US Army PFC Bernie Eugene Kimmons was born in Bluff Springs, Escambia County, Florida on March 17, 1918. He was the son of Jerimiah "Jerry" L. Kimmons (1875-1936) and Lillie Ola Vanhoosen (1891-1952). His father supported his large family by farming, fishing, and occasional work in the local sawmills. After his father's death in 1936, Lillie supported her family as a laundress for a private family while her son Bernie contributed by working as a laborer for the governments C.C.C. program.
Bernie was also the grandson of Union Civil War veteran Willard Nelson Vanhoosen (1845-1904) who had enlisted in Company "H" of the 23rd New York Infantry Regiment on May 16, 1861. They fought at the battles of Gainesville, 2nd Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, and Fredericksburg before mustering out at the end of their enlistment on May 22, 1863. He would appear shortly after the war in Mobile, Alabama where he married Rebecca A. Shepherd in 1868. Two years later, he appeared in Escambia County, Florida as a laborer. He would remarry Elizabeth Jane Rachels in 1879 in Monroe County, Alabama. He would move to Black's Bluff, Wilcox County, Alabama prior to 1880 and was working as an engineer (train). By 1900, he had relocated his family yet again to Ward's Mill in north Escambia County, Florida prior to 1900 and his sons were supporting the family by farming. Today, he rests in the Little Escambia Cemetery in Flomaton, Alabama.
When WWII descended on America, Bernie found himself inducted into the Army where he was assigned as a cannoneer 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 tank 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 remains of Kimmons still inside at his duty station. They removed him and buried him nearby. Later, the body of Barras was discovered nearby and buried with Kimmons 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 per his family's request 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.
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