SSGT William Leroy “Babe” Brinkley Jr.

1st Ranger Battalion D & E Company

William L. Brinkley was born in Evansville, Indiana on 13 May 1923. He was the youngest son of William L. Brinkley Sr. and Louise C. “Lula” Schomburg. Because he was the youngest they always called him “Babe.” He grew up with 3 brothers, Earl, Wesley and Jack. He also had one sister, Dorothy. Babe and his four siblings attended schools in Evansville. He had graduated from Central High School by 1940. On 17 February 1941 he enlisted in the regular Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Babe did his basic training at Fort Knox and graduated as a tank mechanic on 15 July 1941. He was also trained as a tank driver. He was transferred overseas to Belfast, Northern Ireland in March of 1942.

It was in Northern Ireland where he saw a posting to join a new specialized outfit on a volunteer basis. The specialized unit became the 1st Ranger Battalion. with COL William O. Darby as the Commanding Officer.  Babe, like the 1500 other soldiers men who volunteered went thru interviews and extensive physical tests at Sunnyland Camp in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. On June 19, 1942 the 1st Rangers were officially established. Only 600 men were selected. Babe made the grade and was initially assigned to D Company. All of the qualified men were transported to the British Commando Training Center in Achnacarry, Scotland. Several months into the rigorous training, on the first of August, Babe and 49 other Rangers were sent to receive secret training. No one knew what the destination was or what they would be doing. By the 19th of August they received orders and the Rangers were split up and assigned to various British and Canadian units. The destination was Dieppe on the coast of France. The operation was a disaster for the Allied troops. Many British Commandos and Canadian Forces Troops were killed or captured. Of the 50 Rangers 3 men were killed, 4 were captured and spent the war in POW work camps. There were a few that were wounded. Many of the Rangers, including Babe never landed and remained on one of the landing crafts and eventually returned to the larger transport ships. It is important to note that the 50 Rangers were the first Americans to fight on enemy soil, first to kill the enemy and the first to be killed on enemy soil. Babe wrote a letter home to his family about the Dieppe Raid.

The Rangers continued to train and moved to Corker Hill, Scotland. On October 13th 1942 the Rangers moved by rail to Gourock, Scotland. Dog and Charlie Company embarked on the HMS Ulster Monarch. The Rangers were a part of Operation Torch with the assignment of taking the port of Arzew in their first invasion landing. The Rangers landed and captured Arzew. The Rangers continued spearheading many landings and covert raids with success. Sened Station, El Guettar to name a few in N. Africa. The First Ranger Battalion was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for action at El Guettar.

Babe was transferred into E Company before June 1943 and was promoted to T/4. On July 10th 1943, the 1st Rangers and the new 4th Rangers made their first landing on the island of Sicily at the port of Gela. Babe is noted to have saved a young Ranger in Gela. While the 1st and 4th Rangers were invading Gela, the new 3rd Rangers were landing in Licarta, Sicily. On 16 August while in Corleone, Sicily, Babe went off duty to the hospital for a week and returned to duty on 22 August. During the time in Corleone the Rangers fortified their companies with replacement soldiers. It was a period spent training and the seasoned Rangers got a rest period.

After successfully driving the enemies out of Sicily, the Rangers boarded LCIs on Sept 9th and moved across to land in Salerno Italy. The Rangers marched 10 miles inland and climbed up to Chiunzi Pass and held the Germans from coming up thru the pass. The Rangers spent 20 days in the area of Mt. St Angelo before being relieved. The First, Third and Fourth Ranger Battalions were presented the Presidential Unit Citation for this action. The Rangers marched 10 miles to Castelamare on September 29th and on October 3rd they moved by truck to Botanical Gardens, Naples, Italy. Five days later, the men were moved by truck 50 miles to quarter in the former Fascist Boys School building in San Lazzaro, Italy. While in San Lazzaro, Babe was promoted to Staff Sergeant on October 27th 1943.

The Rangers had about a month to train and rest in Italy. They moved 80 miles via trucks to Venafro, Italy on November 6th. 1st Rangers were attached to the 45th Infantry Division. They were given the mission to relieve the 180th Infantry in the Venafro sector. About midday on November 9th the 1st Ranger A, B and E Companies had relieved A, B and C companies of the 180th on Mount Corno to the west of Venafro. These Rangers received an order on November 11th to seize the remainder of the ridgeline. While on the way up the to the hilltop mail was delivered. Christmas packages were delivered to some of these Rangers. One Ranger opened a fruitcake and shared with his buddies. Rangers continued climbing for 2 hours descending into darkness. When they reached the top all hell broke out. The Germans opened up machine gun fire and streams of tracer bullets laced the hilltop. The men desperately scrambled to find cover. The men lay flat trying to find rocks for cover and digging in the hard cold ground to find a pocket for cover. The German gunfire finally stopped as daybreak came. The Ranger that had shared his fruitcake saw dead Rangers still holding their Christmas packages on the hillside. Ranger Babe Brinkley was seriously wounded with 4 open wounds. Ranger Franklin Zip Koons, who was scheduled to go home helped take Babe off the mountain he was transported to an Army hospital. On the 16th Ranger Koons went to visit Ranger Brinkley in the hospital before returning home. He knew that Babe would not survive. Babe died of his wounds on the 19th of November.

Although Babe died in November, his parents received bad news first about one of their older sons, Army Air Force LT Wesley Brinkley was MIA. His plane was shot down over Germany. Wesley and Babe’s father W. L. Brinkley Sr. organized Gold Stars United. It was an organization for parents who lost sons and daughters during WWII. It promoted permanent peace and gave families information and assistance working with the War Department to get help get the bodies of their loved ones returned home.