Mooneyham was born on a cotton plantation in Lee County, South Carolina in 1917.
“We liked to starve to death trying to grow cotton,” Mooneyham said. “If a rabbit wanted to go across the county, he would have had to pack a lunch.”
Childhood and the
Great Depression
Nevertheless, he had a simple, but apparently, enjoyable childhood.
The family home had 10 rooms and if one of the boys got cold, it was his responsibility to cut his own wood, make his own fire and clean up the ashes.
“(The boys) had to cut the wood, but (the sisters) had to carry it upstairs to their fire place,” Mooneyham said. “They helped clean up the house and cook. (The boys) worked in the garden and out on the farm. We took care of the cattle and all the animals that were outside. We had every kind of animal there was, I?think. (including an alligator and an owl)”
In addition to playing with their animals, the Mooneyham children enjoyed having corn cob fights with each other and their cousins.
.In addition to playing with their animals, the Mooneyham and his nine siblings enjoyed having corn cob fights with each other and their cousins.
“We always found something to do,” he said. “If nothing else, we would find a limber tree and swing on it.”
World War II
and D-Day
Mooneyham and his brothers, as well as one sister, served in the military during World War II. Although all of the family who served in the War came home safely, they did have to face the loss of the family plantation.
Mooneyham joined Co. F of the 105th Engineers. After about a year in the military, he was offered the chance to return to civilian life, if he could produce a letter saying that he had a job, when he left the service.
He got the letter and on the return trip he heard that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. He tore the letter up and threw it out of his car window.
Private Mooneyham had been promoted to Captain by the time he left the service.
As the Allies prepared for D-Day, Mooneyham found himself at the English Channel.
“I?loaded on an LST (Landing Ship Tank),” he said. “They would come in at high tide and when the tide started falling, they would take up the anchor and pull the ship back down a little. If they didn’t, it would tip over on its side.”
Mooneyham lived and trained in Plymouth, prior to the invasion.
“I was made quartermaster of the ship that we went over on,” he said. “We loaded four or five weeks ahead of time. We realized that we couldn’t load all these ships. There was something like 6,000 in the landing.”
Once loaded the ships were left to float around the Channel until it was time for the invasion.
According to Mooneyham, he and his men were supposed to land on the French beach at 1 p.m. on D-Day.
“There was a German battery sitting up on the hill and they were lobbing shells and they were falling all around (his) ship and I told him (the captain) that I wanted to get up close enough that I?could get to the land,” Mooneyham said. “I couldn’t dig any hole in that steel deck on the ship, but I bet I?could dig one when I?got on land. It was time for us to get off the ship, but he would never make the move. Finally they sent a barge and the troop went out on the barge and was sent on to the shore. I?stood on the deck of the ship and watched four boats of infantry load. Three of them I?saw did not get in. One got in.”
One night during the War is particularly vivid to him.
“I?had a driver and I?didn’t know exactly where we were,” Mooneyham said. “I said, ‘Pull up over here under this tree.’ I looked up and saw this silencer on the end of this gun barrels. Come to find out that I?was sitting right under the barrels of a gun on a German tank. I?was too close in. He couldn’t have shot me then.”
Trained to fire only when fired upon, Mooneyham left the scene unharmed and having not fired his weapon.
The next morning, he learned that he was across a canyon from a German encampment. Again there was no incident.
Mooneyham was in Paris three days before its liberation from enemy forces. He and his men were charged with checking the bridge across the Seine River, a river in France, flowing northwestwardly through Paris to the English Channel.
“They used our bridge for a reviewing stand for the parade in Paris at that time,” he said. “I was called out with some of the men on another mission. We went to Holland to meet some paratroopers.”
For about 10 days, the men remained in Holland, awaiting rations.
He was also involved in the effort to help the Russians cross the Elbe River, a river in central Europe, flowing from the West Czech Republic north westwardly through Germany to the North Sea. The Russians were on their way to entering Berlin.
“The first thing to roll up to that river bank was a Sherman tank,” he said. “I?had a little 98 cent Kodak and I was going to take a picture of the commander of that tank. I was standing at the back of the tank with the little camera and the commander of the tank walked around there and she weighed about 250 pounds, dressed in black - black boots and everything, and said, ‘You don’t want a picture of us.’ She wouldn’t let me take a picture.”
Today
Even at his advanced age and with a lifetime of vivid experiences to look back on, Mooneyham remains active.
One of his hobbies is the creation of characters out of recycled tin cans. A small corner of his son - in - law’s office (Bill Haslett) is devoted to the production of the characters.
“I guess I was in the market in Asheville and I?saw one of these,” he said. “I have two daughters, one that lives in Chapin and one (Linda) up here on the hill and nothing would do but my buying one of the characters and seeing, if I could build one. I?have always tried to build everything that I?have ever seen.
“I am also a woodworker. I?like to smell sawdust. You see I?don’t smoke and I don’t drink, but I?do love to smell sawdust.”
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