Edward D. Whelan Jr.

Edward D. Whelan served in World War II in the European Theater. He was with the US Army Signal Corps from October 8, 1942, until November 12, 1945. Rather than wait to be drafted, Whelan enlisted in the US Army Signal Corps, which his uncle had recommended.

Whelan was born in Orange, New Jersey. He had a standard upbringing for a young man of his time. His father had served in World War I. Whelan attended Newman Preparatory School where he played golf and did mischievous activities with his friends after school.

Upon joining the Army, Whelan went to boot camp. When asked about how he adjusted to being in the military, he said that it was not a big change because of his rigorous prep school experience. Whelan then discussed where he was and where he trained before leaving for Europe. He started his training in Newark, NJ where he became radio certified. Then Whelan was sent to Fort Dix, NJ. After spending time at Fort Dix, he departed for more training in Toccoa, GA, than Camp Atterbury, IN. His final installation in the U.S. was Camp Myles Standish, MA. His training covered all the necessary skills needed to enter war.

Whelan’s voyage to Europe was described by him as “not bad.” He was onboard a large ship which was a part of a huge convoy. A couple of ships were sunk. Before arriving in mainland Europe, Whelan was stationed in Liverpool, then Marlboro England. While in England, he had more training with the radio to prepare for D-Day, then he was assigned to the Third Army.

Whelan then continued to discuss his D-Day experience while staying very composed. He described the landing as being very loud as he watched from the ship. Whelan landed on Utah Beach, where he was assigned to a Jeep with one other service man. He then continued inland with his pack, a rifle and his radio. D-Day from Whelan’s experience was very different from the countless other men who had lost their lives.

Following D-Day, Whelan described his experience of moving inland, when at night they would get bombed by German aircraft. His unit continued to move inland where they liberated French cities. He was part of the advanced party, where he was informed by the villagers of the German SS being in the mountains. Between Whelan and his friends, he described morale as being high until they crossed the Rhine into Germany.

Whelan described his experience in Germany, where he saw “people running around in pajamas.” His most frightening moments during the war was the discovery of the concentration camps, where the physical shape of the imprisoned frightened him the most. He was not afraid of Nazi’s being everywhere, because he had become accustomed to that reality. Whelan described the discovery of Buchenwald, its freight cars filled with bodies, and the ovens as “the most horrible thing he had ever seen.” This was one of the first concentration camps discovered in Europe by the Americans. Whelan stayed composed while talking about his awful experiences of discovering displaced persons camps as well as Dachau concentration camp.

His duties regarding radio transmissions were sent through code never voice. Whelan learned a secret language. Radio and maps helped to navigate the terrain. A story which is bizarre for being on the front surrounded by Nazi’s was that he and the units he was assigned to would listen to Glenn Miller transmitted from England. Whelan did have some joyful moments while in Europe, like swimming in the Danube River and laying out when they had a chance to stop. A story which affected him was when his buddy dove into the river and broke his neck, which paralyzed him for the rest of his life.

Moving through Europe as the Allied troops advanced, Whelan experienced all different parts of Europe. He moved south through France, into Germany then into Luxembourg. His feelings about each country varied, but Whelan enjoyed his time in Munich when the war was coming to an end. He loved German beer. Whelan described all the other beers around Europe as awful compared to German beer. While in Germany, he described the residents of Munich as being friendly to the American troops which surprised him. There, Whelan had another concentration camp experience, when was assigned to go to Dachau. Dachau is located North of Munich and was a forced labor camp. He also was appalled by the people at the camp where he wanted to give them food but could not because they were so malnourished.

After leaving Munich, Whelan was sent up to Paris where he made his fondest memory. While in Paris, he met a French female army captain who he was fond of. Whelan described the girl as being incredibly wealthy because the mayor was her father. Sadly, he never spoke to that girl, again because his mother threw away all the letters that arrived from France, since she did not want him going back to Europe! After Paris, and after V-E Day, Whelan was sent home on ship. He described the passage home as incredibly terrifying due to weather. Whelan was afraid that the ship would sink, yet he made it back to the United States and arrived at Camp Myles Standish.

Whelan was going to be sent to the Pacific Campaign, until they dropping of the atomic bomb on both Nagasaki and Hiroshima, which he was happy about because it saved American lives. War was over, and he was reunited with his family which thrilled him. Whelan was discharged from active service on November 12, 1945. He used the GI Bill to receive a college education, to purchase a home, and eventually he landed work in the insurance business. Whelan spoke about his life; he got married and kept in contact with his old friends. He admitted that he could have seen some of them more, but due to his age of 87, at the time of the interview, he was not able to see many of them.

Whelan was involved with many of the European offensives over the span of the war. He was there for D-Day on Utah Beach, the Battle of the Ardennes, the Campaign of Central Europe, the Rhineland Campaign, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Legion of Honor from France.

Oral histories given by veterans are so important for understanding history and understanding the situations of war from a primary source. Edward D. Whelan passed away at the age of 91 with his family at his hospital bedside on November 10, 2013.