Local World War II Vet Honored by French Government for Role in D-Day

Sergeant Clyde Sportsman didn’t talk too much about D-Day.

But his wife Lois says she knows he feels survivor’s guilt. He sometimes told her he wondered why he lived, while so many men around him died. In particular, he recalled being unable to save a man who had fallen in a well.

But Sergeant Sportsman, who lived in Elgin most of his life and now resides at Crystal Pines Nursing Home in Crystal Lake, did save lives.

Enlisted in July 1940 as a Staff Sergeant in Company F of the 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division, he participated from November 1942 to June 1945 in the Tunisia, French Algeria, Morocco, Sicily, Normandy,  Northern France and Rhineland campaigns.

The United States government presented him with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals, and the European, African, Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with one Bronze and Silver Battle star. In addition, he was awarded the American Defense Service Ribbon and five Overseas Service bars.

“Clyde would always talk about the war but after so many years of marriage, you don’t hear it so much anymore because you’ve already heard it so much,” said his wife, Lois.

Lois, who married him 34 years ago, shared her husband's story with Patch because Sgt. Sportsman is unable to speak, due to a stroke that impaired his verbal abilities.

“I was in high school when all this war stuff was going on,” she said. “It didn’t bother me. The only thing that bothered me was I could only have one pair of shoes a year.”

Little did she know her future husband was fighting to liberate France, where many of her ancestors happened to originate. For his role in the emancipation, Sgt. Sportsman was presented with the Knight of the Legion of Honor medal by the French government in November of last year. It is the highest honor France can bestow upon those who have achieved remarkable deeds.

“He was born December 19, 1921 in Rothville, MO and his father was a coal miner in those individual mines,” she said. “He would occasionally go down and help his Dad in coal mining. Then things got bad. That was Depression time.”

The family moved to Elgin when Sgt. Sportsman was 13.

He would live there for four decades, graduating from Elgin High School, and living in a house near the Fox River.

“At that time, jobs were not plentiful when he got out of high school,” she said. “He did have a job making some kind of helmets for some company in Elgin but he decided he didn’t want to do that, and the best choice was to join the military.”

He enlisted before the war, so he spent months in California at first.

“From there, he went across the country and then to North Africa after the war started,” she said. “From there he was on to Cicily. And then he went to England and then he was in the second landing on D-Day.”

He served in Europe for a couple of years, she said, until a head injury wounded him and he was sent home.

Veterans were given preference for positions with the United States Postal Service, Lois said, so he took a job as a mail carrier and put in 38 years of service, including his military time, before retirement. It was on his mail route when he met Lois. She was working in the office at Bluff City Cemetery in Elgin.

With five sons from a previous marriage, Sgt. Sportsman is father to Wayne, who lives in Wisconsin; Roger, a Chicago resident; Kevin, who lives in Elgin; and Kevin’s twin Keith, who lives in Texas. His late son Gary, a Vietnam veteran, died about 10 years ago.

Lois had two daughters, Debra and Barbara, from a previous marriage. Her son Richard died at age 42.

The couple both enjoy watching sports. They cherished their dogs, Chester, Oliver and Molly, over the years. These days, it’s their 12 grandchildren whom they adore. Their names are Elena, Erin, Robert, Brent, Breann, Emily, Mark, Jessica, Anna, Martin, Scott, and Kayla.

Some of his war memorabilia, including his uniform and original enlistment papers, she donated to the Big Red One Museum in Winfield or Wheaton on the Colonel McCormick estate. Lois said she spends part of every day with her husband, joining him for lunch and activities at Crystal Pines.

“Clyde doesn’t want to rock the boat,” she said. “It’s so nice to be married to someone like him.”