Jack Womer

His parents were Roxy Middelsworth and William Walk Womer. Jack is still a child when the family moved to Dundalk in Maryland in 1920. His father worked at Bethlehem Steel Corp. at Sparrows Point. He grew up before moving to Dunleer Road in adulthood. He remained there for numerous years of before moving to Edgemere.

Jack Womer was drafted into the Army shortly after the entry into America's war in 1941. He joined the 29th Infantry Division. With this unit he went to England in late 1942. He answers this time to launch a call for volunteers within the division. The General Staff has decided to create small Ranger units for conducting commando operations on the shores of occupied Europe. Jack Womer, with the other guys from the battalion left for Scotland to train in the company of British Commandos. It was the hardest moments of his life. The training is similar to the training of green berets today. But for him, the hardness of the training allowed him to survive the war. During this period he was with the 29th Ranger Battalion, Jack Womer slept in tents or in huts made of steel. He remembers that the little stove in the middle of the hut, which, in winter could not warm the hut. The drive that was in both groups. One morning, one in the evening. Training included the act of rappelling a cliff 60 meters after crossing a barbed wire fence of 7 meters and after throwing grenades from above. Jack Womer was wounded several times during this workout, but without attracting the sympathy of the British Commandos. Jack Womer remembers which he had sprained his hand during training on the obstacle course, his hand was bandaged and he had to dive into the icy water. He and his hand were refrigerated, but despite the pain, he continued the exercises. After months of training that Jack Womer described as "always thinking - no rest, no sleep," the 29th Battalion was disbanded in October 1943. Jack Womer returned to his original unit. But during a stay in Cornwall, Jack had met a sergeant of the 101st Airborne. Impressed, especially by the jump pay of $ 50, he asked to join the unit. This was refused because he was an expert at shooting with the BAR. He repeated a request and finally accepted. He made his 5 jumps calling paratroopers in one day and joined the 101st Airborne Division. He joined the 506th PIR, where he became a member of the demolition platoon: the famous Filthy Thirteen. He spent the rank of Corporal to that of Pfc. Jake McNiece, the platoon commander that joined Jack Womer, nicknamed "Hawkeye" because he saw more than 10 kilometers. 

Jack Womer refused to do his hair in the Mohawk style and paint on his face. He explained that he actually followed the advice of the British commandos. He had learned never to provoke the enemy. The commando, they have taught him that when they fell on the Germans, they had to do what they did, for no reason. He also recalled that one of his companions was captured pushed against a wall and almost died from a bullet to the head. Jack Womer also recalled another great moment, his unlikely meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

 “They called us to say that we would be doing a show jumping for Mr. Eisenhower, Churchill and Taylor. I hated the idea. It was my seventh jump, because I had an internship with the 29th Rangers, training with the British commandos. So we left, and Taylor told us "When you land, make sure you stay well camouflaged." It took off, we jumped and we found ourselves in a completely clear field... there was nothing at all and it started to rain. Devils! And there was this haystack. I looked at my friend and said, "Listen, let's go into this haystack!" He was hiding in the hay, with our gun between his legs, but you could always see what was going on outside. Arrive Command Car, which is a station right next to our wheel. Churchill got out, turned around and began to piss on his boots. !

I said, "Do I have to get that son of a...Mr. Prime Minister, let's not get mad at me! So I didn't move, I don't think I went to hickory anyway and my boots only covered my ankles. But I was so close I can tell he needed a circumcision. So I gave this son-of-a-gun the nickname "Cranckers"... But he never knew he was in the hayloft."