Victor John, Sr. Gervol
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Victor John Gervol, Sr. served in World War II in the European Theater.
He served in the U.S. Army, enlisting in 1940.
Mr. Gervol died at age 90 on October 15, 2008.
Victor was born on December 20, 1917, in Hibbing, Minnesota, to immigrants from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, John and Martha (Slak) Gervol.
While an infantryman stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington, he was transferred to California following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
While assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division, he first saw action in the North African invasion of 1942, seeing combat in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. In 1943, he was with the 3rd Division when they made an amphibious assault landing on Sicily, fought their way into Palermo and then to Messina, thus ending the Sicilian campaign.
He was then transferred to the 9th Infantry Division, 39th Infantry Regiment, the “Fighting Falcons” of AAA-O fame (“Anything, Anywhere, Anytime—Bar Nothing.)” In England, they began preparation for the Normandy amphibious landing. It was there that he was among the first to be awarded the new decoration, the Combat Infantry Badge.
The 9th Division landed on Utah Beach (D-Day+4) on June 10, 1944. Mr. Gervol continued with the Division as they literally walked across France and Belgium to Germany, where in September 1944 he was among the first troops to breach the Siegfried Line.
He was deployed to the Hurtgen Forest area of Germany, where he was wounded in October 1944. For that action, he was awarded the Purple Heart, to go along with his Silver and Bronze Star medals
Source: Duluth News Tribune, November 2, 2008
