Teeple Plays Down His Role In WWII
April 8, 2019 at 12:48 a.m.
Teeple Plays Down His Role In WWII
By Hannah Hubbard-
“There is nothing spectacular about what I did. ... I don’t intend for anyone to believe there is.”
Wayne Teeple, a World War II veteran, claims that he has no right to brag about his service during the second great war.
Teeple was born on Nov. 22, 1924, in Leesburg. After he graduated high school, he was directionless, so he set his sights on the military. “I wasn’t happy working in a factory. I wasn’t that patriotic. It was just something I had to do,” he said.
When he turned 18, he went Muncie to sign up for the Navy. After his physical, they said he had a weak heart and would never be accepted. A week later a friend of his said, “Teep, I’m going to enlist in the tank core. Why don’t you come with me?”
Teeple went to the Army in Elkhart for recruitment. They sent him and his friend to Toledo, Ohio, to be checked out. During that examination he was given a clean bill of health. A Navy official there said he did not know why the Navy turned him down. “It was almost laughable that they wouldn’t take me before.” Teeple said. He officially entered the military Dec. 4, 1942.
When he joined the newly formed 13th Armored Division “Black Cats,” he fully expected to end up in the belly of a tank. Instead, after basic training he was sent to train as a radio operator at Fort Knox. Three months later he upgraded to radio repairman. When he left the military 38 months after joining, he was a five-stripe technical sergeant. He was the top communications officer in his medical battalion.
He was one of the few enlisted men in his outfit. Each soldier had a service number that they “lived by.” The “1” at the front of Teeple’s serial number made it obvious that he enlisted. The draft was “full-blast” at that point Teeple said, and he took a lot of heat and was laughed at for volunteering.
After being stationed in California, they continued training in Texas, then finally in 1945 were stationed at Le Havre, France, for active service. As the communications officer, he ensured that the soldiers had sufficient radio equipment and that it worked properly. When the war ended, he was in the supposed city of Hitler’s birth, Braunau am Inn.
“The friends I had, when they went through D-Day,” Teeple remarked.
Teeple pulled out a list of all the people killed in the division. Even though his was a noncombatant battalion, two soldiers were killed.
Teeple was in the headquarters company and spent most of his time in a half-track with a red cross on the top. He said they would drive by Germans standing in the road, willingly surrendering to American soldiers as prisoners of war, rather than becoming POWs of Russians.
Teeple plays down his role in the war. However, his was the last armored division in and the last one out. They were told they would have been the first in Japan, assured of 75 percent casualties, if the atomic bomb was not dropped.
“I did what I thought I should do,” Teeple said.
Flipping through his division book, he pointed to the one photo of himself. “I don’t shine up very much,” he said.
When the war was over, Teeple was honorably discharged from the military. Not long after he returned to Indiana, he was contacted by his banker at Leesburg Peoples State Bank. “I want you to come work for me,” the banker said. Teeple worked there for 38 years before he retired.
Teeple and his wife, Gwen, were married Nov. 7, 1948. They have two children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Wayne and Gwen are still happily married and live together at Grace Village Retirement Community in Winona Lake.
“There is nothing spectacular about what I did. ... I don’t intend for anyone to believe there is.”
Wayne Teeple, a World War II veteran, claims that he has no right to brag about his service during the second great war.
Teeple was born on Nov. 22, 1924, in Leesburg. After he graduated high school, he was directionless, so he set his sights on the military. “I wasn’t happy working in a factory. I wasn’t that patriotic. It was just something I had to do,” he said.
When he turned 18, he went Muncie to sign up for the Navy. After his physical, they said he had a weak heart and would never be accepted. A week later a friend of his said, “Teep, I’m going to enlist in the tank core. Why don’t you come with me?”
Teeple went to the Army in Elkhart for recruitment. They sent him and his friend to Toledo, Ohio, to be checked out. During that examination he was given a clean bill of health. A Navy official there said he did not know why the Navy turned him down. “It was almost laughable that they wouldn’t take me before.” Teeple said. He officially entered the military Dec. 4, 1942.
When he joined the newly formed 13th Armored Division “Black Cats,” he fully expected to end up in the belly of a tank. Instead, after basic training he was sent to train as a radio operator at Fort Knox. Three months later he upgraded to radio repairman. When he left the military 38 months after joining, he was a five-stripe technical sergeant. He was the top communications officer in his medical battalion.
He was one of the few enlisted men in his outfit. Each soldier had a service number that they “lived by.” The “1” at the front of Teeple’s serial number made it obvious that he enlisted. The draft was “full-blast” at that point Teeple said, and he took a lot of heat and was laughed at for volunteering.
After being stationed in California, they continued training in Texas, then finally in 1945 were stationed at Le Havre, France, for active service. As the communications officer, he ensured that the soldiers had sufficient radio equipment and that it worked properly. When the war ended, he was in the supposed city of Hitler’s birth, Braunau am Inn.
“The friends I had, when they went through D-Day,” Teeple remarked.
Teeple pulled out a list of all the people killed in the division. Even though his was a noncombatant battalion, two soldiers were killed.
Teeple was in the headquarters company and spent most of his time in a half-track with a red cross on the top. He said they would drive by Germans standing in the road, willingly surrendering to American soldiers as prisoners of war, rather than becoming POWs of Russians.
Teeple plays down his role in the war. However, his was the last armored division in and the last one out. They were told they would have been the first in Japan, assured of 75 percent casualties, if the atomic bomb was not dropped.
“I did what I thought I should do,” Teeple said.
Flipping through his division book, he pointed to the one photo of himself. “I don’t shine up very much,” he said.
When the war was over, Teeple was honorably discharged from the military. Not long after he returned to Indiana, he was contacted by his banker at Leesburg Peoples State Bank. “I want you to come work for me,” the banker said. Teeple worked there for 38 years before he retired.
Teeple and his wife, Gwen, were married Nov. 7, 1948. They have two children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Wayne and Gwen are still happily married and live together at Grace Village Retirement Community in Winona Lake.
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