Fall - 70th Infantry Division Association

There "Were a lot of teenage Trailblazers in
No wonder I, at the age of 32, felt like an
ooold ooold man in the 70th ' There were a lot
of teenagers aboard and many of them are now
entering their names in the " Baby of the Battalions'·
sweepstakes. (Or, as some prefer
" Younger Veterans. ")
A combat veteran who joined the Army at
the age of 14-and was kicked out two years
later for being too young-may be the youngest
Trailblazer. We place his name at the head
of the adjacent list but put a question mark right
behind it because we don 't have any specific
dates.
Rex Jeffrey, F/275, sends along a photocopy
of a newspaper clipping. Abysmally weak
on specifics, the story says that William D.
Burch had arrived at Camp Shanks, New York
to be separated from the Army. His age was
given as 16 at that time. Unfortunately, the
idiot who wrote the story didn' t put in any
dates, either of Bill 's birth, induction into the
service or return from the ETO. A couple other
glaring errors make the documentation less
than engraved in stone. Supposedly he enlisted
in Des Moines at the age of 14, solemnly
affirming he was 18. He was in combat all
through the 70th's service there.
Anyone who has any information on Brother
Billy will undoubtedly tell us. Especially if this
claim is inaccurate.
Harold Osias, C/276, sends in a change of
address notice (thereby saving the Association
60c, thank you!) and a PS: " I was born May
16. 1926, which may make me the youngest."
Charlotte Sample (who in the last issue asked
members to write to her severely ailing husband,
Robert Sample, B/276) says: Bob's
birthday is June 27, 1925. He continues about
the same. They get him up · for about an hour
every day in a wheelchair. He continues to fight
infections. Quite frankly, I don't know how he
has continued to hold up under all that he's
been through. l trust we wi ll continue to be in
your prayers."
Noah Kennedy, E/276, went on to become a
justice of the 13th Court of Appeals of Texas,
an office he still holds. " I was born February
28, 1926 and was 18 when l went overseas. I
marked my 19th birthday in the !24th General
Army Hospital near Salisbury, England. (Ed.
Note: When the 70th Division returned from
Europe in the fall of '45, we were put up in
Tidsworth Barracks, almost next-door to the
hospital.) I have since learned that most of my
squad was killed or wounded. The only survivor
that l have heard of is Gene Volz, of
Willow Green, Pennsylvania, who became
squad leader and, th rough correspondence, has
provided me with most of my information."
*
In the same Company. I of 275. was Rudy
Senser who was born April 21, 1926. "I enlisted
in January, '44 and went into ASTP.
When that program dissolved, I came to the
70th.
" In less than an hour after contact with the
12
enemy-on New Year's Day, '45-1 was on
my way to the rear with a machinegun bullet
through my thigh. This occurred near Phillipsbourg
in what is incorrectly referred to as
'The ambush on the Bitche Road ' in the book
'Ordeal in the Vosges.' It really wasn't an
ambush; they simply didn 't want us to take the
road to wherever it was going.
"After six weeks in the hospital in Epinal,
France. l returned to my unit. Everyone was
getting ready for another assault in mid­
February. During that time and until the end of
March, my complexion turned a pea-green
from fright. I didn't lose that color until! found
that the Germans were retreating faster than we
could advance."
And yet another "younger elder": Writes
Robert Worley, C/275, " My birthday is May
17 , 1926 (which puts him just about halfway
between Everett Austin and Nevin Rauch,
both C/274) I enjoy the 'Trailblazer.' For one
thing , l never really knew where I was until you
describe the incidents and explain them with a
map."
Another 19th birthday was "celebrated" in
an unorthodox manner by Bob Clark, C/275.
" I was born on New Year's Day, 1926. My last
teen birthday was marked as we went into
YOUNGEST SWEEPSTAKES
1929?
1927, May 1
All in 1926
August 12,
June 27,
June 26,
May 25,
May 17,
May 16,
May 12,
May 8,
May 6,
April 29,
April 21,
March 21,
March 20,
March 9,
March 9,
March 5,
March 3,
Feb. 22,
Feb. 28,
Feb. 14,
Feb. 11,
Feb. 9,
Feb. 5,
Feb. 3,
Jan. 29,
Jan. 26,
Jan. 21,
Jan. 20,
Jan. 5,
Jan. 1,
William D. Burch
R. D. Kelly
Matthew Warminski
Robert Sample
Joseph Kenavan
Nevin Rauch
Robert Worley
Harold Osias
Norman Grover
Frank Frohlich
Everet Austin
Wellstood Tipton
Gerald Thaw
Rudy Senser
Albert Ernes
Stuart Lucas
Wtllt Winebreener
John McGuire
Vincent Ravitz
Gene Krueger
William Hines
Noah Kennedy
Bill Owen
Leon Hyatt, Jr.
Raymond Wilkinson
Roy Scherre
William Griffin
AI Hedrick
Edward Savois
Jack Apostol
J. Lynn Hughes
Herbert Gallahan
Jack Barton
Bob Clark
Philippsbourg. I have been a member of the
Association for two years and would have
joined earlier if I had only known about it. "
Born a year and two days later, May I , 1927,
is R. D. Kelly, Medics/275.
*
··1 may not be the youngest Trailblazer,"
concedes William Griffin, 1/275, "as I was
born February 5. 1926. "But I bet I'm the only
one drafted out of the I Oth grade'
" That was in May, '44. F.D.R. was saying
'Mamas. your 18-year-olds will not be sent
overseas.' At the same time Capt. Long was
saying to me: 'Griffin, do you want to stay with
your outfit'7 This is where your buddies are.
Now don't you want to ship out with thcm·r
"'Ycssir 1 Ycssir' I'm ready' Please don't
split me off from my friends. Sir, I have hardly
been out of Arkansas and here our President is
trying to sabotage my free trip to France and
Germany..·
"Easy ride on 40-and-8 through France.
Used tic rings to swing my shelter half into a
hammock . . the best bed on the train.
" Saw tracers and was the first into a ditch in
an ambush. Came off the hill wi th frozen feet ,
spent 19th birthday in hospital. Rejoined Item
Co. in February. Got it in the butt from a tree
burst and back to the same hospital. Penicillin
(new then) every three hours for 28 days
whether I needed it or not. Research?
Back to I. week after VE-Day. Lined up and
watched the girls go by. No touch !! Enjoyed
V J-Day with a party in the rain.
"September. 1945. I'm in the 3rd Division,
somewhere. Now I am a cook.
"December 25 . To the 78th in Berlin. Prime
duty. Touched the girls. Played good game of
basketball. Now I am a supply sergeant. Without
stripes, though. Rc-uppcd for 90 days.
" July, '46. Back home in Arkansas. Later,
agriculture degree from U. of Arkansas. Spent
years with Farmers Home and National Park
Service. Retired; became self employed in real
estate. Threw away the clock and calendar.
Now 61; gonna work till I' m 100.
"Thank you, God, for permitting me to live
in this great country, in a great period of history.
And for allowing me to be a participant.
And , Capt. Long, the circumstances of my life
that you took part in brought me home with a
whole body and healthy mind. My memory of
you is full of love and affection ."
*
He knows he won't be the youngest, says
Roy Sherre C/276, but he is among the youngest.
" I was born February 5, 1926, and I'm just
a few days older than William Hines who was
in Charley Company with me. I joined the 70th
at Leonard Wood and stayed with C Company
until they began to break us up. I was sent to the
29th Infantry in Frankfurt then finally enl isted
70th Division Assn TRAILBLAZER.