Trip down memory lane for World War II Veteran

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Every year thousands of Americans travel to Europe. Each has his or her own reason for making the trip. For Hubert Parks, 85 years young, of Pinckneyville, Illinois it was a trip down memory lane. He was only 20 years old when he first saw Paris in 1944. He was an American soldier stationed near the St. Lazare train station. When he read in the paper that Margaret Pierce, retired Steeleville High School teacher, was taking a group of adults to Europe he decided to join the group. He had two requests. "I'd like to see the train station and I'd like to eat fish and chips again." He got to do both and lot more.

Nate Ellis, 25, a young man from Sterling, Kentucky, a material coordinator for L-3 Communications, came to see more of the world, particularly areas involved in World War II. He collects "militaria" and has a deep appreciation for the efforts of those men who at his age were fighting to make the world free. His own grandfather, Willard Whitehead, was a member of the U.S. Army Air who served in Italy with the 15 AF 455 Bomber group. He was a B-24 top gunner. At the age of 15 Nate began grilling his grandfather for information and then be became a re-enactor joining the 5th Ranger Battalion. They did public and private re-enactments. It was natural that Hubert and Nate should bond on the trip. Throughout the journey Nate and Hubert exchanged information.

For young Hubert Parks his part in that great war began over 60 years ago when on January 11, 1944, he went to Camp Plauche, Louisiana, near New Orleans. He was inducted into the Army's 13th Traffic Regulation Group, a unit made up of men who had some form of transportation experience in civilian life. Hubert had worked for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. His 2009 journey took him first to the British Isles, just as his 1944 trip had done, only this time he went by plane. On May 30, 1944, he sailed on the Queen Elizabeth with 16,000 troops. They landed in Scotland and then took a train to England. "That was when I ate my first pot pie," he said. Women along the tracks sold little meat pies, "kidney pies", to the troops. He went to Blandford, England and was at a rail station for two months waiting for soldiers to clear Paris. Here he stayed with an English family and got to know the English people. It was like a home away from home. Years later he discovered a letter one of the girls had written to his mother describing the time he had spent with the family and assuring her she had a good son. He said he had written the family and asked them to send word to his family that he was shipping out to France because he knew his own letters to his family would be censored.

He was moved to Bournemouth on the coast where they waited for orders to go to France. They finally sailed from Southampton and the crossing took two days. Hubert said it was a rough crossing in low boats. "I was never so sick in my life." There was all kinds of abandoned equipment in the Channel from the D-Day Invasion of June. When they landed in France there was no transportation for them. Hubert, five other soldiers, and their lieutenant hitched a ride with the Free French in an old Army tank. He arrived in Paris on August 25, 1944. His first job was directing traffic around the Arc de Triomphe. Convoys were coming into Paris and they rerouted them around Paris. Then he was moved to the Battionalle Freight Yards at the St. Lazare Station. Hubert said, "Not all the Germans were gone yet. You could see their tanks on the streets of Paris." Despite this, he thought Paris was beautiful. He loved the French people. "90% were nice, but there were a few who thought more of the Germans than us." He also said more damage was done to Paris by the Americans getting rid of the Germans than what the Germans had done.

He worked with French people and they were considerate. He never learned French, but some of his friends did. Some of the men explored the city and Baer, one of his friends, took French classes and even went to the Opera; but as for himself, he did not. "I just did my job." The train station had gasoline and ammunition which made it vulnerable. This was also a bad time personally since his mother passed away while he was there. He did have a girl back home, Alene, who wrote him every day. When he returned home they married and enjoyed 52 years together.

On December 26, 1944, he and several of his friends were playing pinochle. Several went to bed but a couple of them, including his friend, Sgt. Murphy, stayed at the table. The Germans bombed the station at 11 p.m. and Sgt. Murphy was permanently brain damaged. "We didn't even her the plane that dropped the bomb. What saved me was we were sleeping in strong German bunks." The station was heavily damaged and wheels had been blown up on the roof. The bomb left a crater, "as big as a house". Men from other units were killed. After about two hours their lieutenant showed up and took them to a Red Cross Hotel. They went back to work the next day. They moved to a schoolhouse the Germans had occupied which required them to cross the Seine River everyday. He said many of the shops were boarded up.

When asked to make comparison between his first trip to Europe and this trip, he said, "It's hard-it's all so different." Huberts said he was glad to get to cross the Channel at Dover, because he had always wanted to see it because his sister used to sing the Vera Lynn song, "There'll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover". Still the 2009 crossing was on a beautiful, sunny day. The ferry was large and filled with happy tourists enjoying the antics of a friendly seagull. The boat taking him in 1944 was barely seaworthy in choppy water, and they were young men going into a war zone and an uncertain future. He laughed when talking about the Metro. He is a very tall man and said they joked about him and his head touching the ceiling. He still nearly reaches the top. He said they had outdoor toilets on the streets of Paris, and if a person was tall you not only saw their feet but their heads too-the doors were very short. He saw the Eiffel Tower at a distance, but never close. This time he rode up in it and the view was "wonderful". As he remembers, "It wasn't operating when I was here before." He admitted he saw more of Paris on this trip than he had when he was there in 1944. While visiting Notre Dame Cathedral, Ms. Pierce mentioned to the local guide, Fabriana, that Hubert was a World War II Veteran who had been in Paris and wished to see the train station. She became very emotional and hugged Hubert and thanked him over and over again for what he had done for her city. She said, "You will see the station." That was a highlight of the trip for Hubert. The bus made a special stop and the Illinois group as well as Nate, the young man from Kentucky, joined Hubert for pictures and his memories of the area. He pointed out details to Nate. He said he had spent more time in the yards, but he recognized the clock on the front of the station. The area has changed, but from the pictures he has of the 1944 damage, some of the surrounding buildings can be identified.

The 2009 trip was organized through CHA, a travel organization out of Philadelphia. Four groups were combined for the trip. Besides the Illinois and Kentucky groups, there were also people from Georgia and Oklahoma. Those in the Illinois group were Ruth Rahlfs and her daughter Cheryl Sauerhage, Gary and Barb Misselhorn, Lou Ann Sickmeyer, Julie DuVall, Natalie and Dari McDougle, Hubert, and Margaret Pierce. The trip began in London, England where the group visited The Tower of London, and saw the Crown Jewels, took a ride on the incredible London Eye (the HUGE ferris wheel) that gives wonderful views of the city, took a cruise on the Thames, watched the changing of the guard, took a bus tour of the city, visited St. Paul's Cathedral, rode the Underground, had fish and chips, and some even went to see Harrods, the expensive store. After crossing the Channel and driving through the French countryside, Paris beckoned. Here they did a city tour which included the Arch de Triomphe (here Hubert's eyes lit up because he said, "Now this all looks the same," and he told about his service here), Notre Dame, the Luxembourg Gardens, the Eiffel Tower, the Opera area (which is near the St. Lazare train station), the Lafayette Galleries, the Sorbonne, the Bastille Square, as well as the site of the guillotine. They also took a night cruise on the Seine River and went up the Eiffel Tower. Next morning everyone boarded the TGV, the fast train, for Switzerland, and here Hubert said things had not changed. After the war was over he and some buddies had a short leave to visit Switzerland and Italy. They spent time in Loraine and Lucerne and crossed over briefly to Italy. Hubert rode the gondolas up to his hotel and he bought himself an Omega watch back in 1945. In fact, he had $80.00 to spend so be bought watches for "everyone I knew". In Switzerland the 2009 travelers visited the Lion Monument dedicated to Swiss Mercenaries, shopped in Bucherer, the famous store, sailed on Lake Lucerne to Weggis to board a cog train up Mt. Rigi, took a gondola down the mountain, and walked through the city at night over the famous bridge. The next country visited was the tiny principality of Liechtenstein followed by a visit to Innsbruck, Austria where they saw the golden roof, went to the Swaroviski crystal shop, sampled the famous Mozart liqueur, and enjoyed the variety of pastel buildings. Neushwanstein, the castle model for Disneyland, was next followed by a side trip to Wiesenkirche, a rococo church, that is one of UNESCO's world heritage sites. Awesome. There they also got to sample the local donuts which are sold next to the church. The final days of the trip where in Munich, where Hitler started his rise to power. Here the group visited sites famous to both King Ludwig II who built the fairy tale castles as well as Hitler who wanted Munich to be his important city. They also visited Dachau, the first concentration camp in Germany. The final evening the Illinois group and two ladies from Oklahoma, who had spent a lot of time with the Illinois group, went to the Hofbrahaus for a night of good German food and entertainment. Here the group danced the polka and celebrated both Ruth Rahlf's birthday, which would be on the day of departure, and Hubert's birthday which would be a few days later. It was the perfect way to the end the trip as the entertainers and crown sang "Happy Birthday" to Hubert who turned 86.

As everyone prepared to depart, Nate said meeting Hubert was "wonderful". "I have such respect for what they did," Nate said. "I fear most people have forgotten, but we can't let that happen." Nate said he has interviewed lots of veterans and his passion for more information is an "everyday" thing. "We have wars today, but World War II was worldwide. Everyone was involved. The fate of the world hung in the balance."

More of Hubert's memories are available because Ted Batteau, a teacher in Coulterville, and his students collected veteran's memories for a project and that interview and others is available on the website, Google - Hubert Parks. Hubert was also honored with a "Thank You, America" certificate given by the French Government to those who helped save France. He received this in St. Louis, MO in 2002.