70th Infantry Division Association January, 1986

Axe-head ArchivesThe "Milwaukee Journal" reproduced itsfront page of May 7, 1945 on the same day 40years later. In a dispatch announcing executionof provisions of the surrender of Germany, itwas noted that the 1st, 2nd, 97th, 90th, 5th,26th, 65th, 71 st, 80th , 45th and 70th Divisionswere in the line.Only three cities were still held by the Nazisas the war ended: Breslau, Dresden andChemnitz.Francis Dhein, Batty C, 88n 882 FA, sentalong the memento. He said: "I didn't reallyrecall what day the war had ended until AndyDavenport, as he often does , phoned fromRiver Edge, New Jersey, to Sheboygan, Wisconsinfor a long chat. I can't recall just wherewe were when the war ended, isn ' t thatstrange? I know we'd been out of combat forsome time and that we even had a full fieldinspection during that period. There was anorder that we were not allowed to wear thoseknit caps without our helmets. Our gunnercorporal, a rather excitable fellow, was soangry that he soaked his cap in gasoline and setfire to it. "That order was one of Gen. Patton's ridiculousedicts that soldiers, even in combat, had tobe dressed as for a parade. I saw artillerymendigging in 155s-the equivalent of digging abasement for a fair-sized house-while wearingneckties. Yet Patton-not one of my favoritepeople , obviously-wore non-regulationivory-handled pistols." A truck in which I was riding during thejump-off at Saarbrucken in March 19. 1945 ,ran over two land mines . My friends AndrewHogg and George Fetter were killed, " recallsEdward Lazar, radio operator with 570th SignalCo., until his medical discharge in May,'45.He joined the 70th at Adair after basic trainingat Camp Roberts, California. A year earlierhe had married Ida Rifkin in Philadelphia andthey have three daughters and I 0 grandchildren.Ed is president of the Ygadov JewishCommunity and of the Philly chapter of theA.L.S. Foundation." A book that any * foot soldier will appreciate"is the way Sherman Manning, Sv Co. ,276th, describes "The Gentle Infantryman"by William Young Boyd and published by St.Martin's Press , 175 5th Ave., New York, NY." It recounts battles that strongly parallel theones the 70th fought. ''The unusual occupation * of a tipple boss in acoal mining operation is that of Jacob Turnerof Caldwell, West Virginia. A Camp AdairTrailblazer since August, 1943, he later servedwith the HQ Btty , 884th FA. Later he joined ananti-aircraft outfit guarding supply trains . HeJanuary, 1986was discharged in April, 1946. Married to RuthCox of Newell, West Virginia, they have threechildren.*It was up and down for Eldon Foster, of274th's Cannon Co. He was promoted to sergeantwhen he was accepted as an air crewcadet, then reduced in rank, without prejudice,when he didn't make infantry OCS. He joinedthe service a year before Pearl Harbor andserved with artillery units at Fort Rosecrans,California and Ellensburg, Washington. Hethen came with us at Adair. He was dischargedin December, 1945. He and his wife, theformer Berniece have a son and a daughter. Ateacher and administrator for 35 years, Eldon isa member of Phi Delta Kappa, 19th CoastArtillery Assn. , National Education Assn. , andKansas Historical Assn. He lives in Wichita." My only regret is that it took me so long tolearn of the 70th Association," writes J. ~H.Satterlee. '·1 was discharged October II.1945, my ninth wedding anniversary and returnedto my Post Office job. I retired from theservice as assistant postmaster in St. Elmo.Illinois in '71 ."Then I took an 84-hour training course foremergency medical technicians and worked foran ambulance service in Altamont. I retired.EVEN IN GERMANY ...... that damn KP goes on!" So wailedPfc Sammy Gann (left) and Pvt. StanleyMonroe as they peel some good oldYankee spuds for the 1st Bn mess in the75th 275th. This was shot in April, 1945.again, in 1975 and since then have lived thegood life with a lot of traveling ...He was with the 3rd Bn M~dics. "It willinterest our friends of the medical detachmentto learn that Capt. James McKay, battalionsurgeon. retired two years ago. He and his wifeJane are zooming all over the country in their34-foot Airstream.Supporting the 70th * with Sherman tanks andhalftracks in the Rhineland campaign was the14th Armored Division, specifically the 62ndBattalion. They fought with us continously forI 0 days. got a 2-day relief and went right backinto combat. In that short time they sufferedmore casualties than they did at any time intheir long service.Of the Alsatian campaign, a military historianwrites: "Men who were there who "hadseen a lot more of this war and had fought insome of its toughest battles said that this ratedamong the very worst. One oldtimer, a veteranof many famous battles, breathed an oath, 'Iwish I were back at Anzio. ' "Jerry W. Foster, of * Cos. C and A, 275th, isan advertising manager in San Leandro, California.He was in uniform from November,'42 to June, '46 and joined the Trailblazers atAdair in March, 1944. He had been with the78th Division.He's a member of the Advertising Club andthe Commonwealth Club of San Francisco andthe Boy Scouts. A month after he came homehe married Genelle Sooman of Oakland andthey have a daughter, two sons and threegrandchildren.11