of training. Camp Bowie in Texas was his next destination and he attended school there taking more classes in radio training until 1945. It was here that he became a member of the 93rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron.

In January of 1945 his squadron was shipped out of New Jersey headed overseas, their destination France. Thurston remembers when their ship left New Jersey headed across the ocean. They’d been out approximately four days when the ship suffered a break down. They were forced to return and docked in Massachusetts. The people there assumed the ship coming in was carrying returning soldiers. They were so excited as they cheered, clapped, and yelled for them as they pulled in to dock, only to find out it was a ship of fresh soldiers that would board another ship to continue their journey across the ocean.

Thurston remembered that in France the 13-14 year old kids would come around to their camps asking for treats. It seemed if they could speak no English, they always managed to know how to say, "Bon Bons for mama, Cigarettes for papa." The soldiers would give the kids candy and cigarettes if they had any. It was the older kids who had a nose for finding wine that had been put away or stored and would bring the soldiers some of this wine at different times.

As they traveled across Germany in an armored car (tank on wheels) in a convoy, Thurston remembers something hit their armored car and damaged the front. The convoy moved on, leaving him and three other soldiers behind. Each armored car usually contained a gunner, a driver, a radio operator, and one commander or lookout. The men were able to pull into a little town and get into a building. One of the soldiers not knowing where the lavatory was, stepped out back of the building. As he was out there, a bullet came zinging across just above his head. He came rushing back inside the building scared and shouting there had been a sniper shooting at him. They stayed there for about three days until they got the armored car repaired and then headed out to rejoin the rest of the outfit ahead. When they reached the others, they discovered the outfit had been involved in a big fight before the four of them finally caught up to them. As the convoy traveled along, they passed by overturned carts, burned buildings, and things shot up. They were not far behind the lines.

Thurston’s job as a radio operator in their armored car was to send and receive messages. These messages were all done using Morse Code, never any voice messages. The messages would be sent to or received from other parts of their unit that had been dispersed elsewhere or possibly from headquarters with orders telling them what they should do next.

Thurston also remembered as they traveled across the countries, they would get to towns with really nice homes that had been abandoned due to the war. Thurston commented, "We stayed in some very beautiful chalets along the way for a night or two before moving on."

Meals during these times consisted mainly of C-rations and K-rations. C-rations came in a can and were sometimes set on a motor to heat them for a warm meal. K-rations came in a box. The rations generally contained crackers, a cigarette, and a little candy. The meat in the rations was not very tasty, however, Thurston remembers one type of meat was better. You considered yourself lucky when you got that particular ration. This is the kind of food that sustained the soldiers during battle until rare they’d get to a camp, where a hot meal would be prepared for them.

In Germany, the 93rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron was just behind the push into south Germany to Bertsch Gaden, where Hitler had his hideout at the time. Thurston’s squadron got down that far and waited inside a small town, with the purpose of their presence to occupy the area. Thurston’s squadron never liberated any prisoners but picked up two shortly after they had been liberated (let out of concentration camps).

Thurston remembers the people of France and Germany seemed happy to see them there. Most people were glad to see them while others just accepted they were there. Thurston believed they were there for the right reasons and knew they had to finish this off. "I, for one, wasn’t filled with patriotic fervor though. It was just a job we had to get done," said Thurston.

Thurston returned to the states in February of 1946 and came home to Edgeley. In the fall of 1946 Thurston enrolled at the Dakota Business College in Fargo taking up accounting. After college, he was hired for bookwork at Oakes Motors in Oakes, ND.

The year 1948 brought Thurston back to Edgeley. He purchased the Mobile Service Station and his brother, Jerry, operated it for him while Thurston was employed at the Edgeley Improvement Association and as a bookkeeper for Kipp Chevrolet.

In 1952, another change came about when Thurston went to work for a Farmers Union Central Exchange Auditor in Moorhead. Every Monday morning, Thurston would drive to Moorhead to work with another auditor for the next two years, before he was given his own area. Thurston retired in 1994 and still lives in Edgeley with his wife, Carol.