| Original caption: “General George Patton and two other officers.” Attending the Casablanca Conference, from left to right, Sergeant Franklin M. “Zip” Koons (January 24, 1919 – October 6, 2006), 1st Ranger Battalion, Royal Navy Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten (June 25, 1900 – August 27, 1979), Chief of Combined Operations, and Major General George S. Patton (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945), Commander of I Armored Corps. Sergeant Koons wears the British King George Medal, which had just been presented to him by Lord Mountbatten for gallantry during the Raid on Dieppe, France, in August 1942. Their shoulder patches have been censored. Dieppe was mostly a debacle, for which the Canadian survivors blamed Mountbatten. Operation Jubilee intended to hold a French port for a short period, to test landing operations and to force the Luftwaffe (“Nazi German Air Force”) to fight. Instead, the Luftwaffe shot down more Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft than it lost, offshore support was inadequate and 33 landing craft were lost, as well as most of the vehicles and all of the armor. Within 10 hours, 3,623 of the 6,086 men who landed had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. The operation was the 1st time United States troops faced the Germans in battle. Of the 50 United States Army Rangers serving with the Royal Army Commando units, 6 were killed, 7 wounded and 4 captured. The exception was the success gained by the battle-hardened Number 4 British commandos against the coast artillery batteries near Varengeville, of which Koons was attached. They destroyed 6 150 millimeter (5.9-inch) guns. Koons shot several Germans, and was acclaimed as the 1st American to kill Germans in combat, although that has since been disputed. He also fired the Boys anti-tank rifle, a heavy bolt-action weapon firing 50 caliber rounds. In the 1st few days after the raid, “Zip” Koons must have told his story to reporters and radio announcers 3 or 4 dozen times. He had a self-deprecating, even humble tone when he spoke, and a matter-of-fact way of explaining what had happened. Whether because of his shooting or his overall demeanor, Koons became something of a public face for the Rangers, singled out for interviews and publicity shots. Intelligent, photogenic, full of vigor but not full of himself, Koons was the perfect representative of the Ranger battalion. Koons’s honors extended beyond a few press conferences. Cited by the Commandos for his role in the raid, he was awarded the British Military Medal, an extremely rare honor for a foreigner. That was presented back in London in October 1942 by Mountbatten. The George Medal was presented in Casablanca, Morocco, in January 1943; among those in the audience were United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945) and United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill (November 30, 1874 – January 24, 1965), who were meeting there to discuss war strategy. For the ceremony, Koons — by then a sergeant — borrowed founding commander of the 1st Ranger Battalion Colonel William O. Darby’s (February 8, 1911 – April 30, 1945) belt, wearing it over his Class-A uniform. Koons wore it as a gesture of respect and appreciation to his commanding officer. Mountbatten again pinned the medal to Koons’s chest. Lieutenant Colonel Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat (July 9, 1911 – March 16, 1995), who led wrote of him: “During the action Corporal Koons displayed conspicuous gallantry and admirable leadership. In charge of a small sniping detachment he continued to carry out his duties with very marked success under heavy fire which eventually caused the almost total destruction of the building from which he and his men were sniping. Corporal Koons is probably the first American non-commissioned officer to account for a number of Germans in this war.” For the same operation Koons would later be awarded the Silver Star by the United States Army. In a nationally syndicated article, the Associated Press reported on Corporal Koons’ Military Medal in a propagandistic tone that hid the true nature of the raid: “London, October 2. Corporal Franklin M. Koons, member of the American Ranger battalion, was awarded the British Military Medal today for “conspicuous and admirable leadership” during the August 19 raid on Dieppe.” “Corporal Koons, from Swea City, Iowa, was one of the few Americans to go along with British and Canadian forces and was one of the first four American soldiers to fight on French soil in this war.” “The twenty-three-year-old Koons was in charge of a detachment of Ranger snipers during the raid. He was the only American among a number of British and Canadian soldiers who were decorated by the British for bravery at Dieppe.” “The citation accompanying his award sald Koons continued to carry on with marked success under fire which eventually heavily damaged the building from which he and his men were sniping.” “Tells of Raid” “Koons, an ex-livestock auctioneer in Iowa, gave this account of the raid: ‘When we got aboard our ship, Lord Mountbatten (Lord Mountbatten, the Commando Chief) talked to us briefly. He struck me as a grand guy, very full of fight. He made is all laugh and we were very cheerful, which is what I like because it did not make me feel in the least degree frightened.’” “‘After he talked to us I slept quite a long time. I woke about half an hour before we entered the landing craft. I took my rifle and two hundred and sixty rounds. I also had three grenades and one smoke grenade.’” “‘The sea was choppy and it was very dark. We moved off at once and everything was so comfortable that I fell asleep again and dozed for quite a while until some spray woke me up.’” “‘We approached France in the dawn. Just before we got near the coast, Jerry woke up and began firing a great deal, but not at us.’” “‘The air force came over and shot the shore installations to bits. The support they gave us was terrific and they never left us alone for longer than fifteen minutes…’” “Men Wade Ashore” “‘We waded ashore thirty or forty yards (twenty-five to thirty-five meters). On the beach we consolidated and moved off to our objective, some German batteries up the gullies.’” “‘We met little resistance at first, but there was a little wire which we climbed over. As we went on the number of snipers who started shooting at us increased, but we still did not have casualties.’” “‘Presently we got to a little farm built around a yard which we used for cover. It was about two hundred yards (a hundred and eighty meters) from our objective, the batteries The snipers then got very bad and caused us quite a few casualties. Our first task was to clear the farm buildings to make sure no Jerry was in them.’” “‘We did it. We found a small stable in which we put the wounded. I kind of lost my head then, and surged in front of the barn, but I soon realized that was foolish and got back into the stable. There I found a splendid spot for sniping through a slit in a brick wall.’” “‘The German batteries were getting a tremendous plastering by shells from our light mortars. I fired a number of rounds at stray Jerries.’” “Noise Terrific” “‘The Commandos I was with had as much as they could handle with the snipers. Other troops attacking the batteries direct were luckier. They rushed in and blew up the batteries and ammunition dumps. The noise was terrific and I saw them go into the air a few hundred yards from me.’” “‘As soon as they were blown up it was time to go back. We cleared out the wounded and I volunteered to act as one of the rear guards. The main body marched back to the beaches carrying the wounded. I remained with the rear guard and we went from hedge to hedge, fighting a rearguard action.’” “‘There was a bit of sniping on the way back to the beach, but we did not leave behind any casualties. only our dead…’” “‘The English were very calm and quiet. They’ve got plenty of guts.’” “‘When we got to the beach the landing craft were some distance out because they could not get closer, owing to rocks, Some of us got a boat on which we put the casualties, but found it had stuck on a rock. We got it off and brought it alongside a motor launch.’” “‘We loaded the casualties on a launch which transferred them to a destroyer. I remained aboard the launch and had a wonderful experience watching dog fighting between Spitfires and Messerschmitts fought out at a height of seven or eight hundred feet (two hundred to two hundred and fifty meters).’” “‘I saw one Jerry hit the sea and I saw a Spitfire crash. We pulled the pilot out of the water and found he was an American.’” “‘That’s all there was to it.’” “Koons, known to his friends as “Zip,” previously was disclosed to have taken part in the Dieppe raid and was credited as one of the first Americans to fire a shot on the European continent in this war.” “He is the son of Mister and Missus O. B. Koons [Oliver B. Koons (August 24, 1897 – March 23, 1973) and Lottie Gettman (October 10, 1899 – January 7, 1983)] , who farm near Swea City in north low. He joined the army in 1941.” After the raid, Frank returned to his unit, Company D, 1st Ranger Battalion and on November 8, 1942, was part of the allied invasion of North Africa. In January of 1943 he fought in the Tunisian Campaign, landing on Sicily on July 10, 1943, and Salerno on September 9, 1943, fighting in the Italian Campaign until November 16, 1943, when he was ordered to return to the United States. Koons arrived in Swea City on January 1, 1944. On May 13, 1944, Frank was united in marriage to June Anderson (June 20, 1923 – July 3, 2005) at her family farm near East Chain, Minnesota. In January 1945 he returned to the European Theater of Operations and participated in the Central Europe Campaign until May 8, 1945. In August of 1945, he was sent to the Pacific Theater of Operations. After the War ended, he returned to the United States and in February of 1946, he was discharged from active duty and entered the Army Reserves. In 1948, he joined the National Guard and transferred to the Artillery. On September 11, 1950, he was called back to active duty and sent to the Army of Occupation in Germany. On May 22, 1952, Franklin M Koons was discharged from the Army as a 1st Lieutenant. Koons farmed near Swea City, Iowa, until 1980. In 1969, he joined 1st Trust and Savings Bank, eventually becoming Vice President. He also served on the Kossuth County Selective Service Board for 5 years during the Vietnam War. He had 1 son. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0629.jpg |
| Image Size | 624.40 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2295 x 2934 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 18, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | Casablanca |
| State or Province | Casablanca |
| Country | Morocco |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NLR-PHOCO-A-789(114) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database