sorry, the above was from Paul Hinkle's story on Dogface44 web site. JDB
0 Kudo
INTERESTING ITEMS
| Author | Comment | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 semallon |
The above | ||
|
Posts: 65 (11/22/07 00:51:04) |
|
||
|
semallon |
ITALY: CHRISTMAS 1943 | ||
|
Posts: 65 (12/17/07 20:54:49) |
The recent U.S. News issue dated Dec. 24, 2007 has a page about Italy in 1943. Below are direct quotes:
A clerk in the badly mauled 36th Division sorted through incoming Christmas packages and scribbled KIA on those to be returned to the sender. Three quarters of a million American soldiers served in Italy during World War 2....troops draped their yule trees with C-ration foil .... Quarter masters(supply) trucked 170 ton of Christmas turkeys to the Italian front, along with 112 tons of Sicilian oranges. 23,501 G.I.'s would be killed in action in Italy. 16,000,000 Americans served around the globe, but virtually all the rest of the nation's 137 million citizens were invested in total war to a degree that seems unimaginable 64 Christmases later. Sugar, tires, and gasoline had been rationed first followed by nearly everything else. The International Silver Co. turned out Browning automatic rifles rather than table ware, etc And in the U.S. 34th Division , an infantry Captain assembled his company near Monte Cassino to read aloud from the 2nd chapter of Luke "Glory to God in the highest," he proclaimed "and on earth peace and goodwill toward all men." How good it must have been to believe. (End of direct quotes) MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL who follow this message board. Jay D. Baxter, Sgt. Co.B, 143rd Inf. Regt |
||
|
wjakel |
Re: The above | ||
|
Posts: 94 (12/17/07 21:39:21) |
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to You also Jay!
Thanks for all your posts and also for all the others that post here! Through all of your posts and being a part of this board I have gained so much insight and a tremendous appreciation of the 36th,my father as a soldier in the 36th and all the heroic men and their actions in the 36ID. I have also gained some friendships and what I would consider some special kinships here ....which I would put second to none..... Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All! W.Jake Lindauer Son of Norman Lindauer G/143rd RCT |
||
|
semallon |
The Gold Train | ||
|
Posts: 65 (12/19/07 01:32:09) |
I reread Jack Wilson's book, "Living on the Edge" and in it he didn't mention the paymaster vehicle with all the French money. This is a great and exciting book. Wilson and I were both in machine gun units but he had a lot more combat action than me. Being in the wrong place at the right time can be hazardous! J.D.B
|
||
|
semallon |
OTHER LOST BATTALIONS | ||
|
Posts: 50 (02/18/08 16:04:59) |
I ran into a story of another Lost Battalion. It happened in January of 1945 near the village of Reiperswiller and was 1st Battalion of of the 45th Division.
The 45th was a sister Division of the 36th, having entered the fight early on in Italy. I'm quite sure that the 45th were men from Oklahoma and Texas. 700
men were boxed in with no food, no medical supplies, and no heat to melt snow for drinking water. This was the coldest month of the century in Alsace. One hero
was S/Sgt. Bernard Fleming, a squad leader. His squad was trapped in a ditch with 3 enemy machine guns trained on them. He asked for a volunteer to break out
and contact other units. The first one ran and got 50 yards out before being machine gunned. A second volunteer got only 10 yards out and was badly wounded.
Sgt.Fleming came out of the ditch and rescued the wounded one. Then Fleming himself ran out of the ditch. "I don't know how I made it but I did. I saw
Colonel Sparks and told him what had happened." Co. Sparks was the commander of this "Lost Battalion" and didn't want to be a Bn. commander
with no men to command. The Colonel commandered a tank and crew and went in to rescue Sgt. Fleming's squad. The Colonel himself, fired 5000 rounds of
machine gun bullets while also directing the tanks 76mm cannon. This pinned down the enemy who were from an SS Division. He personally carried the wounded to
the tank and picked up a few others. With just a few men rescued, the Division sent other Battalions in to rescue what they could. These efforts failed. etc.
etc. As a last attempt, Colonel O'Brian of the 157th Regiment ordered all of the men to break up and fight their way out. Only 2 men made it. They avoided
the common trails and paths through the snow and in time broke out of the SS perimeter to tell the story. This was a big embarasment to the entire American
command. Unfortunately, they didn't have access to the Japanese American 442nd Battalion which had had extremely heavy casualties with the 36th Division
rescue. Jay D.Baxter
|
||
|
Gerome vosges moutains |
Lost bn | ||
|
Posts: 57 (02/19/08 13:43:56) |
Jay, Thanks a lot for these stories....
Gerome |
||
|
Thriver |
Thank you | ||
|
Posts: 181 (02/21/08 22:15:37) |
Dear Mr. Baxter, Mr. Lester & All WWII Veterans Who Take the Time to Post on This Board:
Thank you for your service to this country and for your ongoing contributions. Dear Patti: Thank you for all you do for this board.
Last Edited By: Thriver
02/21/08 22:17:54.
Edited 1 times.
|
||
|
semallon |
European money after the war ended. | ||
|
Posts: 64 (07/19/08 18:56:21) |
A while back, I read that just before the Normandy landings, General DeGualle (sp) complained bitterly that he had not been involved in the planning for D Day.
He was also angered by the fact that the British and Americans were printing invasion francs to pay Allied soldiers and purchase needed supplies in captured
French territory. We also had U.S. printed Italian Lire and German Marks and could take our pay in American currency or European invasion money. I later
learned that American money was very valuable on the Black Market. Actually, German money was practically worthless after the war. The Germans had to use gold
and silver to buy a little food from foreign countries. Rather than let them starve, they were given grain as a free relief program. The Allies had laws in
place to require all merchants to accept our printed money. This caused a lot of inflation in Europe and was resented by the people but we also paid a price! I
met a teacher in the late 1940's whose parents were Europeans. She and her parents went to Europe every Summer. The American dollar was worth so very much
that European vacations were "as cheap as dirt." Later in the 1960's, a travel book came out titled, "Europe on $5 a Day." This
included hotels, food and train travel; a great value. Guess what? Now European money is worth so much more than the U.S. dollar. Actually, it costs $1.60 to
buy one European Euro. About 5 years ago, the U.S. dollar and the Euro were about equal. Jay D. Baxter
|
||
