David Leroy Cranford of Wolf Bayou (Cleburne County), AR enlisted in the U.S. Army on 10DEC1942. After basic training, he was assigned to Ft. Sill Oklahoma, and became a member of the 693rd Field Artillery Battalion which was activated on 8AUG1943.

As was the case with most soldiers, marines, or sailors enlisting in the armed services for World War II, Cranford had never traveled far from home with trips to nearby Batesville or Heber Springs, the county seat of Cleburne.

Ten days after D-Day, June 6, 1944, the 693rd Field Artillery Battalion landed on Omaha Beach and on 14JUL1944 entered the European Theater of Operations being first assigned to the 90th Infantry Division which was under the command of Major General Eugene M. Landrum.

The 693rd FA saw combat in August, 1944, as the 90th ID drove across the Sarth River, north and east of Le Man, France on August 12th. Fighting continued as the division participated in the closing of the Falaise Gap and reached the 1st Polish Armored Division in Chambois on August 19.

The 693rd Field Artillery unit was a “non-divisional” unit meaning it was not assigned to a single division but sent where their 105 mm howitzers were needed the most. This howitzer, towed by trucks, could be moved quickly from theater of action to another.

On 1DEC1944 the 693rd FA was assigned to the 45th Infantry Division. It was this division that smashed through the Siegfried Line and March 21st crossed the Rhine. Crossing the Rhine was not an easy tasked as the Germans sought to protect the last natural obstacle before Allied forces entered Germany. During the assault of the Rhine, the 693rd FA and the 250th FA fired 10,000 rounds in a 40-minute period, something unheard of in World War II battle.

Cranford attained the rank of corporal, and was assigned to a lieutenant who was a forward artillery observer. Often his assignment took him close to battle front lines and into harm’s way. Occasionally, he was tasked as a messenger to carry information from the 693rd headquarters to the command of other nearby units.

He once said while carrying out several of this mission, he did not know if he was behind enemy lines. When the WWII ended, he had earned a bronze star, something rare for a regular soldier.

Corporal Cranford’s unit returned the United States through the Port of New York, and on 29March1946 the 639th FA was deactivated at Camp Kilmer, NJ, and Cranford returned to Heber Springs, AR.

Once home, Cranford joined the National Guard unit in Heber Springs. In 1961, the unit was designated as the 875th Engineer Battalion of the 172nd Engineer Company. During the Berlin Crisis which began in 1958 and ended in 1961, the Heber Spring unit was activated and deployed to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The time was from 7Oct1961 to 3Aug1962.

The Heber Springs unit was one of seven Arkansas National Guard units mobilized Under Presidential Executive Order 10957.

Cranford served in the National Guard from the time he returned from World War II until shortly before his death in 1988.

David Cranford (1921)