Ed Boling had also been shipped to
Camp Claiborne, reuniting the close
friends briefly. Charlie was building Bailey
Bridges in Louisiana on D-Day, June 6,
1944, remaining at the base into August,
when following a quick trip home, he was
in Boston boarding the USS Wakefield
heading to Liverpool, England. “I was
granted a short leave home, then took a
troop train into Boston. Ed was there, as
well. We said hello and goodbye, and I
boarded the ship,” reflected Charlie, “only
to turn around to see Ed again.”
Once in Liverpool, Charlie’s engineering unit
was immediately ordered to board a small
British ship crossing the English Channel
to Normandy. “We left the Wakefield and
boarded a train for a 12-hour ride through
blacked-out countryside,” Charlie continued.
“Ed was headed to London, only to my
surprise, there he was walking up the gang
plank of that boat crossing the channel.” They
would arrive and then again say goodbye on
Omaha Beach shores some three months
after D-Day, and neither would ever forget
the sights and sounds.
Charlie with his wife Joyce and his two children, Linda Brakebill Bilderbach Norris and Larry Brakebill.
Charlie with his Loudon High School F.F.A. class in 1949. Next photo: U.S.Army soldiers Ed Boling, left, and Charlie Brakebill are pictured near
Rennes, France, in March 1945. Brakebill served in an engineering detachment first assigned to the 94th Infantry Division and later to the 66th ‘Black
Panther’ Division.on. Boling was in in the the 1783rd Engineer Engineer Parts Parts Supply Company. Right:Right Ed Boling,g, left,f
and Charlie Brakebill were proud University of
Tennessee graduates duates in in 1948. Boling g earned earned a a business degree. g Brakebill, who who grew g up up on on a farm farmnear f near Madisonville, was an an agricultural ag
g
education
graduate. The photo pho
oto was made made at Boling’s Boling’s house, 1819 1819 Highland Avenue. (Charlie Charlie Brakebill/Special Special to to the News News Sentinel)
Coded message to his mother letting her know where he was stationed. Location revealed using 6 letters to her, changing the middle initial each time
to spell out RENNES.
HOLIDAY/WINTER 2020 McMINN LIFE 29