THE

412 Gregory Alii. Weehawken. N.J. 07W7 THE NINTH INFANTRY DIVISION ASSOCIATION.~o ...;S5.oooirYMr . $1.50wi•.-..merked to~ for t1w'ktofoi.

Volume XLIV Nwnber 1 ~ Jan-Feb 1989

Remagen: A bridge too far for many

Cordially,THE PINES HOTEL

Bruce B. SeigelDirector of Sales

On behalf of THE PINES Hotel, we again want to thank youfor selling out the entire PINES Hotel for the June 19-23rd 9th In­fantry Division Week.

As many of you are aware, THE PINES Hotel, at this time, iscompletely sold out and is starting a waiting list for accom­modations here at THE PINES.

Alternative Arrangements

Reunion at the Pinesis a SellOut

TRAVEL DIRECTIONSTRANSPORTA.TION

BUS SERVICE:Buses leave from Port Authority Terminal located at 41st St.on 8th Avenue. Shortline System - purchase tickets atwindows Nos. 5-6-7. For information phone PE 6-4700. Orcall Bus Lines for terminal nearest your home.

BY CAR:From New York1. New York West Side Highway to George Washington

Bridge to New Jersey. Take Route 4 for eight miles, turnright into Route 17 (N.Y.) and at Mahwah, enter New YorkState Thruway ... Leave Thruway at Exit 16 and proceedon Ql..iickway Route 17 to Exit 107 to South Fallsburg. InSo. Fallsburg, turn left at traffic light (movie on corner).Continue for one mile.

2. Cross Tappan Zee Bridge, enter New York State Thru­way and leave at Exit 16 and proceed on Quickway Route17 to Exit 107 to South Fallsburg. In So. Fallsburg turnleft at traffic light (movie on corner). Continue for onemile.

From Philadelphia and SouthNew Jersey Turnpike to Exit 10. Garden State Parkway toNew York State Thruway. Leave Thruway at f:xit 16 andproceed on Quickway Route 17 to Exit 107 to SouthFallsburg. In So. Fallsburg tuOrn left at traffic light (movie oncorner). Continue for one mile.

From Boston and EastTake Massachusetts Turnpike to Route 86 (Sturbridge Exit)into Route 84. Take Exit 4W (Middletown, N.Y.) and proce.edon Quickway Route 17 to Exit 107 to South Fallsburg. In So.Fallsburg turn left at traffic light (movie on corner). Con­tinue for one mile.

From Albany and NorthGo tb U.S. Route 9 to New York State Thruway. LeaveThruway at Exit No. 19 and proceed to Route 209 tqEllenville. Take Route 52 to Woodbourne and then bear leftto Route 42 to So. Pallsburg. In So. Fallsburg turn right attraffic light (movie on corner). Continue for one mile.

From Buffalo and WestNew York State Thruway. Exit at Syracuse #36. Pick upRoute #81 South in Syracuse (toll free super highway) toRoute #17 East at Binghamton. Take Route #17 to Exit105B#42 N.e>rth. Merge left (North on 42) to Soutt! Fallsburg, at'llovie,Ui'eater turn left, 1 mile to' the Pines.

However, no one will be left out from this convention. THEPINES Resort Hotel, with the approval'and review of your re­union committee, has made alternative arrangements at theDays Inn in Liberty, New York. This package includes your totalreunion here at THE PINES including complimentary transpor­tation to and from the Days Inn (Approximately 10 minutes).

If you are interested in making arrangements to attend thisreunion, THE PINES will coordinate your room reservations atThe Days Inn.

ARRIVING BY AIRIf you are planning on arriving by air, please contact the 9th

Infantry reservationist, Ann Korbik, at Kent Travel, toll-free at800-537-8218. Please do this today, as THE PINES needs to coor­dinate the pick-ups at the Newark Airport for your group arriv­ing by car.

Furthermore, many of you have been inquiring regardingtravel directions and travel information. If you need printedtravel directions, please contact THE PINES Toll-Free at1-800-431-3124 outside New York State or 1-800-36-PINES insideNew York State, and THE PINES will forward Travel Direc­tions to you.

DINING ROOM ARRANGEMENTSI have received several letters from members regarding Din­

ing Room and seating arrangements. Please note, no tables willbe assigned to any member until Monday June 19, 1989, to insureequal access to all attendees.

If you have any questions or a'ny special circumstances,please call me at THE PINES so I can discuss these ar­rangements with you.

On behalf of THE PINES Hotel and our entire staff, we lookforward to greeting you and your family and friends on June 19,1989.

* * *

Airport Road named for

"Old Reliable" VetRev. Ralton Speers recently

sent us an article that appearedin a local newspaper in Albany,New York. Pete Dalessandro,CMH and former member ofthe Ninth had the road leadingto the Albany County Airportnamed in his honor.

by CATHY WOODRUFFGazette Reporter

ALBANY - No matter howhis name was spelled, Peter J.Dalessandro was a proud manyesterday.

The Latham CongressionalMedal of Honor winner was atthe Albany County Airportyesterday to see the airport'saccess road named for him.

The sign says "Peter J.Dalessondro Blvd." becausethat is the way his name isspelled on the back of the medalhe was awarded by PresidentHarry Truman for his heroismduring World War II.

"That's the way the presidentspelled it. I figured, why shouldI change it? Why should anyoneelse change it'?" Dalessandrosaid after the dedicationceremony.

But his wife, Patricia whostood out in the cold with othersupporters, is not quite as fondof the spelling variation. "Wecan't keep the mistake going,"she said.

No problem if the Dalessan­dros decide they want the signchanged, said County Ex­ecutive James Coyne. "If thereanother letter they want, that'seasily done," he said. "We'reflexible. We can do anything hewants."

The boulevard that now bearsDalessandro's· name, or avariant of it, enters the airportat its southern end. Previouslyit was known as "just the air­port access road," said Airportdirector John Masko.

The name c3ange iswelcome, Masko said, and,"I'm glad it came up this waybecause this guy is quite afellow."

Dalessandro received theCongressional Medal of Honor.for his actions durin~ the Battleof the Bulge.

Dalessandro, who was asergeant in the Army's 9th In­fantry Division during the bat­tle, also received honors for hisservice in North Africa andEurope.

He received his first SilverStar for saving the life of awounded officer under fire inNorth Africa, sustainingwounds of his own in the pro­cess. He returned to action intime to participate in the in­vasion of Sicily, before beingrecalled to England with therest of the 9th Infantry Divisionto prepare for the invasion ofFrance.

Altogether, the Watervliet·native was awarded three Pur­ple Hearts, two Silver Stars and.one Bronze .Star, in addition tothe Medal of Honor.

After his wartime militaryservice, Dalessandro waselected to the state Senate,where he served six terms.

Roor to the Rhine. Ours was tobe a frenzied advance betweenMarch 2 and March 7, endingwith our company almostwithin sight of Bonn across theRhine.

During the wait at the Roor Ilearned much about the men ofmy weapons platoon and myfellow officers. The companycommander was from Georgia,the executive officer fromTexas, the three rifle platoonleaders from South Carolinaand Kentucky. The sergeantsover my machine gun squadswere two farm boys fromVirginia, Red and Ernie. Themortar squads were led bycombat veterans from North­ern states.

One duty of a platoon leaderwas to remove risky militaryinformation from outgoingmail. In those days of waiting ina timber-covered hutch, I readand initialed countless numbersof letters. I came to know muchabout the hopes, dreams andfears of many GIs, includingRed and Ernie.

I became much better ac­quainted, too, with two fellowofficers. David's father was aKentucky sheriff. Louis was ahappy-go-lucky South Carolin­ian whose rifle platoon reveredhim. In the company's five-daysweep across the Cologne Plainafter crossing that bridge, wewent virtually without pause orsleep, hitting town after town,village after village. David waskilled one dark night by a homeguard delaying force, th~ mainGerman combat units havingretreated toward the Rhine. His'father years later drove toNorth Carolina to see me, tomake one contact with someonewho had known David in his lasthours of life.

When the 9th Armored tookthe bridge at Remagen, ourdivision was moved by truck toexpand the bridgehead to theeast. We rode all night in apouring rain. In early afternoonwe reached the picturesquetown at the base of VictoriabergMountain. Even before we ranacross the swaying bridge inmid-afternoon, dodging bomband shell holes as artilleryrounds rained in, one Of the

Continued Page 3

Larry McLaughlin sends this photo of the N.E. ChapterMemorial Committee members responsible for conducting the.1988 Worcester Memorial. Left to right, Ron Murphy, TomBoyle, Herb Olsen, Fred D'Amore, Larry and Gil Pernokas. It istheir intentions and our hopes that they will continue with thisMemorial for the deceased members of the Ninth.

* * *The mayor of Remagen in

Germany is selling $20 paper­weights containing chips fromthe Remagen Bridge. If it's allthe same to the mayor, I'll savethe $20. In my mind I alreadycarry too many memories ofthe fight to keep that bridge inMarch,1945.

News of the capture of theLudendorff Bridge on the RhineRiver electrified the Westernworld March 7, 1945. TheAmerican high command inEurope expected the Germansto destroy all structures acrossthe strategic Rhine beforeAllied units reached the river.A heroic advance unit of the 9thArmored Division seized thebridge after German demoli­tion efforts merely weakened it.

The unexpected prize short­ened the war in Germany bymany months. Thousands oflives thus were spared. But Iremember many of the liveslost in the German's desperateeffort to wipe out the bridge­head stuck like a knife in themidriff of their nation.

On Feb. 28, 1945 I was one ofsix officers in a rifle companyof the 9th Infantry Division - arelatively green lieutenant. Ourcompany had just relievedunits of the 82nd Airborne Divi­sion in defense positions on theRoor River. The Germans hadbrought the river to flood stageto deter the U.S. advance afterthe Battle of the Bulge.

There in the bitter cold on themuddy edges of the Roor, deep­ly dug in and snuggled against aforested hill offering a shield toartillery fire, we waited for thewater to go down. An areaupstream had been secured forengineers to build a bridge thatwould be our gateway from the

Some years ago .a memberfrom North Carolina sent thefollowing newspaper articlethat appeared in his local paper(The News and Observer,Raleigh, NC) and only recentlywe discovered the writer was aformer member of Company K47th Inf., David Gillespie.Somewhere along the line thearticle was put on the backburner and misplaced in thepile of stories that are sent tothis office.

9th Div. BandDAVE GOODMAN2101 Lucaya Bend G3Coconut Creek, Fl 33066

The last three years just flewby. Didn't realize it was time topay dues. Enclosed is my checkfor the next three years.

All is well with my wife and I.It is going on our fifth year herein Florida. We love it.

Had a visit from Vic Daumitand his lovely wife. Broughtback many memories.

I saw Bernie Friedkin thispast summer. He's in Clear­water, Fla. Had a wonderfultime with him and his wife.

Heard from Tony Jacubiak.He lives outside of Albany, N.Y.

So you see, I finally gotaround. Would you like to hearfrom more of The Blue BandBoys

60th Inf K CoJAMES F. HART, JR.7 Nenagh Dr.Wilmington, De. 19803

We are again looking at a newyear. May it be one not only forour family and the 9th divisionassociation, but for all thepeoples of the world. I know youencourage us all to send infor­mation and news that can beshared with all, but I am at thepoint where there is not muchnew. Our family consists of 6kids, 4 in-laws, 11 grand­children and 1great grandchildkeep Rose and I on our toes andhopefully relatively young! Weall get together at least twice ayear and have a ball! We are agood tight loving family. Whocould ask for anything more~

Several years ago, I thought ofgetting a Life membership, butthen decided that was like get­ting money from a bankmachine. You lose the personaltouch even though this is only aonce a year letter. As AT&Tsays "Reach Out..." Hope you,your family and all ourmembers enjoy a good, healthyNew Year, plus an addedthanks for your great work overthe years.

Hdqs. Co. 60th Inf.KAREL GRIMMRt. 4 Box 209Wautoma, WI 54982

I am one of the retired butjust couldn't make the reunion.Hope to get to one in the nearfuture.

I enlisted on October 1940 andwent directly to Ft. Bragg. Iwent with a good friend,Harland Gramse, from. myhome town. We joined togetherand were assigned to Hdq. Co.of 60th Infantry. We had manygood times and enjoyed thecommunication work. Gramseis now deceased.

I left Ft. Bragg in '42 to getmy commission in the SignalCorps. I was assigned to aradar group in Tampa, Florida.We were on our way to NewOrleans to catch a boatoverseas when I got my noticefor Air Force Pilot Training. Iended up flying B-17s and wentto England in early 1945. I gotback home in '46 and in '49 Ijoined the National Guard andfinally got out with 8 yrs. activeduty and 14 yrs. in the Guard.

I enjoy reading the Octofoilbut don't see any names that Irecognize from years 40-42. Iguess the Hq. Co. was brokenup and put with units that theyserved.

I wear the Octofoil on my caphoping someone will recognizeit and chat a little.

Thanks for jogging mymemory about the dues andhope to meet you at the nextreunion.

Co B 15th EngsRICHARD C. McGRATH2856 W. 85th St.Chicago, IL 60652

When was the last time youwrote a letter to our Mail Callcolumn? I am ashamed to sayyears ago, I say that because I.enjoy/ what other comradeswrite and look forward toreading the paper that bringsthat pleasure. Last issue I haveread twice and still hope Ihaven't missed anything. Real­ly enjoyed Mrs. Mary Maness'spome, "Soldiers of the Ninth."

We are lucky to have con­tributors like her and theGeneral is lucky to have such awonderful supporter.

Because it's been so very longsince I have written I wouldfirst like to thank the Philly-­Delaware Chapter for all theirfine work in making the CampHill reunion such q memorabletime.

Second, thanks to the NewEngland group for their fineprogram at the Cape Cod re­union.

There were many highlightsand one 'was the Buddy MorrowConcert, which brought backgood memories, like whenmusic was music - sentimentalbut good.

The service at the Tara wasexcellent and the hotel peoplemade us feel welcome.

My first reunion was at theTara in 1980 in which I metFather Connors. It was a greatpleasure to meet such a personand I still miss him at the re­unions. He's probably upstairsgetting our bivouac ready. I amsure its mutual, he can't forgetus and we can't forget him. In'my three years overseas withthe NInth, I can't rememberever seeing Father Connors.We were with the 47th most ofthe time and that was FatherDe Laura's protestorate. Can'tforget the lovable Father andhis high jinks. One day he rodeinto our area standing up in thejeep, "a la Patton," singing theNotre Dame fight song. Thefact that the area was beingshelled made no difference. Nowonder they called him, "Flip"in an affectionate way.

I haven't missed a reunionsince my first one and it's be­cause you meet such nice peo­ple. I want to thank EdMcGrath and his crew for thegood times we had in hishospitality room. Although weare not related, they treat youlike family.

Once again Jerry Shea, fromour Engineer Company, wonthe golf tournament, they callhim Kip, but they ought to callhim Champ. Margaret Rankinalways wins the golf trophy forthe women so that gives B com­pany 15th Engineers a lock onthe golf outings.

Enclosed are two snapshotsfrom the reunion I hope you canuse, even though they are in col­or. One is of the out going Presi­dent Dave Heller handing overthe gavel to the incoming Presi­dent Emil Langer, from onegood man to another. Thanks toDave for a fine job in his term.

_We are in good hands for thecoming year.

The other pix is of Ron Mur­phy, Tom Boyle, and our re­union speaker Major GeneralMichael Kauffman.

Ron Murphy did an outstand­ing job in organizing a greatreunion.

Tom Boyle always inspiresthe troops with his eloquentspeeches.

Many thanks to Mike Kauff­man for entertaining us with hishumorous dialogue.

Mikes' stories of our adven­tures through North Africa andthe other campaigns made us If you think you're at the endforget that we didn't think they of ~ur rope, be glad you're notwere so funny at times. a bell ringer.

THE OCTOFOIL

84th FASAM ROBINSON400 Paradise Rd Madrid IDSwampscott, Ma, 01907

Had a good time in Hyannis.The 84th had a good attendance,about 30. Dick O'Connor andGrace went to N.Y. andsomebody ripped off her hand­bag. Am enclosing a picturetaken in Bragg in 1941 with theOld French 75 mm. L to RDyke, Spenerd, Bill Smith, SamRobinson and Frank Ruane(man loading gun is unknown)Myrtle Beach, S.C. is abeautiful place to hold a re­union. Our family spent a fewdays there in July. I had a 3daypass from my scrapbook datedJuly 4, 1941 to Myrtle Beachsigned by F.0 Hamilton, 1st Lt.and Capt. Roy E. Hattan, Adju­tant. Are these men stillaround? Back then there werejust sand dunes and beaches.It's quite the place now. See youin the Pines.

7090rd.LOUIS BRUNOP.O. Box 47Midland, Pa. 15059

Last year I went to Camp Hillwithout reservations. It was thefirst day of registering andfound no one from the 709 Ord.had signed in so I left for OceanCity. I should have stayed, forthe next day Robert Spencerand some of the Pittburghgroup came in. Hope to makearrangements with someonefrom Pittsburgh to make thenext reunion together. Wish tohear from anyone who was withme in the 709 Ord.

60th Inf. A.T. Co.FRANK CROPANZANO4 Orchard St.Caldwell, N.J. 07006

Sorry I missed the last reu­nion but my wjfe was ill. Hopeto make the next one. It musthave been a good one from whatI read in the Octofoil. I notice aname or two of m:' comradeswho have passed away and Iwill remember them in myprayers. Thank you for sendingthe reminders about the dues.Enclosed are mine.

47th Inf M Co.JOHN B. KNIGHTCountry Wood52 Woodview Rd.Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18702

The reunion at Hyannis wasgreat and looking forward tothe Pines. Dewey Siddeus ofRichmond Va. vacationed atBasingstoke this summer andran across a tombstone whichreads "Here lies Hambone, Jr.Faithful friend of the 47th Inf9th Division U.S. Army," Iwonc~er how many rememberthis mascot?

47th Inf. Hqs. 1st BnANDY CRAWFORDBox 27Burke, N.Y.

Enjoy the Octofoil and hear­ing from the old gang. I was 72on Aug. 29th and feeling good.Hello to everyone and goodwishes.

Hqs. 9th MedJAMES RICHARDS261 E. 4th St.Brooklyn, N.Y. 11218

Thank you for your letter,this is just another case of "Iforgot." Was glad to see a pic­ture of my former C.O. of the9th Med., Col Kaufman. I amdoing quite well, having been ondialysis for 2 years but amholding my own. I was 76 inAugust. To the gang of Co D, Isee your old friend Herb Sternonce or twice a year. Hisdaughter lives close to me inBrooklyn. Herb visits me withhis charming wife Cathy andgrandson, a real all Americanlittle man.

Co K 39th InfC.E. 'Shorty' BLANKENSHIP,SR.2715 Dorset Rd.Richmond, Va. 23234

Hey all you guys:Just putting my two-eents­

worth in for this time. Hope allof you are OK. Healthwise amdoing pretty good right now.Have been sort of up and downlike a yo-yo. Was in sort of apretty down foggy mood therefor awhile, but think I am backup on a sort of even keel now.Made up my mind this lastweek that I was going to get allmy letters answered that loweto all you guys that have beenso good about writing to me.

I think as of yesterday, I hadfinished 23 letters. I have hadthem stacked up on my table.Some of them have been there along time and I really felt badabout not getting themapswered. By the time you allread this in the 'Octofoil' all ofyou will have had a letter Ihope. If I missed anyone, pleasejust write and tell old 'Shorty'that lowe you a letter. Evenbetter than that just sit downand write me a letter anyhow.

Am really looking forward tothe reunion this year. Mydaughter has already receivedconfirmation from the PinesHotel. I sure hope I do betterthan last year. I was gratefulthat I got to go for the one day,but this year I hope to make thewhole thing. All you guys getcranked up now and head forthe Catskills in June. Sure hopethe roof don't fall in on mebefore then. All of you keepyour fingers crossed and I willdo the same for you.

Was going through some ofmyoId war-time stuff the otherday, photos, clippings, letters,etc., and ran across a couple ofnames maybe some of youfellows in the New York areamay help me with. These twowere in "K" Co., 39th with me.We kept in touch for a couple orthree years and then sort of losttouch. Would sure like to knowif they are still alive oranything about either of them.

The first is: Jack Sanford. AllI can remember about him is he~aid he lived in the Long Islandarea, I think with his grand­parents. Think after we gothome he went back to some col­lege.

The second is "Red" Barnes.He said he was from Brooklynor the Bronx. Don't know ifthose two areas are one and thesame or not. The thing abouthim I remember is that hedrove a cab. Also rememberhim saying that when he gotback home, he was going to gethis own taxicab.

If anyone in the N.Y. arearecognizes either one, please letold "Shorty' know.

Thats about it for this time.Thanks again to all of you forthe letters, phone calls etc. Ireally have appreciated it all.Just all of you out there KEEPITUP!!!

39th Inf Co EWILBERT GOLDSMITH7848 Maynard Ave.West Hills, Ca. 91304

It was great seeing everyoneat the reunion. Aweek after thereunion, my wife and I went ona cruise to the Scandinaviancountries, then spent 5 days inEngland. We visited Win­chester;, Enclosed is a pictureof the pub near the railroad sta­tion at Winchester.. .In Mar. of'44 I was put on coal detail atthe yards in Winchester, it wasgreat. We shoveled coal allmorning and went to the pub inthe afternoon, we than began todo more shoveling.

15th Engrs. B Co.BYRON ANGELL572 Smithfield Rd.N. Providence, R.I. 02904

Before I see red please finddues and something for theMemorial Fund. Recently afriend of mine in the MerchantMarine made a call at Safi. Thisbrought back a few memories.The 1st platoon of B Co. 15thEngrs. was attached to the 1stBn of the 47th. Our transporta­tion from Norfolk to Safi wasthe good ship William Harris. Itwas a good passage for me, ex­cept for the 2 meals a day. Aswe neared the coast of Mrica, Imanaged to get a look at thesand table model of Safi and thebeach area that was set up inthe ward room. As with attach­ed units, nobody tells you any­thing. It was near midnight onNov. 7 that Lt. Holt Hast, ourplatoon commander told me totake 4 men from my squad andreport to station #5 on the portside. We were to go in with aunit of the anti tank. Of coursethey didn't know who we wereor why we were there. I canremember 3 of the men whowere with me. MyoId friend,Fred D'Amore, Clem Abbottand Connie Holmes. The 4thman I cannot recall. We movedto the rail where the rope netwas and looked down, pitchblack! I could hear water, butcould see no Higgins boat.Someone said "Let's go". Sodown we went and the net tookus in to the Higgins boat. Thewater seemed quite rough aswe pulled away from the ship.We milled around in the dark­ness for quite a long time. Thesailors said they were to formup with other boats and go in, ina wave.

Finally signs of dawn startedto show. I could see high· cliffsand hoped we were headed forthe right place. We had notfound any other boats and itwas starting to get light. Adestroyer had been covering uswhen suddenly several shellshit the water not too far fromhim. He returned the fire, but Ithink we were too far out. Afewminutes later 3 huge red ballsroared overhead and wentdown on the cliffs. Then threemore and no more fire camefrom shore. The Battleship NewYork or Texas had silenced theFrench guns. It was now day­light and we told the sailors toget us in. We did not look muchlike an AT outfit. There was acaptain, a T Sgt. and about 10riflemen. We engineers weremore heavily armed. I carriedthree AT rifle grenades andFred carried 25 Ibs. of TNT.The other three carried severalbangalores. We passed the endof the breakwater and headedfor what appeared to be a sandbeach. All was quiet on shore.

It was 5 minutes before 80'clock, Nov. 8, 1942. Some 200yards from shore, suddenly,bam! bam! two small mortarshells one on each side, close, amachine gun opened up fromthe top of the cliff, but his firewas high, hitting the waterbehind us. Two of the sailorsmanned the two 30's on the backof the boat and sprayed the faceof the cliff. There was a lot ofnoise. That T Sgt. then gave ahint as to what kind of outfit the47th was going to be in the longwar that was in front of us. Heturned to the rest of us and saidquietly, "Fix bayonets." Wegrounded and jumped in tochest deep water about 15 f~et

from shore. We struggled thr'uthe water and across about 150yards of soft beach sand to theface of the cliff. All was quiet.We were in Mrica.

The .surest way to have thelast word is to apologize.

THE OCTOFOIL

DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE APRIL 20th

Continued from Page 1

Remagen bridge too far

unit's veterans was killed dur-ing the cleaning of wet andmuddy weapons. A soldier fail-ed to clear a live round from hisBrowning Automatic Rifle(BAR) before pulling the trig­ger. We watched helplessly asthe victim's life ebbed awaythrough his skull.

Once across the bridge, withGerman planes trying to bombit out of commission, weregrouped in a railroad tunnel.Later we gathered in a defilenear an ancient cemetery,where we had front row seats asmachine gun fire from tanksand halftracks brought German.planes down in flames.

In pitch-black darkness thatnight we advanced on the highground to the east of the river,feeling our way along byholding to the person ahead.The battalion cleared thevillage of Ohlenberg house byhouse. But when daylight came,German 88's and other artillerythreatened to bring the towndown around our ears. Ourcompany had to lead an attackto take the higher ground.

The memories run togetherfrom there on, like a film pro­jector running too fast. One ofthe platoon leaders from SouthCarolina had been wounded andmoved to the rear. The captainwas sent back with a painfulphysical ailment. Louis' pla­toon led a suicidal attackthrough an orchard alive withtracer fire. Ernie and Red andtheir squads were attached tohis platoon for added firepower,while the mortars of theweapons platoon were used forsupporting fire. Attack andcounterattack ensued the nexttwo days.

Eventually, our weakenedcompany and others forced thedefenders back, but at a ter­rible price. Louis' platoon wasthe heaviest hit. We went fromone casualty to another, turningbodies over to identify them.Among them were Red andErnie and others whose lettersto loved ones I had shared sorecently. The strain was sogreat on Louis that a few dayslater he was assigned to restand recuperation out of thecombat zone.

Now there were two of the sixofficers who started from theRoor - the Texan and I. In afew days our company crossedHitler's North-South autobahnin the war-ending drive towardthe Elbe River. We hadn't goriefar when the Texan caught apiece' of shrapnel through hisfoot. He hobbled to my positionand threw me his cellophane­covered operations map. "It'sall yours, Buddy," he said,"I'm going home."

Louis was the only one ofthose officers I ever saw again.The last I heard he had volun­teered for a combat assignmentduring the Korean War.

Thanks, Mr. Mayor, but· Idon't need the paperweight.

ATTENTJON15th ENGINEERS

Dining RoomSeating Arrangements

I will be happy to be theENGINEER representative forseating as -a group if you'd liketo have' out own section, if in­terested, send me a postal cardwith your name, Co. etc. and Iwill turn in a list with yourwishes to the maitre D' at thePINES.

Henry Santos9811 N. Connechusett Rd.

Tampa, Fl. 33617

Illinois NewsletterGreetings from the Midwest.

After a spring-like month ofJanuary, we are finally settlingdown to a snowy, cold Feb­ruary. We all came through theholidays in good health. We hadour annual Christmas party atthe Hennemuth's this year andwhile small in number - wewere large in fun and food. Asusual, Bill and Peggy were theperfect hosts. We played ourusual White Elephant game andsome people made out as ban­dits. A good time was had byall.

There's not much new withthe Illinois Chapter. TheBelmonte's were busy in Nov­ember with the wedding of theiryoungest daughter, Linda. Wenow have two down and one togo. Our son says he's not goingto leave for a while - he's try­ing to follow in his father's foot­steps and marry later in life.

We have not had any meet­ings since the Christmas Partybut will have one before ourMini-Outstate Reunion in Wis­consin to make definite plans. Itwill be held at the Ramada Inn,Madison, Wisconsin on April·28-29, 1989. Anyone interested inattending can contact theRamada Inn directly and askfor the special rates set asidefor the 9th Division Members.Mike Carpenter had all thearrangements made and we'rehoping for a larger turnout thanprevious years.

In Madison, we will makeplans for the Memorial DayServices and finalize plans forthe members who will beattending the reunion in June inNew York. We are all lookingforward to a successful andenjoyable reunion and reunit­ing with all our friends.

Respectfully submitted,Mike and Ann Belmonte

1161 South LombardOak Park, 11. 60304

Florida ChapterNOT TOO LATE TO ATTEND

APRIL MEETING

Henry Santos, Treas. andChairman of Meeting Func­tions, has been working hard inmaking sure that the FloridaChapter 1989 SPRING MEET­ING will be another enjoyableevent.

If any Chapter Memberhasn't already received the fullmailing details, it is not too lateto attend. This invitation goesfor all 9th Infantry WWIIveterans who now live inFlorida and any member of theNational Division Assn. whomight be in Florida at the time.

REMEMBER the dates:April 14, 15 and 16 at theRamada Inn located on BuschBlvd., Tampa, Fl. For lastminute information, contact;any of the following: Phil Ber­man, Pres. (904) 677-7292; EmilJ. DeD onato, Sec. (904)489-4070 or Henry Santos, (813)985-5444.

EmilJ. DeDonato,Sec., FI Chapt.

9th Inf. Div. Assn.3650 S.W. Mosswood St.

Dunnellon, Fl. 32630

34th FAC.A. PORCHRt. 3Brownsville, Tx. 38012

Hope you had a safe andhappy Holiday Season. I enjoythe paper and have heard fromseveral of my buddies and somehave come to see us. It has beengreat. Would love to hear fromanyone who was in my division.Best regards.

NEW YORK CHAPTERREPORT

The N.Y. area chapter heldits monthly meeting on Friday,January 20, 1989, at theMasonic Lodge Hall in N.Y.C.The newly elected officers ofthe chapter for 1989 were swornin. They are: Pres. - VincentGuglielmino; 1st VP - LouAlmassy; 2nd VP - Marv Levy;Secretary - Art Schmidt;Treasurer - Anton Dietrich;Sgt. at Arms - Anthony DiRoberts; Chaplain - GeorgeApar.

On the Board of Governorsare: 39th - Frank Russo; 47th ­Dan Quinn; 60th - CharlieLiBretto; Spec. Troops - AdolfWadolavage; Div. Artillery ­James Haroutourian.

The membershipacknowledged the fine job doneby the 1988 officers of thechapter. Former Pres. VincentD'Addova remains ill and allwish him well. Former 1st VPLou Almassy chaired the meet­ings ably in Vincent's absence.

Latest info on the 1989 Pinesreunion was presented by EmilLanger. The Pines Hotel iscompletely booked at this time.All other late comers will bebooked at the Day Inn - with aprovision of being on the Pineswaiting list if rooms becomeavailable.

Since there has been a fall-offof members at the lastChristmas party there wassome discussion on the floor tocancel this annual get togetherbut pros and cons were tabbeafor a later debate. Speaking offall-off, it is understandablethat as time goes by many 9thmembers find it more difficultto attend meetings and func­tions. But if our organization isto be viable and beneficial to allits members we must make abigger effort to participate.Everyone remembers thedepletion of our squads, plat­oons and companies duringwartime and how our rankswere filled by replacements.But the era of replacements aregone. We are the only ones leftand a handful of dedicated 9thmen at the monthly meetings

.and special occasions keep the·association going - in friend­.ship and remembrance of bud-dies now, and long-gone. If youcan't make our get togethers atleast send Arthur a note andhe'll read it to the attendingmembers. Stay in touch.

And for those who still owedues please send Arthur yourremittance.

In attendance at the Jan. 20thmeeting other than the newlyelected officers previouslymentioned were : JoeRzesniowicki, Al Seely andHarry Wax.

Marvin Levy2044 Ellen Drive

Merrick, N.Y. 11566Co. A60th Inf.

SOUVENIRS WANTEDNo longer want and will have

to dig out of attic to find.Wanted WW II German,

Italian, etc. souvenirs ... dag­gers, helmets, hats, weapons,uniforms. Any military items.any country, WW I and II.

Trying to put together a;,museum display. Cash paid foritems. Please call or write withwhat you may have to offer...

Ltc. William V. Brady4 Van Beal RoadRandolph, MA 02368617-963-6222PS: Herb Olsen is grateful to

Colonel Brady for providing theArmy Band and Color Guardfor the Hyannis Memorial Ser~

vices. Herb would like to aid theColonel.

It used to be people ti"LloC!C!Ll,,.:

.kill ... now they dress to maim.

Michigan News NotesI have the Nov.-Dec. issue of

the OCTOFOIL and I note a dead­line of Feb. 20th. That is two daysafter our February meeting andas I will not be able to report on it.I submit this early.

We are meeting at the world­wide known Michigan tourist at­traction, Frankenmuth, Mi. Wewill be enjoying the famous fami­ly style Chicken Dinner. That is'all I can say except that I knowthat all in attendance will have agood time and probably eat toomuch from the family style din­ner that we will be enjoying.

Winter has been easy on us sofar this season. No big snowstorms in this area of the state. Sofar the ice storms have also pass­ed us by. The sun is shining but agood breeze is blowing and thatkeeps the air cool. Looking outthe window I can see drops of sapdripping from a broken limb on atree across the street. So maybeSpring isn't too far off.

If Spring is near, then June 19thcan not be too far off. June will behectic for us. Our Californiadaughter and her husband will becoming the first of June andreturning after we leave for theCatskills Reunion. So it will berush, rush, rush for a few days.But if health permits (and that'sbecoming a concern for many ofthe troops) we will be on our wayto New York State on June 17th.

So to all best wishes for a greatyear from the Michigan Chapter.

Rodg~rE. AlsgaardSec'y Michigan Chapter

2834 Wynes St.Saginaw, Mi, 48602

GRATEFULThank you for your help in

locating someone who knew myfather, Vincent Basile. A Mr.Joe Gravino of Macedon, N.Y.and I have spoken twice. 'Hewas "B" Co. First Sgt. and hasbeen most helpful. J waswondering if you have anythingon a Lt. Reeves, who was pla­toon commander, 3rd platoon,Co B. on July 25, 1944. Again,thanks for your help.

Richard Basile29 Brookwood Rd.

Stanhope, NJ 07874ED'S NOTE: No records on Lt.Reeves at secretary's office.

MEMORIAL MASSThis is a brief message about

a mass that was held Nov. 6,1988 at Holy Cross College inWorcester, Ma. The mass wasfor our beloved Chaplain Fr.Connors who was admired bythe entire membership and onethat we miss dearly. The masswas well attended by the peopleof Worcester and also in attend­ance was our own 9th divisionmembers. Five members of theclergy were on the altar tocelebrate mass. This mass willbe held each year on the Sundaynearest to Veteran's Day andthe time will be the same, 1P.M. Another one of ourmembers, John P. Quinn, ofWorcester passed away on Jan.26th.

Francis K. Maher14 Davenpor~ St.Worcester, MA 01610

New Jersey ChapterThe New Jersey Chapter Will

meet at the Nutley AmvetsPost, 184 Park Avenue, Nutleyon Tuesday, March 14,1989 at 1PM. There will be a short socialhour, the meetipg, and a lunch.The Post is on the corner of Parkand Chestnut, behind theDunkin Donuts oasis. As abonus attraction for the after­noon, our Andy Andriola, ACompany-47th and 9th Medics,is making arrangements for theshowing of a film that will be ofinterest to all of our members.We will also be discussing thepossibility of forming a LadiesAuxiliary in the very nearfuture. Also on the agenda we'llbe probing the membership tofind out how many are in­terested in attending a social ortwo during the ensuing year.

If the weather should turnnasty, check with me at201-549-4121 before venturingforth.

I'm really well pleased withthe group that formed the NewJersey Chapter. They are trulydedicated Ninth Division men!Our meetings are friendly, pro­ductive, and fun. I hope to seethe chapter grow to over onehundred active members in the'next year or two.

Louis Slatnick, Secretary284 Tall Oak Rd.

Edison, N.J. 08817

EDWARD T. HOPKINS, Pres.110 Hollywood AvenueMetuchen, New Jersey 08840

SICK CALLThe following members are on"Sick Call" and a few linesfrom their comrades would be abig boost. So come on fellasdrop them a line.Co F 60th InfArt MacDougall" 5051 Home­stead St., Philadelphia, Pa19135

Co H 47th InfAI Orletti, 990 Arnow Avenue,Bronx, N.Y. 10467

9th ReconVince D'Addona, 3133 GriswoldAve., Bronx, N.Y. 10465 '

A-T 47th InfHenry Cassata, Rd 1 Box 521,Mt. Upton, N.Y. 13809

26th FA and 39th InfBill Lewis, 54 Hopewell Dr.,Struthers, Ohio 44471

9th SignalCHUCK HODGESPO Box 637 'Gouldsboro, Pa. 18424

We of the 9th Signal had ourfirst reunion in 43 years! It wasa pleasure for me to be a part ofthis reunion along wfth BillMiller and Ray Connolly.everyone had a good time. Wethank God for his Blessings andletting us have this opportunityto get together . We givetremendous honors to our wivesfor all the :generous help theyhave contributed to making thisa success.

THE OCTOFOll

Sedjeanane

Death's swift flight, throughthe April rainPaused at a place calledSedjenane.With a cold hand, he markedhi.s preyAnd picked the ones whowere to stay, forever,At a place called Sedjenane

Wooden crosses mark eachhallowed graveAnd above the sleeping I

ranks,Red poppies wave.

The fight is over, there inpeace,they'll ever remainthe ones we left behind usAt a place called Sedjenane.

-In a brief moment, theygave their all,Life, and all it meantbeyond recall. 'Never to be bothered byApril's rain, they sleepAt a place called Sedjenane

MRS. AUDREY WEBER46 Bromfield St.Quincy, Ma. 02170

At the request of Mr. John .Ryan I am enclosing a poem. Ihad a telephone call from Mr.Ryan during the month ofDecember. It seems a mutualfriend gave him my number.Somehow I lost his address. Iunderstand he is the owner of ahorse farm somewhere in upperNew York State. I want to lethim know that I did not forget.The poem did appear someyears ago in the Octofoil,however, if you have the space,I would appreciate anotherprinting. Mr. Ryan was involv­ed with the 9th and somehowcame in contact with my firsthusband, John Day. The 9th hasa very special place in mymemory. I have quite a fewyellowed clippings from theNew York Times about the 9th,which I trea};ure.

These lines were written bythe late John D. Day who serv­ed with the 9th M.P.'s and Co Eof the 60th Infantry. While serv­ing with the 60th in NormandyJohn was wounded and lost hisright arm.

Mike Belmonte1161 South LombardOak Pa;rk, 11. 60304

Sam Robinson, 84th FA digs up a photo taken in Bragg in 1941with the French 75mm. Left to right: E. Dyke, Gus Spenerd, BillSmith, Robinson and Frank Ruane. (Man loading gun isunknown.) Story in Mail Call.

60th F.A. Bn

Death is one time when youshould hope to rise to the occa­sion.

I better get this letter inbefore the next issue oj the Oc­tofoil is out. The ChrIstmas holi­day brought in its more thanusual cards from the many "A"men and wives - to name a few- F. Auth, Mrs. Michael Bish,J. Brandi, Mrs. N. Barhight, E.Colonello, M. Carpenter, S. De­Rosa, Al DeNaro, Mrs. B.Elliott, Ed "Windy" Freund,Al Friedlmier, N. Gray, L.Gray, M. Jaggi, M. Lasalandra,J. Liggero, F. Lowell, C.McKee, Mrs. C. Posey, M. Pat­rick, L. Pandolfi, L. Prince, W.Quigley, W. Sanders, J. Steb­bins, Mrs. Torhan, Ed Ward­zala, Mrs. G. Wenshutonis, R.Williams and D. Williams. It'snice to hear from the old gang- but nicer if more would makethe next reunion.

Jim Stebbins - I finally gothim to join the Association - alife member at that. I forward­ed his check to the NationalSecretary. Now I'm trying toget him to show up at theRamada Inn, Madison Wis­consin, April 28 and 29 wherethe Illinois group is holding aMini-Reunion for the Mid­Western States. Anyone fromMinnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa,Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, andMichigan is welcome. This ourthird get-together in Madison.Last year we doubled our firstyear total and we hope to"double last year's total in 1989.Ramada Inn has special ratesfor us and has also set aside ahospitality room for our use.Make reservations directlywith the Ramada Inn, 3841 E.Wasington Ave., Madison, Wis­consin, 53704. Mention the 9thInfantry Division.

A letter from George Helm,Pease, Minnesota, formerlyfrom K Co. 3rd Bn. 60th Inf. andMaywood, Illinois caught me bysurprise. He hopes to join us inMadison. Also, I have hopesthat I can get Jim Stebbinsfrom Perry, Iowa to make thetrip. Haven't seen Jim since1945.

Co F 47th InfEDWARD T. HOPKINS110 Hollywood AvenueMetuchen, New Jersey 08840

the big vacation that we'relooking forward to will be theone in June in South Fallsburgwhen we'll get together with allyou good people. It's alwayssuch a boost to the spirit, such arefreshing experience to renewthese old friendships. We hopeto see you all there.

All the best

SeekingA friend of mine received

your address through a friendof General Talbott's of theSociety of the First Division. Iam about to ask for your help ina matter that I have been post­poning for much too long,almost 44 years, namely toreach an officer who was, Ibelieve, a regimental aide inthe Ninth Infantry Division atthe very end of World War II.

It is a long story and I ask youto bear with me: I served in oneof the German divisions whichhad their backs against theElbe river near Tanger­muende, after weeks of retreatfrom the Soviet forces whichwere pushing around and pastBerlin. In this sector, we hadthe good fortune that theAmerican commander permit­ted us to cross to the west bankof the Elbe and there to sur­render to his men. This was twoor three days before VE-Day.

Some 80,000 POW's were firstgathered in a large compound,formerly used by the GermanNavy, near Cale-on-the-Milde.After some preliminary screen­ing we were broken up intosmaller groups and dispersedfor further porcessing. I waspart of a group of some 1200who were moved by truck andrail around May 18, 1945 to aformer German labor camp,near Alikendorf orHadmersleben, places that ap­pear in few maps and now arepart of East Germany. A youngAmerican first lieutenant wasin charge. I think of him asyoung-I was 35 at the time.

He was truly an "officer anda gentleman," and, whether heknew it or not, he made thosefirst few weeks, after Germanyhad finally lost the war, a greatdeal easier to survive. It wouldtake too long at this moment togive you details. But I do wantto locate him, if he is still alive,to write him a word of sincerethanks, something the protocolof the times did not permit.

The problem is that I nolonger have his name. It got lostin the general turmoil of thoseyears. All I know is that he wasa regimental aide, aSoutherner, from Virginia, Ibelieve. My assumption that hebelonged to the US Ninth Divi­sion comes from maps inpublished military history.

Offices of the US ArmedForces cannot help me becauseof the Privacy Act and you maybe under similar restrictions.However, it occurred to me thatyou may be able to put a littlenotice into your newsletter,asking him to contact youreditor, if he cares to hear from"a former German POW, alieutenant who acted as inter­preter for some 1200 GermanPOW's in a camp under hiscommand. The ranking Ger-man was a major in black 9 '9'~;:'''': .

E£27:;:i:Ei:~:~~J~~~ ra'f4i~ .River and a line from ..:;;.:.;.:.:;.; Wilbert Goldsmith, Company E 39th, sends photo taken on hisBrunswick in the North to recent trip to Merry Ole England. While visiting Winchester heMagdeburg in the South." stopped at ~h~ Pub ~ear the Railroad Station shown in the pic-

I would greatly appreciate ture. Story IS III Mall Call.

your help. • nii·i·.·.·•.•·.·.·I. ,·.·i••·•••·•••••••·•.•·•••·• .•.•••..•'••••. I ••••••••••••·.n. IErnest T.Thiersch?664 E. Goodrich Dr..

Deltona, F]. 32725

Co F 47th In!Lucy and I are looking for­

ward to the festivities at ThePines in June. We hope the FCompany-47th gang will turnout in force. If any shoulddecide they can't make it, Ihope they'll let me know beforethey do anything, as I under­stand that some of our peopleare looking for rooms. Thatway, we can move our peopleinto any rooms that are vacatedby our people.

I continue to maintain con­tact with Gonzol, Finnigan, andSlatnick on a regular basis. Ijust called Finnigan last nightand he could hardly talk. Hehad a bad case of laryngitis.Jack called me early inJanuary and asked, "How didyou make out at the track thelast week?" I asked him how heknew I was at the track and hesaid, "I was there but decidedto leave after the fourth race. Isaw what I thought was my car,but when I tried to get in, mykeys wouldn't open the door.Then I realized I was in the nextrow. When I walked back to mycar, I glanced at the plates ofthe car I had been trying to getinto, and I realized it was yourcar." Wasn't that acoinkydinky with some four orfive thousand cars at theMeadowlands?

Slatnick is still busy as thebuilding chairman of his OldFolks Home. That sure keepshim off the streets. His health isstill good, and Marion is holdingher own.

I received a note from Wilkeya couple weeks ago. He andMiriam are looking forward tothe reunion in June. Hisperiodic bouts with his ills seemto be subsiding, so I hope he hasthem licked.

I haven't heard from JackArmstrong, so I am hoping thatno news is good news fromMcLean, Va.

I spoke with Marie Tokar­check today. She and IrmaKoskie will be sharing a roomat The Pines. Marie has a sonand daughter living with her,but she is talking of selling theirPenns Creek home and movingcloser to Harrisburg. Only,Doc's widow, had called herand invited her to ride to SouthFallsburg with her.

Gloria Putt called me duringthe holidays, as did MarieMunatore. I am happy toreport that both thesecourageous ladies are gettingon with their lives despite thetragic loss of their belovedhusbands.

One day when we werevisi ting Andy Andriola'sAmvets Post in Nutley, we stop­ped in to see Pop Zucker'swidow who lived nearby. Pophad belonged to the Amvets,but neither he nor Andy knewthat the other had belonged tothe Ninth Division. SallyZucker looked good, though shewas having a bout with ar­thritis. I gave her GeorgeKing's number, and she calledand had a long talk with Maryabout the benefits of themedicine that helped Mary somuch.

I received a letter from ChipManess, and it appears that heand his lovely wife Mary willnot be able to join us this yearat our reunion. We'll miss themboth. Their presence bringszest to any gathering.

I spoke with both Bill andMary Louise Larson today, andlearn happy to report that theyboth will be gracing our CP atThe Pines.

Lucy and I will be going toCalifornia in April or May forour annual vsit to Lucy's nieceand nephew. We'll also be goingto San Diego for a few days. But

PatJ. Morano2208 Lincoln Way East

Chambersburg, Pa. 17201717-352-3650and

Arthur J. Stenzel8705 Village Mill Row

Bayonet Pt. Florida 33567813-862-6716

To "B" (47th) or

~Vot to "B"Greetings once again to all

our "BECO" buddies, andfriends! We are happy that itwill not be long before Easterarrives. We cannot complainabout our winter so far here inbeautiful Cumberland Valley.It has been milder than usual.Rainfall, and!or snow for thepast two months has beensparse, so it looks like we willhave another drought season.coming up. However, themonths of March and April maycome to our rescue, and wehope for an abudnance of rain­fall.

Folks;.reunion time is gettingever closer! Bruce Seigel, theDirector of the Pines Resort ad­vises us to get our "BECO"Group Dining Room Ar­rangements for Seating ready.By doing so we can all be seatedtogether for our entire stay.This is a very good idea. Itwould be appreciated if youwould drop us a line at our Pa.address listed below so that allnames of our "B" Co. groupwho have already made theirreservations will be registeredwith the Dining Room Matre D'who will have a RegistrationCard made for them. Once weare seated for Monday Dinnerwe will not have to be reseatedat any other meal. In our lastOctofoil Column (Nov.-Dec.1988) we listed the names of"B" Co. members who havemade their reservations or planto attend our reunion at thePines Resort, Catskills, N.Y.-June 12-23, 1989, (Monday-Fri­day). We are going to use thesenames for our "B" Co. GroupListing for Dining RoomSeating. If for any reason youcan't make the reunion pleaselet us know so that we cannotify the Pines Resort.

There is every indication thatthis coming Reunion will be agreat one and may even sur­pass the past reunions whichwere held at Ft. Bragg(1972-1982). As of this date wehave yet to hear from more ofour "B" Co. members who planon coming to the Reunion. Wehave a few months to go so let'sgo! Get those names to us!

We were happy to hear from"B" Co. Buddy Geroge Bentley,who lives down in Conyers,Georgia. George, we are proudof the work you are doing forthe hospitalized Veterans allover the County. George, who ishimself a Disabled Veteranmakes ped board puzzles as ahobby and donates the pegboards for the variousVeteran's Hospitals and Nurs­ing Homes from a Book of Liststhat he has on hand. Congrat­ulations Buddy!! Keep up thegood work! By the way George,I haven't received my pegboard as yet!

To all our "B" Co. members,wives, and friends, we wish youall a Happy Easter with aSpecial Prayer for Peace in ourWorld. Keep well and enjoyyourselves to the fullest eachand every day!

60th Inf K CoWILLIAM DOBBINS78 Rogers Ave.Lockport, N.Y. 14094

Sorry to have missed the re­union at Hyannis but expect tobe at So. Fallsburg this year.Glad to hear Bob Rucker is do­ing OK at last report.

Cliff Painter (Co F ~oth Inn sends this photo taken at Hyannislast summer. Left to right: John Allen, Cliff, Alan Johnson,Robert Kriz and Matt Urban. They all commanded Co F 60th Infat some time during World War 2. According to Cliff "everyoneenjoyed the reunion, at least F Co 60th people did." We expectanother large turnout at the Pines this summer.

When was the last time you wrote a letter to our Mail CallColumn? Just a po~tal card would denote your interestand let some buddy know where you are. You like to readwhat other members send in ... why not do your ownpart and write a few lines now and then for their enjoy­ment.

3rd Bn., 60th Inf.Co's K & Hqs.JOSEPH L. RAPPAZINI24001 ShermanOak Park, MI 48237

The day that "The Octofoil"arrives is always a very specialone. Whatever else is going onis automatically set aside, forthe reading of it. rates toppriority, and every "G.I."knows what that means. So thispast Tuesday that is what tookplace. As a result.

I· went to my memory bankand I withdrew

The names of buddies that Iknew.

They came from the veryends of the states, •

And some fanciful stories didthey relate.

Through all of them ran asilver thread

That brightened all they eversaid.

Most generally 'twas folksthey rated-

Mother, father, kin and wife

How each had made a richerlife.

There were friends each hadand thoughts of school

And how they'd been taughtthe golden rule.

There was more, however, asI did learn.

It dwelt in hearts that deeplyyearned.

'Twas a gnawing yearning formen to be free -

'Cause without question itwas meant to be.

But it was Fortune's willthere'd be a fee

And our thrice blessed. landcalled on you and me.

Cast in the role of soldiers forpeace,

We became the "Ninth" withno release.

To serve our land, to bringlasting peace

Was the job to be done with­out surcease.

The "Old Reliables", fromthe rising to a re-awakeningsun,

Did nobly perform a job welldone.

The Thirty-Ninth, the Forty-'Seventh, the Sixtieth- all three,

Have wrought a golden link inthe chain of man's search forLiberty.

9th Div. BandANTHONY JAKUBIAKThayer Rd. Rt. 2Amsterdam, NY 12010

Just received the Octofoil andfind I am in arrears, so enclos­ed my dues. Will try to makethe reunion in June. Received aletter from Dave Goodman whoresides in Florida and it wasgreat to hear from him after alapse of 40 years. Would like tohear from other members ofthe 9th division band. I was withthe 9th from Jan. 1941 untilSept. 1945. Hope to see all at thereunion.

47th Inf. 1\1: Co.BILL KOWALCZYK30 Marlborough St.Chicopee, Ma. 01020

The enclosed photos weretaken by Ben Kovacs at CampCroft, S.C. where we had ourbasic training the latter part of1941. Then, Ben, sent my photosto Life Magazine extolling Ar­my Chow and marking them ex­hibit A, before chow and exhibitB, after chow. Needless to saythey were returned with a noteenumerating reasons (excuses)why they coulq not print thesesnapshots. Now, really, wouldyou call them obscene? SurelytheOctofoil isn't so damnPICKY!

47th Inf. Co. MJOHN DE SEPIO69B Middlesex VillageMiddlesex, N.J. 08846

Hyannis was a great reunion..All set for the Pines in 1989!Last October the NorthCarolina State .Ex POW's hadtheir convention at Ft. Bragg.My wife and I went and werethere for 4 days and 3 nights.We stayed at a place calledMoon Hall. I had my car so rid­ding around I came to McFad­dens Pond and the next stopwas the barracks. What anight! See you in June at thePines.

47th Inf. C Co.HENRY GOLABIECKI170 Cambridge Ave.Buffalo, N.Y. 14215

We are looking forward toseeing you and all the guys atthe Pines. Hope to see Howard·Brooks. Was with him when Ijoined C Co. Sept. 15, 1944, 1stplatoon, 1st squad. Our samegang will be there at the Pines,Bob & Marie Cole, George &Goody Brown, Jack & NadineColier and my wife, Evie and I.So take care till then. Saw thisclipping in my Buffalo news­paper about a James Fennieand the 99th Inf. Div. Accordingto him, they were the first tocross the Remagen Bridge. I'veread both books, March t.l Vic­tory and Forty Seventh Historyof WW1 and WW2 but no men­tion of the 99th crossing first.I'm lost somewhere.39th Inf. K Co.MICHAEL LOMBARDI176 Swift's Beach Rd.'Wareham, MA. 02576

I am sending you a check for3 years dues. I have never beena member and am very proudof the ninth div. and its servicerecord.

I am also sending a little forthe Memorial Fund.

II you are planning on movingplease notify the .ecretary ofyour new address. It will savepestage and keep you on the Oc­teloll mailial lilt.

THE OCTOFOll

376th A.A. BTN. Btry. D.HERBERT (HAP) LASTRA30336 Nebula Ln.Temecula, CA 92390

It has been a number of longmonths since I last wrote to thismost wonderful newspaper,'The Octofoil, but I have a goodand sufficient reason. My wife'and I have just about got settledinto our new "digs" here inTemecula, Calif. after havingmoved cross country to the land .of the warm breezes and gentleclimate in southwestern River­side County. No more winteryblasts nor blinding snowstorms, alas. Yet we do havethose frequent earthquakes tolook forward to. After onesemi-severe one and a couple of"easy" jolts, we are not firmlyconvinced, one way nor theother.

The reason for writing is real­ly very simple. Everytime anew issue of The Octofoil comesto our house, the memoriesstart disturbing my tranquility.You read names of towns andburgs from both this side of theAtlantic and the other. TheCamps and Forts in the states,the little towns in both NorthernIreland and England. The bloodseems to flow faster as well asthe pulse quickens, you arereading about the guys youwere closest with then, andstrangly have never beenreplaced in your affections,because they, strangers, andfriends alike, were doing,perhaps one of the most impor­tant jobs in their lives. The en­suing years have broughtfame, fortune, love, marriageand for some heartbreak,others wonderful fulfilledlives. Whatever and whoeveryour lives encounter after weall came home, the guys thatyou read about in the Octofoilpublication are your tried andtrue bosom buddies, neverever to be replaced by anyhuman being, forever.

The facts. as presented bythese wonderful letter writers(perhaps I should speak onlyfor myself, because this is theway I find it to be. You see Ihave no one to rehash mystories to, or with) seem tobecome a little bit harder toplace in the proper context. Thefaces (so Young, and yes hand­some) are becoming a mistyblur. The combat towns and thesituations are somehow orother not in order. Yet Iremember, Carmen Butera,Richie Stagg, Eddie Bird, DomBouantouano, Harry Cook, alltried and true communicationmen, who laid miles of regularwire, as well as combat wire toall our gun sections. In the snowof The Battle of the Bulge, andthe heat of the summer of '44through France. Across theRemagen Bridge, into the traintunnel, up the hill to our C.P.How many times at night we'got lost trying to find DivisionArtillery, the C.P. of the 84thArtillery.

The countless hours, incod­ing and decoding messages forour work on the radio to be sentto 9th headquarters as well asour own battalion C.P.

Of course there was alwaysthe extra duty of hauling ammoto our gun sections, ·(the com­munications section was greatfor that, after all we knewwhere the guns were emplaced,we ran the lines there). Howmany times I worked as areplacement with the 84th for­ward switch. Whenever theyneeded someone to fill in, I wasthe guy they called for. Mterawhile my first sergeant gotteed off, but sent me anyway. Ispent a good part of time withthe 84th while we were in theHurtgen Forest; from earlySeptember, until the Battle ofthe Bulge.

Uur ack-ack guns, manytimes did double duty, especial­ly our four half tracks that hadthe multiple mounts of four 50cal. machine guns. They weresent on to the line and used asground fire as the Infantryjumped off.

While we were only attachedto the wonderful Ni~th Infantrynevertheless we always' pridedourselves as bona-fide brothersin action. In our capacity asprimary aircraft protection tothe units of the Ninth Divisionour record for downed enemyaircraft was indeed a proudone, having as I recall as a fullAnti-Aircraft Battalion anumber of downed planes,twenty one, with a probabilityof some forty more.

Chance encounter

leads to reunion

26th F.A.C. Jack Strubel367 Kaimake LPKailua, Hi 96734

The last time "Jack fromChicago," who is now JackStrubel of Kailua, saw Freddie"The Kaput Kraut" was on acold Bavarian winter morningin January 1946.

That was until last monthwhen the two crossed pathsagain - more than 40 yearslater - in Ainring, West Ger­many.

Their unlikely reunion wasthe result of a chance en­counter, the odds of which pro­bably would bewilder even Jim­my "The Greek" Snyder.

"I'd put them at about amillion-to-one," Strubel said inan interview at his Kai-makeLoop home last week.

Strubel and wife Dolores leftSept. 23 from San Francisco ona flight that arrived the follow­ing day in Munich.

Immediately, the two renteda car and struck out forSalzburg, Austria.

It was Strubvel's first returnvisit to Europe. The ·first timehe was the continent it was as amember of the U.S. occupa­tional forces.

"I was 20 when I first metFreddie," Strubel said. "I wasa P-1, a 'yardbird,' the lowestthing there is. I was getting $52a month with a wife and twochildren. I was drafted in 1944.

"I'd been in Europe for aboutsix months with the 26th FieldArtillery of the 9th InfantryDivision when we took over theAiring airstrip."

The small-landing strip hadbeen used by the Luftwaffe, orNazi air force, to launch smallobservation planes during thewar.

It was the landing site usedby Adolf Hitler whenever hesought respite from the war athis "Eagle's Nest" retreat atnearby Berchtesgarden.

It was while he and his wifewere zooming down the Auto­bahn - at "well over 120kilometers per hour" - thatStrubel caught a fleetingglimpse of the turnoff forReichenhall, a Bavarian resorttown close to the Ainring air­strip.

"Reichenhall was about 10kilometers off of theAutobahn," Strubel said. "Allwe had was this old picture ofthis German man that I knewas "Fredd!e."

As they pulled intoReichenhall, Strubel noticed an

elderly man and a younger mantalking near the side of thestreet. .

"I got out of the car and walk­ed over to them and saidsomething like, 'Vise es man?'- Do you ~now this man?'

"You know, they're still a lit­tle leery of Americans there,and the younger man said rightaway, 'Nein, nein.'

"But it was clear that theolder man knew right away."

With good reason. The phototurned out to be that of Ferdi­nand Schlosser, the older man'sbrother-in-law~

"He told me that Freddie stilllived in Ainring. I asked him tocall Freddie, but he couldn'treach him, but got his daughterinstead.

"The last time that I had seenFreddie, he a'nd his wife hadjust had ~ baby girl. She wasless than six months old, and hewas cradling her in his arms.

"When we got to her house,she was there with Freddie'sgrandson. She's 41 now, she wasborn in 1946."

It was noon Friday when theStrubels met Freddie'sdaughter, who helped arrange areunion luncheon with Freddiehimself the following???waited at a GermanRestaurant in Berchtesgadenas the noon hour approachedwondering if they would be ableto recognize a long-lost friend.

"Dolores turned to me andsaid, 'Here he comes now." Hisdark black hair had turnedsnow white - of course min~has too. But other than that, helooked very much like I hadremembered him.

"We had taken over Ainringabout a month after the ar­mistice. Freddie had been amember of the Luftwaffe, andhe just came in as part of thecivilian employees.

"We hugged each other andtalked about many a ghost fromthe past."

The two, Strubel said, recall­ed how the occupational forceshad grea t difficultyestablishing supply lines, mak­ing the delivery of foodhaphazard at best. .

"Freddie and I many a timeexchanged clothes. He wouldwear my uniform and I wouldwear his civilian clothes.

"We would go out into thecountryside to shoot deer and to .bargain with local farmers,Freddie spoke excellentEnglish and, of course, verygood German, so he couldnegotiate for the eggs and fowl.hat we needed."

Strubel also recalled thatFreddie made Christmas 1945 amore hospitable one forhomesick American GIs by sup­plying many of the Christmastree decorations used by the oc­cupational forces to decoratethe tree in their quarters.

There was a lot of catching upduring lunch to do, too.

"I learned that Ferdinandhad been a commercialphotographer in Berchtesgadenfor 27 years following the warbefore he retired???? ?upthrough the ranks."

After that, Strubel sold cars,was the executive director ofthe Hawaii HomebuildersAssociaton and in 1970, formeda tax return preparationbusiness with his wife.

"Ferdinand is 70 now andhopes to visit the States'sometime soon," Strllbel said.'"I sure hope he makes it all theway to Hawaii if he does."

THE OCTOFOll

26th FAOCTAVIAN GANSCA412 Meek St.Sharon, Pa. 16146

47th Inf. A Co.ANGELO ORENA153 Kingsbury LaneTonawanda, NY 14150

Enclosed are' dues for htecoming year. I enjoy readingthe paper and am always look­ing for people I might know, butto no avail. If there are anyfellows out there from 'my out­fit, let me hear from you. Timehas done things to ourmemories and I hope this willbring some response. Thanks.

47th Inr. Service Co.ANDY JONESRt.#l Box 881Wartburg, Tn. 37887

I am enclosing dues for 3year's membership. I enjoy theOctofoil and would like to locateand hear from fellow "GODEVILS" who came into the60th at the RemagenBridgehead and on to In­golstadt.

I am sending it check for 3years, dues for my husband,Charles R. Harvey. Sorry weare late. Charles has beenaway from home 9 months.First in the hospital,then a nursing home. Heis now at V.A. Nurs­ing Home, South Ft. ThomasAve., Ft. Thomas, Ky. 41075. Hehas been doing better in the lastfive weeks.

CHARLES HARVEY'7407 Huntridge Ave.Cincinnati, Ohio

Enclosed find check for 3years dues. Always glad when Ireceive the Octofoil. Read itfrom front to back. Keep up thegood work, because if you andyour staff don't, we will losetouch with our comrades. Mybest to all the "Old Reliables."

Enclosed find check foranother years dues - I enjoythe Octofoil very much.

My wife and I enjoyed a cou­ple days camping trip with C.C.Evans and wife Betty down atVogel St. Park in Georgia lastSept. Since then I've had somemedical problems. I had aheart attack in November. MyDoc. says I'm doing fine, justhave to take care - So I do somefishing and normal activities.

Sure would enjoy hearingfrom any of the guys that mightremember me.

Good luck to all.

34th FA, Hqs BtryBOB TURNER1 Munroe Ave.Woburn, MA 01801

Enclosed find dues and a lit­tle extra for the Memorial fund.Enjoyed the Hyannis reunionand am looking forward to thePines. Thanks for all you andthe other officers have done tokeep this 9th association asstrong and alive as it is. I lookforward to every issue of theOctofoil and read every word.

47th INF. H. Co.RAY CAUDILL1026 Bingham Dr.Fayetteville, N.C. 28304

I am sorry to have missed somany reunions but will tryharder not to. I am doing fineand work at Ft. Bragg in the old39th Inf. P .X. building. So ifanyone is out this way, pleasestop by for a chat.60th Inr. M. Co.FLOYD HUTCHERSON102 S. Kingston Ave.Rockwood, Tn. 37854

Since re-joining the Associa­tion I have heard from severalof our Co. B. In March we metin Dade City with Jack Wilson,Roy LeBlanc, Goerge (Schmit­ty) Schmidt, and LesterGuilford.

Attended the mini-reunion inPigeon Forge. Had a great timewith buddies I hadn't seen sinceWW II - Pete Radichio,George Stein, John Laubach aswell as Jack Wilson and somefamiliar faces from Co. C.

Won't be able to make Hyan­nis but hello and good luck to allthose who do.

60th Inf.RONALD "SCOTTY" HIRSTMathildenstrasse 4D-6200 WiesbadenFederal Republic of Germany

It is always a pleasure to takea break from my writing todrop a note to the Association.

I'd like to make a few com­ments on some of the letters inthe last edition (and I read eachone,as always). Robert Wattstalked of being wounded afterhis first day across the Luden­dorff Bridge and rejoining hisunit in the Harz Mountains. Ihad a similar experience but re­joined George Companyf60 onthe Mulde river. Siegfried Rein­heimer tells me he'd like tohear from George Company-guys! I'll drop him a note andtell him I have sought that forforty years! Trouble isSiegfried was coming when Iwas going!

I'll also drop a note to WilmerFirme - but then he might seethese lines in the next Octofoil. Iwish to know more about War­ren Spahn as an engineer at theLudendorff Bridge. I too oftensaw him pitch when he waS notonly a Milwaukee but also aBoston Brave. As to you Her­mon Rahn, I like to know thetitle and the publisher of thebook by George Furber. I waspleased to be at the site of theformer bridge at Remagenwhen the 9 Armored Divisionmen came over to dedicatetheir memoriaL Among thosepresent were' Lt. ColonelEngemann and SergeantsDrabik and Delisio. It was anemotional and unforgetable ex­perience. And, well photo­graphed.

Another George Companyguy made his presence knownbut again one before time - theother one was after. LewisAldridge - but maybe he wouldremember the names of someof the men from the Company'ssecond platoon! If you do,Lewis, write to me. Thank you.

And the last item, Dan, I'll bein Normandy (again) in April.If this letter arrives in time tolet the membership know, andIF I can do something foranyone of them while there,they should let me know. By theway, if any men of 3 Bnf47 orCo. A 899DD or Trp Cf4 CavSqwould wish knowing moreabout their days of 30 Junf1 Jul44 near d'Auderville tell themto write M. F. LeCouvey,Mairie d'Auderville, Auder­ville, F-50440 BEAUMONTHAGUE, France. He'd like tohear from you! He'll tell youmore about the big guns youcaptured. God bless.

9th Med. Bn B Co.DONALD HYDE120 Wiley Ave.Deland, FL 32724

Catskills ReunionJune 19th thruJune 23rd 1989

Co C. 9th MEDWESLEY ROACHRt 8 Box 556Danville, Va. 24540

Enclosed find check for dues.I enjoy the Octofoil very much.A battle with bad health the last2 years had kept me away fromall the meetings. Hope to makeit this year. Keep up the goodwork.

47th Inf G CoHERMONRAHN5599 New Hendersonvilly Hwy.Pisgah Forest, NC 28768

I received a letter from EdCombs of 2nd Bn Hqs and surewas glad to hear from him. It'salways great to hear from bud­dies I knew and from ones that Inever had the pleasure of meet­ing. The letter from Ed remind­ed me that my oldest daughterand I have been trying to locatea soldier from E Co, 47th Infnamed Dewitt Stansell. The lastI heard he was in Detroit in1947. If anyone knows where heis I would appreciate letting meknow. Also a good buddy, Ed­win Brewer, moved and I do nothave his address. Sorry, aboutthat Dan, it was in the last Oc­tofoil. Hello Ed Brewer old Bud­dy. I wish the best to all men ofthe 9th and especially to theones who have lost their health.I know Jerry Teachout is have­ing a struggle. I do not knowhim, but always enjoy his let­ters. To him I say, God bless youand hope the best for you. Bestwishes to Dan and Marie.

39th Inf. Hqs.DANIEL LAYMAN212 Almur LaneWynnewood, Pa. 19096

I was saddened to read in themost recent Octofoil of thedeath of Bennie Nardone. Ben­nie was a good musician and heand his "Black Market Band"provided pleasant breaks in thelife of the 39th Inf. for a longtime. Enclosed is a check as acontribution to the MemorialFund in his name. Hate to seeone more "legend" of WW2depart the scene. Many thanks,Dan, for keeping the 9th going.

47th Inr. C Co.GEORGE GAJDOS435 Daniel Dr.Aliquippa, Pa. 15001

Since it's 1989, I'm sendingyou a check for the next 3years.I was sorry to read C.B.Baker's letter about Capt.Anderson. I was with' C Co.from just before St. Lo to afterthe Rhine crossing over theRemagen Bridge. I would liketo extend my sympathy to hisfamily. May he rest in peace. Itwould be nice to hear fromsome of the old buddies from CCo. I've been searching the Oc­tofoil for names like RobertCahill, Ray Carey, Samuel Con­falone, George Hendrix, JohnMizia, Carl Able, SommersCarter, Arthur Crain, FrankCzaclon, Anthony Damato,Raymond Flaw, Nicholas Gor­no, Paul Hursh, Welton Lush,George McDaniel, Ira Priceand many more. It's alwaysnice to read C.B. Baker's let­ters. I was able to attend the1987 reunion at Camp Hill butsad to say I didn't meet anyonefrom C Co. I want to workanother year before I retire,then I may be able to attend thereunions annually. The Lord bewith you all.

47th Inf F CoCHARLES ROCHELLE6419 N.C. 86Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514

Here are my '89 dues. I wantto say hello to all men of the47th Inf F Co that joined in lateMarch 1944 and stayed to thefinish. If there are any N.C.men in the 47th, I would like tohear from them. Keep up thegood work. Thank you.

B Btry 34th FALEO BOHM223 N 10th Ave.Wausau, Wi. 54401

Just heard of the associationand have been to 2 reunionssince. Missed last year andmight miss this one but hope tomake the next. Enclosed aredues for 3 years.

60th Inf. L Co. & 39th Inf. A CoOREN. M. HELLE3825 Sherrod Rd.Mariposa, CA 95338

Time to get my dues offbefore a red Octofoil comes.

Won't make 44th conventionat the Pines Resort. Too farfrom CA. Did make the conven­tion at Harrisburg PA, enjoyedit very much. Only run into oneguy from the old outfit though,guess not many of the old gangleft. ,

Live in the foothills now it iseven snowing today, that is onething about CA., get a lot of dif­ferent weather.

26th F .A. Service BtyJERRY LANGER601 Imp. Blvd., V215Lakeland, Fla. 33803

It seems that Service Batt.has fallen off the face of theearth. Since "Father" JoeMcKenzie stopped writing theOctofoil, his fingers got so oldhe can't hold a pencil any more,we have lost track of eachother.

Is Pergiovanni, John Murray,Bill Sacco and a dozen othersstill around?

I've retired for the 2nd time,and have moved to Lakeland,Fla.

If any of our old gang is stillaround I would like to hearfrom them. I will anSwer all let­ters promptly. Best regards toall.

47th Inf H CoJOHNPOPP24 Wolfs BethlehemWheeling, W. Va. 26003

Would you please start send­ing me the Octofoil again. I amprobably one of the firstmembers. My number was 1193on a card that expired Dec. 31,1946. For some reason I was outsince 1986. Thank you verymuch for your trouble.

47th Inf Hq I & RLAWRENCE MARTIN1418 Blair Loop Rd.Danville, Va. 24541

I see it's time for dues. My,how time does fly! I look for­ward to getting the Octofoil. Ikeep in touch with Spencer Nor­wood and Bob Kinkopf and havevisited them after some 40years. I wonder about severalof the 47th I & R platoon men,Charles Kull, Joe Bennett, CliffGiddes, Ernie Templeton, Lt.Williams, Brower and Frenchy.My health is still good at 66.Have lost most of hearing but

60th Inf F Co aids do help some. Still do someJOHN ALLEN deer hunting. Never will forget15901 Emory Ln the deer Bob Spence and I killedRockville, Md. 20853 up in the forest above Vicht.

I'm sorry to send the news The company had venison thatthat William Sexton, F Co 60th week and we had sliced venisonInf, passed on. Bill and I made up on the O.P. overlookingthe climt:1 up the mountain in Gressenich. Must close andSicily. We had donkeys with have a nice New Year and maypadded feet, carried cable for God bless you and all 9th men. 'communication. We laid low by 26th FAday and traveled by night, but MRS. ROBERT (MYRTLE)were captured for several MASONhours. There was another man 2818 Garbett Ave.with us but can't remember his McKeesport, Pa 15132name. We've just had a letter You'll be surprised to hearfrom Ruth Sexton and have from me but I should have writ­kept in touch many years. They ten sooner. First, I wish toweren't able to make the re- thank you for being so kindunions Qut always wanted to sending the Octofoil to me in thehear about them. Bill found me past 4 years. I find it very in­in 1962 in Silver Spring, Md. It's teresting, as Bob always liked ithard to lose him. Ruth's ad- so much and looked forward todress is 3333 Talbot Pl., Colum- receiving it. It has been 4years,bus,Ohio 43223. See you at The Jan. 17, 1985, that he died andPines. you had it in the Octofoil. I still

60th Inf F Co hear from some of his dear 9thHERBERT BRASINGTON division friends at Christmas9316 Lawndell Dr. time. His health was never tooRichmond, VA 23229 good, and I know he is not suf-

Enclosed is my check for the fering anymore. Please acceptnext 3 years and a little for the this Memorial gift in memoryMemorial fund, in memory of F of Robert. He would be happy toCo. We always enjoy reading know you are 'still carrying on.the Octofoil. Keep up the good Thank you for caring and Godwork. See you at the ":>ines. Bless you all.

Love is like, life insurance:the older you get, the more itcosts.

47th Inf. A Co.LAWRENCE McLAUGHLIN82 Gould St.Wakefield, Ma. 01880

I was saddened to note inTaps Sounded the passing of myfriend and fine soldier Walter"Buck" Ray. We served to­gether in A Co. He was a braveman and I was proud to recom­mend him for a Silver Starwhich he earned in NorthAfrica. Attached is a donationin his honor. I am enclosing apicture of the N.E. ChapterMemorial Mass Committee(1988) Worcester, Mass. En­closed also is a letter receivedfrom Soldiers Home, Mass.,which I would like considered inlieu of the Scholarship awardsthat we previously made. Irealize you are not the principalin this endeavor, but I would ap­preciate any help you can add.Keep up the good work.

39th Inf, 26th FaBILL LEWIS54 Hopewell Dr.Struthers, Ohio 44471

The following was written byBill's wife, Dorothy: Bill isback in Ron Joy Nursing Homeafter being in the hospital for 17days with a very serious bloodinfection. Fighting his wayback to health. I still spendevery day with him and helphim eat lunch and supper.Left side still paralyzed. Hardto take care of one's self withone hand. Soon 4 years. Ourlove keeps us going. ConnieMatulis writes regularly.George Fleet visits and alsowrites. He loves cards and visitsfrom his friends. Tell hisfriends he would love to hearfrom them. Please, pray for us.We are alone and the friends ofour Church are good to us. Godbless the 9th Division. He is soproud of all of you. Thankskindly. (Bill is in Ron Joy Nurs­ing Home, 830 Boardman Can­field Rd., Boardman, Ohio44512.)

THI OCT.O'OIL

other assignment in the Ninth. if any:

I was a member of:

Name Serial No .

(2) _

Tip of the Hat

The Memorial Fund wasenriched by the generosityof these members andfriends. We salute you.Walter J. LabajCharles E. AyersMrs. Myrtle Mason (Inmemory of husband Bob,26th FA)Robert A. TurnerJohn A. CaugheyLawrence McLaughlin (Inmemory of Walter "Buck"Ray, A Co 47th Inf.)Calvin DanielsEdward Drabik, Sr.Daniel Layman (In memoryof Bennie Nardone, 39thInf.)Nicholas A. WagnerEd Netta (In memory of hiswife, Victoria)Andrew EratoHerbert Brasington (Inmemory of F Co 60th Inf.)Jerome Langer

INFORMATIONI am doing research on the

role of the division artilleryduring the Battle of the Bulge.Specifically the operations atopElsenborn Ridge and the nor­thern shoulder. If anyone hasany information and would cor­respond with me about this sub­ject, I would appreciate it.Thank you.

CPT Allen Batschelet3208 Forest Hill Dr.

Killeen, TX 76542

State Zip _

Choice of Accommodation: (1) _

City

60th Inf Hqs Co.MARVIN TREAKLE440-4th Ave., So.Clinton, Ia. 52732

Just a few lines from themidwest ice box.! rhe weatheris warming here now from whatit was a week ago. When itscooted below the zero mark. Ithas been a most unusual winterwith a lot of changes but overallgood, hardly any snow. On Jan.31 it was the warmest everrecorded here, 69° and 4 dayslater O! My brother, Orie, diedJan. 27 after several years ofdeclining health. We servedtogether from Oct. 40throughout the war in the samecompany, Hq 60th Inf. He wasnot a member of the associationbut had many buddies in theunit. We have spent all our livesbeing very close and I shallmiss him so much. Of all theguys we buddied with and wereclose to, I am the only one left. Iwish there were something Icould do for the associationmembers, but my health isn'tgood anymore and my pocket­book is flat. My wife and I livefrom pension to pension checkjust as so many do. I do worryabout the way our country is go­ing in debt, all the crookeddeals for profits. Where haspatriotism gone that even ourleaders in .government are sogreedy? The NOW generationand the near future ones are be­ing left with a real mess. I feelfor them and pray for them. Idon't think r have missed aword from the Octofoil in a longwhile.

PINES accepts for Final Payment VISA, MASTERCARD,Personal Check or Cash. PINES DOES NOT ACCEPTAMERICAN EXPRESS.

Your Unit _

Spouse Name

Address _

Above rates are per person, per stay, from Dinner on dayof arrival to after Lunch on. day of departure includingthree meals daily. The above rates include gratuities forwaiter, busboy and chambermaid. Bellmen and Barten­ders are not included. Please note NYS Sales Tax, cur-rently 7% is included. .

Rate also includes Special 9th Infantry Day TriD to WestPoint WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21st, 1989

RESERVATION FORM

Deposit Enclosed _

A $25.00 per person. refundable deposit is required toconfirm your reservation. 48 hour cancellation requiredfor,full deposit refund. Phone reservations not accepted.Please use reservation form.

Check-in Anytime on Monday.Check out Friday After Lunch - 2: 15 PM

Mail Completed 9th Infantry DivisionReservation Form to: c/o THE PINES Resort Hotel

So. Fallsburg, NY 12779

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RESER VA TlON DEADLINE May 8, 1989RESERVE EARL Y - DON'T BE LEFT OUT

I have a Walking/Handicap Problem __ Yes __ No

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THE 9TH INFANTRYDIVISION AS'SOCIATION

44th ANNUAL CONVENTION. JUNE 19-23, 1989 (MONDAY-FRIDAY)

AT THE PINES RESORT HOTEL

IvourHost:TSOLD OUT~RATES A~__ ,,_,-,vMMODATIONS

JUNE 19-23, 1989

5 Day/4 Night Package (Monday-Friday)Double Single Triple Four

Super Deluxe $320 N/A $281 $241Deluxe $290 N/A $261 $221Standard $255 $381 N/A

Mrs. Audrey Brauer38 Evergreen Ave.

Neptune, N.J. 07753

47th Inf. F Co.ED NETTA608 4th Ave.Elizabeth, N.J. 07202

I'm sending a check for theMemorial Fund in memory ofmy wife, Victoria. I'm stillbleeding over the loss of her.We went out together, workedtogether and also went to the re­unions when we were not busywith the market. This year Iwon't be doing much, so I mightsee you at the Pines. So long fornow and God bless you all.

Yon marble minstel'svoiceless stoneIn deathless song shall tell,When many a vanquishedyear hath flown,The story how you fell ..Nor wreck nor change, norwinter's blight,Nor time's remorselesdoom,Can dim one ray of HolylightThat gilds your glorioustomb.

(stanza from "TheBivouac of the Dead" byTheodore O'Hare)

The Association mourns thepassing of these "OldReliables" and, friends. Totheir loved ones we offer ourdeepest sympathy. Maythey rest in peace.

Louis WaltersCo A 15th Engrs

Lloyd H. Anderson60th Inf

William J. SextonF Co 60th Inf

Wilbert F. FieneC Co 60th Inf

Frank KalichC Co 9th Med

Edwin Price'M Co 60th Inf

Walter Beavers

Don PeelDiv Hqs

Sam MoscatelliB Co 47th Inf

Julius IannottiHqs Btry. Div Arty.

Lloyd "Dutch" GuerinF Co 39th Inf

Silverius J. GalvanAT 47th Inf

Charles H. Brauer1st Bn 60th Inf

Orie Treakle60th Inf Hqs (Brother of

Marvin Treakle)John P. Quinn

26th F.A.James "Jake" Parker

9th Signal

TAPS SOUNDED

'I ~.:,\ '; ~ - .'\ -- / ~-'

,~- \7-~"1~

I '- ,/ -.~.~ I- J'-'

To the Octofoil:I regret to inform you that my

husband, Charles Brauer, diedsuddenly Aug. 1, 1988. He wasvery proud of ha\:ing servedwith the 9th division as a 2ndLieutenant in Europe andthough serving as a reservistwith the 78th N.J. LightningDivision attaining the rank ofColonel, until his retirement, hestill kept touch with the 9th andits doings through the Octofoiland your letters. We will allmiss him.

L""":

[J

1-

PLACE

STAMPHERE

.......$ 5.O<J'=

" $13.00r~

............. S5Q.OO........... $ 2.00 0

Jan-Feb 1989

- TO -

DAVID H. HElLER

6'18 SUMAC ROAD

HIGHLAND PARK 1 IL 60035

Publication No. 402820

Number 1

o

RETURN ADDRESS

Name : _

Address: _

CHy/St ate: _Zip: _

Volume XLIV

Regular Member per year .Donation Memorial Scholarship Fund.THREE-YEAR MEMBE.~R .Life Membership .Ladies Auxiliary Member .Please credit the following chaPter:Philly-Delaware Valley=: \.¥reater New YorkIllinois Washington, D.C.New England = MichiganFlorida c...,;

Daniel Quinn, Secretary412 Gregory AvenueWeehawken, NJ 07087

Thomas Boyle, Treasurer39 Hall AvenueSommervi lie, Mass 02144

Harrison DayshJudge Advocate4313 Carriage CourtKinsington, Md. 20795

Fred D'Amore, 3rd. V.P.95 Webster St.E. Boston, Ma. 02128

Elmer Wagner, 2nd V.P.2833 HotchkissBay City, Mich.

Batterv Comoanv Regiment. 9th Div .I wish to sign up for the following:

City Zone State .

Street Address .

NINTH INFANTRY DIVISION ASSOCIATIONMEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

Dan Quinn, National Secretary, 9th Infantry Division Assn. 412Gregory Ave., Weehawken New Jersey 07087

Enclosed 'please find dues for:

IRltgimeot:-- Sa.traJloll:CompMV or Sa.U6f'V

A directory of members is being compiled by DaveHeller and cooperation of the members is asked to fill outthe form provided below and send to Dave. Heller.

THE OCTOFOILForm 2579 should be sent to

412 Gregory Avenue, Weehawken, N.J. 07087Octofoil Associated Editors

Walter O'Keefe and Daniel Quinn

IRegim6flf:-- 8anaJloll:CompMV or Sa.tr6f'CJ

0- NINrH INf'ANrRY OIVIS10N ASSOCIAIION 0OIR£CrORY Of' M£NSfP.S

last Nam6: ....,..._flrst Nam6. (MlddI611l1t1a.1) _

My most important assignment in the Ninth:

National OfficersPresidentEmil Langer5 Brentwood Dr.Morris Plains,N.J. 07950

Board of Governors1989

Floyd HennessyLambertville, Mich.

01 ive CarterForestville, Md.

Dave HellerHighland Park, II

Emil LangerMorris Plains, NJ

Lewis ManessCocoa, FI

1990Ralph Carci

Brunswick, MdRichard Martin

Springfield, Mass.Len TomassonePennsauken, NJ

Edward WisniewskiRichard, Mich

Adolph WadalavageElmhurst, NY

1991Nick DagostinoCherry Hill, NJ

, Jack CollierSt.Louis, Mo

Larry McLaughlinWakefield, Ma

Henry SantosTampa, FI

The official pUblication of the Ninth Infantry Division Association. Singlecopy price is 25 cents per issue by mai I $1.50 per year payable in advancewhen dues are paid. Dues are $5 per year with $1.50 of the $5.00 earmarkedfor the issues of The Octofoil. Members should notify the NationalSecretary, Daniel Quinn, 412 Gregory Ave., Weehawken, N.J. of anychange of address.

Published five times yearly. May-June-July - Aug.-Sept.-Oct ­Nov.-Dec., Jan., Feb., Mar-April by and for the members of the Ninth In­fantry Division Association. News items, feature stories, photographs andart material from members will be appreciated. Every effort will bemade to return photographs and art work in good condition.

! An extract from the certificate of incorporation of the 9th Infantry Divi­'sion association reads: "This Association is formed by the officers andmen of the 9th Infantry. Division in order to perpetuate the memory of ourfallen comrades, to preserve the espirit de corps of the division, to assistir. promoting an ever-lasting world peace exclusively of means of educa-'tionaI activities and to serve as an information bureau to former membersof the 9th Infantry Division.

Copy must be received on or before the 15th of each month to guaranteepublication on the 20th.

Second-Class Postage paid at Union City, NJ. 07087, and additional of·fiCes.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 412 Gregory Avenue,Weehawken, N.J. 07087.

Vincent/Gugielmino, 1st. V.P.114 Charles Street

• Floral Park, N.J. 11001

DUES REMINDER

47th Int ii". (:0

FELTON JONESP.O. Box 7Alapaha, Ga. 31622

Sorry Wilma and I missed thegala event at Hyannis and itwas nice of the gang toremember us with the cheerfulcard. I've sent my reservationsfor "The Pines" and hopefullywe will make it. In April Ireceived a letter from Col.Maness congratulating meupon being selected as amember of the DMR along withthe certificate signed by Lt.Gen. William H. Harrison. I ammost grateful to Col. Manessfor his effort in obtaining thishonor for me and trust the menof the F Co deem me worthy.

47th Inf. I Co.RICHARD SLATER4 Box 300Hillsville, Va. 24343-8050

Enclosed is my Life Member­ship dues. I enjoy the Octofoiland look for buddies from 3rdBn. I Co., 47th Inf.

60 Inf. M. Co.BILL ZIMMERMAN3331 Orlando Ave.BaIt., Md. 21234

Received your dues reminderand couldn't believe I forgot topay. I have been in the hospitalfor a by-pass on my leg and tiedup most of the summer in andout of the hospital. Best wishesto all. I am still in touch withmy Co. and go to reunions, butmissed this year.

47th Inf.JOE TROUTRt. 1 Box 292Lincoln University, Pa. 19352

I just plain forgot the dues.Thanks for the reminder. I'mdoing O.K. except for a stroke 9years ago. After the stroke andnow at age 73 I'm slowing downa bit, but determined to stay outof the rocking chair: We hadvisits from Charlotte andLaurence Melanson (fromColo.) and Frank Venezia(N.JJ What a time! 'Remindedus of how important friendsare, especially those whoshared this part of our lives. Weenjoy the OctQfoil. Keep up thegood work. Thanks again.

(B Co. 15th Engrs.TONY MADONNA40 Orient St.Worcester, Ma. 01604

Just in time to get this note inthe next edition of the Octofoilfor the dining room seatingarrangements and seating atthe banquet. I have receivedpetitions from buddies from BCo. 15th Engrs. to get our grouptogether as we have in the past.I will contact the dining roomMaitre D' and submit thesenames, Dick McGrath, AI Fer­rante, Jerry Shea, Bill David­son, Tony Sangiacomo, JimMullen, Fred D'Amore, PaulLisa, Frank Rankin, ArtSchmidt and maybe others.Wishing good luck to the NewYork Chapter for a great re­union.

This issue of the Octofoil has been used for years to remind ourmembers that "dues are due." The caption "Is your Octofoil ad­dressed with tell-tale red ink?" was used for vears but now withour new computer mailing arrangements this~in not possible. In­stead we ask the members to check their Octofoil especiallywhere their name is printed and above their name you will findnumbers and they will indicate what year your dues are paid upuntil. The letter L will indicate Life member - H will indicateHonorary member and 088 will let you know that your dues arepayable now, 089, 090, etc. are good till the year indicated.

If for some reasolJ you find it difficult in paying the dues dropus a line and we will keep you on our membership roll, send youthe paper and keep the matter confidential.

We remind our members that a limited budget keeps us frommailing the Octofoil to those who fall in the deliquent class. Sendyour dues to the secretary's office, 412 Gregory Avenue,Weehawken, N.J. 07087.

M.P.'sCarlo Palermo

7Maynard StreetArlington, Mass. 02174I got such a good response

from my last letter, I decided tosend you another story for OC­TOFOIL.

This story took place in Sicily1944, just below Mt. Etna. Onenight we received orders to ad­vance. We advanced so muchthey placed us to outpost in·front of the Infantry. At thattime we did not know this.There were just two of us. Theother M.P. 's name was Wilson.It was about 3 o'clock in themorning, when suddenly weheard voices speaking a foreignlanguage. Being of Italian na­tionality, I could understandtheir conversation and knewthey had to be Italian soldiers.When they were almost on topof us, we surprised them. Theybegged us not to shoot. Theywere not armed and came for­ward to surrender to theAmericans. They were veryhappy to be taken prisoner, andespecially happy that I couldspeak their language.

Mter lengthy interrogation,they gave us vital information,where the German positionswere and much more. Whenmorning came, it was time forbreakfast, we ate C. rations andour prisoners had bread andcheese, that was all the foodthey had with them.

I was so sick and tired of C.rations that I asked one of themto exchange some bread andcheese for some of my C. ra­tions. Well, it was a great treatfor them and the same for me.BUT, let me tell you I never inall my life ate bread and cheesethat was so stale. I could hardlyget my teeth to chew, it's a goodthing I had good teeth, but myjaws sure got a good work out. Imust say I did enjoy it verymuch, all that was missing wasa good bottle of wine. Later thatday we received orders torelease our prisoners and directthem to the rear of the lines.

They say its a small world. Iwouldn't be surprise if I shouldhear from one of thosepaesanos'.P.S. Would like to hear fromany EX/Military Police.

60th Inf C CoVICTOR GONZALEZ1722 N. Hoyt St.Chillicothe, IL 61523

Sorry for the delay but hereare my dues for 3 years in thewonderful 9th division associa­tion and the Octofoil which Iread from cover to cover. I stillhave my 1st membership carddated "Expires Dec. 31, 1948,"signed by, Henry Rigby. Myprayers to Augie Pegnalitti as Iread in a letter from RoscoeShields and I remember all theguys in the photo by him, PCl:ulLombardo, Eland, Haflinger,Vallire, August, Pegnalitti,Chase, Duckett, Fisher. I havenever seen any of them sincewe left Germany. ReceivedChristmas cards from TonyCheney, Gerald Blackwell,Jackson Blackwell, Love Hunt.One of these days we will meetagain perhaps at the reunion.

39th InfWALTER SMITH1035 Terrace Blvd.Trenton, N.J. 08618

Had some heart trouble justbefore Thanksgiving in toDecember. A vein that runsdown the front of the heart hadstopped up and I was in thehospital. They went up throughthe groin to the heart with theballoon. Did it 2 times. Feelingpretty good now. Best to all.

9th QM Co.EVERETT TAPP163 Meadow CircleEllenton, Fl. 34222

Just a short report on theTapps. We are enjoying thewinter months Oct. 15 to May 15at our winter quarters here inFlorida. I enjoy my golf 2 or 3times a week and Irene enjoyspart activities. Little Irene hadto have some major surgery onJuly of 1988 but back to fullspeed ahead at this time. Wehave our reservations for thePines in June. Hope to be therewith the golf clubs.

47th Inf B CoERNEST CRAWDERRt. 1 Box 233Low Gap, NC 27024

Enclosed are dues for thenext 3 years. Nina and I arelonldna fnM."ai"J to the '89 re­union.ol ~~~id not make the lastone due to ill health. Hope it isnot too late to make reserva­tions. Looking forward to see­ing all the "Beco" buddiesthere.

47th Inf L CoWILLIAM BAUER1004 N. CodyHardin, Mont. 59034

Time to pay dues. Thanks (ora great paper, keeps ustogether. Glad to say my healthis good and keep pretty active.Mter a very dry hot summer,we are now deep in snow. Keepup the good work.

47th Inf L CoJOHN CAUGHEY2016 Stonelea St.Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Enclosed find check for 3years dues and the balance tothe Memorial fund. I missed thelast 2 reunions, but we have ourreservations for this year at thePines. I had a serious throatoperation in July of 1987 and amstill recovering from it. I'mfeeling fine now, so I hope to seeyou and some of my L Co bud­dies in June. Sounds like youguys have a real good programset up for this year. Best wishesand good health to you and therest of the gang and thanks foreverything you have been do­ing.

'89 ReunionJune 19th thru

June 23rd

9th ReconBOB LYNCH2103 Eleventh St.Cuyahoga Falls, Oh.

Guess it's time to let you andpast members of the 9th.Recon. Troop know that I amstill around and kicking,although a heart attack didfloor me for a while about ayear ago.

Correspondence with Recon.people lead me to believe thatwe will have approximatelytwenty in attendance this year,plus wives, girl friends etc. andshould make one of our largestattendance figures.

In attempting to locate one ofour Recon. lieutenants, a BuckBuchanan, I encountered a C.(Buck) Buchanan in Texas whowas with the 60th Inf. fromBragg to Normandy where hewas hit and returned toEngland for hospitalization andthen sent home. I sent him themost recent copy of the Octofoilin hope that he will join up.

Take good care of Marie.Please, please, and please set

up a golf schedule in advance ofthe J.l~~"ning ofplay.Cannon co. :~~Jtn

CALVIN C. DANIELS47354 Burton Dr.Utica, Mich. 48087

Thought I would write andgive an account of myself. Iretired March 1, 1988, so willhave more time to travel andmake more of our 9th Div. reu­nions. Will try and be in N.Y.for our next one if all's well.Everything fine here withMichigan Chapter, we will haveanother get-together Feb. 19thfor Chat & Supper.

Enclosed you will find a littlesomething for 9th Div. Assn.Memorial Fund. Will be lookingforward to seeing you ali inJune. Keep up the good work.

60th Inf. F Co.DONALD CROSS2295 Strong Rd.Phelps, Wi. 54554

I am writing this in regard toan article in the Octofoil aboutthe Go Devils. When firstassigned to the 60th in Sept. 1944some of the boys had the GoDevils insignia on theirhelmets, but never seen any­thing written about it. Whenassigned to the 9th I was toldthe 9th was known as the Phan­tom Division because the Ger­mans ran in to them where everthey attacked. When we went toNonschau in Sept. 1944 ourvehicles were shelled from thehills which caused confusion asshells hit the convoy. I recallCapt. Johnson saying before theBulge "I don't like this, ourlines are too thinly held thiscould mean trouble."Remember using gasoline inquart bottles with rag wicks forheat and light while in fox holesand basements also carryingTNT caps and fuses for shoot­ing fox holes. My fox hole buddywas Martin Sustarich fromLake Linden, Mich. Would liketo know if any F Co. 60th canremember Lt. Powlis? Let'shear from you fellows from FCo. 60th Inf. Help Dan Quinn fillthe Octofoil.60th Inf K CoJOHN CRIMI95 Harvard St.Hartford, CT 06106

My wife and I are looking for­ward to the reunion at thePines. We missed the Cape Codlast year. Enjoyed the April1988 Florida mini reunion andas newcomers we were treatedso well and made so manyfriends. Henry Santos madesure we took part in everything.A wonderful program was plan­ned.

39th Inf G CoBILLY ALLSBROOK4616 ErathFt. Worth, Tx. 76119

Thank you so much for yourresponse to my letter of inquiryof my buddies in the Ninth Divi­sion.

I cannot tell you how thrilled Iwas to receive the copy of TheOctofoil newspaper. It was likea cool drink of water given tosomeone crawling across a par­ched desert. This analogy isutilized simply to illustrate thesearch I conducted seeking in­formation of my buddies andthe Ninth. Another emotion ex­perienced was anger at myselffor failure to contact youearlier for I had seen yourname in the DAV magazine onother occasions.

I welcome the opportunity tobecome a member of theassociation and eagerly seekany information, such as books,covering the record of the NinthDivision.

However, I must point outthat I am probably considered arookie regarding longevity withthe Ninth is concerned. For Iwas assigned to the Ninth in Ju­ly, 44 but could not join them tillAugust, 44. It seemed the guyswere involved in a fracas calledthe Falaise Gap.

Mr. Quinn, please recall oneof the men I requested informa­tion on was Henry Santos ofCalifornia. When reading theOctofoil, I happened to notice aHenry Santos from Tampa,Florida listed as a member ofthe Board of Directors of theAssociation. Could this be thesame man that I am seeking? Ifso and an information releaseis possible, respectfully requesthis address and/or telephonenumber.

Again, let me say how happyI was to hear from you. Justlearning information aboutyour old outfit seems to satisfya deep longing within one'sself! Plus the privilege/oppor­tunity to say "hello" once againto someone that shared a com­mon goal of coming home froma place so long ago and farway!60th Inf. I Co.ROGER SCHAEFFER1664 Sunset Ave.Akron, Ohio 44301

Enclosed are dues foranother 3years. Mona's and mylives are still filled with makingmusic and when we're not doingthat, we're baby sitting our 16month old one and only grand­daughter so her mama can con­tinue her teaching career in ourAkron Public Schools. Justfinished perusing the latest Oc­tofoil and was pleased to seenames such as Fred and SelmaGolub, Ed Lusk, Barney In­gebretson and Mike Kaufm~n.

The memories come floodingback! Best of luck to all andespecially to the Dan Quinnfamily.

47th Inf. K Co.KENNETH KUNZBox 24New Douglas, 11. 62074

Enclosing check for 2 yearsdues. I enjoy reading the octo­foil. The last issue was of in­terest to be because of the arti­cle written by George Nicklen,K Co. 47th In£. I was in the sameplace at the same time in themortar platoon. Thank you andkeep up the good work.39th Inf. M. Co.ALBERT IRENE260-15 81st Ave.Floral Park, N.Y. 11004

Would appreciate any M Co.39th Inf. men interested inwriting to me. I went throughthe OCtofoil and did not see onename of M Co.