Honoring fallen soldiers

Written by CHERYL COGGIN GLISSON and JACKIE KENNEDY | Photographed by CHERYL COGGIN GLISSON

For the past three Novembers, Cheryl Coggin Glisson has placed a wreath at the grave of her father, a World War II veteran, to celebrate his life and honor his service. This year, she’ll do it again, along with other members of the General Daniel Newnan Chapter of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).

The DAR serves as the local sponsor of Wreaths Across America Day, set this year for Dec. 14. The national organization, Wreaths Across America, estimates that more than 3 million volunteers across the nation will place wreaths on the headstones of veterans this December.

Wreaths Across America states its mission is to: “Remember, Honor, Teach. Remember the fallen. Honor those who serve. Teach the next generation the value of freedom.”

According to the national organization, 717 loads of wreaths were delivered throughout the country last year by hundreds of volunteer professional truck drivers. At Arlington National Cemetery alone, Wreaths Across America delivered over 259,000 wreaths placed on veteran graves by more than 35,000 volunteers.

Locally, the Newnan Chapter of DAR plans to place 1,062 wreaths at Oak Hill Cemetery in December to honor the lives and service of veterans buried there.

“Each wreath is $17 and DAR members will be reaching out to veteran families, civic groups and businesses all year to make sure every veteran’s life and service is honored,” says Glisson. “It's a very meaningful and visual morning as young and old, families, retired service members and patriotic citizens say each veteran’s name aloud, thank him or her for their service to our country, and lay a wreath upon the grave.”

Membership to DAR is open to any woman 18 years or older who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution. Currently, 76 women are part of the local organization, which logged 6,072 hours of community service last year.

Along with placing wreaths on veterans’ graves in December, the group annually provides lesson plans and pocket versions of the U.S. Constitution to teachers and 4th graders; presents patriotic packets and flags to new citizens at a reception following their naturalization ceremony; sponsors the American History Essay Contest for students in grades 5-8; and routinely sends cards, ships care packages and provides refreshments at the VA clinic in Atlanta.

Last year, the local DAR placed more than 15,000 American flags throughout the community, more than any other DAR chapter in the Southeast, and retired approximately 800 worn flags from local businesses and individuals.

For more information on this year’s Wreaths Across America event, contact co-chairs Tammy Hyder at tammyhyder@gmail.com or Pat McBurnett at pmcburnett@gmail.com. NCM

Remembering a Champ

on the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge

Written by CHERYL COGGIN GLISSON | Photos courtesy of CHERYL COGGIN GLISSON

December marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, the biggest battle of World War II.

My dad, Champ Coggin, was part of Combat Command R in Patton’s Third Army, Fourth Armored Division, which fought in the Battle of the Bulge from Dec. 16, 1944 to Jan. 25, 1945.

Dad left Coweta County a boy and returned two years, three months and 17 days later as a man at age 22.

He and many others in Oak Hill Cemetery were among the 500,000 American soldiers who engaged in that brutal six-week battle in Belgium's Ardennes Forest. They faced freezing rain, mud, thick fog, deep snow drifts, hostile terrain and the coldest European winter in 50 years as they responded to Hitler’s surprise attack. They rescued the 101st Airborne Division in the Belgian town of Bastogne – and broke the back of the Nazi war machine. British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill said: “This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory.”

Those young men were heroes in every sense of the word. Their fight to protect our freedom should never be forgotten.

My dad rarely spoke about his service in World War II. 

This year his great-grandson Clark Coggin graduated from Northgate High School and is the same age Daddy was when Pearl Harbor was bombed.

I’m reminded of the famous quote from General George Patton during a pep talk with his troops: “Your grandson will ask you someday, ‘What did you do in the war,  Granddaddy?’ You can tell the little bastard, ‘Son, your grandaddy fought with the Third United States Army and an old bitch named General George Patton.’”

Daddy died in 2011. I honor his memory each year by participating in Wreaths Across America and placing a wreath on his grave at Oak Hill Cemetery in Newnan.

Daddy’s funeral was conducted by Central Baptist Church pastor Joel Richardson. In front of Daddy’s flag-draped coffin, Richardson talked about my father’s service with Patton’s Third Army. He was just a cook, but the pastor’s description of the chaos of feeding a tired and hungry army as it moved across Europe has never left me. From that day, I had a new understanding and appreciation of his war service – and a realization that every job was both dangerous and critical to victory.

Champ Coggin was a 17-year-old Coweta farm boy when Pearl Harbor was bombed. He enlisted to serve his country, attended basic training in Hattiesburg, Miss., and cooking school in Tullahoma, Tenn., then shipped out to England, homesick and seasick the entire voyage.

I do want his grandsons to know he served under Gen. George Patton in the Battle of the Bulge. But most of all, I want them to know that despite experiencing the war’s unspeakable carnage, he was a kind and compassionate human being.

Serving under Gen. Patton was not easy. Patton was a crude, ruthless and brilliant military man, simultaneously loved and hated by his troops. He knew how to get the most from every soldier, and he knew it took more than guns and airplanes to win a war. Fuel, whether food to keep the men fighting or gasoline to keep the tanks moving, was crucial. When his army moved faster than his supply lines, Patton expected his men to secure both food and gasoline by whatever means necessary. Every day, kitchens were set up, torn down and transported under fire, frequently into villages still in enemy hands.

In some of the smaller villages, local women were rounded up to help in the kitchens. One was a German woman who had 10 children. At the end of the day, Champ Coggin would send leftover scraps of food home with her to feed her starving children. She was grateful for this unexpected kindness in the midst of war.

To express her gratitude, she thanked my father with the only thing of value she had. It was her Mother’s Cross, the medal given to her by Hitler for bearing 10 children.

Champ declined her gift.

Combat Command R packed up and moved out. Many miles and battles beyond, my father found the gift he’d refused. The German mother of 10 had hidden her most prized possession in his gear. NCM