Howard loved reading about the woods, geography, history and travel. He loved nonfiction, especially anything related to hunting, trapping and fishing in the “old” way. He also loved war stories, especially about World War II, although one of his favorites was All Quiet on the Western Front. He liked to rescue old library books and always scoured lawn sales for interesting old books about his favorite topics. But they had better be accurate! Grampy’s favorite children’s books were the Burgess Bedtime Stories by Thornton W. Burgess. Whenever he saw an animal portrayed in the Burgess Bedtime Stories, such as a blue jay or a fox, he would say “There goes Sammy Jay!” or “Lookie there, there’s Reddy the Fox!” He read all of those stories to Howard Edward and Laurel when they were young. He would sit between their twin beds and read a couple of chapters every night.2

Howard was an extremely knowledgable woodsman and an expert marksman. He loved hunting and trapping. He especially loved to hunt deer and pheasants. He estimated he’d shot over 70 deer in his lifetime.7 He was very accurate at shooting skeet. He also enjoyed and was very successful at “hunting” ginseng, a hobby he learned when he was a young boy.2

Howard was also a storyteller. He enjoyed taking rides and telling stories about his past, his family and the people he knew.2

1917-1942:
"Howard was born Tuesday morning 9:30 a.m."3 on 18 Dec 1917.

Below are interesting tidbits from Howard’s stories as told to his daughter, Laurel, about early life “down on the farm”:

1) Hired men on the farm during the Depression years were “Pum” Bovee and Frank “Beetle” Dence. Beetle Dence was Howard’s “2nd father.” He died from burns sustained while burning trash. Pum died as a result of being “hit by a truck.” “Most of what I [Howard] knew” about hunting, trapping and hunting gingseng was taught to him by Beetle.7
2) According to Howard, most of the hired men who worked on his Dad’s farm while he was growing up lived and ate with them. They worked hard and were sober until payday. Then they disappeared for a few days until they wandered back to the farm sober once again and broke. The cycle then repeated itself.7
3) The big meal of the day was dinner at around noon. Supper was lighter, usually leftovers. Breakfast was also a large meal. Breakfast was after milking, dinner was at noon, and supper was in the evening after milking. “When I was a kid down on the farm, we always ate boiled beef, beans, and potatoes for dinner.” Howard recalled having to run down to the barn after supper to get his father’s pipe. Jump was always forgetting his pipe after milking the cows and he would always send little Howard after it.7
4) Concerning Manny’s Corners School and rival Blue Corners School: “Every spring we had our ‘olympics’ in the field across from the school house. We played baseball and had our running races.”7
5) Just before the War (WWII) a veteran came over to visit. One night “We was all sitting around and somebody said ‘If I have to fight, I’ll go hide in the woods” and the Veteran said ‘Boy, there aren’t any woods big enough!’”7
6) Howard earned his first gun by trapping, mostly muskrats. He became an excellent marksman by leaving his gun by the back door. Then each day before he went to get the cows for milking he would shoot at a target he had set up in the field behind the house. When he went to get the cows, he would check his target and set up a new one for the next day.7
7) ”Howard Reed of Mayfield, who grew up on a farm in Montgomery County, said he has eaten venison all his life. ‘I ate more of that than I did beef, growing up,’ he said. He doesn’t do anything fancy, just cooks it by ‘the old-fashioned farm method.’ The steaks he slices up and fries in a skillet. The rest, he cuts up and boils, like boiled beef. Neither he nor his family cares for roast venison, he said. They like it boiled.”15

Howard’s nicknames were: “Dutch”, “Tige” (Tiger) and “Panther”.7
Howard’s best friends were: Floyd Conrad, Joe McQuade and Harley Hart.7

Howard attended Manny’s Corners School (Manny’s Corners is east of Hagaman, NY), then Amsterdam High School, Amsterdam, NY.2

1925:
As of Jun 1925, Howard (age 8) lived on the family farm on what was then called Cranes Hollow Road (now McQuade Road) with his father, Harry (age 42), his mother, Bertha (age 44), his brother, Edward (age 12), and his sisters Eunice (age 10) and Blanche (age 6). Also living on the farm were two hired workers: Edith Belfance (age 18) who did housework and Frank Dense (age 47) who was a farm laborer.16

1932:
Howard’s mother, Bertha, passed away 6 Sep 1932 at the age of 52. Howard was 14 years old.

Ca. 1938-1942:
Howard was employed as a weaver at Mohawk Carpet Mills for about 4 years (c. 1938-1942). He operated an Axminster loom. This was an impressive job for the times and area. It was good pay: about $30.00 per week.2 His income in 1939 was $870.17

As of 11 May 1940, Howard was 22 years old, single and was still living on his family farm in the town of Amsterdam, RFD#5. Others living at the same address were his father, Harry (age 56), his brother, Edward (age 26) and his sister Eunice (age 24).17 His sister, Blanche, had passed away several months earlier in October 1939.

1942-1945:
On 26 Mar 1942, Howard enlisted and began service in the U.S. Army.18 See detailed Military Notes.

1945:
Howard’s car was up on blocks in the wagon house (blacksmiths shop) behind the house on the Reed family farm. When he got home from the WWII, all the tires were gone from his car. Rubber and tires were very hard to get during WWII and someone had taken Howard’s tires. He had to buy all new ones for his car before he could use it.19 Some of his stuff had disappeared from his room, too! He used to say, “The kids got in it.” He always sounded pretty disgusted when he told that story!7

Howard married Annamarie Gifford in Johnstown, NY, on 6 Oct 1945.8,7 After they were married, Howard and Annamarie moved into Howard’s childhood home, the farm located on McQuade Rd. near Cranesville, NY. They lived in one side of the house, while “Jump” Reed and Howard’s sister Eunice Przybylo and her family lived on the other side of the house. According to Howard and Annamarie, there was no running water or interior bathroom in the home.7,8,2

1946-1949:
On 20 Jun 1946, Howard and Annamarie purchased a home in North Broadalbin, NY.2,20 By fall 1946, Howard worked for the New York State Conservation Department as a forest laborer on gypsy moth work.21.

1955:
On 3 Jan 1955, Howard and Annamarie purchased Pelcher’s General Store, North Broadalbin, NY.22 Annamarie recalled that they celebrated Christmas (1954) at their North Broadalbin home as they were purchasing and moving to the store.2

1956:
On 11 Dec 1956, Howard and Annamarie sold their General Store in North Broadalbin, NY.23 They found it very difficult to handle running the store as they still owned their North Broadalbin house, Annamarie worked full time as a teacher and they had an infant, Howard Edward along with 4-year-old Laurel Ann.8,2 Howard obtained a job with the Federal Government Department of Agriculture Forestry Service, so the Reed family moved to an upstairs apartment on 7th Avenue, Gloversville, NY.8,2

1957:
In late 1957, the Reed family left their Gloversville apartment and moved back to their North Broadalbin home where they celebrated Christmas.

1958:
On 18 Apr 1958, Howard and Annamarie sold their North Broadalbin home that they had purchased in 1946.24 They moved the family to an upstairs apartment on School St., Mayfield, NY where Annamarie had obtained a teaching job. The house was along the Sacandaga Reservoir, next to the bridge over the Mayfield Lake dam.8,2

1960:
Howard and Annamarie Reed purchased property at 4 Woodside Ave., Mayfield on 6 Jul 1960.25,26

1970’s and 1980’s:
Howard and Annamarie’s first truck camper was a Roadcruiser on a blue Ford pickup truck, after which they purchased a Realite truck camper. That was followed by a “mini”motor home by Realite, then a larger Realite motor home. Howard and Annamarie were members of the Leisure Weekenders Camper Club, Bob-A-Doo’s Sales, Amsterdam, New York for many years. They enjoyed the meets and the company, and formed many lasting friendships through this club. It was only after the sale of their last motor home, because Howard was no longer comfortable driving something that big, that Annamarie started seriously collecting her other life-long love, dolls.2

Howard and Annamarie also enjoyed snowmobile riding. They owned three snowmobiles (one Sno-Prince and two Skiroules) and were also members of the Bannertown Snowmobile Club in Mayfield, NY.2

Some of the family’s favorite places to eat were: the Idle Hour in Johnstown, NY; The Hope Diner in Hope, NY; Silva’s in Glenville, NY; and Grants/Carl Co. in the Amsterdam, NY mall.2

The family pets during these years were: Cub (registered name: King of the Woods), a male Shipperke, circa 1960-1974; Wags (late 1960’s) and Ruckus (1970’s), both large male Beagles; Big Tom, a male common cat (circa 1960-1972) and Koochka, a female calico cat (1972-?).2

July 1974:
Howard retired from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.2

1976:
Annamarie retired from teaching June 1976 after 32 years in the classroom including experience in Kindergarten through grade 8.2

2002:
Howard entered Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, NY on 17 Sept 2002 for surgery for an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Howard died quietly at 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning, Oct. 12, 2002 at Ellis Hospital, Schenectady, NY from complications resulting from surgery nearly three weeks earlier. His daughter, Laurel Reed Berbach was with him. 5,2 The cause of death was: cardiopulmonary arrest due to septicemia. Contributing factors were: acute renal failure and pneumonia.5

Burial was with full Military Honors.2

Howard’s address at death was: 4 Woodside Ave., Mayfield, NY 121175



Special friends:
William Floyd Conrad (Floyd), Amsterdam, New York, best friends growing up.2

Lyman Jay Saltsman (Jakey), Fonda, New York, worked together for New York State Conservation Department and remained lifelong friends.2

The following military record was written by Laurel Reed Berbach, August 2009 and was revised June 2016 and April 2018. The information was taken from personal interviews with Howard F. Reed by Laurel Reed Berbach and Howard E. Reed27,7, his children; from two small diaries now in the possession of Howard E. Reed28,29; from a video interview on 18 April 1991 by Owen Billman, Something For the Record, The Mayfield Historical Society30, a copy of said interview now in Laurel Reed Berbach’s possession; and from the following book: Crowley, Major T. T. And Captain G. C. Burch, Eight Stars to Victory: Operations of the First Combat Engineers Combat Battalion in World War II. J. N. Waldstein, 1987. 2nd edition31. (Additional sources are noted when used.)


Howard F. Reed, PFC6
#12079157 T42
1st Squad, 1st Platoon
C Company*, 1st Engineers Combat Battalion
1st Infantry Division**

Served with General Patton’s Army in Africa and Sicily and with the First Army in Europe.

*C Company was usually attached to one of three Infantry Regiments, for the most part to the 26th Infantry Regiment.32
**There were about 15,000 men that actually served at any given time in the 1st Division during World War II. About 50,000 men served in the First Division during World War II. Of those serving in the Division, 4,325 were killed in action. There were roughly a total of 21,000 casualties (killed, wounded, captured and missing in action) in the 1st Division during the duration of World War II.

Howard Francis Reed was born and raised in Amsterdam, New York and enlisted in the United States Army on 26 March 1942 in Albany, New York at the age of 23.18 When asked by his daughter why he chose to enlist, he answered, “I thought I was going to miss something. Which, I guess I didn’t!”

Howard was in the Army for 42 consecutive months. He served outside the United States from 2 August 1942 to 15 September 1945 (37 months and 15 days with no leave home to the U.S.) He enlisted at age 23 and returned home at age 27.

After enlisting in March 1942, Howard was inducted into the Army at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He then received engineer training at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Georgia and was then sent to Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania to await assignment overseas. He always told his family that his original assignment was to be sent to Alaska to build the Alaskan Railroad, but that fell through and he was then assigned to duty overseas. After a short leave and visit home to Amsterdam, NY, he shipped out of the U.S. on 2 August 1942 aboard the Queen Mary bound for Scotland and England. When first sent overseas, Howard was assigned to H and S Company for a very short time. He was also assigned to the experimental D Company for a short time in North Africa. He requested a re-assignment and was then reassigned to C Company for the remainder of the war. Howard said that if he had a choice he would rather be shot to death than worked to death! Up until that time, his unit planted mine fields and disarmed enemy mine fields, very labor intensive and physically demanding work. Howard served most of the time in the First Infantry Division, First Engineers Combat Battalion, C Company, which was usually attached to the 26th Infantry Regiment.

Howard described his job in the 1st Engineers as mostly sweeping for mines and booby traps. His battalion only built bridges in emergency situations. Bridge building was usually assigned to “Corps engineers.” His job as an engineer attached to an infantry unit “was to do anything to remove an obstruction” and “keep the Company moving forward.” He also said that if there was a counter attack and the infantry company was knocked out, it was the job of the engineers to go in as infantry until replacements arrived. As a combat engineer, Howard had to carry the same weapons as the infantry regiment. While the infantry soldier usually had to walk, engineers often rode in trucks because they had so much equipment. His outfit often had to conduct nighttime reconnaissance ahead of the US advance and behind enemy lines in order to determine soil type for landing heavy equipment in an advance. On one occasion, when reconnoitering across the Roer River ahead of the advance, their inflatable boat was destroyed by German machine gun fire. Most of the squad made it back, but Howard said that water was mighty cold!

From England, Howard was shipped to North Africa, where he took part in the Invasion of North Africa at the port of Arzew and the city of Oran, Algeria on 8 Nov 1942. After taking Oran, his unit moved steadily eastward to Tunisia and the successful conclusion of the North African campaign. Howard’s D Company experience during the Battle of El Guettar, Tunisia is chronicled in the book The Battle is the Pay off by Ralph Ingersoll (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1943).

Following North Africa and a very short rest, Howard served throughout the Sicilian Campaign, taking part in the assault landing of Gala, Sicily on 10 July 1943.

After a long rest and training in England during the late fall, winter and spring of 1943-1944, Howard and the 1st Engineers were part of the first assault landings at Omaha Beach, Normandy, France (D-Day), June 6, 1944.13 The 1st Division was the first to land at Omaha. Howard’s unit was scheduled to land that afternoon, but due to the heavy casualties taken by the first wave, he and his unit were sent in to “Easy Red” (E-1) much earlier, probably landing by 10:00 a.m. Looking out from his landing craft (LST 495) he said he saw the “most terrible sight in his entire life”, continuous artillery and mortar fire from shore. He said that it was the usual 1st Division “bad luck” that a second German division had unexpectedly been assigned to take part in training maneuvers at Omaha Beach, resulting in a “mighty bloody day.” 33

After seven or so days, his unit had to be held back at Caumont, France to await supplies and replacements, and to wait for the rest of the Allied troops to catch up. After the breakthrough at St. Lo, France, Howard and the 1st Engineers continued on, participating in battles through Northern France. He and the 1st Engineers crossed into Belgium through Mons, breaching the Siegfried Line at the German border. After crossing the border, Howard and the 1st Engineers fought building-to-building for about ten days, finally capturing the city of Aachen, Germany. According to Howard, most of his advance in Aachen was underground. The Engineers carried TNT charges, using them to blast through cellar walls from cellar-to-cellar, through tunnels and sewers, continuing underground for entire city blocks while searching out and cutting wires until finally silencing a land line the Germans were using for communications.

Aachen was where Howard was part of a group of soldiers that attempted to use a trolley car packed with explosives to knock out a fortified gun position. The incident was recorded in Charles Whiting’s Bloody Aachen (New York: Stein and Day, 1976):
“On the morning of 17 October a group of engineers, stationed on the heights above the city, decided they would take a hand in the task of reducing Aachen’s defences before the final assault. Two days before they had found an abandoned city tramcar in the city’s Burtscheid suburb, bearing the line-number thirteen, and the idea of the “V-13’ had been born. For a day they had worked on it like enthusiastic schoolboys. On both sides they had painted its name ‘V-13’ in large letters. Next to it the tram now bore the words ‘Berlin’ plus an arrow pointing forward, and ‘Aachen-Express’. In the doorway they had wedged a looted portrait of Hitler with the words ‘Heil Heel’ scrawled in black paint beneath it . But that wasn’t all. The whole interior of the tram had been filled to the roof with captured German flak ammunition, triggered to be set off by a time fuse once the V-13 hit its target.

That morning the engineers pushed their ‘revenge weapon’ into position. As they visualized it, the V-13 would roll down the hill following the tramlines, take a right curve, gathering speed all the time, and reach right into the centre of Burtscheid. When they were ready the sergeant in charge set the time-pencil and gave the signal to start and they began to push the tram along the rusty tramlines. Slowly the ancient vehicle gathered speed. They watched it rattling down the height towards the German positions, careering wildly from side to side, as if it would jump from the rusty rails at any moment. Seconds later it whizzed round the curve and disappeared from sight. The engineers’ eyes flew to the dials of their looted wrist-watches, as they timed the weapon’s progress into Burtscheid. Suddenly there was a tremendous explosion. The engineers ducked. The blast wave hit them in the face. Automatically they opened their mouths to prevent their eardrums from being burst by the pressure. Then they saw a brown mushroom of smoke rising into the air far short of the target. The V-13 had exploded prematurely! Despondently they set off to look for new homemade ‘secret weapons’.” (p146-147)

Howard said that the German soldiers were surrendering in droves, so many that there were not enough men to guard them. One group of prisoners was left alone overnight in a cellar and told to stay there while the Americans went out on a mission. When Howard and his fellow soldiers returned the next morning, the prisoners were still there, but in the daylight the Americans discovered that an entire wall where the prisoners were left was gone. The prisoners could have left anytime during the night! The Germans said they were done with the war and preferred to surrender to the Americans rather than the Russians.

After Aachen, Howard and the 1st Engineers participated in the horrific Battle of the Hurtgen Forest where his company sustained heavy casualties, but were the first to break through the forest. Howard said the forest was so thick it was like “advancing into an invisible wall.” In Merode, Germany on the east side of the forest, Howard narrowly avoided being captured when his lieutenant sent him back with three others to check on the progress of the tanks that hadn’t shown up. The tanks had been delayed, mired in the mud. The Lieutenant and others of his squad who remained in Merode were captured.

Howard’s C Company (attached to the 26th Infantry) held Butenback, Germany during the Battle of the Bulge, They were so weak from loss during the Battle of Hurtgen Forest, they had been sent to Butenback prior to the “Bulge” to recuperate. Speaking of the Battle of the Bulge, Howard said, “Food was not a priority, only ammunition and the wounded had priority.” He and his unit went without eating for three days. They dug frozen apples from under the snow and stewed them in a helmet. After being one of the first companies to cross the Remagen Bridge over the Rhine River, Howard and the 1st Engineers advanced to the heavily wooded areas of the Harz Mountains in Germany.

Combat finally ended for Howard at the Harz Mountains where he was wounded near the left knee by shrapnel on 17 April 1945. He was caught in an enemy artillery barrage near the end of the war. He was hospitalized in Paris for a month during which time the war ended. He was in Paris for VE Day. He said his type of wound was called the “million dollar wound” by combat soldiers. Although, the wound took him out of the fighting, it ended up delaying his return home. Other long-time soldiers in his unit were sent home before he was. He recuperated and was returned to duty on 8 May 1945 while he awaited discharge.

Howard was given an Honorable Discharge34 on 20 Sept 1945 as Private First Class in Headquarters and Service Company, 324th Engineer Battalion, Fort Dix, NJ. As part of demobilization, he was reassigned to and eventually discharged from this new battalion, along with other 1st Engineers that he had served with for so long. Meanwhile, his original unit, the 1st Engineers (those who did not have enough points and were not eligible for discharge) were sent elsewhere in Europe, including guard duty at the Nuremburg Trials.

Howard arrived home on September 21 or 22, 1945. When Howard arrived home at the family farm outside Amsterdam, New York, his father was out working in one of the fields. Howard walked out to meet him. The first thing his father did was look at his leg and a look of relief passed over his face. Apparently, his family was convinced he had lost his leg when he was wounded. The reports sent home concerning his recovery were very brief. Howard and Annamarie Gifford, his long-time girlfriend and fiancé who had waited throughout the war for him, were married immediately on 6 October 1945. , (They became engaged through the mail. Howard proposed, then sent money to Annamarie, who bought her own engagement ring!) Colonel Gara tried to talk Howard into staying in the service after the war as a Master Sergeant. Howard declined.

Howard stated that in war “there’s tough times, but in combat, there’s good times, too. Sometimes there’s hilarious times!” He often told the story of a friend he called “Father Donovan” that took place after Tunisia in May 1943 while they were back in Oran resting and awaiting shipment to Sicily. His unit was resting under date palms in a farmer’s yard near Sidi-Chami. About 20 feet from his pup tent was a huge earthen, cement and stone vat of wine. The farmer told them they could drink all they wanted as long as they didn’t waste it. His friend took the farmer up on the offer, had “quite a few,” climbed up the vat to fill his pitcher again, and fell in! Howard let him “swim” awhile, laughing all the time, before he helped his friend out.

He told another story that took place in Caumont, France after the Normandy invasion. After they took the city, Howard left the squad to go back to his platoon. He stated it was odd how “like a homing pigeon, you could always find your platoon.” He looked across a street and saw a “winery.” He stated to himself, “That’s where they are!” Sure enough, that’s where they were. His friend saw him coming and called “Come here, Senator, [Howard’s nickname during the war was Senator] and have a drink! I haven’t got a lady’s slipper, but how about a combat boot?”

Still another story from Caumont concerned their discovery of a 55-gallon (approximately) wooden barrel of cognac. His squad decided to take the barrel back with them. Being engineers, they had access to a truck that carried their tools. As they were loading the barrel onto the truck their Battalion Commander came by. Howard said to himself, “We’ve had it now!” He said to the commander, “Spoils of war, Sir!” The Battalion Commander said, “Good, Good. Put it in the truck. We’ll have a party later!”

A final story took place during the Battle of Aachen. While holed up in one of the thick-walled cellars of the city, a friend who was recently from Ireland just prior to the war, was quite a musician. He had discovered a violin in the building. When Howard was relieved to come down to the cellar for “chow”, the soldier was playing “Old Soldiers Never Die.” Howard never forgot that song.

Howard also spoke of several stories that illustrated the tough times of war. He observed that he never slept in a bed for a little over a year. In an attack on a hill, shrapnel cut his pack off his back. Another time, shrapnel hit Howard’s “writing box” which he kept in his front left pocket. It broke a bottle of red ink, possibly saving his life. His family still has the pictures and notebook he carried in that pocket which are covered in red ink! In the city of Aachen, Germany, a bullet blew the front tire off his motorcycle. He said it was a “close call!” Another time, during a mortar barrage probably in the Hurtgen Forest, Howard jumped into a hole and three men jumped in on top of him. A shell hit the lip of the hole, killing the top two men and wounding the third. Howard was knocked out for about four hours of the battle. The third soldier was a friend, Johnny Hurtuk. Hurtuk woke up first and then woke Howard up. The first two soldiers had been pulled out of the hole. Howard and Hurtuk surmised that Germans came through, pulled out the first two soldiers who were dead, assumed Hertuk and Howard were dead also, and moved on. There was still another story he only told once to his daughter, Laurel. He spoke of an American soldier who was loading artillery and didn’t get out of the way in time. He was accidentally blown in half by his own men.

Although he suffered from nightmares on occasion for the rest of his life, Howard was extremely proud of the part he played in serving his country. While some veterans are reluctant to talk about the war, Howard was very willing. However, when he did talk of the war, he usually recounted his stories in a way that avoided the horror of war. His most memorable words were, “I wouldn’t take all the money ever minted to go through another minute of it [the war]. I wouldn’t take that same amount of money for my experience, either.”


HONORS INCLUDE:13
Eight Battle Stars (“Eight Stars to Victory”) for: Algeria-French Morocco, Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Central Europe, Rhineland [Arrowhead signifies beachhead], 1 Silver Star (equals 5 Bronze Stars) and 3 Bronze Stars

ETO (Eastern Theater Offensive) Ribbon (displays Battle Stars)

3 Arrowheads (for taking part in three major assault landings (Africa, Sicily, Normandy)

The First Engineer Combat Battalion had three Presidential Battle Citations: twice for North Africa and also for “extraordinary heroism” on the Normandy Beaches

Distinguished Unit Badge with two Oak Leaf Clusters

Purple Heart-wounded in action

European-Aftrican-Middle Eastern Service Medal with Bronze Service Star

Good Conduct Medal

Allowed to wear the French Croix de Guerre Fourragere


MAJOR BATTLES:
AFRICA: Oran, Arzew, Ousseltai, Kasserine, Gafsa, El Guettar, Beja, Mateur
SICILY: Gela, Barra Franco, Petralia, Nicosia, Toina, Randazzo, Mt. Etna
EUROPE: Omaha Beach (Normandy), Aachen, Hurtgen Forrest, Battle of the Bulge, Remagen, Hartz Mountains

TIMELINE:
26 March 1942 Enlisted in the Army. Inducted at Fort Dix, NJ
5 June 1942 Fort Belvoir, VA Engineer training
Fort Benning, GA Joined the 1st Division
Fort IndianTown Gap, PA Short leave home to Amsterdam, NY
2 August 1942 Left U.S. on the “Queen Mary”
7 August 1942 Landed in Scotland, Tidworth Barracks
8 August 1942 Train to England via Glasgow
September Training back in Scotland - Inverary
22 October 1942 Left Scotland on the “Royal Ulsterman”
8 November 1942 Landed in Africa-Beachhead Oran, Algeria
15 January 1943 Tunisia
13 May 1943 Left Tunisia
15 May 1943 Oran, Algeria
20 June 1943 Algiers
8 July 1943 Left Africa on the “Acadia”
10 July 1943 Assault landing Gela, Sicily
23 October 1943 “Sterling Castle” to Algiers, Africa
27 October 1943 “Franconia” to England
6-7 November 1943 Landed Liverpool, England
Visited: Salisbury, Andover, London, Southampton, Glasgow, Grenocke, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Blandford, Dorchester
1-2 June 1944 Left England on the LST-495
6 June 1944 Assault landing at Omaha Beach, Normandy, France
Jun - Sept 1944 France to Belgium
13-14 Sept 1944 Seigfried Line
12-21 Oct 1944 Aachen, Germany (C Company with 26th Infantry)
16 Nov - 6 Dec 1944 Hurtgen Forest, Germany
16 Dec-Jan, 1944 Battle of the Bulge
2-5 Feb 1945 Seigfried Line again
26 Feb 1945 Roer River Crossing
Mar 15, 1945 Remagen Bridge (Rhine River Crossing)
17 April1945 Wounded, Hartz Mountains, Germany (schrapnel in knee)
27 Apr1945 Awarded the Purple Heart
7 May 1945 VE Day in Paris
8 May 1945 Returned to duty
1 September 1945 Left on the “S.S. William Floyd” for U.S.
15 September 1945 Fort Dix, NJ Discharged!