30th Tank Destroyer Battalion Reunion

Eleven veterans – out of 650 men who served in World War II as part of the 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion gathered in Savannah. Their stories were about experiences at The Battle of the Bulge and their campaign in 1944 which led them through France and into Bastogne, Belgium to battle the Germans.

They fought in five of the six European campaigns and were often recognized as the “fightingest battalion during WWII.” They helped take down Hitler’s Panzer Corps and clear the way for victory in Europe.

Bess Ramsey, Savannah, Georgia, whose father Major Gabriel McNair was lost in battle, went to France last summer to see her father’s grave in the Normandy American Cemetery and was guest speaker at the reunion dinner.

“It is a beautiful and peaceful place, very historic. A lot of school children visit the cemetery each year,” she said. “It is a reminder to the French the price we paid for freedom. There are over 600 graves.”

Sarah Summers has attended all 30 reunions. Her late husband, Oscar Summers Jr., kept an extensive scrapbook of his experiences including newspaper clippings of member’s achievements and obituaries. The scrapbook is a special feature at the reunions.

From the Savannah Morning News, Savannah, Georgia.