Bernie Eugene Kimmons was born in Bluff Springs in Escambia County, Florida on March 17, 1918. He was the son of Jerry L. Kimmons and Lillie Ola Vanhoosen. His father supported his large family by farming, fishing, and occasional work in the local sawmills. When the war came, Bernie was inducted into the Army and assigned as a canoneer with the 17th Tank Battalion of the 7th Armored Division. The Division's battle to take the Dutch city of Overloon began September 30, 1944 and soon settled into a type of trench warfare similar to World War I. Deserted by the British and denied the support of an infantry division, the 7th found itself alone. Adding to the chaos, the Division had been rushed from France with no time to prepare or acquaint themselves with the topography. It was the perfect storm for disaster, and the fates did not hesitate to disappoint. The 7th fought valiantly under the circumstances, both inflicting and receiving heavy casualties before the US high command finally realized their error.
On October 4, 1944, PFC Bernie Eugene Kimmons and his tank crew entered a wooded area where they received concentrated German artillery and machine gun fire. The tank, nicknamed "Carouse," was hit immediately fatally wounding Kimmons and his gunner. The commander, Lt. William Binder yelled to the others to abandon the tank before all was lost. Albert H. Litchford, the driver and Donald H. Cox, the bow gunner scrambled up and out to safety. But, sadly the second gunner Barras and Kimmons, the cannoneer didn't make it. Ensuring that both were dead, the others left the tank and retreated to safety. By October 8th, British reinforcements arrived to finally defeat the Germans.
Towards the end of the war local citizens discovered an abandoned hulk on the property of G. Gerrits outside of Overloon. They found the body of Kimmons still inside and buried him nearby. Later, the body of Barras was discovered and buried likewise with a wooden cross and marker "Unknown American Driver." In June 1945, these bodies were disinterred by American soldiers and removed to the American War Cemetery at Margraten. In 1947, the body of PFC Bernie Eugene Kimmons was disinterred for the second time and buried in the US Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery in Washington, DC. There, he rests peacefully today, far from his quiet wooded Bluff Springs home on Escambia River.
7th Armored Division Patch
The 7th fighting at Overloon, September 30 - October 8, 1944
Grave of a Bluff Springs soldier, Bernie Eugene Kimmons
US Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery in Washington, DC.