Kasserine Pass , Anzio vet passes.

My wives Uncle Tom passed away earlier this month. He lived a full life and will be missed.




Thomas L. Langan, electrician, decorated veteran | Philadelphia Inquirer | 08/19/2011

Thomas L. Langan, 90, of West Philadelphia, a decorated World War II veteran and past president and business agent of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, died Tuesday, Aug. 9, at Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse.
During World War II, Mr. Langan served in the Army overseas. He was fighting in North Africa in March 1943 when he was awarded a Bronze Star for volunteering to drive an ammunition truck through heavy enemy fire. According to an account in The Inquirer, Sgt. Langan's actions enabled his platoon's tank destroyer to knock out several enemy tanks. The Inquirer reported that he made his "daring move" after two other Army vehicles had been destroyed by direct hits. The drivers were killed.
He later saw action in Italy, France, and Germany.Mr. Langan's mother died when he was born. After his father died when he was 10, he and his siblings were raised by their stepmother and her husband after she remarried.
He graduated from West Philadelphia Catholic High School, and in January 1941, he joined Local 98 in Philadelphia as an apprentice electrician.
While home on leave from the Army in August 1945, he married Marie Kavanagh. During his honeymoon, he found out the war had ended, his son, Thomas E., said.
After his discharge, Mr. Langan became a journeyman electrician and worked for several Philadelphia institutions, including the VA Medical Center, the Schmidt brewery, and the University of Pennsylvania.
He was business manager for Local 98 in Philadelphia for 11 years in the 1960s and 1970s, serving as president of the local from 1971 to 1978. He was also recording secretary for the Philadelphia Building Trades Council for many years. He retired in the late 1980s.
As a union leader, Mr. Langan fought for good working conditions, strengthening Social Security and Medicare, and aid to the disabled, his son said. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he served on the Pennsylvania Board of Vocational Rehabilitation. He and his wife campaigned for political candidates who supported unions, their son said.
Mr. Langan enjoyed home-improvement projects and vacations at the summer home he and family and friends built in Harvey Cedars, N.J., in the early 1950s.
In addition to his son, he is survived by daughters Peg Jezercak and Della; a brother; five grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren. His wife died in 2008.
A Funeral Mass was said Saturday, Aug. 13, at St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church in West Philadelphia, where Mr. Langan had been an usher. Burial was in Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon.
Donations may be made to St. Malachy Roman Catholic Church, 1429 N. 11th St., Philadelphia 19122.

 

Mr Langan lived a good full life. What a man !!

 

Thank you Mr. Langan for your service to our country. :S! Rest well, old soldier.

Striker, do you know which Tank Destroyer battalion he served with? If you can find that out, you may want to contact tankdestroyer.net and post his story there. Rob, who runs the site, is a great guy and would be more than happy to help you with that. Of course, we'd love to hear more about his story here on the forum as well!

 

Rest in Peace, American Hero you will be missed.

 

:S! Thank you for your service, sir.

And thank you for sharing his story with us, Striker.

 

Rest In Peace Mr. Langan

 

Sgt. Langan was in the 601st TD battalion. I spoke to him several times about the war and he never mentioned being awarded the bronze star. I had no idea until I read the obituary. One thing he told me about was that in about February or March of '45 in Southern Germany, some staff officers from army HQ visited his unit. They were asking the men how they felt about the Russians and what would their reaction be if they had to fight the Soviets. Their reactions were all the same " we don't want to fight anybody else, we just want to go home."

 

A honorable man has left us. May he never be forgotten.

 

Here's the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion page at tankdestroyer.net. I like the story about the response to the staff officers question with respect to fighting the Russians. I would imagine they could have asked just about every soldier and would have gotten a very similar answer: "We just want to go home." It's a very human response from regular guys who had been through a helluva lot. Thanks for sharing that, Striker.

 

Thank you, TD-Tommy776, for the link to a fantastic site.

 

Thanks for the links and kind words everybody.

 

Yes, it is a fantastic site. Probably one of the best WW2 sites I have come across (if not THE best). They've done a fantastic job of documenting as much as they can on every TD unit. That is so critical as the units were created at the beginning of WW2 and ceased to exist after the war. So, they don't have the ongoing historical continuity that other armor or infantry units have.