Band of Brothers: Remembering TEC5 Forrest L. Guth
Source: Family Search (c/o Coach Singleton)
Technician Fifth Grade (TEC5) Forrest Leroy Guth of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 101st Airborne Division, was born in Ruppsville, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, to John H. R. and Mayme L. (Rabenold) Guth on February 6, 1921. Warren had one older brother, Curtis T. Guth, and two sisters, Hallet (Willoughby) and Helen M. (Snyder) Guth.
His brother Curtis served in the U.S. Navy during WWII.
Forrest signed up for the draft at Allentown, Pennsylvania, on February 16, 1942. After graduating from high school, he worked for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. The company played an important role in manufacturing warships and other military weapons in WWI and WWII.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 8, 1942. Forrest could have gotten a deferment because of his job at Bethlehem Steel, making armor plates for battleships, but two of his friends had dared each other to enlist, and the three men chose to be paratroopers. It was something that came to his mind when Forrest drifted down after jumping from his plane on D-Day morning, acknowledging for the first time the terrifying reality of war when he saw the German tracers flying all around him.
Forest was among the first men to report at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, where he was assigned to Easy Company on August 25, 1942, becoming one of the Band of Brothers. After going through initial training at Toccoa, he went through jump school at Fort Benning at the end of that year to receive his jump wings.
On January 6, 1943, he married Irene Mae Ebert in Trexlertown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. In September of that year, having finished his stateside training with Easy Company, he traveled to England for the final preparation of the invasion of the European continent as a part of the Allied Forces, to beat the despicable NAZI regime.
TEC5 Guth made his first combat jump on June 6, 1944. He landed about two miles off target and fought with members of the 82nd Airborne Division for two days before he was able to return to Easy Company. His second combat jump was on September 17, 1944, when he parachuted into the Netherlands for Operation Market Garden. He became injured upon landing and was sent to a field hospital. To his amazement, he was examined by his hometown doctor from Pennsylvania, who was an Army doctor during the war.
His injury was first treated at the 24th Evacuation Hospital near Bourg Leopold, Belgium. He then returned to England for further treatment at a U.S. Army Hospital in Ramsden Heath, Oxford. After his discharge from the hospital, he was assigned to the 10th Replacement Depot and returned to Easy Company on October 10, 1944.
His next combat action was at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, where the 101st Airborne Division fought the German offensive of the town, and held them off despite being surrounded, lacking adequate winter gear, as well as food, and having to deal with a shortage of ammunition.
His last major front-line period was at Alsace, Germany. Forrest took part in what became known as Easy Company’s “Last Patrol” at Hagenau. He was in a stable at the Moder River when he heard that his interpreting services were needed for the patrol on February 14, 1945.
The patrol marked the end of his active participation in WWII.
Somewhere during that period, the Army allowed a selected group of soldiers to go home for 30 days. Each company was allowed to send one man home. The 25 remaining original Toccoa men within Easy went into a hat, and Guth’s name was drawn. He did not dare to put the offer down, but while he was at home, the war in Europe ended, so he never rejoined his outfit, to his dismay.
After the war, Forrest attended Millerville State Teachers College, and upon graduating, began his teaching career in Norfolk, Virginia, teaching industrial arts at Granby High School. He then met his second wife and love of his life, Harriet Ann Amis. The couple married in Norfolk on June 18, 1949, and then spent a year in New York City, where Forrest received a Master’s Degree in Education. They then moved to Wilmington, Delaware, where Forrest taught at a local high school for more than 30 years, including the last 20 years at Brandywine High School.
Their marriage was blessed with two children: a daughter, Nancy, and a son, John.
Forrest retired from his teaching in 1977, picking up a career as a master cabinet maker in a specialty woodworking business. In 1997, Forrest and Harriet moved to Hockessin, New Castle County, Delaware, where he continued to volunteer his time and energy serving on numerous committees at Cokesbury Village in addition to his church responsibilities.
On December 13, 2007, Harriet passed away, followed by Forrest nearly two years later, in Hockessin, at age 88, on August 9, 2009. They rest eternally at Arlington Cemetery, Virginia.
May they rest in peace.
Lest we forget. 🇺🇸
Sources:
NARA
Family Search