PVT Lowell H. Massey 12-20-1944
US ARMY WWII
110th Infantry 28th Infantry Division | KIA: 12/20/1944 | Fall Creek Cemetery
Lowell Harmon Massey was born in the Fall Creek community of Hood County on December 16, 1924. His parents were Riley A. Massey and Myrtle S. (Carmichael) Massey. Lowell was the oldest of 5 children. Like most country kids, at that time, he attended Elementary School at the school in his community; in this case the Fall Creek School. He went to High School for 2 years in Granbury. He spent his youth working on the family farm, hiring out to neighbors during hay and harvest season, and breaking horses and mules to pull plows, wagons, working cattle, or just for pleasure.
There was no television and very little radio so young men created ways to entertain themselves. On one of these occasions, Lowell and his brother Julian decided that while they were working on breaking some of the neighbors horses they would employ a game that they had previously discovered. This was, like most of their games, a simple use of the things available to them. They were riding horses and they were surrounded by cows so they would ride along side of a cow and grab her by the tail as their horses would increase speed, they would simply pull the cow’s tail and cause her to fall head over heels. The game was simple, easy, and apparently quite enjoyable right up until they grabbed the tail of the family milk cow and as she stumbled and fell, she broke her neck. Our two fun loving young men knew that whatever happened nothing could be wasted. So, when their mother and father returned home from church on that Sunday they found the family milk cow hanging from a large limb in the yard being skinned and butchered. The story goes that their father never said a word he simply changed clothes and grabbed a butcher knife and began helping.
At the age of nineteen, Lowell stood 6’ 3” tall, weighed 170 pounds, had a 41” chest and a 33” waist according to his Army physical records when he was drafted. He reported to Camp Wolters, Texas for his induction and training on December 31, 1943. For his service he was paid $30.00 a month. He qualified with the M-1 Garand rifle and the 57 m/m anti-tank rifle. After receiving his training in Texas he was sent to Camp Shanks, New Jersey. During his time at Camp Shanks he was given the opportunity to visit New York City and on one of these visits he was struck by a car on the corner of 41st and 7th Avenue. His injuries were minor but required a visit to the base dispensary for bruises and abrasions. His unit shipped out of New York City and was sent to Scotland for further training in anticipation of being sent into Europe.
Lowell walked across the beach at Normandy on July 22, 1944 and along with the rest of Company E of the 110th Infantry made his way into the war. On October 1, 1944 he suffered injuries which required him to be shipped to a hospital in England and earned him a Bronze Star and his first Purple Heart. He would spend the next two and a half months recuperating from his injuries before he returned to his original unit located in Donnage, Luxembourg on the night of December 14, 1944. This area was largely viewed as a resting area for the American army in anticipation of moving into Germany in the coming days and driving to Berlin to end the war. Lowell celebrated his 20th birthday on December 16, 1944. The German army decided to help him celebrate by breaking through the thinly occupied American frontlines that night thus beginning the battle known as the Battle of the Bulge.
Companies E and F 110th Infantry were awakened in the middle of the night and told to move forward as the reserve force to recapture Marnach. The two units moved about 4 miles to the village of Clerveaux and then across the Clerf river up the other bank to the village of Reuler. When these troops reached the summit and turned east toward Marnach they immediately encountered the German 2nd Panzer Division and in the words of Bob Phillips Company F “they brought tanks.” The battle began at about 7:30 a.m. and by approximately 8:30 a.m. Lowell and a platoon of Company E were ordered to block a junction of the Clerveaux/Marnach road. The fight was brutal and Lowell and two members of his unit were sent to occupy a building controlling a crossroads with a machine gun. Lowell was manning the gun when he was struck by shell from the main gun of a German tank. He was killed instantly. The other two men were able to escape from the building and survived the battle. At approximately 11:30 p.m. the order was given to withdraw by “infiltration” and make their way back to Donnage. By the time the members of Company E and F managed to regroup on December 20, 1944 after escaping from Reuler they had only 7 officers and 50 or 60 men total. Half or more of the two companies were killed or captured.
Lowell was listed Missing In Action on December 20, 1944 and a telegram was sent to his mother and father on January 16, 1945 stating that he was officially declared MIA. His mother sent many letters during the months of January, February, and March requesting information regarding his status to various officers and received replies from each of them informing her that there were no hospital records showing Lowell receiving care and that there was no solid proof that he had been killed. All of that changed when a resident of Reuler reported to the U.S. Army Graves Registration unit on March 7, 1945 that an American soldier was buried in a shallow grave behind one of the houses in Reuler. When the body was recovered it was positively identified as Lowell Massey. His body was transported to the United States Military Cemetery #1 at Foy, Belgium located about 4 miles northeast of Bastogne and his family received another telegram informing them that his status had changed from MIA to Killed in Action. His body would remain there until his mother’s persistence would get him disinterred and brought home. On April 8, 1949 Lowell’s body was delivered to Crosier-Pearson Funeral Home in Cleburne, Texas. Lowell Harmon Massey was buried in the family plot at the Fall Creek Cemetery. He had finally made it home.
