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re: We should let Auburn run to the East
Posted on 6/18/15 at 2:46 pm to Alert Mi
Posted on 6/18/15 at 2:46 pm to Alert Mi
Shug was a GREAT American ...
Alabama has been home to many heroes during its nearly two century history, but it would be hard to name anyone with greater courage than Ralph "Shug" Jordan.
War is the real thing. People die. "Shug" could attest to that when he came home in 1945. He had seen it up close and very personal.
Most troops involved in World War II combat participated in one invasion in one region. Not Army Capt. Ralph Jordan, who grew up in Selma. He was in five invasions — four in the European theater, one in the Pacific.
The worst occurred 70 years ago today. It was D-Day and signaled the beginning of the end for Hitler.
Jordan was a combat engineer whose unit's job at Normandy was to help destroy Rommel's defensive obstacles that lined Utah Beach. His engineers had a specific assignment — setting explosives to penetrate a German seawall aimed at slowing the Allied advance.
Speed was vital because American tanks were waiting for the seawall to be breached so they could push through toward the French interior.
His unit landed soon after initial waves of troops ran into the teeth of German resistance. Parts of the English Channel turned red.
Not long after his men began destroying the obstacles, a German artillery shell landed in the middle of their position, killing and wounding several.
Jordan was wounded but stayed with his men, refusing evacuation to a hospital ship. At one point, he couldn't be found. Fearing the worst, his troops began searching. They found him propped against a seawall, smoking a cigarette, pain etched in his face.
He was lucky. Surrounding him were men who had given their all. He would describe the scene later, saying he was stunned to find bodies "stacked like cord wood."
"Shug never even mentioned that he had been wounded at Normandy," Donnell said Thursday.
Capt. Henry McHarg, an officer in Jordan's engineer brigade, wrote then Auburn University President Hanley Funderburk, about Jordan's courage under fire and after being wounded.
"He basically asked to be stitched up so he could stay with his troops during the initial phase of the invasion," McHarg wrote. "It hurt him like hell, but he knew he wasn't going to die."
In his letter to the AU president, McHarg said Jordan lost the use of his arm but still refused evacuation, and "it was a fine thing to have done to stay on the beach."
An Army doctor gave Jordan a local anesthetic as he began to dig shrapnel out of his arm, but the pain became so severe that Jordan was sent to a hospital ship for treatment.
After he recovered from his wounds, he could have avoided further combat. Not "Shug." He led his unit across the Pacific to the island of Okinawa, one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
He finally returned from the war to civilian life and his Evelyn, whom he married in 1937 and with whom he had three children. He laid aside his Bronze Star, Purple Heart and other combat decorations to resume more peaceful pursuits such as becoming the greatest football coach in Auburn history, leading the Tigers from 1951 to 1975 and compiling a record of 176-83-6.
Alabama has been home to many heroes during its nearly two century history, but it would be hard to name anyone with greater courage than Ralph "Shug" Jordan.
War is the real thing. People die. "Shug" could attest to that when he came home in 1945. He had seen it up close and very personal.
Most troops involved in World War II combat participated in one invasion in one region. Not Army Capt. Ralph Jordan, who grew up in Selma. He was in five invasions — four in the European theater, one in the Pacific.
The worst occurred 70 years ago today. It was D-Day and signaled the beginning of the end for Hitler.
Jordan was a combat engineer whose unit's job at Normandy was to help destroy Rommel's defensive obstacles that lined Utah Beach. His engineers had a specific assignment — setting explosives to penetrate a German seawall aimed at slowing the Allied advance.
Speed was vital because American tanks were waiting for the seawall to be breached so they could push through toward the French interior.
His unit landed soon after initial waves of troops ran into the teeth of German resistance. Parts of the English Channel turned red.
Not long after his men began destroying the obstacles, a German artillery shell landed in the middle of their position, killing and wounding several.
Jordan was wounded but stayed with his men, refusing evacuation to a hospital ship. At one point, he couldn't be found. Fearing the worst, his troops began searching. They found him propped against a seawall, smoking a cigarette, pain etched in his face.
He was lucky. Surrounding him were men who had given their all. He would describe the scene later, saying he was stunned to find bodies "stacked like cord wood."
"Shug never even mentioned that he had been wounded at Normandy," Donnell said Thursday.
Capt. Henry McHarg, an officer in Jordan's engineer brigade, wrote then Auburn University President Hanley Funderburk, about Jordan's courage under fire and after being wounded.
"He basically asked to be stitched up so he could stay with his troops during the initial phase of the invasion," McHarg wrote. "It hurt him like hell, but he knew he wasn't going to die."
In his letter to the AU president, McHarg said Jordan lost the use of his arm but still refused evacuation, and "it was a fine thing to have done to stay on the beach."
An Army doctor gave Jordan a local anesthetic as he began to dig shrapnel out of his arm, but the pain became so severe that Jordan was sent to a hospital ship for treatment.
After he recovered from his wounds, he could have avoided further combat. Not "Shug." He led his unit across the Pacific to the island of Okinawa, one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
He finally returned from the war to civilian life and his Evelyn, whom he married in 1937 and with whom he had three children. He laid aside his Bronze Star, Purple Heart and other combat decorations to resume more peaceful pursuits such as becoming the greatest football coach in Auburn history, leading the Tigers from 1951 to 1975 and compiling a record of 176-83-6.
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