On D-Day Robert’s unit was in on the initial invasion, he was assigned to drive a tank on to the beach from an LST. The LST hit a sand bar, and believing it was the beach, ordered the tanks off. The tanks went off into deep water, the drivers of the first two tanks which landed upside down, drowned. Robert was in the third tank which landed right side up and was able to swim to the beach. His unit repaired tanks and other vehicles damaged in the fighting, and installed the blades on the tanks for breaking through the hedgerows.

     The unit was ultimately assigned to General Patton’s army as it fought its way across France, Belgium, and Germany. Robert patrolled the roads during the Battle of the Bulge keeping the supply trucks and Patton’s tanks rolling. He kept his coffee hot by mounting a coffee pot next to the engine, several times he was flagged down by  General Patton’s aid and shared a cup with the General. In Germany Robert saw a concentration camp, along with the other horrors of war. He never glamorized the war: he saw the suffering of the American, English and other free people of Europe.

     After the war, Robert returned home to Jean and their son Terry who had been born while he was overseas. They had a second son Brad. Robert never talked much about the war until later years when his two sons were grown, he just picked up his life and got on with it. A few years after the war the family moved across the country near Los Angeles, California where Robert worked as a diesel truck mechanic and raised his family. Robert became the superintendent of a large trucking company before retiring and moving to the small town of Mount Shasta in northern California. He had two sons, three granddaughters, and six great grand children.

    Robert Townsend was like a lot of American G.I.s: his country called and he went and did his little part to protect the free world.  He was one of the lucky ones, he came home. He was a kind hearted person who always put others first. Robert Townsend died of lung cancer in his own bed near Mount Shasta, California on May 6, 1995 [aged 76]

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