Memories Never Forgotten


tpatch Personal Accounts
This is a work in progress. Additional stories  should be added on a fairly regular basis. When finished, approximately 44 volumes of material scanned from the 36th Division Historical Quarterly will be published on this site.

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Memories Never Forgotten

 Ray Wells
Company F, 141st Infantry
For many years I have thought about writing a story that might express the true feelings of an Infantry Soldier going into battle for the first time

 

A Letter From Salerno

 Glen C. Clift
111th Medical Battalion
To our Division, as you probably know by now, has come the honor of being the first American troops "on the mainland of Hitler's German-held Festung Europa." . . . and hence my Company of our Medical Battalion the first Medical soldiers to get in and set up for business here in Hitler's backyard.

 

Battalion Commander

 Ray Wells
Company F, 141st Infantry
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.

 

The One That Almost Got Me

David Aruizu
Company B, 143rd Infantry
During the last days of November and the first three weeks of December, 1944, the 1st Bn. 143rd Inf., as well as the rest of the 36th went through some of the most difficult periods of the war in France. Going through the Vosges mountains was hell.

 

Infantry Chaplain

 Major Josef Dine
2nd Battalion, 143rd Infantry
Yes, I know there are no infantry chaplains. There are just chaplains, Army of the United States, and they serve with whatever branch they are assigned. But in the 2d Battalion, 143d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division, we had a chaplain who loved the Infantry so well he must be called an Infantry Chaplain.

 

A Fiddle for Hollywood White

 A. F. (Amil) Kohutek
Battery C, 132nd Field Artillery
Few if any, knew him as Virgil—early on he was named Hollywood. It is not known who gave him this title. He had the good looks of a Hollywood actor. Some say he was headed for Hollywood when that man with the funny hat pointed his finger.

 

A Delightful Search

 Ray Goad
Company D, 143rd Infantry
On August 29, 1944, units of the 1st Bn 143rd Inf. were a part of Task Force Butler in and around Loriol, France. This was on Hwy 7 some five miles north of Montilemar on the Rhone River . . . But this story is about the woman in the jeep.

 

My Baptism of Combat
The Rapido River

 Bill Hartung
Company E, 143rd Infantry
I landed in Naples from Oran right after Christmas. We rode most of the night by blacked-out truck to within walking distance of where Co. E., 143 Regt. was dug in . . . what was left of them after the Battle of San Pietro.

 

Mobley Recalls Abbey Bombing

 William B. Mobley
1st Battalion, 142nd Infantry
I recall noting during the dive bomber portion of the attack how some of the planes were a little skittish about coming too close to the target, while others seemed almost to touch the buildings before releasing their bombs.

 

The 15 Mile Latrine Detail

 Curt Walthall
144th Infantry
Area G was 18 miles in the boondocks from Camp Bowie and we spent a lot of time out there training to be field soldiers.

 

"Follow Me"

Reyburn Philip Haddock
Company G, 143rd Infantry
When I was at Benning the motto of the Infantry School was, "Follow Me". I didn’t realize until I had been in a position where people depended on me, just what this meant

 

Carols Warmed Heart of Soldier

 H.B. "Jim" Fitzgerald
143rd Infantry
In December 1944, the Battle of the Bulge had broken out to the north of us. Sometime around December 20-22, our division was ordered north to become involved in the Battle of Bulge operations. On Christmas Eve 1944, I found myself in one of France’s larger cities, Strasbourg, located on the west bank of the Rhine River.

 

"San Pietro: Do You Read Me?"

 Jack Clover
Headquarters Company
2nd Battalion, 143rd Infantry
Being the Pioneer platoon of the 2nd Battalion whose purpose was to protect Battalion Headquarters, supply ammo and fill in the gaps, our assignment was different. We would move out at late evening fully loaded with ammo down the face of Mt. Cannavinelle across the valley to the Venafro-San Petro road and set up a forward ammunition dump near the line of departure. We would be on our own.

 

The General Thumbs A Ride

 Milt Crow
Company H, 142nd Infantry
The German 88s are ploughing the beach and exploding with such fury that we gladly take the first road leading inland. Ahead of us walks a lone soldier. He holds up his thumb pointing down the road. Holy Toledo! He’s a General. Now, we have seen Generals before, but they usually came complete with aides, flags, sirens, M.P.s and at least a jeep. We stop.

 

"Remember Rapido River"

 C.N. (Red) Morgan
3nd Bn., 141st Infantry
I joined the 141st Infantry Regiment as a Captain while the regiment was still on the Rapido River. I was assigned as CO 3rd Bn 141st Inf. Previous to this time I had served with the 142nd Infantry Regiment since mobilization of the 36th Infantry Division.

 

151st Field Artillery Battalion

Russell Gull
151st FA Bn., 34th Division
Attached to the 36th from Sept. 9 to 24th
"D" Day 9 Sept. 1943: The battalion, loaded on Dukws was debarked in a calm sea at 0130 hours in the Gulf of Salerno. One "C" Battery Dukw, carrying a 105 mm. howitzer, gun crew and forty rounds of ammunition, was rammed while rendezvousing and sunk. All equipment was lost but personnel were uninjured and were rescued by other Dukws in the vicinity, The night was extremely dark but general direction could be obtained by the glow of fires in the crater of Mount Vesuvious which we knew to be south-east of Naples.

 

Salerno Invasion

 Louis J. Petrillo
Company L, 143rd Infantry
One hour later 3:30 a.m. we hit the beach. I carried a section of bangular torpedo for the section of the beach we went in. Our Navy put down a heavy barrage which was fine, but when the Germans started firing back, I thought all hell let loose. We took the beach.

 

Company Runner

 Eulalio Estrada
Company E, 141st Infantry
Not everyone in a rifle company is a rifleman. I learned a great deal about infantry tactics and how to use their weapons but when we were to go in at Salerno I was assigned the job of company runner between our company commander and the troops on the firing line.

 

Colonel Louis J. Stahl and
the 111th Medical Detachment

 James E. Hodges
111th Medical Detachment
This is a story about Col. Louis J. Stahl and how the 111th Medical Detachment came about. . . . Some time during the year of 1922, Louis J. Stahl and another, Dr. William T. Dunning, pushed for the organization of a medical unit in Gonzales, Texas. On November 15, 1922 it was authorized by the Federal Government.

 

The Fighting Machine

 Bill Trimpe
Company K, 143rd Infantry
It’s been forty five years ago now and I believe it’s about time to appropriately recognize Paul Blackmer, the fighting machine of Company K, 143rd Infantry, 36th Division, and the courage he showed in the battle of Montelimar. It was noncoms like Paul Blackmer of New York who helped make the Texas Division such a great combat unit.

 

A Quiet Dangerous
"Walk In The Sun"

 Roy D. Goad
Company D, 143rd Infantry
In September 1944 the 143 RCT was making very good progress in chasing the Germans, after the Montelimar Massacre in the Rhone Valley. The First Bn. was advancing along a road between Port-Sur-Saone and Luxueil-Les-Bains which was somewhat southwest of Vesoul . . . About 1300 the point rifle company was stopped by an unknown size German road block in an advantageous area on the road and had several buildings of which offered good defensive cover.

 

Observations Of A Brigadier

 R. K. Doughty
141st Infantry
It was a frightening experience and the thought occurred to me that some of the telephoning the Brigadier had done before we left his bailiwick had set up this apparent disregard for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to impress a greenhorn. It worked!

 

Short Cut To Velletri

 Harvey Reves
Company B, 111th Medical Battalion
The first thing I heard was "Hands Ho!" and this freckle-faced kid who looked to be 14 or 15 years old shoved this Burp Gun in my face and demanded "Pistola! Pistola!" I said, "no Pistola! no Pistola!" and then there were a dozen hands all over me. They took everything except some of my medical equipment and my clothes.

 

Upmost Was The Utmost

 Ben Wilson, Jr.
Division Headquarters
This tour brought back many memories of long ago, and one of the highlights was a visit to the sight of the memorial dedicated to the 442 Regiment combat team for their rescue of the famed "lost battalion" of World War II, on that high wooded ridge in France.

 

General Dave Frazior

 Lem Vannatta
Service Company, 143rd Infantry
This story has been in my mind for almost fifty years. I’ve never been a hero worshipper but I’ve seen men I admired and grew to love. Dave Frazior is one of these men. My admiration for him helped mold some character for me.

 

The Fatalist

 James Gardner Erickson
Company E, 141st Infantry
Because of his dangerous occupation, the frontline G.I. sometimes discussed the philosophical issues of survival and extinction. I personally had become a lifetime atheist when I was about twelve years old. The death, destruction and chaos of war only reinforced my disbelief. However, there was one fellow in our squad who I remember only as "The Fatalist".

 

Recollections Of The Past

 Samuel P. Armitage
Service Company
131st Field Artillery
Having spent many years with the 26th Infantry Division and with the outbreak of war, I applied for OCS in 1942. In January 1943 I graduated with Class 47 from the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill and was assigned to the 36th Infantry Division at Camp Edwards in Massachusetts.

 

Parley On Castellone

 Joel W. Westbrook
Battalion Operations Officer
1st Battalion, 143rd Infantry
At 0630 Greenwich Mean Standard Time, 10 February 1944, I, Battalion Operations Officer, would meet on the crest of Mount Castellone at coordinates 675420, a German Captain, who would be liaison for the removal of their dead. He would not be permitted to come within our position.

 

I Would Like To Know!

 Lt. Bob Gans
Company I, 142nd Regiment
Just then, Lt. Andy Diaz of our 2nd Platoon cried out, "That’s downright murder! It’s crazy." I thought so too, but I didn’t want to scare all of my men.

 

Million Dollar Mountain
To San Pietro

 Colonel Vincent M. Lockhart
Headquarters, 36th Division
The rest of the month of November was rainy, muddy, cold and quiet, although the Division lost more than 550 officers and men from the heavy enemy artillery fire and from patrol actions. Non-battle casualties brought on by the severe weather and poor living conditions were three times this amount. . . . But this was the lull before the storm.

 

Infantrymen —
The Fighters of War

 Brigadier General W. H. Wilbur, USA
Assistant Division Commander
In this, as in all past wars, soldiers and sailors measure their contribution by four considerations. First, by the degree of their isolation and loneliness; second, by the amount of physical discomfort they endure; third, by the amount of danger they undergo and last, by the amount of real aggressive fighting that they do.

 

How I Became A Member
of the 36th Division

 Lt. Col. James D. Summer, Jr.
General Wilbur's Aide-de-Camp
Shortly after the fighting ended in French Morocco I was asked by Brigadier General William H. Wilbur to be his Aide-de-Camp. He was a very interesting officer.

 

Search For A Wartime Buddy
Pays Off

 Jack Leura
Company A, 111th Engineers
We were taken to Lodz, Poland; stayed there for about two weeks, then transferred to Odessa on the Black Sea in Russia. After living in box cars for two weeks, some of the Russian soldiers told we would be taken to another part of Russia for better protection, but we knew very well it was to the labor camp in some unknown area.

 

Heroics of Beach Battalion
at Salerno

 James Q. Townley
4th Beach Battalion
We were clearing the beach of obstructions, setting up communication centers and medical stations. During these early morning hours, there was relatively little enemy fire. However, soon after daybreak, the beach was virtually shut down because of enemy 88MM fire from the tanks, small arms snipers and machine gun fire.

 

Surviving German Encounters
In France

 George M. Legg
Company C, 144th Regiment
Later Company E, 114th Regiment
44th Division
After lying there for about ten minutes, and just as we started moving forward again, the Germans opened up with that artillery again. My squad leader hit the rocks, stretched prone against the railroad tracks. The man in front of me was lying with his head against the squad leader’s shoulder, and I hit the dirt with my left shoulder touching him and my head against the squad leader’s hip, and a man behind me was against my right shoulder with his head crammed against the squad leader’s knee.

 

143rd Cannoneer Chases
German Army In
Battle of Montelimar

 Payne V. Rucker
Cannon Company,
143rd Infantry Regiment
The first orders were directed at troop-carrying trucks. We fired our guns continuously without stopping; and the recoil system got so hot that the system was slowing down. Norris, my loader, was pushing shells into the breach with his fist, and due to the fast fire, his skin begin to peel off his hand. I exchanged places with Norris for a while, and I also lost some skin. We fired until we were out of ammunition and had to order more.

 

Capture of Goering

 BG Robert I. Stack
Assistant Division Commander
On 7 May 1945, the Command Post of the United States 36th Infantry Division was located at Kufstein, Austria, on the Danube. This Division, already fortunate in the capture of Marshal von Rundstedt, Air Marshal von SperrIe and Admiral Horthy, today was to take the biggest prize of World War II, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, Chief of the German Air Force, President of Prussia, "Nachfolger vom Reich," successor to Hitler according to his Testament of 1939.

 

Our Last Cowtown Parade

 Curt Walthall
Company B
144th Infantry Regiment
We were not aware at the time that this was the 144th Infantry’s last parade in Fort Worth. Had we known, we might have marched a little more proudly, and kept our lines straighter, so the old home town would remember us as a great marching unit.

 

From Paestum to Cassino

 Earl Mansee
36th MP Company
There was news that the Italians had surrendered, and we had hopes that it wouldn’t be quite as difficult for us. Oh, were we in for a BIG SURPRISE! We were given orders to disembark in the afternoon of Sept. 9, 1943. Just before leaving the ship, U.S.S. FRED FUNGSTON, I saw one of the first casualties being returned to the ship. The man’s insides were exposed as he was lying on the stretcher.

 

The Blast of War
A Regimental Reunion Scrapbook
Dedicated to those with whom I served

 Sam F. Kibbey
Company K
143rd Infantry Regiment
As I write this I am removed in point of time by over forty-four years from the hardship I endured. Forty-four years removed from pain I experienced in losing buddies—and by the time we reached the Vosges Mountains this had increased—exposure to seeing people dead, both American and German, some as if taking a siesta but many mutilated by artillery or mortar fire. Death is always a tragedy. All things are devoured by death. Most of us are apprehensive about death from childhood. We seek to solve the mystery or escape its finality.

 

Tommy Guns and Gloves . . .
A Bad Combination

 David Arrizu
Company B
143rd Infantry Regiment
On the afternoon of November 20, 1944, I was ordered to take out a patrol and check out a bridge and road intersection for mines and enemy activity. For the past two days our battalion commander, David M. Frazior, had been running us "ragged" up and down the hills, night and day, checking for any isolated German units in the area west of Anould and Fraize in the Vosages Mountains of the Alsace Region of France.

 

Sanctuary

 R.K. Doughty
141st Infantry Regiment
Avellino, Italy, lying near Celsi where the 141st Infantry Regiment took up serious training again, after Monte Cassino, was to my mind one of the most beautiful cities imaginable. This was due, no doubt, to the contrast it represented to the grim environs of Monte Cassino but also to the institutions and people I encountered there. Its beauty was further enhanced by the fact that I had seen it from a vantage point high in the mountains from which no ugliness, if any existed, could be discerned. Before that view appeared however, there were a number of intervening stops deserving comment.

 

The Mission

 Dan S. Ray
36th Reconnaissance Unit
The day started out as a routine mission, as we had been on many since the landing at Southern France. It was always hurry, hurry, but as everybody knew their job and did it like clockwork, we figured that we had a better chance of a successful mission even though we knew that we had to go all of the way to Germany if we didn't find out where the Germans were hiding in ambush for us.

 

General Walker's Story
of the Rapido River Crossing

 MG Fred Walker
Commander
36th Infantry Division
The veterans of the 36th (Texas) Division, which I commanded in World War II, will never forget the Rapido River crossing. In that operation in January 1944, more than 2,100 of their comrades were killed, wounded, or missing in a heroic and needless sacrifice. After the war the survivors petitioned Congress to investigate this disaster. A hearing was held, but not the investigation they wished. They were told officially that the sacrifice was necessary as part of a grand tactical plan and that the commander who ordered the attack had used good judgement.

They do not believe this. They know better.

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