Sixth Naval Beach Battalion hospital corpsman Murel Winans celebrated his 19th birthday on June 6, 1944, on Omaha Beach, France.
Born in Philippi, W.Va., Murel joined the Navy shortly after he turned 17 in 1942. Following basic training at Norfolk, Va., he volunteered for further training as a hospital corpsman.
Assigned to the USS Montrose, a troop carrier stationed in the Atlantic, he remained on board until shortly before the Allied invasion of Europe. He landed with the first wave on Omaha Beach.
“It would take years for me to tell you everything,” he told me in an interview last fall at his home. “… Some bad things happened. The worst thing I saw was a friend of mine. We landed together on the beach. We dug us a foxhole … He was only about 6 feet away from me. I hollered to him and no answer … I crawled over to him. He was shot through the head. A bluish, red spot between his eyes. A sniper got him.
“We found one sniper. It was an old woman in an apple tree with a gun. She didn’t last very long. You see some strange things in war.”
And there was more: “The Free French people told us about this paratrooper caught on a limb of a big tree. So I got in a jeep with three other guys and took off. We got there … and two guys shinnied up the tree and lowered him down. He was dead.
“For several weeks, we would ride along the beach, and if we saw a strap sticking up, we knew that somebody was attached to it and we would dig him up.”
Although Murel served just 27 days in France, he was awarded the Bronze Star and the French Legion of Honor for his actions during Operation Overlord.
He was reassigned to a troop carrier. As victory in Europe neared, his ship went through the Panama Canal and to the Pacific Theater.
“We went to the Philippines. The Philippines was invaded [early in the war] by the Japanese. I was there … when we retook it.”
Asked about Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commander of the invasion: “He was all man. You could bet your life on that. He didn’t flip-flop around. What he said was law … He was a good man. He knew what war was.
“I stayed in the Philippines until September 1947. I said, ‘Well I’ve had enough.’ So I got on a merchant ship and came home.”
During his service in World War II, he was awarded 12 commendations.
Seeking a job, he came to Chattanooga with a Navy buddy. He got a job delivering pies with the Mercer Pie Company. “That didn’t last very long, though,” he said, smiling. “I liked pies too much. Had a lot of fun though.”
He also met his future wife, Frances Wallenhaupt. “We fell in love, and I mean that was it. We were married six months later. She was beautiful … We were married 69 years.”
Employed with a furniture company, Murel remained in the Naval Reserve. In 1950, he was called up and sent to Korea. “Oh, that was bad! … The worst thing I saw over there was in the winter of 1950. There was a place over there called the Chosin Reservoir. The temperature was 20 degrees below zero and … these Marines and soldiers were getting their feet frozen. They amputated their feet. Can you imagine?” Assigned to a unit flying wounded soldiers to Japan for further treatment, he stated, “It was an experience. I’ll tell you that.”
He remained in Korea and Japan until the end of the Korean conflict in 1953. He talked about Nagasaki, where the second atomic bomb was dropped. “It was still burning, and you couldn’t get closer than a mile or you would get burned,” he said.
He left the Navy in 1953 with the rank of hospital corpsman 1st class and three additional commendations.
Returning home to Chattanooga, he and Frances reared their children, Steve and Kathryn. Employed for a time with the Chattanooga Free Press, he enjoyed a lengthy career as a surgical claims supervisor with BlueCross BlueShield.
Today, he lives with his son, Steve, in the East Ridge home he and Francis shared until her death in 2008.
Like so many others, Murel Winans served proudly and bravely, and quietly returned to civilian life to work and care for his family.
Gay Moore, a local author, is a frequent contributor to the history column. For more, visit chattahistoricalassoc.org.