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Different
Ways Home
Private First Class
Clarence S. Hughart from West Virginia
and Sergeant
Robert (Bob) L. Bearden from Texas were
both original members in Company H 507th
Parachute Infantry Regiment.
For 60 plus years
Clarence and Bob told the same story that
Clarence had been stuck in the plane on his
jump into Normandy and Bob helped him get
unstuck. They were both right and yet both
wrong at the same time if you can believe
that!
After Clarence and Bob
both received their Manifests they were
shocked. Clarence was stuck and
someone helped him out of the plane. Bob
did help someone out of the plane as well.
Only problem was they were in different
planes.
Clarence’s stick, (42-32806)
was far off course just west of
Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte (190:950) down to (179:839)
near La Haye-du-Puits where Clarence came
down.
Bob’s stick (42-92842)
jumped between
Hautteville-Bocage (242:988) and Fresville
(320:000) Northeast
of Drop Zone T.
Remember that both
sticks were strung out due to both had men
stuck in the door. Clarence’s stick
flew north to south while Bob's went west to
east. The delay time were not known
but both Clarence and Bob felt it was
between 30 seconds and 1 minute.
Clarence’s jumpmaster
was captured around
Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte and was killed in a
strafing the next day 7 June 1944 at Le
Mesnil-Vigot and Clarence landed far away
due to the delay. Bob's stick shows
clearly that the first part of the stick
landed together and were accounted for.
The ones who were behind the soldier stuck
in the door were not as luck as many became
POW.
Bob Bearden wrote a
book about his time in WWII titled
To D-Day and Back. Clarence on the
other hand did not.
After Clarence hit the
ground he was shot in the hip. He was taken
to a German Headquarters to start (near La
Haye-du-Puits) (179:839) and then
taken by wagon to a German Temporary
POW Hospital near Orglandes (254:984).
A few days later Clarence along with other
seriously wounded soldiers went
from Orglandes to the Germany (French)
Naval Hospital in Cherbourg.
That was a lucky break
for
Clarence and his injured hip. On
June 27, 1944 the City of Cherbourg fell
to the Allied forces. He went home three
months later and was discharged/Retired on
Disability July 1945. Bob who wasn't
wounded became a POW for the remainder of
the war.
Both Clarence Hughart
and Bob Bearden got home, just in different
ways. Both men were lifetime members of the
507th Parachute Infantry
Association. These were just two men of
millions that fought Fascists around the
world. The soldiers from WWII wouldn’t have believed that 81
years later Fascists are in power in the
United States of America.
Brian N. Siddall
June 6, 2025 |
