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Remember...Robert Earl Phares
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Robert Earl Phares was born to Walter L. and Mary Flo Dinkle Phares of Gilman, Randolph County, on April 3, 1915. The 1920 Federal Census taker recorded that the family lived in Leadsville, an area outside of Elkins, and that Mr. Phares was a merchant for a grocery store. The family included Mr. and Mrs. Phares and their children, Eugene, Ethel, Edgar, Irvin, Merrill, Richard, Wilson, and Edith, as well as Robert. By 1930, according to the census records, Mr. Phares and his son Eugene were laborers, doing odd jobs. In 1938, Mrs. Phares passed away, and other changes to the family living situation occurred in the decade between 1930 and 1940. Irvin Phares was listed as the head of the household. In the household were Irvin Phares's wife Arlene and father Walter Phares, with several of Irvin's siblings living with their families on nearby properties or still in the family household. Robert was in Irvin's household and the 1940 census lists him as an operator of a wrapping machine in a bakery. From his military registration, the name of the bakery is shown to be Wallace Bakery. It was also in 1940, on October 16, that Robert Phares registered for military service. He enlisted in 1942, on March 20, at Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio. His enlistment record (U.S. Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946) states that he was single, though with dependents. Given the 1940 census listing, he was likely contributing to the upkeep of the household and the people in it.
Robert Phares was placed with the 401st Glider Infantry, 82nd Division. Military gliders were used to take equipment and troops to combat zones. These engineless aircraft were towed by airplanes close to their targets and then glided the rest of the way to the destination, expected to land wherever there was space. The gliders were made of wood and considered expendable.
The 401st Glider Infantry landed on Neptune Beach, by sea, on D-Day. According to its history, the 401st went to England for several months to recoup and train new infantrymen. From there, the 401st fought in Holland, arriving there by glider, and staying to fight for 72 days. After that, the regiment went to France for rest and replenishing of troops. On December 17, the regiment was taken to Bastogne, Belgium, by truck to defend the area against Germans. This effort was part of the overall Battle of the Bulge. ("The 401st Glider Infantry Regiment: Unit History," The 101st Airborne: World War II, accessed 27 December 2019, https://www.ww2-airborne.us/units/401/401.html.)
On December 22, 1944, four Germans approached the American lines where the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment and 401st were co-located and were taken to an American command post. A written message in English described the dire situation the Americans found themselves in, according to the Germans, and threatened a heavy artillery barrage if the Americans didn't surrender. The events were relayed to Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, who replied "Nuts!" (A more thorough description of the entire interaction is presented in Kenneth J. McAuliffe Jr.'s "The Story of the NUTS! Reply," U.S. Army, 12 December 2012, accessed 23 December 2019, https://www.army.mil/article/92856/the_story_of_the_nuts_reply. [Kenneth J. McAuliffe Jr. is the nephew of Brig. Gen. McAuliffe.]) After debate on the nature of the response to the Germans, the leadership eventually decided to leave the verbal response as the written one, "Nuts," which was verified to the Germans to be a negative, since they weren't sure how to interpret the single word response. The heavy barrage of artillery didn't materialize. Bastogne was not the German objective, after all, so they bypassed it on their way to the next objective, leaving air assaults and infantry to try to take the city. The battle continued for several days.
Though research for this biography did not provide proof that Robert Phares was present with the 401st during all of the battles that the regiment fought before arriving in Belgium, the record does show that the battle that ensued after the Germans demanded that the Americans surrender resulted in deaths on the American side in the days after December 22, including December 24, 1944, the day that Robert Phares died in Belgium. (S. L. A. Marshall, Bastogne: The First Eight Days, U.S. Army Center of Military History, 12 December 2019, accessed 23 December 2019, https://history.army.mil/html/books/022/22-2-1/index.html.)
| Private First Class Robert Phares's remains were returned to Randolph County in December 1947. He was interred in Gilman Cemetery on December 13, according to the Randolph County death register. The headstone inscription states: "In Memory of PFC Robert Earl Phares," which is typical for a cenotaph placed if the person's remains are not present. In this case, perhaps the stone was placed shortly after his death in 1944 and not updated after the interment. |  Headstone for Pfc. Robert Earl Phares in Gilman Cemetery, Randolph County. Courtesy Cynthia Mullens |
Article prepared by Cynthia Mullens
December 2019
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
