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<em>Frank Sellars</em> was born in Denver, Colorado on 12 March 1914. He entered the Corps of Cadets from Tampa, Florida and joined our class as a “turnback” in September of 1939. He was selected by his classmates and served ably as the A Company representative on the Ring Committee. Frank also participated as a member of the Chess Club and a member of the Fencing Squad all four years at the Academy.</p>
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Having been chastened once by being turned back at the end of his first plebe year, Frank used the interval to good advantage and was never again in serious academic jeopardy. He was turned out once in Drawing but managed to survive this brush with academics easily. At graduation he selected Infantry and was posted to the 11th Infantry at Fort Benjamin Harrison.</p>
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As with the rest of the class, Frank made a series of transfers as the U.S. mobilization exploded with the activation of new units. He was posted to Fort McClellan, Fort Custer, Fort Benning and, in April 1941, went to join the garrison on Trinidad in the British West Indies. In Trinidad he was assigned as the assistant provost marshal. In August 1942 he returned to the Infantry Replacement Training Center at Camp Croft in South Carolina. This was followed by the short version of the Infantry Officers Advanced Course at Fort Benning, and Frank then was assigned to the 101st Infantry Regiment in the 26th (Yankee) Division.</p>
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Frank was the motor officer of the regiment, and John Dickerson was assigned to the same regiment on a battalion staff.</p>
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The Division sailed in a large convoy out of New York in August 1944, debarking in Cherbourg on 12 September. The convoy was said to have carried five US Divisions to join the battle in the ETO. The 26th Division was assigned to Pattons’ Third Army, which was experiencing severe logistical problems. It had dashed across France after the Normandy breakout and was at the end of its logistic tether. The deuce-and-a-half trucks of the 26th Division and others in the beachhead area were formed into the “Red Ball” express and, for the next few weeks, pumped supplies up to the forward units of Third Army. Frank, as regimental motor officer, was heavily engaged in this crucial operation.</p>
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After a month of intensive training in the hedgerow country, the division was moved to the front and relieved elements of the 4th Armored Division in the vicinity of Nancy, in what was considered a “quiet” sector of the line.</p>
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On 8 November 1944 the division took part in its first offensive action. Frank had, by this time, been assigned as civil affairs officer to deal with local civilian authorities. On 4 December 1944 Frank went into the recently-captured Saar region to select billeting areas for the various troop units of the division. He was surprised by a German counterattack, wounded and captured. He died of his wounds in a German hospital on 12 December 1944. For his dedication to duty Frank was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.</p>
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Our class <em>Howitzer</em> may have captured him best when it described Frank as “a D’Artagnon from the Everglades of Florida.”</p>
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<em>A classmate</em></p>
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