Glenn Elmer Ellsworth (Army serial number 6932648) was born in Enterprise, Kansas on December 11, 1921 to Irvin and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Ann (Burton) Ensworth. He was raised in Abilene, Kansas and was a “farm boy”. The youngest of 14 children, he graduated high school at 15 1/2 years old. He wanted to join the Army because he wanted an education, but his mother worried about him joining as his father had served in World War I. In about 1939 he joined the Army Medical Department as that was the available opening. He was very studious and completed basic training in 2 weeks. He was quickly promoted to Sargent and became Chief of the Surgical Wing at Fort Riley Army Hospital. In about 1940 he went to Fort Benning, Georgia to complete infantry tactical training and then entered Officer Candidate School. He was placed third in his class but was not the required age of 21 to be a commissioned officer. He was part of the advance forces to arrive in England in 1941 where he participated in intelligence training with British forces. He was at some point assigned to the 28th Infantry Division, serving in Africa and Europe. In D-Day operations he was in G company assigned to the Dog Red sector of Omaha Beach. When they reached the top of the hill at Omaha, he was promoted to brevet Captain as there had been heavy losses and he was good at reading maps and determining coordinates. In oral history interviews, Ellsworth recalls the Hedgerows and intense combat as they advanced towards Saint-Lô. In his oral history he did not go into too many specifics as “combat was combat”. During combat he was shot in each hand and struck by shrapnel in various places on his body. Ensworth was married twice. He married an Army hospital nurse in 1940, who during the war became a ship welder. He was later married to Roberta M. (Durner) Chryst Ensworth, who during the war assembled and inspected machine belts. Ensworth’s seven brothers enlisted in the Navy during the war. He died in Phoenix, Arizona at the age of 86. Courtesy fold3.com, findagrave.com, loc.gov.

Follow https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.11953/#item-service_history to listen to his first hand audio of his military service.