Richard W. DeWitt

World War II

Richard DeWitt was born on November 10, 1924, near Dedham, IA to Homer and Lila (Boursen) DeWitt. He attended school in Dedham and, later, Carroll High School. When he registered for the military draft on November 26, 1942, he was employed by Dedham (Lauridsen) Creamery.

Richard entered the US Army at Camp Dodge, IA on November 27, 1943. He was assigned serial number 37 681 336. He went through basic training at Fort Sill, OK. By July, 1944, he had been assigned to the 117th Evacuation Hospital at Fort Bragg, NC. This unit had been activated at Fort Bragg on February 10, 1944. The hospital unit assembled equipment and personnel while training continued into October, 1944. The unit moved to Camp Kilmer, NJ which maintained the Overseas Staging Area for New York harbor.

After 19 days at Camp Kilmer, the entire unit boarded the “SS Mariposa” on October 26, 1944, and set sail for Europe. The ship landed at Marseille, France on November 6, 1944, and the unit immediately made a nine-mile march to Staging Area #1. After additional movement and organizing equipment, the unit moved by motor convoy to Epinal on November 24, 1944. The 117th Evacuation Hospital set up east of Phalsbourg in far northeastern France near the German border and received its first patients on November 28, 1944.

The Hospital handled over 2,000 patients in December as fighting raged near the Siegfried Line. As the Battle of the Bulge developed, it became necessary to close the hospital on January 2, 1945, and fall back. It reopened in Epinal on January 7, 1945. The unit was again moved to Saint-Jean-de-Bassel on January 17, 1945 via truck convoy. It treated patients continuously until March 24, 1945, when it again moved to Drachenbronn-Birlenback, France. In early April, the hospital moved into Germany as American forces moved forward. It set up near Adelsheim where it operated until the war ended on May 8, 1945.

After the surrender, the unit operated a German hospital at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. On August 7, 1945, the 117th Evacuation Hospital took over a facility in Linz, Austria. It remained there until it was demobilized on February 25, 1946. Many members of the unit (including Richard) were transferred to Detachment A of the 124th General Hospital. This unit continued to serve patients until June, 1946. He returned to the United States on June 18, 1946, and was discharged from the US Army on June 24, 1946 as a staff sergeant.

Richard returned to Dedham and, in June, 1948, married Ramona Greteman from Templeton. He worked as a salesman, owned a trucking company in Audubon and retired in 1982 after building and operating City Bowling Lanes in Carroll. He and Ramona retired to Branson, MO where he died on May 4, 1985 at age 60. He is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Templeton.