Felix L. Sparks
Felix Laurence Sparks was born on August 02, 1917. He was the eldest
of five children and had one brother (Earl) and three sisters (Ladelle,
Frances and Margaret).
Reading the story of Felix Sparks’ life one may
notice so many coincidences that sometimes it’s hard to believe that
you’re not reading a novel, but a true life story.
His family moved to Miami when Felix turned four, where his father
(Felix Franklin Sparks) got a job with the copper mining factory. In
1936, when his father was laid off during the Great depression, Felix
enlisted in the US Army, as family couldn’t afford to send him to
college after he completed high school degree.
After being discharged in 1938, Sparks enrolled into University of
Arizona and during his school years there also completed Reserve
Officers Training Corps as well as training camp programs to earn the
rank of 2nd Lieutenant.
He returned to active military duty in January of 1941 and was
assigned to the 45th infantry division at Fort Still, Oklahoma. In the
same year, in June, he married Mary Frances Blair, whom he knew since
college years. They had three children – girl and two boys.
Felix meet his wife to be, Mary Blair, in the state university of
Tucson. First he wanted to enrol to Stanford, but even with all of his
generous savings (USD3,000 – equivalent to USD50,000 in 2020) he
couldn’t afford it and returned to Arizona. In the university two
students of his class were from his hometown – John and Mary Blair,
brother and sister. First Mary has noticed Felix in high school, when
she was 14 and was unimpressed. But then, four years later, this first
impression has vanished and they began dating.
In July 1943 Felix participated in the assault landing of Sicily.
From Italy, Felix’s unit continued fighting through France, taking part
in liberation of southern France, the Battle of the Ardennes (1944 –
1945), and the Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945),
one of the toughest for the US Army.
Moving through France into Germany at the end of 1944, Felix
continued leading the 45th division. He was part of the 7th US Army,
which helped capture Nuremburg and then took part in liberation of the
Dachau concentration camp.
When the liberation of Dachau concentration camp has occurred, Sparks
(aged 27) was Lt. Colonel of an infantry regiment. He served to the
rank of Brigadier General, led his troops on four beach landings and
even went AWOL when self-discharged from a field hospital to which he
has been sent to be patched from shrapnel wounds. He was eager to get
back to his unit fighting to the death in the hills around Anzio.
After leaving the Army, Sparks graduated from the University of
Colorado Law school in 1947 and earned his degree in Law. After the
graduation he practised law in Delta, Colorado where he was also elected
as a district attorney and served in Supreme Court.
Alex Kershaw’s book "The Liberator", based on the life path of Felix Sparks, could be purchased in various options (hardcover, paperback, Kindle, audiobook) on Amazon.