FARMINGTON — Sixty-seven years have passed but World War II veteran Forrest Cleveland still is emotional when talking about his three years in the war.
“I wasn’t trying to be a hero,” said Cleveland, who at fi rst served with the 71st Coast Artillery in the U.S. Army.
“I was proud to be in the service. There were times when I was a little bit scared too, well a lot of times.”
His voice shook slightly when asked about the importance of Veterans Day.
“It means a lot to me,” Cleveland said. “Just thinking about all those who got killed.”
Cleveland’s older brother volunteered to serve. Cleveland did not volunteer because he was needed to work on the family farm. He was drafted at age 21 and served from1942 to 1945.
He recalled that neighbors oft ered to help him stay out of the Army to work on the farm but he refused that route.
He told his neighbors: “No, when they call me, I’m going.”
Cleveland left Des Moines, Iowa, on Aug. 30, 1942, for Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He left Kansas by train but did not know where he was going. He ended up in Washington, D.C., with the 71st Coast Artillery and manned guns on some of the rooftops of the buildings in the nation’s capital.
“There were so many U-boats. They were afraid they would send a smaller ship out and it would demoralize the people if they could get anything in to bomb Washington, D.C.”
The Army started a new battalion, the 863rd Battalion Anti-Aircraft Artillery, and Cleveland said he was selected for that unit and transferred to Fort Totten in New York.
Cleveland can name several highlights of his time in the service. His outfit served as the military police on the luxury liner Queen Mary, which was used to carry troops during the war.From New York, Cleveland traveled on the Queen Mary to Scotland and then by train to southern England. His unit was set up in southern England to guard an airfi eld 24 hours a day.
“I woke up one morning and the planes were all painted with stripes on the wings. They said the invasion was on,” Cleveland said.
Five days later, he left for France and landed on Omaha Beach.
“It was a bloody mess,” Cleveland said. “It was terrible.”
He did not see anyone killed but saw dead soldiers on the beach. The closest he came to battle was on the border of Germany. His unit’sjob was to shoot at “buzz bombs” going across toward England.
“We shot a few of them down,” Cleveland said.
Following the Battle of the Bulge on Dec. 16, 1944, the Army asked Cleveland if he wanted to go to Oft cer Candidates School. Cleveland decided he did not want to go to Japan so he turned down the candidates’ school and was sent to infantry training school.
After finishing that training, he left with a unit to start a prisoner of war camp in Germany. He then went to France to work in another prisoner of war camp.
Cleveland said these trips back and forth providedanother highlight. He met a French girl and would stop and visit with her and her parents in Paris.
“I had the biggest thrill dancing in the Eiff el Tower,” he recalled.
Cleveland attributes much of his service in the war to luck.
“I was just lucky. Lucky to go overseas. Lucky to get there five days after the invasion of France. Lucky I didn’t get shelled at more than I did.”
After leaving the Army, he continued to farm for several years. He then worked for a natural gas company.
Cleveland is now 91 yearsold and lives at Peachtree Village in Farmington.
News, Pages 1 on 11/07/2012