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OCONTO COUNTY MILITARY SERVICE PAGE
 
PROFILES

Histories of The Individuals Who Served

Thank you to Major Clyde Bridger USAF, Retired
Cousin of Gene E. Sucharda

Captain Gene E. Sucharda

World War II - U. S. ARMY
Captain Gene E. Sucharda

Oconto High School Graduate - Class of 1938

University of Akron, Ohio

Akron Sigma Beta Nu and
Phi Kappa Tau Chapter Eternal

Commanding Officer of Company C, 41st Tank Battalion, 11th Armored Division (Thunderbolts)

1921 - January 14, 1945

burial: Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial
Neuville-en-Condroz
Arrondissement de Liège
Liège, Belgium


Silver Star
Captain Gene E. Sucharda, United States Army, awarded a Silver Star posthumously under General Orders No. 48 (1945), for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving with the 11th Armored Division, during World War II.


Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the Armed Forces of the United States who have been wounded or killed in action against an enemy of the United States.

University of Akron Ohio - 1941
Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC)
World War II
Battle of the Bulge 
December 16, 1944 – January 25, 1945

Captain Gene E. Sucharda was killed January 14, 1945 in Cobru, Belgium while leading his company on an attack on the German Army in the Battle of the Bulge.
           
Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe


M4 Sherman Tanks near Cobru, Belgium
January, 1945

  
MY EXPERIENCES IN THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE
By Captain Dick McCoy Headquarters, 
41st Tank Battalion
http://www.11tharmoreddivision.com/history/my_experiences_in_the_battle_of_.htm

About three weeks after the 11th Armored Division's initial commitment to action, and with bitter fighting having continued throughout the period, General Bradley pressed his Army commanders to close off the salient completely. CCB , using two Task Forces abreast, was given the job of closing the Bastogne-Houffalize highway. Elements of First US Army were moving South toward Houffalize to link up with Third Army.

TF (Tank Force) Black Jack consisting of the 41st Tk Bn (- Co B and a platoon of light tanks from Co D) was further reinforced with Co B, 21st Armored Infantry and platoons of Engineers, Cav Rec and AAA. The TF assaulted the village of Cobru, just a kilometer north of Noville - the Combat Command's principal objective.

The date was January 14, 1945. The attack was carried out brilliantly by Company C, 41st Tk and Company B, 21st Infantry working smoothly in unison. The attack met with little resistance and the village was occupied. The infantry began the job of clearing the enemy from the houses and cellars. Some forty-five minutes after the objective was seized, the Germans launched a strong counterattack.

They were able to get an anti-tank gun in position in a wood line overlooking the village and they got a tank into the village itself. At this time, about a half hour before dark, Captain Sucharda - the tank company commander and Captain McCoy - representing the TF commander were both in their tanks parked at the end of the main street of the little village.

Their conversation, made possible by use of radio since they were both in their tanks, was suddenly interrupted. Sucharda noticed the enemy tank pull into the street, 200 yards away and prepare to swing his turret to take the Americans under fire. Sucharda immediately swung his gun in the direction of the enemy tank and ordered his gunner to fire. He did, but the AP round bounced harmlessly off the heavily armored German.

McCoy was in his tank hatch, exposed from the waist up, when Sucharda swung his tank cannon around and fired. The gun tube was right over McCoy's head and the resulting muzzle blast took care of his sight and hearing for sometime thereafter. The German tank immediately returned fire, ignoring McCoy's tank, which actually was a bit closer and completely exposed. The German gun ripped an 88mm hole in the turret of Captain Sucharda's tank, killing him instantly and probably killing or severely injuring other crew members. Two more rounds followed quickly and the US tank exploded in a mass of flames. There were no survivors from that tank crew. (There were actually 3 injured survivors of Captain Sucharda's tank who did manage to escape but could not be seen from this person's vantage point) The driver of the light tank did not wait for instructions. He threw his tank into gear and spun away taking cover behind a corner building. Immediately all available firepower was concentrated on the German tank and he ceased to be a danger to anyone.

Akron In Action
History of Company C, 41st Tank Battalion

 by David Kasavan

Much more about Captain Sucharda at: http://www.11tharmoreddivision.com/history/c41tk_revised.htm

Chapter Two

A Salute To Akron -- The Bulge

Our call sign would be “Akron, Akron” because that was the home town of out CO (Commanding Officer) Captain Gene E. Sucharda. Both the company as a whole and the CO would answer the call sign of “Akron”. Under that name we were to fight great battles, we were to have individual feats of heroism, we were to have our sorrows and our casualties, but we were to develop into a fighting unit that was not to know defeat. Akron was ready!!!.................

The main drag was, as we were to find out, zeroed in. Captain Sucharda’s tank was leading the company, as he was prone to do, and Sgt. Cohen’s tank was right behind him. T/4 Johnny Latini, driving for Cohen, saw it happen.

“The Captain (Sucharda) was leading the way as he always did, when the shell came from his right flank. It must have been right in line with him, for suddenly he fell, and slumped down into the turret. The tank started burning, and Ramee gave me the order to back up quick behind a house. I saw Cpl. Armin Stodolenak, the Captain’s gunner get out of the tank after he looked around and saw he could not help the CO or the loader, Pfc. Stan Chadwick. The bog and the driver Pfc Clarence Busch and T/4 Key both got out of the tank but not before it was hit the second time. And then suddenly our tank was hit, right in the back deck which was sticking out past our shelter. No one was hit bad, and dodging all of the mortars and artillery, we finally made it back to a house where we were later picked up.”

The Captain (Sucharda) and Chadwick must have been killed instantly. Stodolenak had some nasty shrapnel in his hip, and he hopped into Sgt. Jones’ tank for safety and first aid. “That made six men in the tank,” Jones said, “and before long there was a knocking on the tank. We opened up and there was Pfc. Sid Meyer, loader in Cohen’s tank, so we took him too and sat him on the transmission. Then the artillery started falling in town. Lt. Brendan Burns, who was to lead us through the rest of our battles, was outside scouting around with Captain Dick McCoy, from the battalion staff. They both hopped into the tank, too, so we had a total of nine men there. Probably set some sort of record.”

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