6 th. £ d ....· b 11 · In autry ivision u etlTI vol. 23, no. 1

The senior member of our Association is no more. The splendid career of General Reinhardt has come to a close with his death at Fort Sam Houston on July 24th.

These dark tidings reach us at a noticeable point in our own lives; it is exactly a quarter of a century 'since the Sixty-Ninth Division left Camp Kilmer for foreign shores. That anniversary is cheerless enough, in any event, but its sombre note is underlined by the word fro m Texas.

Our attachment to Emil Reinhardt does not date back to the campaign in Europe, where he was for most of us a very dim figure. It was the concern he showed, in the first years of his retirement, for the men who had served under him that accounts for the universal affection in shich he came to be held. For without the immense labor he then undertook to round us up there would have been no Association. Insofar as the bonds of memory and comradeship that hold us together are a source of satisfaction.

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satisfaction we are entirely in the General's debt.

In the War itself, of course, a special role was reserved for

him. The handclasp with his Soviet equivalent was the signal to the world of the liberation of Europe. He personified, at that historic moment, the attainment of the Allied goals.

The General's fortune, in finding himself, at the culmination of the five year drama bout to be concluded, at the helm of the furthest forward division of the Armies of the West, was not due to the luck of the draw. That he commanded the Sicty-Ninth to begin with was owed a choice dictated by honor; offered a corps stationed within the Continental limits, he had insisted, instead, on a division marked for combat.

This decision, which brought General Reinhardt to Camp Shelby, and hence into the lives of us all, is hardly to be remarked on, so much was it in character. From the day the train from

Michigan deposited him at the Military Academy, on the heights above the Hudson, until, forty years later, he brought the Sixty-Ninth Division back to the United States, his life was

devoted to the country's service. It is not easy to imagine that he would have let pass the opportunity to come face to face with her foes.

As with us all, civilian claims on the General's attention presently asserted themselves, and the task of maintainence and expansion of the Association came to be shared by other hands, so we ceased to be the constant burden that had consumed month after month, the General's waking hours. Nevertheless, the welfare of his old comrades of the Ardennes and Central Germany continued to by, after.his family, the chief object of the General's solicitude. In his recent, and last, illness, something of this was returned, in th'll wave of heart-felt expressions of hope for his recovery that reached his bedside. Perhaps this proved, to some slight degree, a final comfort.

4 the BULlETIN

. = aSSOclatlOf\ Inc

3 5 sixth avenue, kensington, pennsylvania 15068

Dear Buddies:

It is a greGt honor to have the pr ivi lege of addressing you as Pres ident of the Sixty-Ninth. I have been connected with the Assoc iat ion since its inception, and have worked close ly with the ded icated men who gave so much of their time to its advancement. I have enjoyed the ir fr iendship, and hope I can fol low their examp le of ded icat ion to a great cause.

We begin our twenty-th ird year in sorrow for the death of our founder, that grand old man, Genera l Reinhardt. It is gratifying to recall that at our Roanoke Reu nion he to ld me ho w proud he was of us, and said that all the wo rk he put into starting th e Associat ion was repaid a thousandfo ld, when he saw it vigorous and thriving. But each of us can, in turn, take so me pride in the fact th at the ve ry existence of the Association brought pleasure to the Genera l's dec lining years.

The Association is, in fa ct, prospering, as the General observed . We have just held our twenty-second reunion, and are arranging for the twenty-third. This wi ll probably be in Wash ington, but the next B U L LET I N will conta in the deta ils for certain.

At the New Haven reunion I agreed with a buddy that it was nice to get together and have a drin k, but I wished that I could have made it clear th at a ball was but a tiny part of the Associatioll. Our Memor ial service, to tho se who died in combat and sin ce, the placing of roses of the graves of our budd ies buried in Europ e, our sc hol arship program; th ese are wha t we are reall y proud of, and our reasoll for ex istence.

None of this is news, of course, to old -t imers; I mention it here for the reassurance of members lately added to our rolls, and for those Sixty-Niners whom we hope soo n to see so li sted, that there is more to our activity than enj oyme nt, thoug h there is all you cou ld want of the latter.

Sincerely,

, . :~. ~~

. -.-.: :.'

69th I1FmRY DIVISI(B ASSOCIATICII

lI'IWfCllL S'!'j,TEHFBr

Cuh Balance 7-31-68

Receipts 8-1-68/7-31-69 tues 1967-1968 153.00 153.00

1968-1969 1850.00 18.50.00 1969-1970 21.00 21.00

DnN Ladies AUL 68/69 .58 • .50 .58 • .50 COIltrlbl1ting JlfMlbers 570.00 570.00 Miac. I. I. Chapter 100.00 Scho1orship Donations 899~50 T.V. Sal .. 104.00 Merchandise Sales 8.00 8.00 Proti t Ph11a. ConTention 521.00 521.00 Interest em SaTing_ a/ c 126.60

$4505.60 $ )18'7.50 Lees retumed cheek ~.oo ~.oo

$4;00.60 )1 .50 7-31-68 Balance Torward ~~:~ -~~~.6Z)

$ .83 ExpeD888 8-1-68/7-31-69

Pr1l1ting $1659.83 1659.83 Addreas-o-graph 173.80 1'13.80 Shipping Ii ~tage 266.00 266.00 Soho1or8hip PQads 863.40 We.ltare 193.24 CCIlTlllt1cm (Retmd) 18.00 18100

$3174.27 $ 2ii7.6)

BeJ .nee 7-31-69 !!tZ06·62 • -!~0.80) Qa Depoait 7-31-69

Bank Belance lIat10nal state Bank ot Elisabeth, I. J. a/e fOO6-)61-o Bank Balance Colonial SaTings Ii Loan. belle Park, I. J.fO-l4097

Rea peettul.ly subll.1. tted .July, 31, 1969 George E. Ph1ll1pe, Tre&81U"8r

100.00 899.jO 104.00

126.60 $1)18.10

2.00 1)16.10

~.~ $6 •

863.40 193.24

$1056.64

*5l77.112

$1218.64

.§:~

f:htl:ng 69thlDr ~rto1'" "' •• dation, IiIo. d Yt - . FAIRLY GOOD SHA~E. TO KEEP IT THAT WAY, SEND IN YOUN DUES , 3.00 , OR, IF YOU CAN MANAGE IT, 10.OO , FOR A. CON­TRIBUTING MEMBERSHIP.

5

8

There is a cheerfu I event, as we ll as

the sad one, to mark 1969 in Association annals. This was the year of the SECOND RETURN. Not quite to the Elbe, th is trip nor, actually, in the footsteps of the Division at al l. There was, in fact , a much more ambit ious itinerary laid out than the simp le one followed in 1945 and, more or less, by the p il grims of four years ago; due east.

The scheme of the recent excu rsion was less reverent than the previous one, more purely socia l; even , if you'll excuse the word, cultura l. This t ime the Latin countries were included, and Austr ia. So the members of the party who were o n their second t ime around have pre tty we ll covered the Continent.

An unfortunate note was the absence, caused by illness, of Loar Quickly, organizer of the who le thing. There was a specia l irony in this as save for Loar, nobody rea ll y beli eved in the possibility of the f irst, 1965, trip, much less a second one. Loar supp li ed both the faith and act ivity necessary to get both exped itions af loat, (or a loft?) There was a tang i ble acknowledgment of this by the travelers. An immense scro ll, made up of I ette rs of apprec iat ion, was prepared and turned over to hi m. It is worth noting that, as the letters were written on different stages of the trip, they constitute a k ind of record or journal, as we ll as tribute.

The Reunion might be thought of as not news at all , so unfailingly is it held each year. For the record, through, 1969's took place in New Haven, under the direction of AI Carbonari and Stan Olszewski, Hq 1st Bn,271, Sv-273, respectively. The visit was the Association's first venture into New Eng land .

active in the Association's affairs throughout its ex istence and in those of the New York City Chapter, of which he was long President.

The Officers e lected at the Reunion Business Meeting w ill be found listed on page 12. They are headed by Sammy Woolf, F-273, of Westchester County, New York State, a member

Sammy h ad the p leasant distinction, and his folks at home the thri ll , of finding himself singled out for me nt ion in national (as opposed to local) coverage of the assau lt on Leipsic, whi ch his company took part in mounted on tanks. To those who attend the Reunions with any frequency, of course, the last thing necessary is any identification of

the BULLETIN

'If Loar was the orig in al Prime Mover, the Shepherd of the F lock, the actual leader on the ground, who got everybody safe ly there and back, was President Bill Matlach, E-273 . He and Jane , incide ntal ly , were not the o nly ones to take the k ids; there were , in fact, p lenty of youngsters along.

Al l told, the undertaking was a complete success, in conception and execution a credit to all concerned, with the confidence shown by the travelers themselves, in the first place, perhaps the major contribut ion. As we have suggested, when the idea was first put forward there were far more skept ics than be livers .

Sammy, a fixture at those gatherings for the twenty-some years they have been held.

George Phillips, G-271, chosen to be Executive Vi ce- President was the previous Treasurer, the books of which Office have been t urned over to Asa Cowden, K-271. The President of the Ladies Auxiliary, it will be noticed, (at least by t hose who study our long list with specia l care) is the wife of a Vice-President, Stan O lszewski, Sv-273, co-Chairman of the recent Reunion.

9

SCHOLARSHIP WINNER REPORTS ...

TO PARTICIPANTS OF 1970-71

PATR ICK A. DALPORTO, son of Lido Dalporto of Smithers, W. Va. and who is attending the West Virginia Institute of Techno logy" Montgomery, W. Va. wr it es:

"I have enclosed my grades for the spr ing and summ er semesters of 1968-69. I will be returning to schoo l August 27 instea d of cont inuing on th e co-op program. By doing thi s, I will be able to comp lete my und ergraduate work th is year and beg in gradu ate studies in engineering next fall.

Please accept my contribut ion to the sc holarship fund."

ED ITOR'S NOTE: Pat always se nd s in a su bstant ial contribu t ion to the fund eac h year t hat he has part ic ipated_ We also send ou r best to you Pat , and w ill look for ward to seeing you in Washington, D.C. in 1970 .

Anyone desiring to make appl ication for the 1970-71 Scholarship Merit Awa rd mu st write to LOAR L. QUI CKLE, The Pri nceto n Univers ity Sto re, 36 Univers ity Place, Pri nceto n, N.J. 08540 and request the necessary forms be sent him or her. Your father must have been a member of the 69th Inf . Div. either in Camp Shelby, Miss. during the Seco nd World War or served overseas at one time or other. Plus, he must have paid dues to our Assoc iat ion two (2) out of the last three (3) years. Se nd in your letters today.

A note from Richard Abraham another scholarship winner states he is now wo rking for the Catholic Worker and is changing from ado lescence to adu lthood since winning our scho larship. His out lo ok on life is being molded more a world outlook compared to his narrow area when getting out of high school. We are all with you Richard, and we do appreciate the good grades you are turning in which stamps the faith we had in making the award .

It may interest our members that we paid ou t $650. To scholarship winners this past Augu st at the Reunion in New Haven .. . Won't you support us?

Shown below is MICHAEL A. MOSCARITOLO of Roselle, N,J. who won the 1969-70 69th Inf. Div, Assoc. Scholarship Award. Michael is the son of Michael P. Moscaritolo ... .

TENTH ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED

It was announced at the reunion in Augu st in New Haven that the son of Mary and Michael Moscaritolo of Ro se ll e, N.J. was awarded the Annual 69th Infantry Divisio n Association Merit Scho larsh ip. Unbeknown to the scholarship committee young Mike had written to Loar Quickie , Chairman directly to the Park Plaza Hotel giving his reaso ns for not being in attendance. The letter reads as follows:

"Dear Mr. Quickie: It is certainly an honor to have been se lected to receive the Fighting 69th Inf. D iv .

Scholarship Award. I wish to express my deep appreciation to those who are responsibl e for choosing me above the other app lica nts, an d, al so, to all the men of the divi sion who contributed to this award. I will indeed try to live up to your expectations.

Due to a deat h in the family, however, I will be unab le to attend the reunion and presentation of the award for me and express my gratitude to al l those present.

Enclosed please find a picture of my se lf and a copy of my Certificate of Admiss ion to Rutgers University. I have been enro ll ed in a pre-medical curricu lum at Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N.J.Once again, thank you for the award, and I regret my inabi lity to attend the reunion. .

Sincerely yours,

MICHAEL A. MOSCARITOLO."

Mike, thanks very much... fOJ;." the letter and all 69'ers, wherever they may be send their condolences about the loss in your family. _ .

Sirs:

10

E, G, BAlDWin AND ASSOCIATES PIOl'.'"EERS IN ELECTRONIC MEDI CAL AND REI-L\BILITATION EQUIPMENT

3142 SUPERIOR AVENUE

Me. Loar Quick ie Sir :

CLEVELAND, OHIO 44114

PHONE: 621·8284

8- 13-69

This morning 's mail brought the 69 decals I had asked abou t ; many th anks .

Coincidence -

INC,

Monday, on the Ohio Turnpike a station wagon (tags : 1533 J)flashing ". 69 deca l passedme at about 90. I pu rsued him for 40 mil es (past my exit), but couldn't even get alongs ide, and so los t him.

Nos, two days later, I have your wonderful letter, and my own deca ls.

P. O. Box 6B

BYRON, WYOMING 82412

With deep appreciation,

A I Kormaz is, 879 F .A.

YOURS FOR THE ASKING, TOO. JUST WRITE IN.

September c4. 1969

the BULIBTIN

J 01 1\ I'O \ TI£ IU no l3a il f'y An_' IHIl'

Patchogue, L. I . \. Y. 11 772

TO TH E 269th ENG INEERS WHO FA I LED TO SHOW UP

AT NEW HAVEN:

Here is the roster of th ose who did:

A. Co . Joe Monteleone John Buller Bob Turner

F rank Nemeth Joh n Pon tier i Dan Evers Stu McG regor Mil t Halainen

BCD.

H & S Co. John Hawley Lou Steinbaunner Louis Rivera Sharpless Jones

plus, o f cou rse, w ives and children.

Where were you?

In your recent art icle on the Leipsic ~I onume nt you fail ed to mention who actually did this j ob. The Monument fell to Captain l err 's C·27 1 (puUed out of reserve to do 272nd and 273rd work). CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA BRANCH

HARRISBURG, PENNA, On the lighter si de, man y C·27 1 troops lost much of th eir religion after this. The Chap lain came by and assu red us that the War wa s ove r: sure enough, in a couple of hou rs we were on the way to li en burg.

A. F. Petrich. C·27 1

IT IS JUST POSS IBLE AGREEMENT WI LL BE LE SS THAN UNANIMOU S WITH THE THOUGHT EXPRESSED IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH ABOVE. . NEVER MIND: IT IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF LETTER BEST SU ITED TO THE BULLETIN, IN THAT IT HAS TO DO WITH A MATTER OF INTEREST, I NTENSE INTEREST, TO EVERY LAST MEMBER.

March 24, 1969

Dear fellow 6ger

Sometime in the year of 1947, a new associat ion, The Fighting 69th Inf. Div. Assoc. Inc., was bo rn. I am not sure of the place, but I believe it may have been at Princeton, New Jersey. Since I am a veteran of the Tan~ Destroyers, it took 19 years till the 69th Assoc. membership's secretary found the records and names of the Tank Destroyer Veterans.

On March 6, 1966, a new chapter, The Cen tral Pennsy lvan ia Brance, 69th Inf Div. Assoc., was born in Harrisburg, Penna. Many thanks 10 Ihe devoted efforts of Harold Starry, our past national president. This pretty well sums things up to dale.

Being Sec·Treas. of tile Central Branch, is truly an honor and a privi lege; and speaking for the rest of our active members, I want to take this opportunity to personally invite you to jo in with us, Apri l 19 for our annual spring banquet and to attend our summer oUliny and future act ivities. The enclosed banquet invitation lists many items not included in my letter to you. Please remember any contr ibution you would like to give 'Nill be greatly appreciated. Remember our vvar ended 24 years ago, but the battle for freedom will never end.

Respectfully yours,

" ~~~"

JUST FOR THE RECORD, THE FIRST MEET ING S TO PLAN

Millard E. Mellinger, Sr. Secretary-Treasu rer

THE ASSOCIAT I ON WERE HELD I N DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN, AND IT T~E Q('jA RTER S, ON GOVERNOR S' I ISLAND, OF COLONEL ADAMS, C.O. OF THE 273rd. TH EASSOCIAT ION WAS ACTUALLY FOUNDED AT THE 69th . N.Y.N.G. REG IMENTAL AMOR Y.

DEPARTM E T OF THE ARMY HEADQ UARTERS, UNITED STATES ARMY FORCES, TAlWAN

APO San Francisco 96263

To all ATCO Two Seven Oners:

Co l. A. R . D a tnoff, Box ti 13, USARFT APO San Francisco, 96263

18 months ago I started out to lacate former members of our Company. To date I have 82 addresses and 33 very nice let ters. It is clear from these last that many of the old gang are keen on making a good showing at the 1970 Washington Reunion. The Datnoffs will be there? the Ar fas probably; the Fines ~ I I Washington, and I can' t see the Levins passing i t up.

Ap ril 29, 1968 Col. Arthur R. Datnoff Box 11 , ARSEC, KDCAT Maag, China APO, San Francisco 96263

Dear Colonel Datnoff:

"ATCO in Seven 0"

A~& f)~/ Colone l , GS ~ & 0 (

THE SP LENDID RESPONSE TO COLONEL DATNOFF'S APPEAL TC. AT-271 MEMBERS (A LABORIOUS UNDERTAKING TO BEG IN WITH BUT CONDUCTED FROM CHINA, OF ALL PLACES) IS AN EXAMPLE TO ALL UNITS' THE BAIT, WE TAKE IT, WAS THE OFFER OF "THE STORY OF AT-271". BUT THAT IT WAS RISEN TO PROVES THAT THE GUYS ARE OUT THERE' AND INTERESTE D.

I have just finished reading the Story of Anti-Tank Company, 27 1 Infantry. My God! How the memories flooded back as the pages turned: Places, names, events, the fear, the comedy, and most of all the pride I felt and feel yet for hav ing been a part of ATCO, 271sl. I was pretty young then and after twenty-odd years rea lize more and more that what growing up I did took place, in great measure, du ri ng the per iod Reub in Levin wrote abou t so viv idly. As Infantry unito go, I suppose we didn't have too rough a time but we sti ll had a taste of cambat experience. However, beginning I think with ou r stary in England, my personal feeling is that ATCO developed a terr ific espr it de corps. I remember even now the feeling that something good was ending when we began to sp li t up after VE day. Of cou rse war is an irrational thing and one's adrenalin level being high for a protracted peri od is bound to leave vivid memories. One really begins to know himself in a combat situat ion and I guess, in a way, it is someth ing like instant sel f-psychoanalysis. Nevertheless, despite all the horror, the love one can develop for friends in situations li ke we experienced can probab ly never be duplicated any other way. That is what I remember most and va lue most for having been an Anti-Tanker.

A coup le of years ago I had an odd and sad exper ience concerning an old comrade whom I considered a close fri end indeed during the wa r. A long newsy letter came from Harold Pitts, ou r 1 st Sergeant who was wounded when Trudell was killed. The letter was full of information about his life since the war and indicated that he had been successfu l in life, with a good job and a fine family. As it happened, I had been back in England a few years before that and had rev isited Winchester and ou r old billet at Longwood House. You can imag ine my nostalgia even though you weren't with us at the time. So, I wrote Hal a long letter about that and what had transpi red in my life si nce '45, and invited them to visit us if they had transp ired in my life since '45, and inVited them to visit us if they ever came to Kentucky. In less than a month, an announcement of Hal's sudden death came from his widow. It li terally caused an eerie feeling. •

;E;~ Will iam A. Buckner

GEORGE H. STRA LEY 209 Prospect Drive Blue Rock Manor

Wilmington, Del. 19803

Tank Destroyers:

11

There were new 661 faces at New Haven. Bill K ing, B Co. C.O. , was there, from Framingham, Mass., as were George Nadeau, Bristo l, Conn., and Bob Shu ll, Densvill e, N. Y., all for the first t ime.

Willard Millinger, Wrightsv ille, Pa ., won the door prize, the co lor T V, and his wife THE Aux iliary's prize, and electric tea pOl. T he Staleys (your correspondent) stopped off after the Reunion at Winchester, N.H., to visit Bill Russell, Jr., B Co's Clerk , who asked about A I Rocci, John Becker, Art Carr, others.

As ever,

A~'f---

AS THE PRES ID ENT WROTE, ON PAGE 4, DETAILS ON THE 1970 REUN ION WILL BE IN THE NEXT BULLETIN. HOWEVER, YOU CAN START PLANN I NG . IT W I LL BE IN WASH INGTON, AND THE THIRD WEEK-END IN AUGUST. IN THE MEANTIME, THE TREASURER WOULD LIKE, AS HE WROTE, TO SEE YOUR CHECK, FOR EITHER THE $3.00 REGULAR DUES, OR THE HELPFUL $10.00 CONTRIBUT ING MEMBERSH IP.

THERE IS A TRAGIC PO ST-SCR IPT THAT MUST BE ADDED TO THIS LETT ER· BILL ME T HIS OWN SUDDEN DEATH SHORTLY AFTER HAVING WR ITTEN OF HI S SHOCK AT TH E UNE XPECTED DEATH OF HARO LD PITTS. . ,

345 SIXT H AVEN UE, KENSINGTON, PA. 15068

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Loar Quickle,G -217

(EXECUTIVE) George Phillips, G-271 John H. Vaughn, K-271 Bill Robertson, Hq-1st Bn-273

PRESIDENT Sammy Woolf, F-273

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY Sol R osenblitt, H -271

VICE PRESIDENTS Harry Austin, AT-272 Leo McG illen, B-269

George Shapiro, AT-272 Stan Olszewski, Sv-273

MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN Clarence Marshall, 0 iv. Hq.

PRESIDENT, LADIES' AUXILIARY Wanda OISZllwski, Sv-273

CHAPLAIN Rev. Russell H. Milner, Hq-Divarty

. . . ..

~"'j.,~", .. __ <.c.:~:~"_ .; •. ! .• i.:'~' ·'.~ •. '·'~~:0;J~~tf~(;q~tg,;!j ........ . the 69th INFANTRY DIVISION ASSOCIATION, INC. 3456th avent.le, new kensington, pa_ 150.68 •

•

I

, .

TREASURER Asa Cowden, K-271

Cy Rockhold, H-271 Tom Maupin, E-271

Pierce Rice, A-273

SUNSHINE GIRL Kate Reynolds, G -271

NON-PROF IT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

WEST ISLIP.N. Y •

PERMIT NO. t3

It ...