Sights set on his 100th birthday, Springfield's Joe Doyle looks back on World War ll
Joe Doyle: Springfield resident, father, World War ll veteran, loving husband and much more is approaching his 100th birthday.
Before the big day on Friday, Doyle, 99, sat down with the News-Leader to discuss his eventful life.
Doyle grew up Ivesdale, Illinois and worked on his father's farm as a teenager before joining the Army in February 1943 with the 44th Infantry Division.
Heartbreak and close calls
When Doyle was in training, he remembers other soldiers telling him he probably wouldn't make it back home.
Eventually, Doyle was deployed to France to fight against the Germans. The first day Doyle saw action on the battlefield, his best friend was killed.
"My very first fight I lost my very first friend, best friend, I ever had in the Army," Doyle said. "He was a nice man, he had gotten married right before the war."
The war continued, and many others with whom Doyle became close did not survive.
On one of the most harrowing days for Doyle, he and his fellow soldiers got pinned down on the battlefield by a sniper for a day, without food or water. Doyle remembers laying on a frozen ground all day avoiding bullets.
"We were pinned down for a day," Doyle said. "Bullet sounds were zinging when they're far away. But when the bullets got closer to me, you could hear them snapping."
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Doyle felt fortunate to get out of that situation alive.
"The sniper didn't hit me, I guess the Lord wouldn't let him hit me," Doyle said.
Doyle not only survived the sniper but also a time when a bullet went right through his field jacket, inches from mortally wounding him. Doyle also walked away from a bomb explosion that claimed several soldiers and was close enough to shake the ground underneath him.
During his military career, Doyle went on to serve in the 3rd Infantry Division and the 78th Infantry Division before returning home to his family in Illinois.
Life After War World ll
After the war, Doyle landed a job but had a tough time re-adjusting to life as a civilian.
Fortunately, he met the perfect person. Someone who could understand what he was going through.
It started as a chance encounter, and eventually she would become his wife.
Betty Doyle had worked as an Army nurse during World War II and was Joe's faithful companion throughout his life until she died at the age of 95. Their family included five children, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
As Joe Doyle's 100th birthday approaches, he said the longevity is something he's proud of.
But, he admitted with a laugh, "I'm starting to feel old."
Ralph Green is a business reporter with the Springfield News-Leader. Contact him at RAGreen@gannett.com, by phone: (417-536-4061) or on Twitter at RalphGreenNL
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: 100th birthday approaching for Springfield World War ll vet
