Milton J. Landry born January 22, 1914 in Calcasieu Parrish, Louisiana, graduated from Luling High School in 1932. He graduated from Texas A&M in 1936. Milton first entered the service at the age of fifteen and before he entered Texas A&M he was acting First Sergeant of I Company, 141st Infantry Regiment of the 36th Infantry Division when he was nineteen years old. He studied Military Science and Tactics at A&M and when he graduated from Texas A&M he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. His first assignment with the Army was to the 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Sam Houston under the Thompson Act. He was at Fort Sam for one year and his next assignment was as an officer with the CCC's (Civilian Conservation Corps). Following that assignment he worked with the Public Health Service for some time and then was called back to active service. Milton was first ordered to report to the Port of Embarkation, San Francisco for shipment to the Philippines. The same day he also received an order to report to the Commander of Fort Hauchuaca, Arizona and then for the third time the same day he was ordered to report to Major General Birkhead in San Antonio, Texas. With three orders in his hands ordering him to report to three different locations, he did what all good soldiers are taught to do, he took the initiative and called General Birkhead and was told to ignore the first two orders and within a few hours he received a TWX canceling the first two orders. A Lieutenant Groom then received orders to replace Landry for shipment to the Philippines. Later Lt. Groom was promoted to Captain and later was killed on Corrigidor.

During an interview with Col. Landry in his home in San Antonio, the day after the Reunion of the 36th Division Association in Austin he told me of another incident that happened during the voyage to Salerno, QUOTE "A man from 'E Company' came to see me. He said that he was Captain Chapin's Orderly and wanted me to talk to his Company Commander for him. I forget this man's name but I believe his nickname was Sweet Pea. He was not called this by anyone except it be a good friend because Sweet Pea was anything but a Pansy. He was one fighting machine. I said. 'What can I do for you?' 'I want my BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) back, any man can be an orderly but I came over here to kill Germans, so please talk to Captain Chapin for me. He was given his BAR back and placed in a combat squad. And during the landing he proved that he was indeed a fighting soldier. He attacked an armored car and received a bullet through his left arm. The same bullet also went through the stock of his BAR. He wouldn't go to the aid station because he was afraid that he would be taken to the hospital ship. I asked Father Fenton to escort Sweet Pea to the aid station and to see that he was treated for his wound and then return him to his squad. That afternoon we received orders to change direction and attack the hills to the South of us which included an area known as Agropole, where naval guns had been placed by the enemy for defense of Salerno. The next morning a native who owned and farmed the side of the hill we were on, brought me two eggs in a shiny tin plate. I took out my knife and fork from my mess kit and prepared myself to partake of this lovely feast. One taste of the eggs and I thought I had been poisoned. I later found out that the eggs had been cooked in raw olive oil which is very bitter. The well intentioned Italian had worked in Pennsylvania after World War I, where he worked as a coal miner. He saved his earnings, returned to Italy and bought two acres on the side of the mountain." UNQUOTE.

Up to the time when Col. Landry became Battalion Commander of the 2nd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, he had served as CO of several of the companies, Regimental Service Company Commander, Regimental Supply Officer, 2nd Battalion Executive Officer and then as Battalion Commander. He was assigned to his last position in the 36th Division when the Regimental Commander, Col Werner, was wounded and the then 2nd Battalion Commander Lt. Colonel Wyatt took command of the Regiment. This transition took place in October 1943 prior to the attack on San Pietro. The mission of the 2nd Battalion was to make a frontal attack from the Southwest to prevent the enemy from reinforcing the German troops who were defending the San Pietro against the 143rd who were attacking from the Northeast. The Company Commanders in the 2nd Battalion were: Captain John Chapin who was wounded in the attack of Company 'E', Captain Hammer CO of 'F Company' who was killed in the attack, Captain Beecham CO of 'G Company' wounded. Captain Glenn the Commander of 'H Company' remained at Mt. Rotondo in order to direct the mortars and machine guns in support of the attack. One section of 'H Company' was armed with air cooled 30 cal. machine guns for the attack and accompanied the Rifle companies. Ray Wells led one squad of machine guns and Douglas Shepherd the other squad. Sgt. Jones acted as Section Sergeant (he was later reported missing in action during the Rapido crossing). All men in Sgt. Wells' squad were wounded during the attack on San Pietro and several received Silver Stars.

The TWX revoking the assignment to Fort Hauchuca assigned Lt. George Vernan Holmes to that position. Milton said that he had not recognized the name of Holmes at the time but a year later at Fort Benning he met the man and it turned out to be the Cadet Colonel at Texas A&M when they were both in school. Milton had always known him as Barney. Milton saw Barney again several years later when the Regiment had boarded ships at Oran, North Africa in preparation for the invasion of Salerno, Italy. Landry was notified that there would be a group of officers from the War Department who would be observing the beach landing. Since the gang plank had already been taken up and we were about to shove off, these officers, all Lt. Colonels, were required to climb the Jacob's ladder. Who was in charge of these Lt. Colonels? None other than Lt. Colonel George Vernan Holmes. During the trip to Salerno the Infantry Officers would tell these Lt. Cols. that they should try to go in with the Infantry because it was going to be a surprise to the enemy and the Infantry would be way inland before the enemy realized it and the Artillery would have the most casualties. Then the Artillery officers would tell them that they better wait and go in with the Artillery because it was a known fact that the Infantry received the bulk of the casualties. After changing the landing list several times, these Lt. Cols. were a confused bunch. In fact one of them went into shock or some disorder and never did make it to the beach. Col. Holmes was never a victim of this hoax but did state that he wanted to go in with Major Landry because anyone who could get out of an assignment to Fort Huachuca could get out of anything.

In fact a great many men were killed or wounded during the attack on San Pietro due to land mines, sniper fire, artillery and even bombs from German dive bombers. The Battalion attacked at 8:00 hours and at 11:00 hours Major Landry informed Regiment that the Battalion had lost so many men that it was difficult to make any headway and asked for further orders. He was told that the Army Commanding General Order was to continue the attack as long as there was one man able to hold and fire his rifle. The attack continued.

The following was quoted by Milton Landry to the Author in the Colonel's home in San Antonio, the day after the Reunion of the 36th Division Association Reunion which was held in Austin, Aug.-Sep. 1991.

"The orders to continue the attack came from 5th Army Headquarters and meant that we were on a suicide mission. The 2nd Battalion continued the attack until about midnight. 'L Company' from the 3rd Battalion 141st under command of Lt. Epperson reinforced us about that time. The Artillery Liaison Officer and the Sergeant Radio Operator had both been killed so Lt. Epperson took over the radio and kept in contact with the rear echelon. About daylight we reached our objective. Lt. Epperson who was in position against a rock wall was attempting to call the artillery to have smoke laid down on our position because we found ourselves in plain sight of the enemy who were located in houses and dugouts on all sides of us. I was lying on the ground in a position so that I could tell Lt. Epperson what information I wanted him to relay to the artillery. I was in a position with my hands under my helmet so that I could move my head back and forth. I couldn't raise my head too far because when I did a sniper would take a pot shot at me. So when I did move my head back and forth my face would scrape the ground and in doing this I uncovered a metal plate which turned out to be a Coast and Geodetic Survey metal stake which meant that we should of had access to the best maps in the world but instead we were using very small scale maps where one small mark represented about 150 to 200 yards and road maps purchased from a store in Naples. (Eds. note: I believe the survey had been made around 1917). Just before 'L Company' reported to me to reinforce the Battalion an embarrassing and yet a lucky event happened to me. I felt mother nature informing me that I needed to take immediate steps to relieve myself. Even on the battlefield these things happen. You don't read much about it in books, but it does happen and in some cases more there than anywhere else. Anyway, I proceeded to prepare myself for this event; first I borrowed an entrenching shovel from one of the men, looked for a secluded nook where I could have some privacy, from the Germans especially. I soon found what I thought was the perfect place behind a convenient wall. To get into the proper position I first dug a nice hole with my shovel, took off my combat jacket, unstrapped my combat trousers, then lowered my long handle drawers to half mast and the same for my undershorts. After all this I was really ready and I immediately assumed the proper position and did what comes naturally. "What a relief." I then retrieved the GI issue tissue paper from inside my helmet and completed the task. Just as I stood up to get into the proper uniform again over the wall came an assault grenade, compliments of a German soldier who saw or heard me. The grenade exploded just as it hit my arm. I wasn't badly wounded but imbedded in my arm were many small pieces of grenade which looked like fish scales or bakelight. What a sight I must of looked like to the enemy as I was doing this very important detail, the moon was out and shining brightly for all to see. I consider myself very lucky that it wasn't an American grenade because if it had been I wouldn't have been able to tell this story.

The terrain facing San Pietro was terraced almost the complete distance from Mt. Rotondo to the town itself and most of the terraces had a wire fence on top and near the edge. In almost every case the enemy had installed a booby trap of some kind including the dreaded bouncing betty. We had to figure a way to eliminate this hazard and we came up with an almost foolproof plan. Two of the larger men would lift me up so I could take hold of the wire and when I gave the signal they would drop me so that I could pull the wire down with me, explode the booby trap and at the same time be protected by the wall. If my superiors knew that the Battalion Commander was risking his life in this way I am sure that I would have been reprimanded, but it did speed our advance considerably. It worked, so when they did hear of it, my Commander conveniently ignored it. When the booby traps exploded the enemy would open up with their automatic weapons and we would then attempt to locate their position. In many cases there would seem to be a black rock in the wall but actually was a hole and behind the hole in the wall a machine gun or a sniper. This position would be covered with railroad ties and dirt and very difficult to locate. Weeks before the attack aerial photographs had been taken as these positions were being prepared and it looked like to our Intelligence people that they were anti-aircraft positions. A man could be placed in the dugout with some water and cheese which was issued in a tube like toothpaste, bread and ammunition and he could stay in that position for days without being relieved. Until someone discovered that it wasn't a black hole in the wall, the machine gunner or sniper could fire until our troops came up to his position, withdraw back into the dugout and commence firing again when we passed him by. After we found out about this, the position would be eliminated with a bazooka or grenade. We received many casualties from these positions alone.

After we finally arrived into position we called for smoke to be laid down and not getting any, I ordered the radio operator to call in the clear and to inform them of our position and to aim for exactly that point. We were soon receiving smoke but it was the wrong kind and coming from the wrong direction. It was phosphorus so I called to inform the rear echelon that the Germans were firing phosphorus but was told that it was impossible because the Germans didn't have any. As it turned out when we later captured their ammo dump, they did have plenty of 4.2 canisters of phosphorus shells—all with U.S. markings. The Russians had been supplied with the phosphorus shells and the Germans had captured them and in turn used them on us. Later a German sniper hit the antenna of the radio. The bullet then hit Lt. Epperson's helmet, entered the helmet and came out the other side. Lt. Epperson never received a scratch but you couldn't put a piece of tissue paper between the bullet and his forehead. Just shortly before noon we received orders to withdraw. Out of the battalion and one rifle company our strength was only about 40 people, including myself, three or four officers and thirty-six enlisted men. In returning to the rear we were under continuous enemy fire so we had to crawl and use whatever cover we could find. While crawling back to Mt. Rotondo I could see my old O.P. where Captain Lehman, my Executive Officer, was. All the trees looked as if a large mower had been used on the side of the hill. There were many 88 shells stuck in sand bags which had not exploded. We received more casualties as we were returning to the rear which was about 200 yards away. After returning to my Observation Post, then it hit me; all those young healthy brave men dead, some blown to bits never to be identified, what a terrible and dreadful feeling came over me. I know that I did my best to keep them safe and out of harm,s way the best way I knew how and to get the job done at the same time. We did have casualties and I was their Commander and that is when I could no longer hold those feelings inside of me. I sat down and cried. They were my boys and I loved each and every one of these splendid American men. The next day the enemy had pulled out and we were ordered to go forward even further than the position we had attained the previous day. We took a position around the San Pietro cemetery, dug in and were ready for our next assignment. While at this position the enemy would lay a few rounds of shells in the cemetery and then fire for effect on the top of the mountain just above us and to our left. Every night we would send a patrol to the road junction of #69 and Highway 6 to clear the mines the enemy had placed there. Before daylight the Germans would send a patrol to replant the mines. These patrols would run into each other and a fire fight would develop. We then received more casualties. Our ranks were becoming mighty thin. Only a few of us were left.

Orders came down from Regiment for me to be at Regimental Headquarters when the Division G-3 could be there. I requested that an order be published appointing Captain Henry E. Lehman, my Battalion Executive Officer, as Battalion Commander in my absence. When I reported to Regiment I was asked why I wanted this order published and I told them that since my Battalion was in contact with the enemy I did not want to be accused with leaving my Command when the Battalion was in contact with enemy troops and I did not want to leave the frontlines under those conditions. The G-3 said you can't be in contact with the enemy since the 2nd Battalion was in Division Reserve. I informed this very knowledgeable officer that as far as I could determine my Battalion were the only troops, as far as I could determine, in contact with the enemy at the present time. I was politely informed that I was mistaken and that my Battalion was in such and such a position and that I could not possibly be in contact with the Germans. The G-3 wanted to know if I was sure about the situation and I informed this learned gentleman that we were being shelled every morning and requested that I be shown the overlay map which should show where we were located. The overlay map did show where the G-3 said we were, but I noticed it had been placed upside down on the large map and indicted that we were on top of the mountain. Now they suddenly found out that we were indeed the only unit in contact with the enemy and the only unit between the Division and San Vittore! The situation would have been pretty bad for Division Headquarters if the Germans had known about this foul up. I have to back track here a few weeks.

After the Division moved to San Pietro I received a call from Colonel Price saying that the first issue of liquor had been received for the officers of the Regiment and to send someone to pick up our four bottles. I told Col. Price that I would send Captain Lehman and when I told the Captain that he was to go on this important mission and what he was to bring back with him, he was reluctant to do this for some reason and said his jeep was broken down. I told him to take my jeep and driver, Edward Fuentes. He of course said that he would but added that if an 88 hit him when he crossed the bridge; tomorrow morning's San Antonio Express would print headlines that read "Capt. Henry Lehman killed while going after a bottle of whiskey." He said everyone in San Antonio would read that and everyone without exception would say, "That's old Red, alright." As it happened after accepting this valuable cargo from Regiment and on the return to San Pietro, Captain Lehman and Fuentes got in back of General Clark in his jeep with three stars, followed by a recon car with three stars and the General's Packard with three stars. The General's convoy got across the bridge OK, but when my jeep with the Captain and driver started across, the Germans laid down a barrage. The first shell fired by the 88's landed under the front wheels of my jeep and completely totaled it. Capt.Lehman and Fuentes were cut up pretty bad from shattered windshield glass. When they both came back to the Battalion they looked like porcupines with all the glass sticking out all over them. Captain Lehman had accomplished his mission without losing a drop of his precious cargo.

The Rapido

A few days later we were relieved and ordered to the rear near San Angelo Eliefe where we received replacements of Officers and enlisted men but still not enough to bring us back to full strength. Captain Chapin reported back to the Battalion from the hospital. He had gone AWOL to be with his beloved "E" Company troops. I was certainly glad to get him back. He was my most experienced Company Commander and I needed him badly. A few days later we were back to San Vittori and our mission was to take and hold the river line until other troops could be readied to cross the river. We sent patrols across the river almost every night. Lt. Naverette from "E Company" led several patrols across the river with the mission to find out what German units were there and how strongly they were dug in. We found through every one of these patrols that the enemy were dug in and planned to stay in those positions and they had more troops on their side of the river than we had on our side.

So now begins the battle to cross the Rapido, a battle that should not have happened at least in the way we had to try to accomplish the crossing. The bridges and boats and replacements that had been promised us never arrived until almost dark and in some cases after dark. Some of the replacements never found their Companies and died without ever knowing one person in their Company.

On the 21st I was ordered to move the 2nd Battalion across the river. I asked about replacement troops because we were getting pretty destitute as far as manpower was concerned. I was told that plenty of replacements would be furnished us before dark and also boats and bridges were on their way. That sounded pretty good but at the same time I still had it in mind the reports of our patrols who had been across the river on several occasions and reported that it was almost impossible to dislodge the heavily armed German troops. We were to move across at a certain time but it was about a half hour after dark when we finally got started. We followed the white tapes that the Combat Engineers had laid down where they had cleared the mines but the German artillery had shelled the area and the blast had either moved the tapes or had cut them and we would find ourselves out in the middle of a mine field where a great number of the men had their legs blown off. We, of course, as I expected, received the boats and bridges after dark and what was even worse, we received the replacements after dark. These were young men, many just out of basic training. It's hard to imagine the thoughts that went through these young people's minds (many were no more than boys) to be placed in this kind of situation, completely pitch dark, shells bursting, bullets flying and then to be told that his Company was E, F, G, or H and to find the Company and report in.

Many of these bewildered men died or were seriously wounded without ever knowing anyone in their company or even seeing their Squad Leader. The smoke from burning brush and haystacks and the noise of the artillery added to this confusion. When I found one of these men and would ask him his name and unit, he would answer but added, "I can't find anyone in my Company," so we would try to point him in the right direction. We finally got one bridge across but didn't know it at the time this was the horseshoe bend of the river and we were receiving fire — it seemed like from three sides at the same time. When the troops got across the river we ran into barbwire. Barbwire strands had been placed layer after layer. When one strand was cut, two more would take its place. "E Company" had penetrated the furthest and that's where I found Captain Chapin, the Commander, lying on his stomach cutting barbwire, with machine gun fire just above his body. I made several trips back and forth from the river bank where I had established my forward Command Post to where Captain Chapin was and on one trip I had to dive under a burst of machine gun fire and when I hit the ground, it felt that I had hit a large rock against my left breast. After returning to the river bank command post, a medic said, "Major you must have been hit," and I asked him why he thought that and he said that just as I hit the ground a shell burst right beside me, so I said, "Well, take a look." Sure enough he found a hole in my combat jacket above my heart. Looking further he found a hole in my undershirt and a hole in my chest. I had a lifetime parker pen set in my pocket and the piece of shrapnel had cut the pen in two and the clip off the pencil. When I was finally operated on a few days later, the doctor had to cut a six inch groove in my chest to follow the path of the shrapnel and found it on my right side. The pen and pencil set had turned the shrapnel and saved my life, so I guess it was as the guarantee said, lifetime. I was wounded several times that day on different occasions. As you can imagine, I did not return the pen and pencil set to the company for a replacement. How could I? I owed my very life to them.

I kept going back and forth between my Command Post and the forward Companies and about 11:00 AM I received a call from General Wilbur telling me to prepare my Battalion to move forward because the Germans would be pulling back. I told him that under the present conditions there wasn't anything that I could do to force them to withdraw and what information did he have that this would happen. I was then informed that a successful landing had been made at Anzio which would cause a withdrawal. I respectfully requested that he inform the Germans so that they could oblige us because with all the fire we were getting from them, they must not have been properly informed. As history has recorded, the Germans stayed in their well-prepared positions and it took about 15 full Divisions to finally dislodge them and then only after great loss of life on both sides. The next time I returned to my Command Post, just as I started to jump into my hole, the first round of a six-round barrage from a 170 MM Howitzer (Old Italian manufacture) exploded under me and a huge slab that hadn't fragmented and was as large as a dinner plate hit my hip, knocked the hip out of joint and made a large blister where it burned through my clothes. The next five rounds actually knocked me back to the river bank which was about 50 yards away. The aid men and a couple of others began cutting my clothes away so that they could dress the wounds. The aid man told me that he thought I could walk, so I said let's try it. The aid man helped me on my feet but my legs were too weak to support me. The men found two boat oars and I used these for crutches. So using these makeshift crutches, I attempted to get to where Captain Chapin was so that I could tell him that I was becoming very weak from loss of blood and that I would have to turn the Battalion over to him. Just before I arrived at his position or the position I last saw him, the Germans cut loose a burst of machine gun fire and before I could hit the ground, I was hit by several rounds through my legs and hips. The syatic nerve was cut in my left leg, went through and nicked the artery and then in my groin and finally the 9MM bullet lodged in my scrotum. The brave medic crawled out to me under intense fire and when he attempted to turn me over, I asked him to see if I had all my legs because it felt to me that one of them was gone. He told me that he could see both boots and they were still on my feet and attached to my legs. He then began to drag me out from under the machine gun fire to a place where there was a hint of cover and he could look me over. After a quick inspection, he said, "Major, I don't believe there are enough bandages this side of the Rapido to cover all the holes in you." I'm going to take a moment to express my admiration for the many brave deeds that were done by these brave and heroic Aid Men. There aren't enough words in the English language to express my appreciation for what these men did for us. They have never received the recognition that they deserve and I'm sure that every combat man will express this same opinion. Ray Wells who was in on the attack on San Pietro told me that he saw an Aid Man who had been shot through the head and the bullet had gone right through the red cross insignia on his helmet. This had to be an intentional shot. I was then dragged to the river bank and couldn't be taken across the bridge because the only thing left to the bridge were the two ropes that were used as hand holds. The men tied ropes to me and pulled me across the river where a stretcher was found and I was placed on that. The two men then made their way back across the river to almost certain doom. I never heard what happened to them—if they were killed, captured, wounded or escaped unscathed. I hope that if these men who helped me read this, I would like to thank them personally. We must remember the troops that were unable to cross with us and those that had a mission to accomplish on their side of the river. They were under constant fire and many died including the Officers and most of the Non-Coms in my Battalion Headquarters. Names fade in my mind, but I will never forget those young men who died so bravely, their faces or the deeds that they accomplished.

Coast Artillery Observers had volunteered to be litter bearers and I told them before they took me back to first uncover my Executive Officer, Red Lehman, who was on the bottom of a pile of men who had been killed by an artillery shell. These were the officers and men of my rear battalion headquarters whose job it was prevented them to cross the river. On top of the bodies was the forward artillery observer and he had half his face blown off. When Red was finally uncovered he was placed on a stretcher and I told the bearers to take him back to the aid station then come back and get me. Red refused to be taken any further than the aid station until I was brought up so that we could be evacuated together. I was carried across the mine field to the white rock road around the corner of Mt. Troccio. About that time I heard screaming meamies coming in and told the bearers to hit the side of the road in the ditch because it sounded like those rockets were coming right down on top of us. The litter bearers set me down in the middle of the road and they hit the ditch as they were ordered to do. I didn't mean for them to act in this way, I had meant for them to take me with them to the ditch where we might escape the shrapnel. Not being combat soldiers I guess they can be excused. The rockets hit all around me and covered me with pulverized white dust. A rock hit me in the throat and went in and damaged my voice box. This wound continues to trouble me to this day. On the way back to the field hospital I was losing so much blood, I was passing out, so the ambulance would stop at a Surgical Service Unit and blood plasma would be administered. This was done several times before I could be finally delivered to, I believe, the 17th Evacuation Hospital. I was taken to the operating room as soon as they could possibly get me in there and the Surgeons began working on me. The next morning the Surgeon came to see me and said that they had taken a ton of metal out of my body and the x-ray showed that I still had a bullet lodged in my leg somewhere and that I would have to return to the operating room for further x-rays. Back to the operating room where further search found the bullet in my scrotum. That's why on the x-rays it looked like the bullet was in my leg. After removing the bullet from my scrotum, I asked what they had found in my neck. They probed in my neck and sure enough found a rock. This wound was never recorded in my medical records, so I never received a purple heart for that wound. Who needs a seventh Purple Heart? I certainly didn't need another one. No! Thanks!

January 22, 1944 was my 30th birthday. My birthday had plenty of fireworks, thanks to the obliging Germans. At least they were responsible for furnishing me with the means of a ticket for a slow ride back home. I was happy to be going home but not really pleased to go in this way and I knew that I would miss my troops and I miss them to this very day. To me they were some of the finest young men that our country ever produced and I felt very proud and fortunate that I was able to serve them as their Battalion Commander.

A few days after I had been at the 17th Evacuation Hospital, Red Lehman was well enough to get out of bed and came to see me and I must have looked worried to him so he asked what was wrong and I told him that I hadn't received a report on the condition of the Companies and men. He looked at me and said, "Major, they aren't your men any more; they are someone else's responsiblity." That is when I finally realized, it is all over, they aren't my men any more and the thought came to me of the awesome responsibility of a Commander of troops. He is responsible for the feeding, supplying clothing, ammunition, in fact he is responsible for their very lives. He has to do whatever possible to get the job done and at the same time to prevent as many casualties at the same time. When these brave soldiers are given an order he must obey without question and those orders must be justified. Many of these men I did not know personally but I cared for them and I will always remember them as if they were my own family. They were and are yet very dear to me. The responsibility is always there and if a Commander accepts that responsibility as he should and takes care of his men, they will damn sure take care of their Commander. Many years ago at a meeting of 36 Division Veterans at Beethoven Hall in San Antonio, I asked Freddy Garcia if any other 2nd Battalion Commanders ever attended any of the meetings. He looked at me and said, "What 2nd Battalion Commanders?" I replied that I wasn't the only one and he came back with the remark, "You took care of us and we took care of you." I suppose he was referring to the two troops who tied ropes to me and dragged me back across the river to safety and saved my life. So, when the responsibility is no longer there, a person misses it. You just can't dismiss it. It doesn't come to a person instantaneously and you can't dismiss the feeling instantaneously. It is an inherent responsibility of a leader to his men.

I was transported by ambulance from the 17th Evacuation Hospital to the 45th General Hospital which was located in the Coliseum building in Naples. Since my syatic nerve had been severed any vibration would cause the two ends of the nerve to touch each other and the pain was such that I couldn't hardly stand it and is hard to describe. The best way I know to describe it is it felt like someone was using a wood rasp on my toes. A shot of morphine helped but would only last a short while and it would be another hour and a half before another shot could be administered to me. I was flown to North Africa to the 70th General Hospital but instead of taking me to the airfield, I was taken under protest to the dock for transportation by boat.

After finally convincing the authorities that I was to be flown to North Africa because of the nerve condition and I couldn't stand the vibration, a call was made to the airfield and of course the plane had already taken off minus one Major. There I laid on a stretcher on the dock alone. Everyone else had been loaded on the ship. Where to put me was the question, so the ship's Captain ordered that a place be rigged for me in the engine room of the ship. Talk about vibration, that's where the vibration was, in the engine room. After a terrible trip to North Africa, this torture was not over. I was placed in an ambulance that seemed to have solid rubber tires and on those brick streets I was ready to call it quits. After arriving at the 70th General Hospital, General Wilbur came to see me and told me that the Regiment was waiting for me back in Italy, that they really needed me. I replied that they may want me and need me but they weren't going to get me. The General asked me why and I told him that I had been informed by the doctors that I would never have full use of my legs and that I was on my way home. He then informed me that I had been recommended for promotion to Lt. Colonel but that the War Department had published a directive that no Major who was enroute to the States could be considered for a promotion. I was lucky to be alive and wondered if my luck was now changing for the worse. I missed my men, was in so much pain and I was feeling mighty low at this point.

When I arrived back stateside I landed at Charleston, N.C. and stayed there for a short time, then was loaded on a train enroute to Fort Sam Houston. When I finally arrived at Fort Sam, all I had to my name was a pair of Arab house shoes and my toilet article kit. When I finally looked in the kit I found an Italian Berreta that I had forgotten about. Against all regulations including the Geneva Conference, I had been in hospitals, ambulances and not to forget an engine room of a ship while I was fully armed.

While I was still in the hospital in North Africa I had asked the doctors to stop giving me anything to stop the pain because the pills and shots were doing no good whatsoever and I might as well get used to the constant pain. I requested this because not only were the shots and medication not doing me any good but I did not want to become dependent upon them. To this day I do not take any sort of pill, not even aspirin. I have learned to accept and live with the constant pain.

I hadn't been back in the United States very long when I received orders to report to Command and General Staff School at Fort Levenworth, Kansas. When I graduated from there I received orders as an Instructor for Military Intelligence at the same school. I was told that one reason I was selected for this assignment was because I was such a critic of the stupidity of our Intelligence Officers and their interpretation of maps and what the enemy was capable of. We were continually informed that the enemy facing us were old and weak, when we were actually facing some of the best there were as far as physical stature was concerned. Most of these units contained men between the ages of 18 and 25, stood 6'2" and weighed 190 pounds. According to intelligence we were supposed to be fighting little old men who were stragglers they had managed to pick up from the country side. We were fighting anything but that, we were up against the prime fighting force of the whole German army. After my tour as an Instructor for Military Intelligence, I was assigned on temporary duty with the Canadian Government as an Instructor in Military Science, Tactics, organizational and equipment at the Royal Military College at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. My duties consisted of training the nucleus of Officers for the Canadian 6th Division. The Canadians had five Divisions in Europe and the 6th was to be formed from returning personnel from the Divisions in Europe. They would be sent to the Pacific furnished with American uniforms, equipment, supplies and be paid the same as American military. Before the Division could be sent to the Pacific the war was over and I was returned to The Command and General Staff School. I was declared essential so my tour was extended for one more year for the purpose of rewriting the training manuals which extended the training period for Intelligence Officers.

The following recommendations for awards, I feel are worth quoting. I had sent them through channels to Division and they were returned to me with a cover letter which stated that the actions were not above and beyond the call of duty. I still feel that these brave men earned an award and should have been given the appropriate award for their deeds. These papers had been placed in my footlocker and together with my personal belongings finally caught up with me towards the end of the war. The footlocker had been steamed during the typhus epidemic in Naples and all my clothes were completely ruined. These recommendations were also damaged so some parts are unreadable but I will quote them as best I can. They were all handwritten with pencil soon after the battle for San Pietro.

"Lt. James Humphries, Commanding Co. E wa 141st Inf., on the morning of Dec. 16, 1943 near San Pietro, Italy which under heavy mortar and machine gun fire, he moved to the extreme front to take personal charge. While there he was seriously wounded. He continued to give his orders. When the Company withdrew he refused aid although he had to remain in the field seriously wounded for two days.

Witness: Sgt. S. Frausto, PFC J.D. Saucedo, PFC Roque Seguro

"PFC Rogue Seguro, Company "E", 141st Inf. "While under heavy mortar and machine gun fire, he saw his Platoon Sgt. seriously wounded. Going to his side he rendered first aid and undoubtedly saved the Sgt.'s life. This was done with utter disregard for his own safety.

Witness: Sgt. S. Frausto, Sgt. G. Martinz , PFC J.D. Saucedo

"(Posthumous) Simon C. Jimenez, PFC, Co. "E", 141st Inf. On the morning of Dec. 16 near San Pietro, Italy, when the head of his Company was pinned down by machine gun fire. Meanwhile being under heavy machine gun fire, without regard for his life, arose and rushed the gun. He would have succeeded but for being blown up by a mine. His last words express anxiety for his comrades.

Witness: Sgt. F. Fruasto, Sgt. G. Martinez, PFC R. Seguro

"Major Milton J. Landry on the morning of Dec. 16 in vicinity of San Pietro, Italy for gallantry in action. Major Landry led his Battalion in the attack against San Pietro, Italy. Three times the Major made an attempt at the enemy with his Battalion and three times the attempt was repulsed. The fourth attempt Landry led his Battalion (Here the damage caused by the steam were faded and unreadable.) Continued: The enemy began to fire on the Battalion with machine guns, mortars and artillery. The Major was forced to withdraw his Battalion to covered positions. The enemy had the Battalion pinned down. Then Major Landry, with cool, good judgement called for friendly smoke on the Battalion position. Under cover of the smoke he led his men to a good covered position. After a short time the Major was able to lead his men back to a position where he could reorganize the Battalion. Major Landry's good judgement and cool courage was an inspiration to his men.

Witnessed by: Richard M. Mauton, 2nd Lt., 141st Inf.

The citation continued: "When the Battalion was pinned down Major Landry directed the fire of his men against the enemy, exposing himself to heavy, machine gun, mortar and artillery fire." Unquote.

All of the above citations are quoted as best they could be made out by the writer, including abbreviations.

Writer's note: Due to damage which occurred at Naples and the natural deterioration of the papers during those many years, some names may be misspelled. Please forgive me and I hope it does not offend anyone.

As a conclusion to this story, I want to share the following with you. As any combat veteran knows, miracles do happen, especially on the battlefield. I'm sure each and every one of us consider it a miracle that we came out of the war alive. This is an event which I consider a true miracle. After I returned to the United States and still receiving treatments in an Army Hospital for my various wounds, I was approached by an Officer who called me by name and asked if I remembered him. I said that I remembered someone who looked exactly like him but the last time I saw him he was in a pile of dead men at my Battalion Headquarters on the Rapido River in Italy and the man had half his face blown off by an artillery shell. He said, "That man is me." Then he told me his story. He remembered being lifted off the pile and placed on the ground so that Captain Lehman could be taken care of. He tried to say something or to move but it was impossible for him to do either. The next thing he remembered which seemed that days had passed, a truce had been declared and wounded were being removed from the field, men would take one look at him, shake their head and pass him by. Next he remembered another truce and the dead were being removed from the field. When the litter bearers came for him they noticed that even after several days rigor mortis had not set in and he was rushed to the hospital.

Back in the states he was given a glass eye that matched his good eye exactly and through the skill of plastic surgeons and a picture of him furnished by his sister, my Battalion Artillery Officer's face was rebuilt and except for some small scars, he looked the same as he did before he was so severely wounded. Now that is truly a MIRACLE.

I finally left the service on disability on 26 September 1946 just short of a few weeks of becoming automatically promoted to the grade of full Colonel. When the Surgeon General discovered that I had the time in grade for the promotion and my efficiency reports as a Lt. Colonel were outstanding he ordered my immediate release from the service. So on that sour note, my career in the military came to an end, but in my heart I will always remember and cherish the great friends whom I continue to see at our Reunions. As long as I am physically able, I will attend these Reunions to be with these wonderful and splendid men and their families of our 36th Infantry Division. GOD BLESS THEM ALL.