Sol J. Realy
Biography: Sol John Realy was born on December 26, 1924, in Ferndale, Michigan. He was the son of John Jewel Realy and Blanche Estelle O’Dell and attended Hazel Park High School. After leaving school, he worked in his father’s green house business.
Service Time: Sol entered the service on October 17, 1943, and was stationed at Camp Hood, Texas, where he was serving in a Tank Destroyer (TD) unit. Unfortunately, we do not know the particular unit. He may have been in one of the TD training units or one of the activated TD battalions stationed there at the time. He was ultimately transferred to Camp Butner, North Carolina, where he joined Company C of the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division.
The 137th had moved there after participating in the Tennessee Maneuvers. Their move to Camp Butner was to provide them with final training before shipping overseas. The maneuvers culminated in the mountains of West Virginia. After completion, the men went through a Combat Team Exercise, which included machine gun fire following artillery, in an attempt to be the most realistic and hazardous exhibitions ever attempted prior to combat.
On May 4, 1944, the unit moved to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, and boarded the SS Thomas H. Barry, sailing on May 11, 1944. The ship landed at Avonmouth, England, on the 24th, and all personnel were moved by train through Exeter to Bodmin Road and Newquay. They continued to train for two months near Cornwall, until July 4, 1944, when the Regiment was moved to the Plymouth and Falmouth marshaling areas, They remained there one day before sailing from Plymouth and part from Falmouth, on July 6th and 7th. The 137th landed at Omaha Beach near Colleville-sur-Mere on July 7th, 8th and 9th.
The following portion of text was taken from the “Combat History of the 137th Infantry Regiment” and was transcribed by Roberta V. Russo*:
“During the night of July 10 – 11, the 1st and 2nd Battalions were in position for the attack with Company G in reserve. The 3rd Battalion was held as Division reserve due to their late debarkation and arrival in the area. In the early morning, both the 1st and 2nd Battalions received enemy mortar fire. In the first actual contact with the enemy, Company C encountered a reconnaissance patrol which was driven off. Company F also encountered an enemy patrol during the night.
The following morning the artillery preparation went off at 0540 and pounded known enemy positions for 20 minutes. At 0600 the doughboys rose numbly from their cramped positions in foxholes and stumbled toward the enemy – bewildered – frightened – expectant. On the right of the regimental sector the 1st Battalion attacked with Companies B and C, Company B on the right. One the left of the regimental sector the 2nd Battalion attacked with Companies E and F, Company F on the right. The men advanced, slowly, cautiously, making ghostly figures in the pre-dawn half light. After what seemed an infinity of expectancy, it happened – the ominous ripping sound of a German MG 42 shattered the morning air. Mortar fire smothered the advancing infantrymen. Dead and wounded littered the ground.
With the attack scarcely begun, Colonel Layng, the Regimental Commander, was wounded in the face and leg by machine gun fire at 0715. The 137th force had encountered a fortified church on Highway 3, north of St. Gilles, and, for most of the morning, was pinned down by heavy machine gun, mortar, and artillery fire. At the time the Regimental Commander was wounded, Lieutenant Colonel Wilson, commander of the supporting 219th Field Artillery Battalion, and Captain Kerr, artillery liaison officer, were killed, and the first platoon of Company C suffered heavy casualties. Brigadier General Edmund Sebree, assistant Division Commander, assumed command of the 137th Infantry at 0830. That night, at 2000, Colonel Harold R. Emery reported and assumed command. Thus the Regiment had its third Regimental Commander in 24 hours. The first enemy prisoners captured indicated that the Regiment was facing elements of the 879th, 898th, and 899th Infantry Regiments, which composed the Kampt Gruppe Kentner (combat team commanded by Colonel General Kentner).
Despite pounding by artillery, the fortified church north of St. Gilles could not be taken, and this, together with a fortified chateau in the same vicinity, held up the 1st Battalion most of the day. The 2nd Battalion made advances up to 400 yards, with Company F making the greatest gain until a shortage of ammunition held up its advance. At 1430 Company G was committed in a gap between E and F. The 3rd Battalion reverted to regimental control and was committed at 1830 on the right of the 2nd Battalion with a mission of by-passing St. Gilles and cutting the St. Lo-Pont Hebert Road. With the entire Regiment now committed, only small gains were made until the fighting was held up for the night to permit reorganization and resupply.
Casualties in the 137th Infantry for the first day’s operations were 12 killed, 96 wounded, and 18 missing in action.” The dead included Private Sol J. Realy who was Killed In Action on the 11th.
Sol was temporarily buried in Europe but was later shipped home and reinterred in the White Chapel Memorial Park Cemetery, Troy, Oakland County, Michigan. He posthumously received the Purple Heart in recognition of his ultimate sacrifice and was also eligible for the Combat Infantry Badge as well as the the Good Conduct Medal and EAME ribbon with credit for the Normandy campaign.
I want to thank Sol’s niece, Tami, for providing the family information and photos of her uncle. Thank you also to Find A Grave contributor, soultruth, for the use of the grave marker image.