Willie W. Lynn was a humble farmer from Nauvoo, Alabama born in 1913. He was among the eldest of his 13 brothers and sisters and continued that leadership as a Sgt. in his 30's to what is assumed a younger group of men. Willie's military papers say his name was "Willie War Lynn", while his civilian paperwork spells it as "Willie Wire Lynn". Being both from the early 1900s and a poor country farmer it's likely that his legal name was "Wire" but the military personnel heard him pronounce it as "War".

As with most he didn't talk much about the war other than the farmland which until his death in the 1990s remained his most loved thing.. farming. He kept in touch with a couple men he served with and not much is known about that either other than one of them was T-5 Bruno DalleTezze also from A Company.

​

After the war Willie returned to north Alabama, start a family and continue farming. He later served as county Commissioner and reduced his farming from many many acres to a small (to him, large to me) garden. That garden was only a 90 second walk from his back door but he'd sometimes pack a lunch and stay out there all day. That garden was perfection! No weeds, beautiful fresh turned piles of dirt mounded around every plant. Those plants produced more food than our family and 10 more could eat, but for him it wasn't about sustenance, it was about the love of the work.



The few things carried down through the family stories as limited as they were was a little about the Ludwiglust concentration camp liberation, which I didn't know much of anything about including the name until I found the journal of the 605th. He also told a story about being stuck on the allied side of the Rhine River for several days awaiting the engineer group to get a bridge in place. This time was mostly inactive, just with the occasional action of little to no significance. One night or morning he was either about to relieve a man for shore guard duty on the edge of the River... or he had just been relieved and they hear a single gunshot. That gunshot is thought to be the sniper fire that occurred on Feb. 25th 1945 that killed Lt. Herbert J. Roth of Company A.

​

I (Matt Lynn, his Grandson) was 13 when Pawpaw died and we didn't really know much about his service for a long time including what unit he was in. I started searching and discovered his battalion and eventually got the first 605 website up for the purpose of learning more... and that mission has been accomplished. While much is still unknown and will likely never be known, Pawpaw would likely not understand the interest even in what I do know. But I like to think he'd appreciate the attempt to honor him and his comrades for the sacrifice they gave. Compared to many stories of World War II the story of the 605 was mostly uneventful, but it isn't about the grandeur and the stories that make the History channel, it's about being there if and when History needs you to tell a story around. Like many others, he was there and that was more than enough.