Pvt. Richard E. Hynes
United States Army (1942-1944)

Richard Elberton Hynes was born on March 10, 1914 to parents Sabra and William Hynes of 2736 Waddington Avenue. He was a graduate of South Hills High School, Class of 1934, where he was a member of the Glee Club, the Cooking Club and the School Band. In his Senior year he was voted the most "Demure."

After high school, Richard took a job at the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation, where he was skilled in the mechanical treatment of metals (rolling, stamping, forging, pressing, etc.) The Hynes family were members of the Mount Washington United Presbyterian Church, where Richard sung in the choir.

Richard Hynes was inducted into the U.S. Army on April 24, 1942. After completing basic training, he was assigned to the 8th Regiment, 4th Motorized Infantry Division, nicknamed the Ivy Division. Private Hynes joined his new unit at Camp Gordon, Georgia and rehearsed training at the Carolina Maneuvers during the fall of 1942.

The 4th Division moved to Fort Dix, New Jersey on April 12, 1943, where in August it was again reconfigured, this time as a standard infantry division. The Division participated in battlefield maneuvers in Florida starting in September and after this fall training exercise arrived at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, on the 1st of December.

During this time in Florida, Richard met Elizabeth Ann Herin of Macon County, Georgia. The two fell in love and, when he was granted leave in November. The two were married at the brides home in Macon on November 4, 1943. Afterwards they honeymooned for two weeks in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Their celebration was brief but memorable as Richard had to return to his unit in December, and a month later was on his way overseas. Hynes and the rest of the 4th Division boarded troop transport ships and departed New York harbor on January 18, arriving in England on January 26.

After several months of training in Wales and southern England, the men of the 8th Infantry Regiment were ready for battle. Assigned to the VII Corps, U.S. First Army, on the evening of June 4 the men boarded a transport for the trip across the English Channel to France. After leaving port and beginning the cross-channel journey, the ship turned around and returned. A weather delay had forced a one-day postponement.

The next evening they set sail, and on the morning of June 6, the 8th Regiment were the first surface-borne Allied troops to step foot in Normandy. These soldiers were the tip of the spear on Utah Beach. After only brief engagements with the enemy on D-Day, the 8th Regiment launched its first attack at Turqueville and Ecoqueneauville on June 7 in an effort to link up with the 82nd Airborne Division and clear the town of Saint Mere-Eglise.

4th Infantry Division soldiers on Utah Red Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

After relieving the 82nd Airborne Division at the town of Sainte Mere-Eglise, the Ivy Division, along with the 9th and 79th Divisions, began the effort to clear the Cotentin Penisula. On the morning of June 8, the 8th Regiment was ordered to take the area between Montebourg and the Montebourg Station. Defending were elements of the German 709th and 243rd Divisions, as well as such reinforcements as the Sturm Battalion AOK 7.

The 8th Infantry attacked along the western side of the Saint Mere-Eglise-Montebourg Highway. It was opposed from the beginning by artillery fire, but its first contact with enemy infantry came at Neuville-au-Plain. The Germans yielded the town after a sharp skirmish. Beyond Neuville-au-Plain the going was easier, as the 8th Infantry turned to the left and continued its attack on the western side of the highway. As it approached Fresville and Grainville, enemy artillery and sniper fire increased and slowed down the Regiment.

The 8th Regiment advance towards Montebourg on June 8-11.

From here, the advance along the highway became a slow and costly affair. The German artillery, consisting of mortars, field guns and nebelwerfers was accurate and frequent, leaving a trail of dead along the trail north. After a bitter battle on the outskirts of Ecausseville, followed by a massive night time artillery bombardment, by the morning of June 10, the Regiment found the well-defended town abandoned and began their drive to secure the last large town remaining on the route toward Cherbourg.

  
German's of the 709th Division displacing near Montebourg (left) and a soldier of the 8th Regiment
inspecting a German 88mm anti-aircraft artillery piece abandoned on the road to Montebourg.

Once again the way northward was defended by effective strongpoints and persistent enemy artillery. It was tough going, but the Regiment continued the advance. By evening, it had come up against a well-prepared defensive line running east-west along the railway line leading to Montebourg. The 8th Regiment was ordered to drive the Germans from that position, while the remainder of the Division took the town of Montebourg.

It was during this battle to drive the well-entrenched German defenders from their positions along the railway line that Private Richard E. Hynes was killed in action on June 12, 1944.

News of Private Hynes fate took some time to reach his wife Elizabeth in Atlanta, Georgia and a bit longer to get back to his family in Pittsburgh. His death was not reported in the Pittsburgh Press until October 2, 1944, over three months after the eventual fall of Cherbourg. While the Hynes family and the community of Brookline mourned Richard's loss, a Gold Star was hung in the window of the home at 2736 Waddington Avenue.

Richard's wife Elizabeth, who was at the time working as a clerk at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, took ill after hearing of her husband's death. Tragically, after a month-long struggle, she died in a private hospital on November 20. No doubt the grief over the loss of her beloved Richard played a part in her declining health.

The Pittsburgh Press reported on October 31, 1948, that Private Richard E. Hynes' body had been returned to the United States from France and was being buried alongside Elizabeth Herin Hynes in the Macon Memorial Park Cemetery.

Back in France, the Ivy Division took Montebourg and moved on to secure the port of Cherbourg by June 29. Afterwards, they participated in the hedgerow fighting in the bocage and in the great Normandy breakout. It helped stem the German drive toward Avranches and by August participated in the liberation of Paris.

The 4th Division then moved into Belgium to attack the Siegfried Line on September 14. Slow progress into Germany continued in October, and by November 6 the Division entered the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest, where it was engaged in heavy fighting until early December. It then shifted to Luxembourg, only to meet the German Army's winter Ardennes Offensive head-on. A fierce defensive struggle ensued until the enemy drive stalled.

After holding back the Germans in the Ardennes, the Division counter-attacked in January 1945 and, after four more months of fighting in Germany reached Miesbach on the Isar River on May 2. There it was eventually relieved and placed on occupation duty.

* Written by Clint Burton: May 20, 2018 *

The Brookline War Memorial

Listed below are many of the sons of Brookline who gave their
lives to preserve freedom and contain aggression during
World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died.
Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.”
General George S. Patton
 

World War I (1917-1919)

The World War I Memorial - Washington D.C.

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World War II (1941-1945)

The World War II Memorial - Washington D.C.

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Korean War (1950-1953)

Korean War Memorial - Washington D.C.

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Vietnam War (1965-1973)

Vietnam War Memorial - Washington D.C.

The Brookline Monument - The Cannon

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