 World
War II
PVT
Harrold Hazelton Vestal Jr
of the 23 Inf, 2 Inf Division
They were part of the D-Day
Invasion.
France had been occupied by the
Germans since
1940 and they would drive them out.
See
photographs of this battle | Youtube
film about this battle
Born 28 Oct 1923 in Dallas
-12 Jul 1944 Saint Lo, Normandy, France
Article and
photo above from. "Men and Women in the
Armed Forces from Grayson County Texas"
The Hospital (medics on the
battle field) checked his body and had to
make a record of cause of death;
He was killed by an artillery shell which
put shell fragments in his thorax.
See
other documents and his family below on this
page. |
This Battle is also
called The Battle of the Hedgerows
Side note
about the Hedgerows; You were
trapped in the hedgerows like being
in a maze. The Germans had
control of Saint Lo and but we won
the battle, but at a huge cost.
Europe used hedgerows to surround
their fields and pastures. Some are
16 feet high.
This photo and their relaxed weary
walk is a sign that the Germans were
pushed back and
they were in no danger.
Strangely many Bois d'arc Trees are
part of fence rows in Europe, in the
fossil records the Bois'd'arc trees
are native only to Grayson County
and Fannin County Texas. All come
from here and spread around the
world. This area of Texas used to
send thousands of boxcars full of
the bois d'arc seeds, starting in
the 1880's. Even if the fence row
dies it still stays standing another
100 yrs as it rots very very slowly.
It is the source of most fence posts
in earlier days. You cannot just
break it back or snap off branches.
An American soldier wrote home and
told his parents of the difficulty
of finding a way through the hedges.
They sent him a hacksaw and it
worked so well huge amounts of them
were sent to all and became part of
their equipment.
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In Happier
Days
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
1 Feb 1944
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Fort Worth
Star-Telegram
10 Aug 1944
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See his Other Information below
and his family information
There are several Harold Vestals and Harrold Vestals
that pop up in Texas and many were in WWII
Some were Jr's and Sr's so be careful in
genealogical research.
He is buried in West
Hill in the Veterans Section.
Annex C Veterans.
This is the application for a military
headstone
|
This article tells about
his family and
Harold Vestal Sr
The Denison Press
30 Apr 1948
|
He used Harold and as far as I can tell
Harrold Jr
used the double R.
Harold Vestal Sr & wife are buried in
Wyoming.
He was born in Sherman.
He served in the Navy in WWII
In 1930 This
family lived in Abilene, Taylor, Texas.
In the 1940 Census they
were living in Dugansville, Grayson Co. Texas
near Bells.
(that is in the NE quadrant of the county.)
In 1935 they
had lived in Sherman.
His wife was Mildred was
b. in Alabama
Their children;
- Harold H
Vestal Jr born 1923
- James Dwight Vestal "Jim" born 1925
served in WWII in the Navy.
- Warren Eugene Vestal "Gene"born 1929
- Robert Milton Vestal "Bob" He served
in the 50's on the USS In Intrepid.
- Kenneth Edward Vestal
"Eddie"
- Tommy Vestal
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Grayson
County Military Page
Susan
Hawkins
©2025
If you find any of Grayson
County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send
me a message.
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23rd
Infantry
