STARKVILLE — Before the brave warriors of the Allied Forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, on D-Day 79 years ago Tuesday, naval minesweepers went ahead on the night of June 5, 1944, to clear the English Channel of German mines.
On three of those yard minesweepers were three lieutenants who graduated from Mississippi State University — Walter Wallace Sr., George Hammer and Kenneth “K.O.” Wise. All three survived the war but have since passed away.
Now proudly displayed in the MSU Mitchell Memorial Library is a memorial for the three with letters, images, a copy of Wallace’s orders for action and more, all provided to MSU by Wallace’s family. The display was unveiled Tuesday with Wallace’s sons, Walter Wallace Jr. and Stephen Wallace, and nephew, John Landrum, giving remarks and insight into the collection.
“The whole process (made us feel closer to our dad,” Walter Jr. said. “I could have teared up and fallen on the floor if I let myself. … He didn’t (talk about the war much). John was lucky enough that he heard stories. I was lucky enough to hear stories, but he didn’t talk much about it.”
The Wallace family began working with MSU libraries two years ago for this collection, but they soon found much research was needed to make the collection complete. While they used many of Walter Sr.’s documents and pictures for firsthand knowledge, they also checked dates and specifics to ensure everything presented was correct.
Walter Jr. said the meticulous Stephen led much of the editorial work.
“We were at the tip of the iceberg when we started — trying to learn and find things that we knew we had but (were) not real sure where they were,” Walter Jr. said. “… In researching, we found out when the hull of his boat was laid, but that was too much detail. But we did find out when it was launched and when it was commissioned. When it was launched, it didn’t have any guns or navigation, so it really wasn’t a vessel ready for war.”
Not only was Walter Sr.’s YMS responsible for helping clear the path to Normandy, he was responsible for the protection of the battlecruiser USS Augusta, which was carrying the U.S. Army and Navy commanders like Gen. Omar Bradley and Adm. Allan Kirk.
Landrum said at one point the USS Augusta was going too fast, and Wallace Sr. had tell the senior officers to slow down.
“Very quickly my uncle turned around and saw the Augusta was rapidly overtaking them, so he radioed the bridge of the Augusta and told them he could only sweep making eight knots and stop speeding,” Landrum said. “The bridge immediately throttled the engine back. … Adm. Kirk was unflappable, unintimidatable. He asked one of his staff members, ‘Why did we slow down?’ And his staff member said, ‘Well, we got to let the minesweepers do their job.’ Adm. Kirk looked at (Gen.) Bradley and said, ‘I’m sorry, General, but we’ll get to Omaha Beach when we get there. We’ve got to protect this boat. … My uncle used to joke that on D-Day he gave a command that countermanded the order from the invasive commander.”
The collection is permanently at Mitchell Memorial Library on the second floor under the staircase. It has been dubbed “The Walter L. Wallace, Sr., WWII Collection — Bulldogs in Action.” The collection can also be viewed online at msstate-exhibits.libraryhost.com/exhibits/show/bulldogsinaction.
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