Lyle W. Sparks
Age: 89
Born: July 10, 1921
Hometown: Guthrie Center, Iowa
Residence: Rancho Mirage
Military branch: U.S. Army; 207th Signal Depot Company; II Corps
Years served: Aug. 15, 1942 - Oct. 29, 1945
Rank: Corporal
Family: Wife Thelma (deceased); one child, Stephen Sparks of Glendale, Calif.; two grandchildren; one great-grandchild
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U.S. Army veteran Lyle Sparks trained in San Bernardino and Riverside counties before heading off to fight in Europe during World War II.
Sparks served with the 207th Signal Depot Company, supplying materials to troops at the front lines in North Africa, Italy and France.
After basic training at Camp Crowder, Mo., “They put us on a train to take us to live in the desert area because we were going to North Africa — which we didn't know at the time.”
Sparks spent two freezing-cold nights in mid-December of 1942 at Camp Young near Indio.
Sleeping on a cot — some luckier soldiers were issued mattresses — Sparks tried to shelter himself as best as he could as the wind whipped under and over his body.
“I froze my butt off. I never was so cold in my life.”
At Camp Haan in San Bernardino, soldiers set up large, pyramidal tents with walls, but strong, persistent gusts kept toppling them over.
“The wind blew all of them down,” Sparks said. “We'd have to get up in the middle of the night, wind blowing, rocks hitting you in the face.”
“We spent two to three months right at the foothills of the Cajon Pass. It was windy and dusty.”
In early March of 1943, the men boarded a ship in New York Harbor bound for Casablanca, Morocco.
The ship was old and uncomfortable.
“It was a real clunker,” he said, laughing.
After 14 days, the troops landed at Casablanca, then moved to Constantine and then to Oran where they caught a train to Mateur, Tunisia.
In Mateur, the men carried full field packs, including gas masks — in case the enemy decided to use poisonous gas.
“We had to carry them all the time. They worried we would be attacked,” he said.
Living in foxholes, “We were bombed nearly every night.”
He said the company set up within 20 miles of the fighting.
“Our mission was to receive supplies and pass it on to the front lines. We supplied the invasion of Sicily and Italy.”
Sparks replaced torn uniforms and supplied other goods to the troops — drawing supplies from the nearby quartermaster corps.
After meeting little resistance during the invasion of southern France, the company moved to Epinal, France, in September of 1944 and readied for a “big push” into Belgium.
“They had a big push heading our way, too,” he said.
German troops broke through Allied front lines on Dec. 16, 1944, launching the monthlong Battle of the Bulge. The company moved to northeast France in January of 1945, but were forced to retreat to Epinal under heavy artillery fire and bombing.
When the war in Germany was over in May of 1945, Sparks, who made it through unscathed, was disappointed he couldn't go home right away.
“Those who had 80 points could come back to the U.S. and be discharged. I had 79.”
When he finally got out, he received a memorable welcome home at the train station in Perry, Iowa. It was the first time he'd been home in 39 months.
“My mother saw me and said, ‘There he is!' The hugs were just wonderful.”
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II on Sundays. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
