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COL John Campbell
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Campbell, John, Jr., COL.
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Contact Info
Home Town Chicago, Illinois
Last Address 506 Tara Boreen Weaver, Alabama 36277
Date of Passing Dec 29, 1995
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
COL Campbell's last military assignment was as the Deputy Post Commader at Fort McClellan, Alabama. He retired from active duty on November 30, 1968.
Other Comments:
Citation for Siver Star:
"For gallantry in action in the Vire River sector, France 27 July 1944. When Company L, 134th Infantry, was unable to continue its advance because of fire from an enemy machine gun, Lieutenant Campbell, a platoon leader, sent a squad to the left flank of the enemy emplacement in an attempt to destroy it. Since the squad was unable to bring flanking fire upon the enemy emplacement, Lieutenant Campbell, armed only with hand grenades, crawled to the enemy’s right flank where he threw two grenades which destroyed the gun, killed its crew and enabled Company L to continue its advance. The gallantry in action on the part of Lieutenant Campbell, his courage and zeal for the accomplishment of his unit’s mission, reflect the highest credit upon his character as an officer and upon the military service."
Headquarters 35th Infantry Division, General Orders No. 38 (29 September 1944).
Short Biography
John Campbell, Jr., was born on September 19, 1913, in Chicago, Illinois, the only son of John Campbell and Rachel Borthwick, recent immigrants from Glasgow, Scotland. His father was a house painter and decorator. Jack Campbell graduated from Lane Tech High in Chicago in 1932. During the years of the Great Depression, he worked as a soda jerk in a pharmacy, a guide at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, a singer on the radio, and as a street car conductor and dispatcher. On April 22, 1932, he enlisted in the Illinois National Guard and served almost four years in the 342nd Infantry. He was discharged at the end of his term of service as a Private. Jack Campbell married Mary Elizabeth Lush on January 31, 1942. He enlisted in the Army for the second time on November 16, 1943, and attended Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.
He served as an Infantry officer in the European Theatre of Operations as a platoon leader and company commander in the 134th Infantry Regiment of the 35th Infantry Division. As a First Lieutenant, he took command of Company K on August 18, 1944. He was given a battlefield promotion to Captain on September 24, 1944. He led soldiers of his units through the hedgerows of Normandy; in the Battles for Saint Lo, Nancy, and Orleans; and the relief of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. He was wounded twice, once at Saint Lo and again at Lutrebois in Belgium. At the time of his second wound, he was one of the last of his regiment's original company grade officers from the time of unit's entry into France in July 1944, who had not been killed in action or evacuated for wounds. He was hospitalized after his second wound, and returned to the 134th Infantry on April 1, 1945. He was assigned to the Antitank Company. He participated in the Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns, and returned to the United States on September 10, 1945.
After the war, he chose to stay on active duty. He served a short time as the Assistant Professor of Military Science at his old high school, Lane Tech. Later, he was commissioned in the Regular Army, and attended the Infantry Officer Advanced Course in 1949, and the Command and General Staff Course in 1952. After World War II, his assignments included service in Munich, Germany (1949-1951); Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1953-1954); and Tehran, Iran (1958-1960). He also served as the Chief of Staff of the XI U.S. Corps, as a staff officer in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel at the Pentagon, and as the Deputy Post Commander at Fort McClellan, Alabama.
He was awarded the Silver Star Medal, our Nation's third highest medal for valor, for actions as a platoon leader in Company L, 134th Infantry Regiment, in the Vire River Sector following the Battle of St. Lo. His other military decorations include the Purple Heart with OLC, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the American Campaign Medal with OLC, the Army of Occupation (Germany) Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with OLC, a Presidential Unit Citation, and the Legion of Merit.
Jack Campbell was a kind, caring, and very proud man. He was man of character and integrity. He was proud of his Scottish heritage, proud of his family, proud of his service to his Country, and, above all, proud to be an American. He was a life-long member of the 35th Infantry Division Association. He was immensely proud of the 35th Infantry Division and the 134th Infantry Regiment. He rarely spoke of his experiences in World War II. He kept only three items related to World War II: his copy of the book, All Hell Can't Stop Us, a captured German officer's sword, and a letter from his First Sergeant in Company K. The letter relates Christmas Eve of 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge, when Captain Campbell sang Silent Night to the soldiers of his company.
Jack Campbell retired at the rank of Colonel at Fort McClellan, and lived in Weaver, Alabama until his death on December 29, 1995. In his retirement he played golf, built furniture, became an authority on organic farming, fed dozens of families from his garden, hosted innumerable parties, played the piano or organ and sang with a beautiful tenor voice, helped anyone in need, and loved and took care of his family. He raised his Country's flag every morning, and lowered it every evening. In 1990, the Army notified him that he was being recalled to duty for the Gulf War - he was 77 years old at the time. Of course, the notification was an error, but he loved to tell the story.
Jack and Mary Campbell had two sons, both who served as career Army officers, one retiring as a Colonel; the other as a Lieutenant General. Jack Campbell is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Ardennes Alsace Campaign (1944-45)/Battle of the Bulge
From Month/Year
December / 1944
To Month/Year
January / 1945
Description The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. Hitler planned the offensive with the primary goal to recapture the important harbour of Antwerp. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. United States forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred the highest casualties for any operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany's war-making resources.
The battle was known by different names. The Germans referred to it as Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein ("Operation Watch on the Rhine"), while the French named it the Bataille des Ardennes ("Battle of the Ardennes"). The Allies called it the Ardennes Counteroffensive. The phrase "Battle of the Bulge" was coined by contemporary press to describe the way the Allied front line bulged inward on wartime news maps and became the best known name for the battle.
The German offensive was supported by several subordinate operations known as Unternehmen Bodenplatte, Greif, and Währung. As well as stopping Allied transport over the channel to the harbor of Antwerp, Germany also hoped these operations would split the British and American Allied line in half, and then proceed to encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis Powers' favor. Once that was accomplished, Hitler could fully concentrate on the eastern theatre of war.
The offensive was planned by the German forces with the utmost secrecy, minimizing radio traffic and moving troops and equipment under cover of darkness. Despite their efforts to keep it secret, the Third U.S. Army's intelligence staff predicted a major German offensive, and Ultra indicated that a "substantial and offensive" operation was expected or "in the wind", although a precise date or point of attack could not be given. Aircraft movement from the Russian Front and transport of forces by rail, both to the Ardennes, was noticed but not acted upon, according to a report later written by Peter Calvocoressi and F. L. Lucas at the codebreaking centre Bletchley Park.
Near-complete surprise was achieved by a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance. The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, taking advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions, which grounded the Allies' overwhelmingly superior air forces. Fierce resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive around Elsenborn Ridge and in the south around Bastogne blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success; columns that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This and terrain that favored the defenders threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. Improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, as survivors retreated to the defenses of the Siegfried Line.
About 610,000 American forces were involved in the battle,[2] and 89,000 were casualties, including 19,000 killed. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II.
