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Early Life and Family

Harold D. Kirk was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania on September 18, 1913. He was the son of John Little Kirk (a farmer at the time, 1875–1941) and Emma Disert Kirk (1876–1965). Nicknamed Mike, Harold had three older brothers, an older sister, and a younger sister. The Kirk family moved to Delaware after February 24, 1915 (when the family’s youngest child, Bertha, was born in Chambersburg) and prior to September 12, 1918 (when John L. Kirk registered for the draft). The family briefly lived on a farm near New Castle.

By April 24, 1930, when the Kirks were recorded on the census, the family had moved to Foxden Farm (on what is now known as Fox Den Road north of downtown Newark, Delaware). At the time, Harold Kirk was working as farmhand. Census records indicate that Harold completed eighth grade, while his enlistment data stated that he finished one year of high school.

Around 1934, the family opened a new business, Kirk’s Flowers, in the Lumbrook area of Newark off Capitol Trail. By 1941, the Kirks had three greenhouses in operation, growing plants for the business. Kirk’s Flowers, though no longer owned by the Kirk family, is still in operation today. The 1940 census recorded that as of April 22, 1940, Harold was living in White Clay Creek Hundred (likely his prewar address of 316 Capitol Trail) and working as a florist with his father and older brother James. When he registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, Harold was described as standing five feet, five inches tall and weighing 165 lbs., with brown hair and gray eyes.

Two of Harold’s siblings served in the military during World War II. His sister Bertha May Kirk (later Boronski, 1915–2004) joined the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps in November 1941. She retired in 1965 at the grade of lieutenant commander. His brother John Howard Kirk (1906–2000) served in the U.S. Army from 1943–1945.

Stateside Service

Harold Kirk was drafted before the attack on Pearl Harbor and inducted into the U.S. Army in Camden, New Jersey on April 14, 1941. According to the Individual Military Service Record filled out by his wife for the State of Delaware Public Archives Commission, Private Kirk arrived at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland on April 28, 1941. Following basic training, he joined Company “A,” 191st Tank Battalion.

The 191st Tank Battalion was one of the so-called separate tank battalions, which could be attached to other units (as distinguished from tank battalions that were part of an armored division). According to the unit history book, 191 Tank Bn., the unit was originally composed of federalized “National Guard tank companies from New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, [and] Connecticut” which were first stationed together at Fort George G. Meade beginning in February 1941.

In August and September 1941, Kirk participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers, one of several large-scale exercises held that year in order to hone the rapidly expanding U.S. Army. That fall, the battalion also participated in maneuvers in South Carolina.

John L. Kirk died on November 12, 1941. It’s unclear if Harold Kirk was able to return to Newark for his father’s funeral; his battalion didn’t get back to Fort Meade until December 5, two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Later that month, Kirk married Eleanor Rebecca Young—a nurse at Wilmington General Hospital—at the Church of the Brethren in Richardson Park (a Wilmington, Delaware neighborhood) on the evening of December 27, 1941.

According to his wife’s statement, Kirk was promoted to sergeant in January 1942. (Photographs indicate that he was actually a technician 4th grade for some period of time; see notes section below for further information.) After the promotion, he became a tank commander. In the summer of 1942, the 191st Tank Battalion traveled west to Camp Young, California where they participated in maneuvers at the Desert Training Center. While in California, the 191st transitioned from the M3 medium tank to the M4 medium tank (popularly known as the Sherman).

That winter, the unit headed back east, this time to Fort Benning, Georgia. After additional training, the unit headed north to Fort Dix, New Jersey in February 1943. The unit shipped out from the New York Port of Embarkation on February 28, 1943 aboard the British troopship R.M.S. Andes.

Combat in Italy

The 191st Tank Battalion arrived in Casablanca, Morocco on March 9, 1943. Two days later, Sergeant Kirk wrote his mother that he had arrived in North Africa. Unable to discuss much about the war due to censorship, his letters home mainly discussed family and the flower business. On April 25, 1943, he wrote his mother:

“Today is Easter and I imagine you are very tired after the rush[,] you said that the tulips were early so it must have been hard getting enough plants and flowers to go around”.

Extant correspondence indicates that Sergeant Kirk frequently sent some of his pay to his mother. Although he frequently expressed his longing for home, the only thing he asked her to send from home were cigars, something hard to come by in the war zone.

The 191st Tank Battalion did not participate in the Tunisian or Sicily campaigns, but U.S. Army planners selected the unit for the next scheduled amphibious operation: the invasion of mainland Italy. The battalion staged in Bizerte, Tunisia during preparations for the operation. On September 3, 1943, elements of the 191st Tank Battalion (including Sergeant Kirk’s Company “A”) loaded their vehicles aboard a group of six L.C.T.s (landing craft, tank). On September 9, 1943, they landed under heavy German fire at Paestrum, Italy.

The battalion supported the 45th Infantry Division and later the 34th Infantry Division during the drive north in the fall of 1943. Among other battles, the battalion participated in combat at the infamous Volturno River.

A January 3, 1944 letter of commendation to Sergeant Kirk from the 191st Tank Battalion’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Percy H. Perkins, Jr., stated in part:

“1. During the last three months, you have been a tank commander in a combat company and have done an outstanding job. Company ‘A’ has been materially aided in successfully accomplishing its missions because of your efficiency, quick thinking and ability.

“2. In both North Africa and back in the States, you showed willingness to study and learn. It is because of this that you have attained the standard described above.

“3. I therefore wish to congratulate you on the fine work you have done. You can be proud of it.”

The Anzio Beachhead

Sergeant Kirk was awarded the Good Conduct Medal on January 25, 1944. That same month, the unit was attached to the 1st Armored Division in preparation for another amphibious operation, this time to Anzio. The battalion arrived on January 31, 1944, nine days after the landings began. Shortly after arriving, the 191st was assigned to support the 3rd Infantry Division, though it supported the 45th Infantry Division later in the campaign.

Sergeant Kirk’s battalion helped stop a German counterattack on February 16, 1944. In his book The Infantry’s Armor: The U.S. Army’s Separate Tank Battalions in World War II, Harry Yeide wrote that “the 191st Tank Battalion counted fifteen panzers positively destroyed at the cost of seven Shermans.”

On February 23, 1944, Sergeant Kirk wrote his mother (edited for clarity, see notes section below for original text):

“I am now on the Anzio beachhead, have been for some time. My tank has knocked out two German tanks. […] This is really a hot place. I have lost quite a bit of weight but think things will clear up here soon.”

Months of stalemate followed the German counterattack. The author(s) of 191 Tank Bn. described Anzio as follows:

“Fighting on the line was violent and costly. Heroic deeds became common place. There were no ‘Rear Areas.’ The beachhead–narrow and crowded–gave a target to every shell, and Kraut artillery raked it day and night. Jerry was dugin [sic] too and looked down our throat from the hillsides. ‘Popcorn Pete’ came over like clockwork, with his spitting [anti]personnel bombs”.

Correspondence indicates that Kirk was promoted to staff sergeant while serving at the Anzio beachhead, sometime between April 20–23, 1944. Staff Sergeant Kirk served as a platoon sergeant after his promotion.

On May 21, 1944, Kirk wrote letters home to his wife and mother. The one to his mother (edited for clarity) stated:

“I guess the busy season is about over at the greenhouse and I bet you are glad. Don’t work too hard as it isn’t worth it. […] Everything here is about the same. I would love to be back in good old Del. with spring here. I bet the maple trees [in the] back of the house look good now. I still have some of the cigars you sent me. They do help some. Hope so much to see you soon.”

Breakout and Aftermath

The long-awaited breakout from Anzio that began on May 23, 1944 proved extremely costly to the 191st Tank Battalion. Harry Yeide wrote that “the outfit suffered the worst losses of all the separate [tank] battalions that participated in the breakout.” Staff Sergeant Kirk’s Company “A,” (along with the light tanks of Company “D,” as well as the 645th Tank Destroyer Battalion) supported the advance of the elite American-Canadian 1st Special Service Force.

During the offensive, the 191st suffered significant losses from enemy tanks, artillery, and mines. Staff Sergeant Kirk was most likely killed on May 23, 1944, the second day of the breakout (although officially, he died the next day). According to the unit history:

“The tanks supported by the doughfeet [infantrymen] rumbled through one enemy position after another from Anzio until they crossed Highway 7. It was going very nicely for tank number 14 of Able Company until motor trouble forced Staff Sergeant Kirk the tank commander and Technician fourth grade Ingebretson, driver, to retrace their path over highway 7. They drove straight into the teeth of Kraut tanks coming down the highway…Sheets of flame shot from their tank. Sergeant Kirk, the loader, and gunner lay dead on the floor of the turret…..By nightfall every tank in the 3rd platoon had been destroyed, and only nine of the platoon escaped unscratched from the ring of steel”.

Staff Sergeant Kirk was buried in the Nettuno (Anzio) U.S. Military Cemetery, today known as the Sicily–Rome American Cemetery and Memorial (Plot E, Row 6, Grave 49). He is also honored on Newark’s World War II memorial, at Veteran’s Memorial Park in New Castle, Delaware, and on a cenotaph at Ebenezer United Methodist Church Cemetery in Newark (where his parents are buried).

Staff Sergeant Kirk’s decorations include the American Defense Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Purple Heart.

The year after Staff Sergeant Kirk’s death, his widow Eleanor (1917–1977) went on active duty with the Army Nurse Corps at Tilton General Hospital at Fort Dix, New Jersey. She served in the U.S. Army from March 1, 1945 until July 16, 1946. By February 1948, she had remarried to a career U.S. Army officer, Paul Gross Tobin (1920–2005), with whom she raised four children.

Notes

Emma Kirk: Kirk’s mother’s maiden name was Emma Rebecca Disert, although some sources listed incorrect variant spellings including Disirt and Dizert.

Foxden Farm: The 1930 census didn’t provide any address for the farm, though it indicated that it was in Mill Creek Hundred along the Paper Mill Road corridor north of Milford Crossroads (which refers to where Paper Mill Road, Possum Park Road, and Thompson Station Road come together). When I queried a Newark-area Facebook group, a woman told me that the Kirks lived on Fox Den Road. A member of the Kirk family confirmed that was correct and indeed lived on the Foxden Farm.

Grade: Kirk’s widow wrote that he was promoted to sergeant in either January 1942. One photo from 1942 and one from January 1943 indicate his grade was actually technician 4th grade when they were taken. Both technician 4th grade and sergeant were classified as 4th grade in the enlisted structure of the era. At the time, 1st grade (master sergeant and 1st sergeant) was the highest enlisted grade while 7th grade (private) was the lowest. Tech 4s were usually referred to as sergeant. It appears that his grade did change to sergeant at some point since the letter of commendation and General Order 2 (announcing that he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal) in January 1944 referred to him as sergeant. Furthermore, the table of organization indicates that tank commanders were sergeants rather than tech 4s. For simplicity, this article refers to him as sergeant during his entire period at 4th grade.

Although Kirk’s widow wrote that he was promoted to staff sergeant on May 1, 1944, it appears that his promotion came through slightly earlier. In an April 20, 1944 V-mail he gave his grade as sergeant but as staff sergeant on an April 23 V-mail.

Original text of Sergeant Kirk’s February 23, 1944 V-mail:

“I am now on the Anzio beachead. have been for some time my tank has nocked out too German tanks since we have been hear with quite a bit of other stuff This is really a hot place I have lost quite a bit of wait but think things will clear up hear soon”

Original text of Staff Sergeant Kirk’s May 21, 1944 V-mail:

“Dear Mother

“I gess the busy season is about over at the greenhouse and I bet you are glade don’t work too hard as it isn’t worth it […] every thing hear is about the same I would love to be back in good old Del. with spring hear I bet the maple trees back of the house look good now I still have some of the cigars you sent me they do help some hope so much to see you soon.

“Love

“Mike”

Status: Oddly enough, the official casualty list compiled after the war stated that Staff Sergeant Kirk died of wounds rather than being killed outright, contrary to the description of his death in the unit history.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to the Kirk family for supplying many of the photos and documents which accompany this article.

This piece was written by Lowell Silverman, part of a series honoring fallen service members. Additional tributes by the author can be viewed here.

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Article last updated on June 5, 2023