John Shotwell Wintermute, Jr., was also known as John Shotwell (Jr.) Wintermute.
2 He held the title Lieutenant Colonel. Department of Commerce - Bureau of the Census
SIXTEENTH CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES: 1940
POPULATION - HAWAII
County: Honolulu
Island: Oahu
Census tract: 37
City, town, or village: Schofield Barracks
Name of Institution: Officer Quarters 712 to 744
S.D. No: 2-185 (pt)
E.D. No: 5
Sheet No: 190-B
Enumerated: April 8th, 1940
Line No. 92
Street, avenue, road, etc: Grimes Street
House number: 736
Number of household in order of visitation: 242
House owned or rented: R
Value of home, if owned, or monthly rental: 25
Name of each person whose usual place of residence on April 1, 1940, was in this household
Name: WINTERMUTE, JOHN
Relation: Head
Sex: M
Color or race: Cau
Age at last birthday: 25
Marital status, Single, Married, Widowed, Divorced: S
Attended school or college any time since March 1, 1940: no
Highest grade of school completed: 16
Place of Birth: New Jersey
Territorial Citizen: no
Was the person at work: yes
Occupation: Second Lieutenant
Industry: U.S. Army
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(excerpts from)
Paths of Armor
Battery Press
Richard S. Gardner
4300 Dale Ave
Nashville TN 37204
Chapter VII
Pine Needles, Snow And Apples
Pine Camp, N. Y.
5 July-10 December 1943
[p.32]
Lt. Col. Earl S. Gibson was given command of the 46th and Maj. John S. Wintermute was made commander of the 15th Armored Infantry Battalion.
Chapter XI
Vive La France
Utah Beach to Le Mans
26 July--8 August
[p.51]
Before dawn the armored spearheads were again on the roads grinding east to encircle Le Mans, But CC B's Task Force Wintermute, while passing across the front of the 79th and 90th divisions, found the Laval-Le Mans highway being used by the l06th Cavalry (XV Corps) they were preceding the advance of the shuttling 79th division. To avoid this congestion CC B was given a new route south of the Laval-Le Mans highway and CC A was shifted further south. CC A was instructed to swing in a wide are south of the city and block all roads to the north and northeast; CC B would block those to the east, while CC R would choke off those to the south.
CC A had left Vitre at 0730 hours the morning of 6 August and by 1610 hours its married B Companies, which were leading the single attack column, had pushed through light scattered resistance and had reached the outskirts of Craon. Just before the head of the column reached the bridge in Craon it was blown up by the Germans who continued to defend the opposite bank with small arms fire. By fanning out to the north and south of the second platoon discovered a bridge north of the town and the column was rerouted over this crossing with little delay.
The first heavy resistance was met at Chateau-Gontier. Here the bridge across the Mayenne River had been partially destroyed and it was defended on the far side by antitank guns. These guns disabled one tank of B Co., 34th Tank Bn., and also hit General Regnier's tank.
Dismounting from their halftracks, the infantry crossed the river, and, fighting throughout the night, drove the German soldiers from the town. The enemy force was estimated to be one infantry company supported by antitank guns and mortars. A Co., 22nd Engineer Bn. immediately went to work on the bridge and traffic was moving across it by 7 the next morning.
The CC A column poured through the town and continued its advance until 1510 hours when it was halted by a stubborn force at Poille-Sur-Vegre. This force was attempting to keep open the Prulon-Le Mans escape route.
Some P-47 fighter bombers arrived over the column just in time.
[p.53]
the long day of 8 August "Drummer Perry" fired 87 rounds of 75 mm. And 16,000 rounds of 30 cal. ammunition.
CC A's advance continued until 2100 hours. By that time it had closed off the last escape route north of Le Mans.
Meanwhile, CC B had begun rolling south from the fields near Vitre at 1000 hours 6 August, The combat command attacked in two columns, Task Force Wintermute and Task Force Anderson, with the bridge of the Mayenne River at Houssay as their objective. At Crosse-le-Vivien, Task Force Wintermute enveloped the east flank of the resistance via Astille and Origne. Task Force Anderson continued on the main highway through Quelaines to the objective. At Astille the column was halted briefly when it encountered machine gun and bazooka fire from about a dozen Germans who were in a house on the edge of town. The tanks of Lt. Larry Hitchcock's platoon fired point-blank into the house and killed all of the enemy defenders. The absence of civilians on the streets indicated that more enemy soldiers were in the village, so the column by-passed it to the north.
Just before dark the bridge at Houssay was captured by Task Force Anderson which then pushed on to Meslay-du-Maine for the night. Two German cars loaded with demolitions were destroyed near Houssay by Lt. Leonard Keene's leading tank. A roadblock near the crossroads east of Houssay in charge of Lt. Merle Powers captured one of the dreaded 88 mm. guns as it was being towed south from Laval.
As Lt. John G. Jonasch was organizing the roadblock on the Laval road at Meslay, four Mark IV tanks attempted to smash through it. The Shermans commanded by Sgts. Gene Krafka and William Minturn opened fire at almost point-blank range. One Mark IV withstood all the shells hurled at it and continued through Meslay. It was escaping toward Le Mans when Lt. Robert McNab, aiming at the red flame of its exhaust, pumped a shell into its rear and crippled it. An inventory at daylight of the night's handiwork revealed that in the melee the Germans had lost four Mark IVs, two sedans and a motorcycle.
After refueling from the 3912 Q.M. Truck Company during the night, both columns rolled on toward Le Mans. Resistance was light and many confused and disorganized Wehrmacht soldiers were taken.
Chapter XII
The Sickle
Le Mans to Argentan
9 August-14 August
[p.59]
As the 15th Infantry Battalion's commander, Lt. Col. Wintermute, and its S-3, Major Hurley, attempted to drive back to CC B's Headquarters, their peep was struck by a projectile from an enemy self-propelled gun and they were both wounded. The German gunners placed the officers on the enemy vehicle and took them into Bonnetable to a house the Germans were using as a medical aid station. As the rumble of CC B's tanks grew louder the Germans withdrew from Bonnetable and the officers were recaptured. Major Toney Giorlando assumed command of the 15th Infantry Bn. and Capt. Donald Crafts became the Battalion S-3.
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After Action August 1944
Auth: CG, 5th Armd Div
Date 13 Nov 1944 U.S. Army
319.1 GNNJG 13 November 1944
Report After Action against Enemy - August 1944
15th Armd Inf Bn - LT COL JOHN S. WINTERMUTE JR, 022039, INFbr> 46th Armd Inf Bn - Maj William H Burton, 0366028, INF
At 0400, 9 August, orders were received from XV Corps to reconnoiter line St. Martin Des Montes - Cosme De Var - Courgins - Fresnay Sur Sarthe, prepared to advance to North and to protect East flank of the corps. At 1940, 9 August the Division was given the mission of seizing and holding the crossings of the Orne River between Monce and Ste Jamme, and to reconnoiter to line Nogent Le Rotrou - Mortagne - Alencon.
During the consolidation in the Le Mans area normal maintenance and evacuation was accomplished and basic loads of most items were reconstituted. Diesel fuel and WP ammunition were in short supply and neared the critical point. There was some delay in providing adequate stocks of CI I, III and V supplies at the Army dumps Northeast of Le Mans but reserves carried by units proved sufficient to provide for such contingencies.
At 0300, 10 August, information was received that XV Corps would attack at 0800, 10 August to seize line Sees-Carrouge. The Division was to attack in the East Zone with 2d French Armored Division on the left. The Division crossed the line of departure at 0800 with CCA on the left and CCR on the right, and at 1100 both columns were meeting strong armored and artillery resistance. Some 50 enemy tanks were active and several counterattacks were repulsed in securing the river crossings. Hostile elements identified were portions of 708th Inf Div on the left, 9th Pz Div in center, and 130 Pz Lehr Div on the right. AT units were found at road junctions and critical points. 9 tanks and 2 armored cars were destroyed on 10 August, with 84 enemy dead and 116 PW's. Morale of the enemy was reported by IPW teams as somewhat better and greater resistance was noticed in enemy positions. Weather continued warm and dry.
By 1700 all elements of CCA had pushed North of the river and the situation was more favorable in its sector. By nightfall 10 August CCA contacted strong tank forces in vicinity of Morolles and CCR was in contact with the enemy in vicinity of Mamers. The enemy had been steadily withdrawing before our pressure all day. Both Combat Commands remained in position for the night with instructions to continue the attack at 0700, 11 August on the same objective with same axis of advance, CCA to by-pass the town of Morolles and CCR to by-pass Mamers. The 79th Infantry Division was to take the towns. Reconnaissance was to stay forward and on the flanks.
It was during this day's action that the Division experienced its first loss among battalion commanders. Lt Col John S. Wintermute, Jr, Commanding Officer of 15th Armd Inf Bn, an element of CCB, was seriously wounded in action and evacuated.
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http://www.death-record.com/d/n/John-Wintermute/Virginia
Name: John Wintermute
Age at Death: 60
City: Arlington
State: Virginia
Date of Birth: August 19, 1914
Date of Death: June 01, 1975 *
Social Security Number (SSN): 228-56-3708
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF VETERAN'S AFFAIRS
http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov
Nationwide Gravesite Locator
WINTERMUTE, JOHN S. JR
LTC, US ARMY
Date of Birth: 08/19/1914
Date of Death: 06/03/1975 *
Buried at: Section 11, Site 301-1
Arlington National Cemetery
C/O Director Arlington, VA 22211
(703) 607-8000
LTC John Shotwell Wintermute, Jr
Birth: Aug. 19, 1914
Death: Jun. 3, 1975 *
Burial: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA
Plot: Section 11 Site 301-1
Find A Grave Memorial # 48076929.