Wyoming History in the First Person: Looking for Dad in World War Two

For several decades my offspring and I have proudly declared their Grandfather, Lt. Max U. Crowe, to be the most decorated soldier from the state of Wyoming in World War II.

Recently we discovered that claim had only a single source. It turned up a number of years after the war among Max's drinking companions in the Big Horn Bar in Ten Sleep, and especially the bar's owner, Bob Boltz, Max's close friend and admirer. We also learned that such a claim would be difficult to verify.

The claim, however, seems creditable, given what we believe we know. In this post I tell Max's story as we remember him telling it 30 years ago. Differing versions may show up in later posts. The research continues.

Max Crowe, nearest the camera, said he and some buddies joined the

Wyoming National Guard in Riverton so they could ride the horses.

An avid reader of WWII history, much of my adult life I've been alert for evidence of my father in accounts of the fighting. Two decades ago I happened upon a possible eye-witness report of Max in an unlikely source, a history of the First Canadian Army in World War II.

Was he seen by the Canadians?

In late October, 1944, when the First Canadian Army launched its offensive to the Maas River across the Dutch-Belgium border, the senior command were irritated with the Americans. Inexperienced American troops had been assigned to protect the Canadian right flank. The U.S. 104th Infantry Division had arrived in Europe less than two months previously and had yet to be tested in combat.

As I continued reading, the author reported that early in the advance the Canadian right was held up by a strong German road block. As the Canadians were organising an attack, a reconnaissance unit from the neighboring American division roared up in their scout cars, wiped out the road block, and rolled ahead down the road.

I searched the family scrapbooks and dug out this document.

BRONZE STAR MEDAL—CITATION

". . . In connection with military operations in Holland on 29 October 1944 . . . Lieutenant Crowe's platoon encountered an enemy road block covered by artillery and small arms fire. In spite of the heavy fire from the covering force in a strongly defended position, Lieutenant Crowe and his platoon successfully attacked the position killing 15 enemy soldiers, capturing three, and forcing the withdrawal of the remainder of the enemy. . . "

The U.S. 104th Division was inexperienced but well trained and well led. Despite the Canadian misgivings, it distinguished itself that first day of fighting on the Dutch border. And when, after 195 consecutive days of combat, it made contact with Russian troops at the Elbe, it had earned a reputation as one of the best infantry divisions in Europe.

As to Lieutenant Max Crowe, the young officer who, I like to believe, was leading the reconnaissance squadron that destroyed that roadblock in full view of the Canadians, the Canadians could not have known he was already among the most experienced frontline combatants in the U.S. Army.

The 115th Cavalry at Fort Lewis, Washington. Max should be in there somewhere.

From the Aleutians to the Elbe

Max's army career began when his Wyoming National Guard unit, part of the 115th Cavalry Regiment, Horse and Mechanised, was called into federal service early in 1941. He was soon sent to Officer Candidate School.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Max's unit was on its way to the Philippines. Their troop ship turned back.

Thereafter . . .

Max fought the Japanese in the Aleutians with units of the 7th Infantry Division.

Subsequently assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, he crossed the beach at Oran in the invasion of North Africa.

Then the beach at Gela in the invasion of Sicily.

Then Omaha Beach in the Normandy invasion in June, 1944.

Joining the 104th

After recuperating in the U.S. from serious wounds inflicted in Normandy, Max returned to Europe with the 104th Infantry Division and resumed his now familiar line of work. In October, 1944, he again was leading from the front as a platoon leader in the divisional reconnaissance squadron.

Until the closing weeks of World War II Max Crowe was still a junior officer in the front lines, shooting and getting shot at. However, when he was discharged in 1945 was he actually the most decorated soldier from the state of Wyoming in World War II, as his drinking buddies boasted?

Given the war record I've summarised, there could not have been many challengers for the title. The claim, though, would be difficult to prove, as we recently learned from John Goss, Director of the Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum in Casper. John has been helping me and my family track down source material about Max.

Soldiers of the 115th Cavalry with live antelope ........... sent them as mementoes of Wyoming. Max
could be the officer second from right, front row.

Searching for the story

One of my life regrets is that, while Max was still alive, I failed to write his story as recounted by the warrior himself. I wish I had spent a few months with a tape recorder interviewing the primary source. That task having been left until too late, source materials are now hard to find.

In Max's later years my youngest daughter, Kate Ricks Tymstra, and her older brother, Jim Ricks, spent more time with him than I ever did. The three of us have been collecting various war stories he recounted to each of us individually.

The family scrap books contain randomly gathered documents and miscellaneous photos, most dating from Max's pre-combat days in the Army. They include almost a dozen snap shots of a young officer standing in the shade of palm trees, posing for the folks back home in wintery Wyoming.

Recovering Max's decorations has been the focus of our search. I believe I remember seeing a full collection mounted on a ribbon rack that he would have pinned to his uniform. Kate and Jim remember a different collection, miscellaneous ribbons loose in a shoe box.

We long believed the full set was on display at the American Legion Club in Worland. But that turned out to be a dead end.

Then Kate went online and found the Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum. The Museum focuses on preserving the individual stories of Wyoming's veterans. She got in touch with the director, John Goss.

John dug into their records and discovered they already had a small collection of Max's documents and memorabilia, and he has been an enthusiastic and helpful partner in the search for more. As to the decorations, though, he found only a few random and duplicated ribbons.

John told us that the "most decorated soldier from Wyoming" claim would be difficult to confirm. The official records are often incomplete; and too many records, of too many combatants, would have to be compared.

But Max Crowe seems to have had one hell of a war. In upcoming posts I'll tell the story of those years as we've been able to reconstruct them. And maybe, in the meantime, that rack of decorations will turn up.