WINTER, 1989 - 70th Infantry Division Association

To Tell My Grandchildrendidn't give him any ammunition for therifle.''I was assigned to the 70th from arepple-depple in France in March, '45 asan 'MOS 745, replacement rifleman'. Divisionsaid I'd get bullets for my M-1 atRegiment. Regiment said I'd get 'em atBattalion, etc. I was assigned to a HeavyWeapons Company D, still with my bulletlessM-1. I had weighed 144 pounds butquickly got down to 132 and I had a problemhandling the rifle (plus a clip and twobandoliers that they finally gave me), anda backpack with three 20-pound boxes ofammo.*We set up in a concrete bunker (west ofPhilippsbourg), taking turns to keep thegun firing all night. I was sleeping whenwe were hit. I awoke just in time to seeKosko fly back from the gun; Gartzkerushed forward to get the gun in actionagain. How he kept from getting killed isbeyond me because the bullets werecoming in through an aperture. I caughtsome splinters. Almost immediatelyanother American gun opened up -whatbeautiful music! The fight was over as fastas it started. I knew we had to move thegun- but where?I took two riflemen with me to see if wecould find someone who knew what wasgoing on and with whom we could set up adefense. I headed to what I thought waseast, toward P-bourg. When I looked at amap, years later, I found I was going in theopposite direction.I ran into Joseph Kopy, 1st Platoon'sheavy machine gun section, and some ofhis men trying to find a way out of thecomplete German encirclement. But wewere taken prisoner.Roy Benda,D/275*(Editor's note: The horrors of his imprisonmentput grave psychological burdenson Benda for 40 years. He began toget relief when he found some old 70thbuddies and for the first time was able totalk about his travail.)*In July, 1945, after returning to my unitfrom a hospital, I received orders to take aWinter, 1989detachment back to the States to a reorganizingInfantry Division headed for thePacific Theater. It was to be in the finalassault on the homeland of Japan the nextspring.Our small group of less than two dozenarrived at the Tarreyton staging area outsideLeHavre along with about 2,000others, boarded the Central Falls Victoryfor a trip across the North Atlantic toNorfolk, Virginia. I do not believe I saw awave or swell less than 50 feet high thewhole trip. It was certainly no comparisonto the trip on the West Point to Marseilles.I picked up a bad skin rash from dirtybedding on the ship but within 30 daysafter we landed, V-J day ended the war.My transfer from the 70th influencedmy decision to not remain in the serviceand make a career of it. But I remainedwith the 4th Division until December,1945, when they transferred their fieldcommissionedofficers to the InfantrySchool at Fort Benning for additionaltraining.Raymond OrrF/276*A highlight of our crossing on the trip toMarseilles: As we passed Gibraltar, a Spitfireor Hurricane streaked at mast-heightacross the ship. A soldier next to mepointed toward Africa: "That's France"and, pointing to Spain, "that's England."I figured he'd do well in Europe.A small guy - he literally dragged thebutt of the BAR on the ground at LeonardWood- was always sounding off aboutwhat he was going to do to the dastardlyHuns once he got to the ETO. Loadeddown with his pack and gear, at Marseille,he yelled, "Lafayette, we are here!" andjumped into the lighter taking us to thedock. He skidded across the metal floor ofthe smaller craft, right into a bulkhead andwas hauled away in a stretcher with abroken leg.I left CP2 to go to a bistro in the city. Iwas talking with a Frenchman whensomeone started shooting at me. My companionsaid, "This isn't a German sniper;the shots were aimed at me. We are settlingscores."Those ''Resistance Fighters'' nevermissed a meal or a cigarette ration but werenever around when we needed local guidesfor a patrol or to point out where Germansympathizers might be living.As we travelled north by 40-and-8 nearLuneville there was a German corpse lyingnear the railroad embankment. I wonderwhy he was left there, boots and all; it hadbeen months since fighting in that area.Was he left there to impress us with theseriousness of the business at hand? Orwas it a dummy, for the same purpose? Ihoped the latter.Corning home on an Army transportfrom Bremerhaven, the first thing weheard directly from the States was:"Pepsi-Cola hits the spot!"Paul GartenmannB/275''There were three * of us who joined DogCompany. One was a guy who had beenwounded, had recovered and was returningto action. The first sergeantthought he ought to get a break and madehim a company runner with a jeep to drive."The other was a kid, just a week olderthan I. (He was born July 26, 1926, whichmakes him the fourth youngest Trailblazeron our rolls. Who was Jim's companionreplacement?/Ed.) I was drafted Sept. 8,'44 and turned 19 some 2 Y2 months afterV-E Day."I was so young I didn't shave once allthe while I was in combat and didn't have awhisker when we were pulled off the line.I shaved occasionally just to be one of theguys."After being transferred to the 3rd Divisionas a low-pointer, I enlisted in theAir Corps, had 45 days leave at home andwent back to Europe for two years ofOccupation duty.''Four Panzer tanks had taken shelterbehind a formidable stone house on theoutskirts of Forbach and were firing at us. Iwas a forward observer and was directingour fire upon them. Although I didn'trequest it, someone in rear headquarters(Continued on next page)Personaladditionsfor the70thHistoryBook9