Page 10 - Harnett Life Winter 2019

Hubert G. Edwards speaks

of his WWII experiences

“Let me ask you: How would you like to take a trip with
me?”

After opening his recent lecture at Central Carolina Com-
munity College with that invitation, Hubert Garland Ed-
wards did just what he offered, taking everyone back in
time to the tumultuous year of 1942 and recounting his re-
markable journey through North Africa and Europe during
World War II — a trip that included 660 days on the front
lines and even a chance encounter with future president
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and legendary Gen. George
S. Patton.

For nearly an hour, the 101-year-old Edwards stood behind
a podium, placing his audience into situations he faced in
battle, occasionally asking for their impressions and cor-
recting some common misunderstandings about the Sec-
ond World War. The CCCC Student Ambassadors spon-
sored the program.

“A Complete Annihilation”
One early stop landed everyone in Tunisia, February 1943,
where Edwards and his 17th Field Artillery Battalion were
involved in what would become known to history as the Hubert Garland Edwards shared his memories
Battle of Kasserine Pass, the first major engagement in of World War II during a recent program at
Africa. He described how his battalion united with forces Central Carolina Community College sponsored
invading Africa from other directions and moved toward a by the CCCC Student Ambassadors.
narrow mountain gap around which the battle raged. Ene-
my soldiers from Germany and Italy were ready. bets on how many days it would take for the Allies to con-
quer Sicily (he threw his money down on 32, but it took
“We were annihilated,” Edwards recalled. “We lost 199 44) and arriving in Rome only to find the Germans had
enlisted men. We lost 35 officers. We lost 12 guns, every evacuated. “We go in and take over,” he said. “We took a
piece of road equipment we had but one.” But soldiers who two-week vacation to view ruins, do sightseeing.”
somehow managed to survive found a place where they
could regroup with new equipment and reinforcements. Unexpected Guests
In several weeks, the tables turned. “We gave them what But the story that drew the most reaction from about 50
they gave us — a complete annihilation. We absolutely de- students and community members packed into a meeting
stroyed them.” room in the Dennis A. Wicker Civic and Conference Cen-
ter was that brush with the generals.
Not all of his stories were as gruesome. Edwards also re-
called lighter moments with his fellow soldiers — placing
Page 10 Harnett Life ~ Winter 2019