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Pfc. Robert Baummer |
His life began auspiciously on a cold, snowy morning in February of 1921. Born to first generation German immigrants then settled in the Naugatuck Valley region in central Connecticut, his formative years were spent growing up during the Great Depression. Remembered as a "kind hearted boy," he was known to give less fortunate families food from the family larder in his modest home while his mother and father toiled away working long hours at the nearby rubber plant.
During his teen years he was often found at a neighbor's garage working with friends on a torn down car, well on its way to being rebuilt. Unlike his only brother who would eagerly trod off to school in pursuit of grades, young Bob shunned the classroom until the town's truant officer found him once too often and told him to shape up or be shipped out.
In the mid-1930's, Bob entered a school that would today be regarded as an alternative educational institution. It was called the Connecticut Junior Republic, a place where special children with capability could learn to become the best citizens in the society of the 1930's. The school taught concepts of discipline and the consequences of disobedience on a level a teenage boy could understand. Called "citizens" at the school, the one hundred boys who attended the Republic at the time were a self-governing group, from elected officials like health commissioners and a sheriff, to boy judges who tried any offenders of the school's rules.
The Junior Republic's motto was "Nothing Without Labor," and the school taught trades. Bob took up mechanics, a skill that served him well when he went into the army. The school was self-sustaining, meaning it grew its own food and raised cattle in the hillsides and on adjacent farmland, a task Bob thoroughly enjoyed being a part of. A classmate remembered he was always an eager young lad, the first to volunteer to get things done, and never a complainer.
The values taught to the Junior Citizens so impressed Robert Ripley that he wrote about the school in his 1937 edition of "Believe It or Not." By then, Bob was playing sports. He was a catcher on the baseball team, and at 150 pounds and agile, he played both the offensive and defensive line on the football team. He was also a drummer in the school's drum corp, which won competiton statewide for its crisp marching.
Bob left the Republic in 1938 following the untimely death of his father. He felt it was his responsibility to come home and help take care of his mother. His older brother had managed to get into Dartmouth College, so Bob took up the role as head of the household in his absence. However, things changed quickly during 1940 as the war in Europe raged out of control and it became just a matter of time before the United States was to be dragged into the conflict in the Old World.
In the fall of that year, he volunteered to serve his country. Within a matter of weeks, he was in the army reporting to Fort Devens in Massachusetts where the 1st Infantry Division was reforming in anticipation of war. After basic training, he was promoted to Private First Class, the rank he carried throughout his army career. Eventually, he was trained in firing 60 mm. and 81 mm. mortars, a task heartily disliked by infantrymen. But, it was quite likely his agility, strength and mechanical ability that got him into this section of his company.
His officers made a good choice. During the final push in North Africa, Pfc. Baummer's company was ordered to cover the charge of another company in order to take a hill from the Germans that dominated the Plains of Mateur in Tunisia and prevented the necessary armored thrust northward from jumping off. In what was described in after action reports as "superb supporting fire," Pfc. Baumer and others in his company provided cover for the advancing company under an umbrella of 1,200 rounds of mortar fire along with 92,000 rounds of machine gun slugs. For these actions, his battalion was awarded one of the first Presidential Distinguished Unit Citations of the war.
The Citation read in part, "Undaunted by initial setbacks, this task force, although weakened by severe loses, displayed unexcelled courage and prowess in arms by regrouping and again assaulting the important hill. (It) was the only one in its entire sector to take its objective that day. The conspicious aggressiveness, valor, extrordinary heroism and profound devotion to duty insured the successful occupation of this vital terrain feature. The eminently significant accomplishment of this gallant and cohesive fighting force was instrumental in broaching the entire defensive system in this sector, enabling the entire II Corps to advance uninterruptedly until capitulation of the Axis forces in Tunisia was achieved."
His regiment's charge up the center of Sicily lasted for thirty-three days at the hottest time of the year. But, when the key city of Troina fell in August, Pfc. Baummer's unit was again recognized for playing the key role in that tough-fought struggle. General Allen wrote, "This unit seized certain critical terrain features on that flank, aggressively extending the attack....their continuing progress in this attack proved to be the decisive factor in the Battle for Troina." Sicily fell just over a week later.
On D-Day in France, June 6, 1944, Pfc. Baummer landed on Omaha Beach just after 11:00 AM under heavy machine gun and artillery fire very much like that depicted in the Stephen Spielberg movie, "Saving Private Ryan." Within a matter of an hour, however, his battalion worked its way over the bluffs behind the strongly fortified German positons, then back towards the beach to open a draw, finally allowing the thousands of men pinned on the beach to get up and move out. The Record of Events for his unit, describing their actions that day, said, "Individual deeds of valor were so commonplace as to almost be unnoticed. The battalion, by the fighting spirit of its officers and men, was the first to push through the beachhead maintenance line and get behind enemy positions, thus driving out the forces protecting the beach and forming the wedge that permitted other troops to get off the beach."
It was Pfc. Baummer's most glorious moment of the war, and his regiment was awarded another Presidental Unit Citation for its key accomplishments on the morning of D-Day. By that night, his company had pushed farthest inland off Omaha Beach. After D-Day, his fighting brethren pushed on, spearheading the attack south towards Paris. Within a week, they were twenty-three miles inland, six miles further than any other unit that landed on Omaha Beach. The closing remarks of the Citation read, "The individual calmness, endurance, superior efficiency and devotion to duty exhibited by these men was a direct contribution to the successful establishment of a firm beachhead on the ramparts of 'Fortress Europe' and will without doubt result in a successful conclusion to the war in Europe."
But, Pfc. Baummer was not present when the First Division stormed towards Paris. In the oral history taken by the author in 1997 from one of his closest friends, who was there when Pfc. Baummer was killed in action some fify-three years earlier on June 9, 1944, it was recorded, "I believe it was 10:00 or so, and we were moving from one hedgerow into another. We were moving up a wagon trail at the time. We didn't think the Germans would pick us up, but they must have seen us coming, because they let go with shells and rifle fire that was unbelievable. Bob took a direct hit from a shell. He never knew what hit him. It happened so fast. But when it was over, there were bodies everywhere. So many were just lying there; heads were gone, as were arms and legs. I was lucky. I only got hit by splinters from the shell that killed Bob, as well as some shrapnel. He was a lively fellow, you know. Even in the worst of circumstances, he had something funny to say. Please let your family know that he did not suffer before he died."
Pfc. Baummer's remains were buried in the 1st American Cemetery in France until he was disinterred in 1947, then brought back home under military escort. His family received his body in December of that year, and after lying in state so that everybody could pay homage to their hometown hero for the last time, he was buried with full military honors next to his father.
In 1994, through the intervention of Connecticut Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Pfc. Baummer was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy. He was also awarded the Purple Heart for his supreme sacrifice to his home and country during the war. | | |
