The Kid From The 313th

About the Book

A true story about an extraordinary time in history from the remarkable memory of a boy who was there. Jimmy O'Neil experienced both the Great Depression and the Greatest War ever fought. Written in his own words by his wife, Dorothy, it is the story of an orphan boy who found a family with the men of the 313th, his recollections of some of those men, some who lived and some who died, and how his experiences affected the rest of his life.

It begins with his memories of growing up in a tough Irish Catholic neighborhood in Chicago, St. Joseph 's Home for the Friendless, St. Mary's Training School, and the farms of rural Wisconsin and Iowa; how he joined the Army at the age of 14, and his experiences during World War II.

One of the youngest members of the 313th Infantry Regiment of the 79th Division, he fought under Field Marshall Montgomery, Commander of the 21st Army Group during the invasion of Normandy; General Bradley, Commander of the First Army; General Patton, Commander of the 3rd Army; General Patch of the 7th Army; and General Simpson of the 9th Army.

Wounded twice, he fought from D-Day plus 8 until the end of the war and describes his experiences during the Battles of Utah Beach, Cherbourg, Bloody Hill, the Forest of Parroy, Launeauville, Embermenil, Rosieres, Strasbourg, Hagenau, Bischwiller, Lauterberg, Soufflenheim and Riepertswiller; the Crossing of the Rhine; the Ruhr Valley Operation; the capture of Alfred Krupp; Kettwig, the last battle of the war; the surrender of Germany; the occupation and the Atom Bomb.

About the Author

Jim O'Neil, a retired airplane mechanic, and his wife Dorothy have raised eight children, have twenty-four grandchildren, and have been married for thirty-nine years. They started writing down Jim's boyhood memories when they met Steven Ambrose, the author of D-Day and many other books, in Normandy at the 50th Anniversary of D-Day, but did not get it done in time to include them in Mr. Ambrose's book.

Jim, a runaway boy from Chicago, joined the Army at the age of 14 and was only 15 when his Infantry Regiment landed on Utah Beach. He took part in many campaigns throughout the war and received two Purple Hearts (a P.H. and Oak Leaf Cluster) and the Bronze Star among many others.

It took them ten years, with Dorothy writing whenever they had some quiet moments. Sometimes they wrote every day and sometimes months or a year would go by before they started again. After attending some reunions of the 313th Infantry Regiment, they were given a copy of The Cross of Lorraine, the History of the 79th Division. Dorothy was amazed that Jim had remembered all of the battles and almost all of the names of the small towns they had fought in, only getting some of the order of battle mixed up.

Realizing what an amazing memory he had, she was determined to document his experiences for their children, grandchildren and the men of the 313th, and began to put his memories into book form, trying to keep it in his own words as much as possible, and finally was able to publish what she calls her labor of love, The Kid From the 313th.