Oral Historian, Author, Public Speaker
One Lousy Bullet One day Dad was told to go see the Burgermeister of Leuchtenburg. There he was told that he had 24 hours to leave Bavaria and to return to Austria. Our German citizenship had been canceled and in this instant we were declared refugees. Dad was devastated. All we had was in one […]
One Lousy Bullet (excerpt) Read More »
A Winning Ticket (excerpt) Shortly after ordination, I was assigned to St. Mary of the Eternal parish in North Philadelphia. The church was built to serve Italian Catholics living between Erie Avenue and Girard Avenue, from Broad Street to the Schuylkill River, who wished to belong where their language and culture held sway. My interest
A Bugle Calling, Whistle Blowing Attack (excerpt) The 7th Marine Regiment (Mathew’s unit) was the first American outfit to go head to head with the Chinese, on November 3, 1950, during what the regimental history called “a midnight bugle calling and whistle blowing frontal attack near Sudong.” “The 7th Marines … spearheaded the thrust northward
The Mathew Caruso Story Read More »
Francis JosephSon of a veteran attached to the 100thGreat book on some of the last survivors of D-Day Read More This was like being with my father again to recall his service in World War 2. Mr. .Khoury’s story was my fathers too. My Dad was a gunner with the 209th attached to 100th .
Baptism of Fire Cleo Coleman Cleo Coleman of Phelps, Ky., was a loader, and then a gunner, in B Company of the 712th Tank Battalion. During the battalion’s 1994 reunion at Fort Mitchell, Ky., he told me of his first day in combat, on July 3rd, 1944, in the hedgerows of Normandy. I was a
Tiger Burning Angelo Crapanzano has a set of feeler gauges — narrow, thin strips of gunmetal gray steel with various markings — in his memorabilia book. They are arranged to spell “US Navy LST 507.” The feeler gauges and the smashed, faceless remains of a watch he was wearing on the night of April 28,
Little Joe Walter Galbraith The following account by Pfc. Walter Galbraith of the 712th Tank Battalion is included in “Tanks for the Memories.” The last man on guard at night was supposed to make sure that all the ammunition was out of the guns. We were in Germany, I forget what part of Germany it
The Island of White Witches Col. Charles B. Bryan At the 1995 reunion of the 90th Infantry Division, Col. Charles Bryan gave me a copy of a manuscript he had written. At the time, he had only made ten copies, for his grandchildren. I have always treasured my copy, as it is one of the best
The Island of White Witches Read More »
A Lousy Deal Vern Schmidt Vern Schmidt, of Fresno, Calif., is a veteran of the 90th Infantry Division. He told me this story at the Division’s 1993 reunion in Louisville, Ky. On March 12, 1945, I had my first shower in six weeks, and I didn’t get another one until the third week in April.
Man Overboard Lou Putnoky Coast Guard veteran Lou Putnoky of Edison, New Jersey, was a crew member on the USS Bayfield, which was the flagship of the Utah Beach invasion fleet on D-Day. When I called to ask if I could interview him in 1994, his wife answered the phone. Lou wasn’t in, she said.