Mundelein vet celebrates 99th birthday
After he graduated high school in Braddock, Pennsylvania, Hank Borden might have continued moving up in the grocery business in Pennsylvania. He had trained as a meat cutter and had been promoted to assistant manager.
Instead, on Sept. 25, 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army.
It was the start of an eventful three years for the Mundelein resident, who celebrated his 99th birthday Sunday with friends and family at AREA Coffee, 18 E. Park Street.
Borden, who served in General George S. Patton's 3rd Army, saw action in two of the major conflicts of World War II, the Invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge.
Borden said he enlisted because of “the situation in Europe. I didn't want to see that happen here in the United States.”
He began his training at Camp Santa Anita in California, where, even before he saw action overseas, he lost a buddy, another Pennsylvania boy, Frank Boyle, who died during an outbreak of spinal meningitis that put the camp in quarantine for five weeks.
“I just met him in December. He died in February. Seventy-five days,” he said.
After training in California and Nebraska, he traveled by train to Boston before he shipped out for England.
From there, he took part in the D-Day assault on Normandy Beach France in June 1944.
After the troops and their tanks were loaded onto floating docks, they were towed toward the beach.
The problem was the tanks became stuck in the sandbars 750 yards away from Omaha Beach. The weight of the tanks held the troops on the sandbars as the tide was going out.
His officer in charge said, “What the (heck) are we going to do?”
Hank said he told the officer, “Let's hit the water.”
He told the commanding officer that since the tanks had been waterproofed they should drive them onshore to the beach. Otherwise, they would be sitting ducks for the German air force.
Eventually, Borden and his fellow troops landed in Paris, where they waited for two weeks for French Gen. Charles DeGaulle to liberate the city.
“We just sat there and waited,” he said.
Patton's army later became involved in the Battle of the Bulge, fighting near Bastogne in Belgium.
Patton, he said, was a good leader and soldier who led by example.
“He didn't want you to do something that he wouldn't do.”
Patton's army fought for three days until they broke through enemy supply lines.
Later, Patton's army headed toward Metz and back east toward the Rhine River.
It was around this time that Borden had direct contact with Patton, although not the kind he anticipated.
It was memorable, and he has the photograph at home to prove it.
The great general apparently felt an overwhelming need to empty his bladder. He promptly did that in the Rhine River.
“I was about a hundred and fifty feet away with my buddy, a new buddy. He took a picture,” he said.
Borden, who rose to the Technician 4th Grade rank, eventually wound up in Nuremberg through the end of the war. He was finally discharged on Nov. 26, 1945.
He earned several medals, including the Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal and the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with five Bronze Stars.
After the war, he returned to Pennsylvania, married his wife, Allina “Lee” Gregg in 1948 — they were married for 63 years until her death — and eventually managed a diner in Pennsylvania.
He and his family moved to Mundelein in 1990. There, he became active in the Libertyville “Noon” Rotary Club.
At 93, he traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of the Lake County Honor Flight Program Trip #4. He took part in the D-Day celebration, laying the wreath in front of the Atlantic Tower Arch Fountain.
Among those joining the celebration Sunday in Mundelein was his daughter Kim.
“He's my hero,” she said. “He's the greatest dad on earth. He has inspired me throughout my life.”
Among the visitors at the celebration was Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz, who asked him for the secret of his longevity.
Borden responded, “Clean living. Don't drink, don't smoke, and don't go with girls that do.”