August 1. With the left flank of the German defenses unhinged,

August 1. With the left flank of the German defenses unhinged, General Bradley activated the U.S. Third Army. Patton was now in full-fledged command. 

One of Patton’s objectives was the capture of several important seaports on the Brittany peninsula. In the original Overlord plan, the entire Third Army was to be committed to the task. But modifications had been made, and now just one corps (Major General Troy Middleton's VIII Corps) was assigned the mission. This meant that two critical armored divisions...the Fourth and the 6th...would be heading west, not east.

The Fourth drew the assignment of securing the port city of Lorient, along with the area known as Quiberon Bay (a natural harbor that could be used by the Allies if the Germans destroyed the port facilities at Lorient). But before the Fourth drove the 100 miles southwest to Lorient, the division was given the interim task of securing Rennes, a critical crossroad city 33 miles south of Avranches.

The opening in the German line at Avranches was somewhat tenuous. Elements of Combat Command B held the east flank of the corridor secure as Colonel Bruce Clarke's Combat Command A poured south toward Rennes. By 1830, Clarke's command had advanced 31 miles and arrived at the northern approaches of the city.

The advance was not unopposed. Granted, the German forces in the area were in disarray, but when encountered, they fought. The 10th Armored Infantry Battalion's reconnaissance platoon, commanded by Lt. Stan Lyons, worked in concert with B Company of the 37th Tank Battalion (and in particular, the platoon of Shermans commanded by 1st Lt. Jimmie Leach). Together, they cleared the way for the advance of CCA and dealt the Germans a particularly heavy blow near the town of Saint-Aubin-d’Aubigné, 8 miles north of Rennes. 

The 66th Armored Field Artillery Battalion was hit hard by opposing artillery, mortar and small arms fire while moving into position north of Rennes. Sgt. Peter Belpulsi, commanding one of the M7s of B Battery, quickly deployed his howitzer and returned fire. Enemy shells descended amidst the battalion, and casualties began to mount. When a round landed within just a few feet of Belpulsi’s M7, hot fragments flew in his direction. In a stroke of luck, at the moment the shell exploded, Belpulsi was reaching down to the floor of the vehicle to pick up a notepad containing his firing data. His gunner, Corporal Danny Martin, was not so fortunate. A piece of shrapnel penetrated the lower part of the back of his head, leaving a silver-dollar sized hole that was, in the words of Belpulsi, “bleeding like hell.”  Martin’s eyes fixed on Belpulsi’s with a look of impending death…but Belpulsi would have none of it. Martin lost consciousness, but Belpulsi urgently grabbed the vehicle’s first aid kit and poured an entire packet of sulfa powder into the gaping wound. He then stuffed a tight wad of medical cotton into the hole in an effort to stop the bleeding. The almost immediate cries for a medic brought two of them to Danny’s side. Shells continued to rain down, but did not stop the medics from working diligently to evacuate the corporal (Martin was evacuated to a hospital in England, and survived his wound). As for Belpulsi, he reorganized his crew – now one man short – and resumed fire. Corporal Martin was but one of 54 casualties suffered by the 66th. Among those killed was the commanding officer of C Battery, Captain R.S. Watson.

Later in the day, the commander of B/37 (Captain Tiegs) was wounded and evacuated. Lt. Leach was awarded command of the company. The commanding officer of the 10th Armored Infantry Battalion (Lt. Colonel Kirkpatrick) was also wounded and evacuated. Major Art West replaced him.

This was also the day that the Hellcat tank destroyers of the 704th Tank Destroyer Battalion had their first encounter with enemy tanks. The second platoon of Company A, commanded by Lt. Hugh Addison, was responsible for the engagement. The Hellcat commanded by Sergeant Joe Shedevy accounted for two Panzer kills, which flushed out two more Panzers from their positions; other tank destroyers from the platoon knocked them out. None of the Hellcats were damaged, but Lt. Addison…29-years-old…was killed during the battle.

As the day drew to a close, CCA remained on the doorstep of Rennes. To the north, the 8th Infantry Division had taken over the positions held by CCB, which allowed Brigadier General Dager's command to move south as well.

Almost five years later, 1st Lt. John Preneta  (pictured) of the 704th received a letter from the mother of Lt. Addison. It is filled with the emotion of a woman who misses her son terribly, and is trying to make sense of her loss. Addressed to “A friend and fellow Soldier of our dear son,” it read in part*:

“You’ll never know how much I appreciate you taking time out to write me about my dear son and to know you were so closely associated with him and for all the nice things you said of him, so glad you deem it a privilege to have been a close friend of his….We miss him so very, very much and so much his wonderful sweet letters. 

It hurts us so bad to think he had to die in such a manner, but he was fulfilling his orders. Some will tell me it was God’s will or just his time to die. I do know God is all powerful, but I do know he was ordered there to fight our enemies and he went. I know he rather died than not to do what he was ordered to do, so he was fulfilling man’s orders, what he trained so long to do.

Just cruel war.

As his commander Lt Co Delk M. Oden said off him…he was not just out commanding. He was actually out in front leading. And as he said it should make us so proud of him to know he did get some of the first of the many German tanks that were destroyed in the war by the 704th. 

He was so anxious and willing to do his part which he did so willing and bravely, as it had to be. We are all so proud he did his part so well. All the boys that I have heard from have said, as have you, that he was a fine guy on and off duty. He could take orders as well as give them, which being his mother makes me feel so proud. He was a wonderful son, never give us no trouble in any way…we all miss him so very much.  

I can just see that always sweet smile, he was our oldest child and the brain of the family as we always said. And oh how we do miss him and all ways will

And so many others had to die that others might live

How we all should appreciate their great willing sacrifice for us, but some don’t, for we don’t have peace yet, and so many brave good boys are wounded & broken up for life; my heart goes out to them. God bless them all. Our younger boy got home ok but is a nervous wreck. Our 3 Son in Laws got home ok too.

I have heard from several of the boys since you wrote us. That sure has been a help to me. So I’m looking forward to hearing from them more concerning our dear hero. I heard from one off his friends that was with him when he was killed, that helped wrap him and pick him up…we were so glad to hear that he never had to lay and suffer. 

So we have his precious body back on home soil. We were so happy to get it back. He wanted to get back to his brave U.S.A. so bad.

So God bless all those that gave their all and all the rest of you that were faithful to the end. May we all try to make it a better world and be ready when the Master calls to go to meet them. So come to see us sometime, and write me a long letter. 

Your true friend Hugh’s Mother."

*(I have taken the liberty of editing Mrs. Addison’s letter. A complete transcript was graciously made by Jon Preneta. While I would normally reproduce it verbatim, the composition’s typos and grammatical opportunities distracted from the full impact of her correspondence.)