Philip R. Holcomb
Biography: Philip Rhoads Holcomb, “Rhoads”, was born on July 18, 1912, in Vernon, Wilbarger, Texas. He was one of nine children born to Benjamin Franklin Holcomb and Leona Belle “Billie” Hogue. He graduated from local schools in Texas. but during our research, we discovered that at the age of 14, Rhoads had spent some time working as a seaman, specifically as a deck-boy on a ship. His Seaman’s Protection Certificate identifies that he was living in Houston at the time and working out of the Houston port. He later furthered his education, attending Rice Institute at Houston and A & M College at Stillwater, Oklahoma.
On December 4, 1934, Rhoads married the former Mary Ann Lowrey in Kingfisher, OK. Mary was born in Perkins, OK, and was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Lowrey and Ethel Dean Miller. The new couple would make their home in Perkins and we believe they had at least four children, including a son Philip Jr., who had all died at birth or in infancy.
For 10 years prior to the war, he worked as an Administrative Officer in the Triple-A office at Stillwater. His enlistment record shows he worked as an Agent or Appraiser.
Service Time: At the age of 29, Rhoads entered the service on July 18, 1942, at Oklahoma City. He would have been sent for basic training and then assigned to a unit. On September 18th of that same year, he was chosen for officer training and probably was part of one of the first OCS (Officer Candidate School) classes held at the new tank destroyer school at Camp Hood, Texas. Ninety days later he graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant and was assigned to the 702nd Tank Destroyer Battalion at some point after February of 1943.
Just prior to them leaving the U.S., the unit was equipped with M18 tank destroyers. They boarded ship and left the Boston port on February 15, 1944, arriving in England on February the 25th. They were then re-equipped with M10 tank destroyers. They shipped to France, landing at Omaha Beach on June 11th and entered the line at Livry on July 2nd. They formed part of the 2nd Armored Division’s spearhead during the Cobra breakout in late July and fought at Mortain, later establishing the first contact with the Canadians during the encirclement of the Falaise Pocket.
On September 5th, they entered Belgium and Company A, plus one platoon of Recon. Co., were attached to the left column of CCA under control of the 2nd Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment and remained with them during the attack on Gangelt-Gailenkirchen, After they had taken the objective, Lt. Don R. Cunningham was given the mission to cover the tank attack from the left flank by placing guns on the high ground in the vicinity of Gillrath, Germany. Gillrath was only a few minutes across the Holland/Germany border. The following text is from a report by HQ 702nd TD Bn dated September 21, 1944, for enemy action on September 19th:
“Two M-10 TDs were moved north of Gillrath to provide fire East. To obtain firing positions it was necessary for these vehicles to be placed in the open some seventy-five yards apart. The personnel were admonished to keep a look out to the north and east. Shortly after reaching these positions, a Mark IV tank (Panzer) moved from the woods to the right flank of friendly tanks and fired seven or eight rounds in rapid succession at the two tank destroyers. One M-10 was hit in the turret, killing two men and wounding three; and making it impossible to move the turret. The M-10 on the left was hit and set afire. Evidence points to incendiary grenades being carried in the turret having exploded, causing fire. Two men were killed and three wounded, escaping through bottom hatch. The Mark IV was destroyed by friendly tanks in the immediate vicinity of its position.”
The unit history for September 19th identifies that five men were killed, including Lt. Philip R. Holcomb. Additionally, seven men were wounded. We believe most if not all of these men were part of the actions described above. Lt. Holcomb’s rank would lead us to believe he was the section leader for the two TDs destroyed. He was posthumously awarded awarded the Bronze Star for Heroic Action and the Purple Heart in recognition of his ultimate sacrifice.
Letter to Mary Holcomb from Lt. Col. John A. Beall – 702nd Commanding Officer
Rhoads was brought home and buried in the Perkins Cemetery in Perkins, Payne County, OK. I want to thank William Mack for providing the John Beall letter, which he found during a cleanout of a storage unit in Ruidoso, New Mexico. We can only speculate that Mary ended up in that area sometime after the death of her husband. Thank you also to Find A Grave contributors Gary and Bobbie Biermann for the use of the grave marker photo.
