“Old Gon was the best in the company,” remarked Sgt. Donald Simon of Bronx, N.Y., as he walked over the same battlefield where S/Sgt. Manuel Gonzales of Mexia, Texas, knocked out a German 88, an ammunition dump, an enemy mortar and a machine gun nest on the beaches below Salerno.

“When he first came to the company at Camp Blanding, I was afraid to even let him make an attempt at handling a squad,” recalled Capt. Robert N. Carey of Waterville, Maine, Company F commander. “Now I consider him the best man that ever came to the regiment”, he continued.
 

As they walked over the sandy beaches, memories of the historic landing returned. These men had come in on the first assault wave. “They cleaned out things quite a bit,” observed the Capt., “but the old place looks too darn familiar. Look at those mines, they’re still there. And there’s the 88 that Gonzales knocked out. Still in the same old place, pointing toward the sea. That little gun was giving us a helluva lot of trouble that day.”

Reaching the old area, Capt. Carey pointed to 3 irrigation ditches where he and his men dug in during the heavy German counterattack.

“This is where I gave “Ugly” Gonzales the order to go to the right of the gun while I went on the left flank. There was little cover and the MG fire was terrific.” Continued the Capt. “The Krauts spotted him and I never heard such a terrific amount of fire and explosions. I thought it was the end of Gon, but the only thing that hit him was a tracer that hit his pack and set it on fire.”

Although wounded in the chest from shell fragments from a grenade, Gonzales removed his pack, reached for a few grenades and hurled them at the gun position. One of his grenades knocked out a machine gun protecting the 88 crew, and another hit the ammo dump near by.
“One of those grenades knocked out a mortar,” added Sgt. Simon, “I wasn’t far from “Ugly” when he knocked out the 88. He could certainly place his shots.”

Later Gonzales met up with his company. He never could tell how much damage he caused or how many Germans he killed because he never waited around to see. He always continued on to where there was more fighting.

“Ugly” was evacuated to the hospital because of injuries received during that action. His wounds were slow in healing, but Old Gon wanted to get back. He paid a visit to his old company and wanted to remain, but combat for “Ugly” was over.

“There was one guy that really loved his outfit and didn’t want to leave,” said Pfc. James W. Hughes of Comanche, Texas.

The heroic actions of Ugly still live with his company. He’s an old soldier, and Old Soldier Always Come Back.