econo lodge

Hellcat Commemoration 

In Herrlisheim 

"On Friday, 11 May, four Hell- 

cats and their wives met in 

Herrlisheim to participate in a 

commemoration for the town of 

Herrlisheim. But, first, Mayor 

Louis Becker invited them to 

join him and other town offic- 

ials in the town hall for a 

presentation by the mayor and 

then for refreshments of Alsac- 

ian wine and traditional cake 

of the area. Hellcats and Hell- 

kittens who participated were 

Bill and Norma Bartholomew, 

D/92, Bob and Martha Downey, 

D/23, Weston and Brigitte 

Emery, C/66, and George and 

Jacque Hatt, A/17. George Hatt 

presented a letter of greeting to 

the mayor from President Paul 

Hempfling. Mayor Becker gave 

each Hellcat a medallion from 

Herrlisheim plus books and 

papers covering the town today 

and events at the time of the 

war." 

"Following the meeting in the 

mayor's office the commemora- 

tion ceremony conducted by the 

Hellcats at the Herrlisheim 

memorial located next to the 

rebuilt church was a moving 

experience. The mayor, his 

staff, and some of the towns- 

people were witnesses among 

whom were Monsieur and 

Madame Jules Kautz, who were 

at the Water Works during the 

1945 battles, and their daughter 

Helene, who attended a Hellcat 

reunion in the U. S. a number 

of years ago. During the cere- 

mony the Hellcats stood abreast 

at the memorial monument and 

George Hatt made the follow- 

ing statement, which was plac- 

ed in a note at the monument: 

To the people of Herrlisheim, 

who suffered great losses in 

lives and property, the soldiers 

of the United States 12th Arm- 

ored Division who fought here 

from 5 through 20 January 

1945 give their warmest wishes 

for eternal peace and liberty. 

At that point Hellkitten Brigitte 

Emery brought a bouquet of 

flowers forward and Weston 

Emory and the other Hellcats 

placed it on the monument, 

gave a hand salute, and return- 

ed to shake hands with the 

mayor and other Herrlisheim 

citizens. It was clear that 

Mayor Becker was moved by 

the action of these young-sold- 

iers-grown-old, men who had 

come long ago to rescue them 

from the Nazi terror. 

/"*S 

PUBLISHED BY THE 12th ARMORED DIVISION ASSOCIATION 

■DBnBDBD4Dn«DBOBD»D«DBa«DBD«DBD»DBD«GBaBO«DBa«DBD«DBD»DBDBD»D»DBDBDBa«DBD« 

VOL. 44 SEPTEMBER 1990 NO. 1 

in«D»nBn«DBD«D»aBD«a«OBn»DBD«a«DBGBD»DBD»n«DBO«DBD*D»DBO«D»n«D«n«DBD»D«aB 

New Members 

GEORGE F. McKEON, DivArty 

39038 Willowrale Road 

Palmdale, CA 93551 

RANDALL D. MORRIS, C/66 

1342 West Washington 

Marshfield, MO 65706 

VICTOR M. BUZARD, A/119 

1213 Corrinne Street 

Midland, MI 48640 

GLEN H. WALTNER, C/119 

BoxH 

Freeman, SD 57029 

SAMUEL W. MOORE, 152nd 

917 East 2nd 

North Platte, NE 69101 

LELAND J. D. BRIDWELL 

418 Fremont Street ?/43 

Sumner, IL 62466 

Rejuvenated Members 

ROBERT F. BLAKEY, A/56 

12424 S. Keeport Road N. E. 

Poulsbo, WA 98370 

MARSHALL H. O'BRYANT, C/17 

3213 Peggy Street 

Batesville, AR 72501 

DALE BOYCE, B/494 

10525 Compton Blvd., Sp. 3 

Bellflower, CA 90706 

"The people of Herrlisheim 

showed fine hospitality. The 

day before the ceremony Helene 

Kautz and her family invited 

the Hatts and Emerys to her 

home at the Water Works for 

wine and cake. On the day after 

the ceremony, Mayor Becker 

and his wife invited them to 

their home. The Downeys and 

Bartholomews were unable to 

attend because they were not in 

town at these times." 

F. George Hatt, Jr. A/17 

PRESIDENT'S 

REPORT 

By the time you read this our 

44th reunion will be history and 

you will have new officers to 

work with for the coming year. 

This has been a great year for 

me in working with a fine 

group of officers and with the 

help of all our members. I have 

enjoyed being able to be with 

you at our chapter meetings 

and to be a part of the 12th 

family. There will still be a 

couple of chapter meetings this 

fall and hope that you will 

make plans to attend. We are 

working toward our 50th an- 

niversary reunion in 1992 and 

hope that all of you will send 

youi* ideas on how we celebrate 

this anniversary to the commit- 

tee that will plan this meeting. 

Also it is now time to make 

your plans to attend our 45th 

reunion in Omaha, Nebraska 

and Gil Heine has made plans 

for all to have a great time. 

Again, I want to thank all 

the officers that have made my 

year as president so pleasant 

and to thank all our members 

for their support this year. With 

all of us working together, our 

association will always be the 

best army association in the U. 

S. We must continue to work 

together and avoid differences 

among ourselves to remain a 

great family as we are always 

HELLCATS. 

See you in Charlotte. 

SFROM THE 

D. 

ECRETARY'S ÜESK 

This issue of your Hellcat 

News contains the form to order 

your Holiday Greeting Ad. This 

communication of your best 

wishes to your buddies and 

their wives is provided for your 

convenience, and at a very 

minimal cost, when compared 

to sending out individual greetings 

through the mail. 

In this manner, you can 

express your wishes to everyone 

in your unit (and other units), 

and thus be the contributor of 

good cheer in their homesteads. 

Everyone should be home 

after attending the Charlotte 

Reunion, when you read this 

issue. Hopefully, everyone returned 

safe and sound, and 

with memories of a wonderful 

time spent with old friends and 

their spouses and/or guests. It 

is the one time of the year when 

you can meet with most everyone 

in your unit, and in other 

units. Also, you can participate 

in the administration of your 

association by voting for "the 

candidate of your choice for the 

various offices that are filled at 

the Saturday morning meeting 

of the membership. So, if you 

failed to attend, you certainly 

missed out on a good time, and 

an opportunity to express your 

thoughts regarding the conduct 

of your association and it's 

administrative organization. 

Our thanks should go to Paul 

R. Hempfling, Sr. (Div. Trns.) 

for his skillful handling of the 

duties of President. He guided 

our association through another 

year very adequately, making 

the decisions that were necessary, 

and solving problems in 

a diplomatic manner. Our hats 

are off to him for conducting 

himself as a President should. 

He's a wonderful Hellcat! 

Norb Bruemmer, 

Exec. Sec'v. 

CARD OF THANKS 

With much love and humble 

gratitude we would sincerely 

like to thank our friends of the 

Twelfth Armored Division 

Association for the many acts 

of kindness during our time of 

sorrow. You have tenderly and 

gently helped ease the pain. It 

comforts us to know that you 

share our grief. Cherished 

memories of each of you will 

always remain. 

The family of Vernon Wates 

493rd AFA, B Btry.

Page 2 HELLCAT NEWS September 1990 

HELLCAT NEWS 

PUBLISHED BY THE 12th ARMORED DIVISION ASSOCIATION 

Official Publication of the 12th Armored Division Association, 

1913 Jerome Drive, Godfrey, IL 62035-1506 

Writers submitting articles for this publication are solely responsible for 

their contents, not this Association nor it's Editor. 

OFFICERS 

PRESIDENT Paul R. Hempfling, Sr. (Div. Trns.) 

11418 Hillcroft, Houston, TX 77035 (713) 729-7586 

1 st VICE-PRESIDENT Bob L. Mead (B/66) 

4701 N. Cleveland, Kansas City, MO 64117 (816) 454-7099 

2nd VICE-PRESIDENT Robert L. Downey, Sr. (D/23) 

8241 Channel Dr., Port Richey, FL 34668 (813) 849-3448 

TREASURER Robert F. Hoeweler (C/66) 

Home: 2031 W. Galbraith.Road, Unit A., Cincinnati, OH 45239 

Bus: Aluminum Extruded Shapes, Inc., 10549 Reading Rd., Cin., OH 45241 

PAST PRESIDENT Edward J. Buscavage (A/714) 

8509 N. Hamner Avenue, Tampa, FL 33604 (813) 932-2544 

DIRECTORS AT LARGE 

JohnM. Sathrum (B/43), 1611 Laurel Road, Oceanside, CA 92054 (619) 433-3106 

Howard H. Murphy (A/134), 2 Burro Lane, Spring Valley, Wl 54767 (715) 778-4400 

James E. Stone (43rd), 502 Willow Street, Mapleton, IA 51034 (712) 882-2205 

UNIT DIRECTORS ON COUNCIL 

ARTILLERY BATTALIONS: 

Fred Stillman (495th), 15 Greenway South, Babylon, NY 11702 (516) 669-8158 

INFANTRY BATTALIONS: 

George R. O'Bryan, (C/66), 1016 Monroe, Red Bud, IL 62278 (618) 282-6079 

TANK BATTALIONS: 

David Golden, 25 Mildred Lane, Latham, NY 12110 (518) 783-8070 

ENGINEERS - MEDIC - RECON: 

Ernest M. Akaiwa, (92), 82 Bishops Lane, Southampton, L.I., NY 11968 (516) 283-3069 

ASSIGNED UNITS - ORDNANCE, SIGNAL, DIVISION GROUPS: 

Donald J. Hering, HCR Box 186A, Spotted Fawn, No. 25, Keshena, Wl 54135 

APPOINTED OFFICERS 

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY Norbert H. Bruemmer (D/43) 

1913 Jerome Drive, Godfrey, IL 62035-1506 (618) 466-3949 

EDITOR Robert E. Head (Hq./714) 

1080 Huffman Way, Kingman, AZ 86401 (602) 757-8234 

CARTOONIST Edward A. Strazdes (C/56) 

60 Richview Street, Dorchester, MA 02124 

HISTORIAN Kenneth G. Bradstreet (A/494) 

1018 Prairie St., Emporio, KS 66801 (316) 342-8373 

ASSISTANT HISTORIAN Mrs. Harold Durst (S-A/17) 

1114 Congress, Emporio, KS 66801 (316) 342-6641 

SERVICE OFFICER Fred "Mike" Gorman (C/134) 

9190 State Route 762, Orient, OH 43146 (614) 877-9263 

CHAPLAIN Rev. Robert A. Miller (A/494) 

988 Little Texas Valley Rd., Rome, GA 30161 (404) 295-9035 

REUNION CHAIRMAN Forrest Smith (Hq/23) 

108 Falls Creek Road, Tisgah Forrest, NC 28768 (704) 884-5682 

Printed by LAKE PRESS, 119-21 E. FOURTH ST., DE PUE, IL 61322-0172 (815) 447-2222 * 1939-50 Years-1989 * 

■ OBOBOBDBOBaBnBGBOBaBGBOBaBOBOBOBOBCIBOBGBOBOBOBOBOBO» 

Orin M. Smith - Hq/CCA 

W^^jm^M B^^\wi|j^^^> William W. Hardin (Div. Arty) 

j/^^^^Se¡f^=^^^^^^^Í George F. McKeon (Div. Arty) 

GEORGE GRIMSHAW Dues Paid: Robert E. McKain 

73 MANNING STREET (Div MP), Thomas A. Donovan 

PROVIDENCE, RI 02906 (CCR 2 Trans), Gordon A. Yoke 

Phone:(401)331-3694 (572nd AAA), Albert H. 

BOOSTERS Lysinger (Div. Hq.) and Max 

Julius E. Bernstein - Div. Hq. Schwartz (Div. Hq.) 

pc My emotions as I become 

Earl Nichols - Hq/CCA (2) y° ur Unit R , e P are understand- 

ably mixed - I am proud to 

BDBDBD*nBnBDBDBDBDBDBDB gerve yQU but wish ft di(Jn>t 

The Hellcat News (USPO 350-210) is pub- , , , , £ ., , 

lished monthly for the subscription rate of have to be ^CaUSe of the loss 

$10.00. per year by the 12th Armored of a dear friend, Cono Sideri. 

Division Association, 1913 Jerome Drive, M wife Eileen and I and Cono 

Godfrey, II 62035. Second Class postage is i_ j 

paid at Godfrey, Illinois and additional and Audrey shared many a 

mailing offices. special moment in the past, and 

POSTMASTER: Send address . v • »» 

changes to the HELLCAT NEWS, 1913 we treasure his memory. May 

Jerome Drive, Godfrey, IL 62035-1506. his Soul rest in peace. 

Another sad announcement 

is the recent death of William 

O'Brien Cooper (CCB) who died 

on recent travels in Paris, 

France. He was a Past National 

Commander of the Disabled 

American Veterans. He is sur- 

vived by his wife, Lucille of 

Austin, Texas, a son Don of 

Alexandria, VA., and two grand- 

children, Paul and Stephanie. 

Interment was at Arlington 

National Cemetary. 

From: Eugene Blumenshine 

(Hq. Btry 494th): In the HCN 

of July 1990,1 noticed a picture 

of Bill McWorkman and 

Thomas Guigon. Tom and I 

were good friends and our 

acquaintance went back to the 

8th Armd. Div. in Campbell. 

We used to ride into Barkley 

each day from Abilene with a 

Sgt. Graves (82nd Med.) Also a 

Bill Church was with us at that 

time. Bill and his wife Marie 

shared a house with my wife 

and myself. Bill was in the Div. 

Arty. Tom and I were in the 

494th at that time. Tom may 

have ended up in Div. Arty. I 

found a picture of all of us and 

our wives. Maybe we can hear 

from Bill and Tom if given 

enough publicity in the HCN. 

Tom and Lou Ella Guigon lived 

in or around East St. Louis 

during the 1940's. I see Bill's 

name in the HCN under Div. 

Arty, every so often. I believe 

he lives in New Jersey. I also 

discovered a picture of me on 

the French Riviera which re- 

minded me that our oldest son 

and daughter-in-law are there 

right now. 

From Earl Nichols (CCA): 

We're very sorry to hear of the 

passing of Cono. He had been 

doing a yoeman's job for us for 

a long time. Our prayers are 

with his family and we sent a 

memorial to the Association in 

his honor. We had a most 

enjoyable visit in the Spring 

with Lloyd and Georgia 

DeLuca at the Mardi Gras in 

New Orleans. When we got 

home, Orin and Ruth Smith 

stopped by for a short visit on 

their home from Florida. Then 

visited with them in their 

beautiful home in Pequot 

Lakes, MN, fishing and golfing 

while there. In traveling to 

Minnesota, we stopped at the 

Welcome Center in Minnesota 

and parked next to a car with a 

Hellcat license on it. Turned out 

to be Robert Kridmer from 

Troop C, 92nd Ren. and his wife 

Elsie. Plan to meet him again 

17th 

Armored 

Infantry 

Battalion 

WILLIAM "Bill" FUNKE 

1312 ALFORD STREET 

FT. COLLINS, CO 80524 

Phone: (303) 482-0255 

BOOSTERS 

William E. Stowe, Jr. - Sv. 

James J. Golip, Jr. - C 

Saverio Ignatti - B 

Col. (USA Ret) Carl J. Helton-A 

William H. "Bill" Funke - A 

John M. Haskedakes - B 

John T. Williams - Sv. 

Marshall H. O'Bryant - C 

Harold E. Kirchner - Med. 

Oh where Oh where has the 

summer gone, Oh where Oh 

where can it be? The same 

place as my money, good looks, 

youth, and hair. All gone. Oh 

well, fall has always been my 

favorite time of year. Must be 

the school teacher in me. 

I could tell you what a sweLl 

time we are having or had in 

Charlotte, but that had better 

be the theme for the October 

issue. I can tell you that at this 

writing, 7:00 a.m. August 3, the 

17th has fifty Hellcats register- 

ed for the reunion and if those 

crazies behave themselves in 

the C.P., the October letter will 

be coming to you live and in 

color from the Adams Mark 

Hotel in Charlotte. 

Summer is always a dry 

season for news. I suppose the 

guys are all out picking the 

bugs off the tomato plants, or 

watching the grass grow. 

Our sympathy goes out to 

Walt and Mary Steininger as 

they have been sorrowed by the 

loss of their son who was killed 

in an accident. The 17th has 

had at least two members suffer 

such tragedies this past year. 

in North Carolina. 

From Charles H. Eshrich: 

Our condolences on the passing 

of Cono - he will be missed. 

Enclosed is a check for $25.00 

to cover our share of the ex- 

penses for the hospitality room 

at the convention. Looking for- 

ward to seeing you and all the 

rest of the gang at Charlotte. 

In future editions, I'll give 

you more insight to your new 

Unit Rep - in the meantime, 

hope to see you in Charlotte, 

drive carefully, and "May the 

Good Lord take a Liking to you!

New entrance to the Armored Park at the Patton 

Museum. Pic by Maue, A/17. 

Warren Maue wrote about the 

recent meeting at Ft. Knox. He 

reports that they witnessed a 

demonstration of fire power of 

the new armored equipment. Of 

course Warren and Bob Downey 

had to get in some digs on the 

sergeant explaining the new 

weapons. Seems that they de- 

tected some flaws in the equip- 

ment and reminded those run- 

ning the show that the infantry 

would be waiting for them 

when they got out of the 

hatches. Nice going, Maue, but 

you might get your head blown 

off talking that way to tankers. 

Now for the good news sec- 

tion. You remember Marshall 

O'Bryant don't you? Guess 

what. A note came to my house 

that said, "Please find check 

for dues for 12th Armored 

Division Association. Lost con- 

tact after living in Mexico D. 

F. 18 years. Talked with Henry 

Sadlo, an old Co. buddy in 

Louisville, KY and found the 

association address." How 

sweet it is to get letters like 

that. C Company has done well 

this past year in the new recruit 

category. 

In the "it pays to advertise 

department" here is a positive 

example. I put the reunion 

notice in our local paper, and 

right away a call came from a 

man who was a Hellcat. Clark 

Livingston was in H. Q. and 

was the division bugler. (I heard 

those remarks). The amazing 

thing about this contact is the 

fact that I have known Clark 

for about 26 years. He will soon 

be a new member. See there, I 

told you that there are those 

just waiting to be found. 

Life is just a series of peaks 

and valleys and since we just 

reported a peak, we need to go 

down to the valley. Marianne 

Speedy wrote to let all the Hell- 

cats know about the passing of 

John Speedy on July 10. Re- 

member our buddy with a card 

to Marianne. 

When John Gentry starts tell- 

ing you about the great fishing 

he had with Ralph and Mary 

Smock just control your laugh- 

ter. I saw pictorial proof of what 

he saw. It is tough to be dis- 

guise dead carp, John. 

It was great tun to reau a 

long letter from Lou Karras. I 

get the feeling that he tries to 

hide out when tourist season 

starts around Capt Cod. He is 

doing just great but may have 

to have a new hip before long. 

I was a bit tardy in answering 

one of his letters so this one 

got a reply in a hurry. This 

buddy gave me a mighty in- 

teresting history lesson about 

the Barnstable area. Now his 

"diggins" are on our list of 

"where to visit." 

One of the great letters I have 

received came from Charles 

Wallman, chuck full of interest- 

ing bits of info. He started with 

a correction on Page 17 of the 

December 1989 H.C.N. which 

identified a man as James 

Kuester, C/56. The guy is really 

John E. Kuester who lives a 

few yards from Charles. They 

have been friends for years. 

Charley has tried to get him to 

join us but he declines. Maybe 

if some of you 56 folks would 

get on him he would be per- 

suaded. Write to Charles Wall- 

man for the address. 

Wallman says that one of the 

interesting things he has been 

doing is giving talks about ex- 

periences in Stalag 11-B. His 

September 1990 HELLCAT NEWS Page 3 

talks centered on how he was 

captured, what things were like 

in 11-B and some of the in- 

cidents after liberation. His 

first presentation was for a 

Rotary Club, other organiza- 

tions and eight times for school 

classes. Like I have said before, 

the 17th is full of interesting 

people. We thank you Sir Char- 

les for helping to spread the 

name of the 12th. Tell us about 

the two books you have written. 

There are some more interest- 

ing things about Carl coming 

later. 

A quote from "The Striking 

Force" June 30, 1945. Courtesy 

of Carl Lyons. 

"We have tried to keep this 

quiet but the truth must come 

out. Last week in a secluded 

little cow pasture there was a 

softball game. It wasn't just an 

ordinary softball game, no in- 

deed. It was a game to decide 

who were the better men, the 

non-coms or the privates. When 

it was over much weeping could 

be heard all over the country- 

side. Men were seen madly tear- 

ing stripes from their arms. 

One man was badly injured 

when he cut his tattooed staff 

sergeant's stripes off. (We do 

not wish to mention his name 

for fear of reprisal. Have you 

been to the beer garden lately?) 

The reason for all this, "as any 

foot can plainly see," is the 

final score: Privates 19 - Non- 

coms 2. Yes, "grandma was 

slow but she was old." 

There was a clip from the 

C/17 history in the Aug. issue & 

since the following clip from 

the same history could have 

•been about any of the 17th I 

offer it for your pleasure. 

"The last of the diehards who 

claimed the 12th would never 

go overseas were silenced as 

we crossed the Hudson River 

on the Weehawken ferry and 

landed at a Cunard Line pier. 

The Red Cross girls waved 

merrily and the Transportation 

Corps band swung out jaunty 

tunes, but every man had his 

own misgivings as we struggled 

up the gangplank of one of 

England's post-war problems, 

the Empress of Australia, and 

groped our way through blacked- 

out passages to our quarters 

below deck. Sardines wouldn't 

have put up with our crowded 

conditions, but we slung our 

dirty old hammocks and for 

twelve hours sweated out the 

Two St. Louis Goofers - 

17th AIB. Charlie Ruma hid- 

ing behind the shades and 

Hal Kirchner leaning on a 

seven iron for support. Pic 

by Viv Ruma. 

three mile boundry which 

would officially put out to sea. 

While we were still at anchor, 

the Queen Mary swept regally 

by, her decks jammed with 

nurses and Wacs. We missed 

seeing the "Old Girl" because 

of a pea-soup fog. 

"Our overseas pay started the 

morning of September 20, 1944. 

Our fourteen days on the At- 

lantic were spent leisurely ex- 

cept for boat drill and the re- 

quired one miler on the promen- 

ade deck. The sturdy members 

of the company ate well be- 

cause there were always empty 

spaces at the dinner table, 

although the rails on the lee 

side were in demand when the 

old tub started to roll. We had 

our first taste of English boiled 

dinner and we got the impres- 

sion that the edible portion had 

been boiled away. After the 

first two nights everyone had 

that bentover look, but fitted a 

hammock beautifully. The con- 

voy moved pretty slowly - we 

couldn't figure out whether our 

ship was slowing down to keep 

pace with the freighters, or if 

they were holding back for the 

Empress. A fringe of destroyers 

and corvettes reassured us 

about the submarine menace. 

After Gl-ing the ship three days 

in a row we began to suspect 

land was near. Some who had 

read "What To Do Aboard a 

Transport" went so far as to 

shoot the sun with homemade 

sextants." 

Head by the grapevine that 

Bill Little has been a bit under 

the weather but that he is feel- 

ing better now. Our best wishes


Warren Maue, 17 protecting the rear of Pre». Paul 

Hempfling, Div. Hq and Bob Downey, 23rd. At the recent 

meeting at Ft. Knox. Pic by Maue, A/17. 

go out to this buddy for a quick 

and complete recovery. 

Now that most of your sum- 

mer chores are behind you and 

the weather is cooling down it 

is time for you to get back on 

the letter writing trail. You may 

think that I have ESP and can 

read your thoughts from a dis- 

tance but t'aint so. I need your 

continued help. A post card 

would be welcome at our house. 

Well, once again Lola was 

right (what else is new) and I 

didn't get the whole battalion 

written but I am still trying. 

Guess I got a bit discouraged 

after 125 letters went out and 

only ten answers came back. 

Now understand, I am not scold- 

ing - but!!! 

Did you hear about the two 

guys running a lawn service? 

When one drove the riding 

mower into the 8 ft. end of the 

swimming pool and was at the 

bottom pulling the cord trying 

to start it, the other stood at 

the edge of the pool hollaring 

"choke it." 

I'd better quit on that or I 

will get choked. 

Bill Funke 

y cur Cuddies 

are waiting te 

hear about you! 

Write your Rep. 

23rd 

Tank 

Battalion 

BRAD DRESSLER 

9330 CLIFTON WAY 

APT. 101 

BEVERLY HILLS, CA 90210 

Phone:(213)276-8997 

BOOSTERS 

Luther B. Ray - C 

Jerome "Jerry" Schrader - Hq. 

Mrs. Harry J. Wahl (Shirley) - 

S-C 

Augustine "Gus" J. Ryan - Sv. 

This is one of those columns 

that's tough to write. It's now 

the end of July and Editor Bob 

Head must have this material 

in his hands by 4 Aug, for the 

September issue. 

Of course, by the time the 

HCN is mailed, our reunion will 

be history. 

But the October column, 

that's supposed to deal with the 

reunion, will be finished in 

Charlotte, and printed in Oct- 

ober. 

And you think YOU'RE con- 

fushed? 

A Passing - Regret to report 

the death of Eugene R. Miller 

(D), Lifetime Member #399, of a 

brain tumor on June 15. 

He's survived by wife Jo 

Marie, daughter Laurie Jean 

Green, two sons, Bradley Ford 

and Eugene T, brother Charles, 

' Mother Montry and 10 grand- 

children. 

He will be sorely missed. 

Ernie Garneau (C) reports 

that he had Trudy have all 

their reservations but still 

haven't decided how to get 

down to Charlotte. Seems Ernie 

reserved space on American 

Airlines and when he went tc 

pick up his tickets, they'd raised 

the ticket price by 35 percent. 

So Ernie may yet end up in 

Charlotte with his car! He notes 

that Scrappy and Beverly 

Mclntyre are planning to make 

the trip down in their motor 

home. 

Want to thank those of the 

23rd that saw fit to send in 

their 1991 dues early this year. 

This should help the Associa- 

tion bookkeeping. Now we've 

got to start hunting for "lost" 

members. We need 'em bad. 

Got a note from Wilson Dent 

(C) too late for the last issue 

that he'll be in Charlotte. We'll 

be glad to see ya, Tex. 

Got a note from Lester R. 

Smith (Hq-494th) with a clip 

from the American Legion 

magazine (May) which carried 

an article on Arlington Cem- 

etery. The author noted that it 

was originally owned by 

George Washington Parke Cus- 

tis, adopted son of our first 

President. The Custis daughter, 

Mary Anna, inherited it and 

married Gen. Robert E. Lee. 

After the Civil War, the 

Union Commander at Arling- 

ton, Brig. Gen. Montgomery 

Meigs, urged Secretary of War 

Edward Stanton to convert the 

estate grounds to a Union cem- 

etery. Seems the General bore 

quite a grudge. 

More on this later. 

Tiny McKisick (C) says that 

he and Margaret have all their 

reservations set and will be in 

Charlotte. He's looking forward 

to seeing Jess Thrasher after 

all these years. Next month 

we'll find out if they passed in 

the hall and didn't recognize 

each other! 

Attention Service Company! 

One of the replies Norb Bruem- 

mer received to his "reminder" 

letter about dues came from 

Mrs. Getrude Ryan, wife of Gus 

Ryan. 

She writes that Gus is doing 

well, saying "he's a frail, frail 

delicate man but has a clear 

mind - God has blessed us in 

that; the Hellcat News is the 

highlight of his life - he always 

looks back on the war years 

with fond memories of the shar- 

ed fraternity of his unit - not 

the horror but the love of 

country and fellow man." 

To all of Gus' pals, Mrs. Ryan 

has a request. Gus would really 

appreciate letters and talking 

over old times, and if they have 

any pictures, Guss would love 

to see them and promises to 

return them. 

His address is: 44 Sycamore 

Road, Lake Mahopac, NY 

10541. 

Remember, a stamp still only 

costs 25 cents (but hurry, the 

PO might hit us again! - BD) 

Note from Shirley Wahl (C), 

truly pleased with her new 

Associate Membership card. 

She just returned from Iowa, 

visiting family, and enjoying 

everything but the thunder 

storms. Back home, Shirley was 

driving one day down in Long 

Beach when she was "rear-end- 

ed" and her car totalled. She is 

OK, except for some back 

spasms, which are being eased 

through therapy. 

She sent along a very gener- 

ous contribution to the Com- 

pany Fund and for that you 

have our sincerest thanks, 

Shirley, More about that in 

Charlotte. 

Understand that Don Mac 

Connell (C) will attend his first 

reunion this year - so reports 

Luther B. Ray (C-First Soldier) 

in his note to this column before 

packing his bags and taking 

off for Charlotte Time. (Like the 

old saying - The more the 

better). 

Sorry that this column is 

short, but one reason is the lack 

of material from you readers. 

You send in news and it'll 

appear here. If not, there's not 

much to say. It's that simple. 

Membership Scorecard 

1991 

Hq - O. Theodore Blostein, 

Ingvold Swenson (1990), Jerry 

Schrader (1991 Booster Fund). 

B - Mrs. Marie Humphrey 

C - Clark McKisick, Eber 

Hartley, Luther B. Ray, Shirley 

Wahl (1991 Booster Fund). 

D - Gordon Lamb. 

Sv - Russell C. Jensen, 

Augustine Ryan (1990).

Gene Miller, D/23, recently deceased, is the tall one 

on the right. Jimmy Monday is 2nd from left. Photo from 

Jo Marie Miller. 

43rd 

Tank 

Battalion 

JAMES E. STONE 

502 WILLOW STREET 

MAPLETON, IA 51034 

Phone: (712) 882-2205 

BOOSTERS 

Jerome C. "Andy" Andrews - C 

Archie Town - C 

Robert C. Olson - Hq. 

Norbert H. Bruemmer - D 

Dues - James E. Weghorst 

(Hq), Archie Town (C), Billy D. 

Bolin (C) 1991, Ray Einsiedel 

(S) 1991 - Donald Elfering (S) 

1991 - Clarence E. Sager (D) 

1992, Henry K. Schulz (B) 1991. 

Hello Folks, 

What a short year! Where'd 

it go? It's reunion time again. 

Charlotte, N.C. look out! 

This issue should be in your 

mail box just about the time 

the big one is in full swing. An 

odd twist is that the attend- 

ence list will have to wait until 

November (just maybe) Ye Old 

Editor will be able to get that 

list in the October Hellcat 

News, but he'd have to burn a 

lot of midnight oil to do that. 

This year has been a lot dif- 

ferent trying to figure out who's 

going to be on hand. If every- 

one makes it that said they are, 

the "Adam's Mark Hotel" will 

be bursting at the seams. 

Howard Tyger (B) writes - 

Hello Stoney, No news only it 

is hot as hell in Saint Cloud, 

Flo, and no rain. We hope to 

get to Charlotte but time will 

tell. My grandaughter is com- 

ing with me. I hope this will 

help on the hospitality room. 

H. E. Tyger - Note/Sure good 

to hear your planning on the 

reunion. Thank you for your 

generosity. 

Luther Bennett (A) called - 

Lu is on his way on (8/4/90). 

He is taking about a month to 

visit with Old Buddies and 

friends on his way to Charlotte. 

Lu told me that he had really 

been busy this spring and sum- 

mer. Lu not only wanted a 

vacation, he wants very much 

to say Hello to some of the guys 

he hasn't seen for so long. 

Luther had been invited to 

Las Vegas at the same time 

the reunion is to be held. A 

book which Luther has con- 

tributed to in great part is now 

in it's second printing. Luther 

was to be an honored guest at 

a literary banquet and meeting. 

Congratulations Luther, you're 

giving up a lot to make the 

reunion. 

Clif Hunter (C) writes - Hi 

Stoney, Hope this finds every- 

body in fine health and having 

a fine summer. All is well here, 

well as can be expected. A few 

arthritic aches and a pulled 


groin muscle from too much 

mowing. 

Got the July issue of the 

Hellcat News and I'm very 

sorry to hear about Zastrow. 

When I retired in 1977 I had 

his address. On my trip east by 

motor home I had tried to locate 

him but couldn't. Seemed that 

he was always on the move. 

My reservations are made & 

have my plane ticket in hand. 

Glad to hear that Bill Riddell 

will be there. Hope to see all 

the old timers and some new 

ones. Am sure the hospitality 

room will be as great as it 

always is. I'll be coming alone 

this time as my wife will have 

eye surgery shortly after the 

reunion. Best Regards, Clif Hun- 

ter - Note/We're looking for- 

ward to seeing you Clif and 

hoping for a big, big turnout. 

Harlely Wherry (D) called - 

Real short phone call, but a 

couple days later Harley pulled 

into our driveway. He's got 

some real good neighbors that 

looked after things for a couple 

days. We had a great time, and 

we talked of many things past 

and present. The serious and 

the light hearted. One of the 

people that mean so very much 

to Harley is his daughter 

Francis. And he filled us in 

with the news of her recent 

marriage. Francis is a member 

of the Peace Corp and stationed 

in Africa. The groom is also a 

member of the Peace Corp, he 

is from Michigan. The happy 

couple will be returning to the 

states in Dec. Harley could not 

make the trip to Africa for the 

wedding but we know his heart 

was there. 

We did it up real good while 

he was here (must have gained 

3 - 4 lbs) with all that good 

food. Seem's like that's the 

easiest thing to do anymore. 

Went over to a VFW club about 

20 miles from here and had a 

ball. We were joined by number 

of others and it jelled - like they 

had known Harley from day 

one. Saturday morning came 

too soon and Harley had to be 

on his way. We sure enjoyed 

his visit. Those widows Harley 

- they want to know when you'll 

be back. "Just kidding Harley, 

just kidding." 

43rd Tank 

Battalion Research 

We continue the research of 

the 43rd Tk. Bn. casualties. 

This is the fourth group of 

Left to right - B. Co. 43rd 

Tk. Bn. Mike Toro - Zimmer- 

man - unknown. The way 

they're holding that coat 

makes me wonder. Picture 

from Rose Krikorian. 

names to be checked over. We 

hope for first hand contacts or 

sources from which we can 

verify survival or casualty. If 

any of you have solid informa- 

tion towards this end please 

contact us. 

A COMPANY 

Mena, Mike - Mirkovich, 

George E. - Allen, Donald E. - 

Hogan, Robert F. - Mineke, 

Stanley, R. - Smart, Hollis F. - 

Snyder, Henry A. - Bandy, Earl 

L. - Bowley, Joseph F. Jr. - 

Gober, Leslie E. - Skeels, George 

L. - Cartone, Peter C. - Dyer, 

Casper L. - Leaman, Earle W. 

-Renshaw, Monty F. - Hutch- 

craft, Richard L. - Keyse, Robert 

E. - McShane, James J. - Rod- 

riguez, Jesus - Willie, Charles 

B. - Zimmering, Irving. 

B COMPANY 

Wesley, Robert K. 

CCOMPANY 

Roberts, Willard I. - Schoff- 

stall, Harold W. - Schroder, Otto 

E. - Scott, Zeno M. - Selle, 

Eugene P. 

Take a good look at the list, 

if you have first hand inform- 

ation on any of these men we 

hope you get back to us. 

Larry Denny (A) writes - Re: 43rd 

Tank Bn. Casualty Research 

Dear Stoney, Just a few lines 

to help you out on verification 

on survival of some of our com- 

rades. 

William Ameriehn and I ex- 

changed Christmas cards for 

several years. His home was 

Youngstown, Ohio. He moved 

to Essexville, Mich. He passed 

away several years ago. Bill was 

a member of the 12th A.D.A. 

and is listed on page 18 of the 

1975 Roster. 

Hugo Johnson, took his dis- 

charge to the country of Sweden,


First on right is Don Riser (B). Others of this crew not 

known. At the foot of the Alps. Picture from Don Riser. 

His place of birth. Hugo had 

Selters send his personal effects 

to Selters home when we went 

overseas as he had no relatives 

in the U.S. Hugo was an old 

army man. Some time after the 

war was over Selters received a 

letter from Hugo asking Selters 

to send his personal effects to 

him, to an address in Sweden. 

Selters complied and has not 

heard from him since. 

William C. Gaines, I visited 

Thomas H. Bettis several years 

ago and I recall Bettis telling 

me he met Gaines some place 

in that area of the country and 

talked with him. Bettis belongs 

to the 12th A.D.A. and you 

could contact him. 

I'm working on Ted Shadade 

to get he and his wife to Char- 

lotte. I've delayed sending in 

my registration, but must get 

to Ted in the next day or so, 

then I can get things moving. 

We were going to go in our car 

if he can get some one to relieve 

him for a few days. 

I hope and expect to see you 

in Charlotte. Your Hellcat 

Buddy, Larry Denny. Note/ 

Thanks much for your letter 

Larry. Some names like 

Ameriehn have gotten past me, 

I never did get to meet him but 

knew he had survived. Hope- 

fully this phase is near the end, 

but I do not want to chance 

things at this point. 

We hope that the Denny's 

and the Shadade's have a 

smooth trip to Charlotte. We're 

looking forward to seeing you 

and Mary and another great 

reunion. 

44th 

Tank 

Battalion 

DONALD A. MERCIER 

1204 BOLLES STREET 

EAU CLAIRE, WI 54703 

Phone: (715) 832-7898 

HEADQUARTERS COM- 

PANY - Mary Ann and Marv 

Novotne now have their RV 

parked at their local camp- 

The gift - About a year ago a 

small group of Hellcats and 

Kittens met in Clinton, Iowa. 

Fern Bruemmer presented me 

with a pen. A card was attach- 

ed that reads, Please use me at 

all National Reunions and 

Chapter Meetings. I will serve 

you well. That's the pen I'll 

have with me this trip. Two 

years in a row I actually lost a 

beautiful sterling silver pen 

while working on the banquet 

seating. The 1st time Sam 

Smith's (C/66) wife "Cherry" 

found it and returned it to me. 

The 2nd time a good looking 

doll from the hotel made sure I 

got it back. Honest folks that's 

how it went down - No gimmick 

- no attention getting ploy - just 

a wandering pen that fortunate- 

ly was returned twice. Don't 

want to test that old adage 

"three strikes and your out", 

no way. 

All for now folks. God Bless 

You All, 

Stoney 

ground and can spend more 

time there. The morning of July 

7th someone came through the 

camp waking everyone up and 

telling them to move to higher 

ground because the creek was 

overflowing. That was the 

fastest they ever broke camp. 

They got everything to high 

ground but others were not so 

lucky. One trailer even got 

washed away. Fortunately no 

one was injured. Mary Ann won 

$100 on a lottery ticket. She 

has also been busy making 

crafts for the Christmas Sale 

(in July). Marv has two new 

hearing aids and he is hearing 

sounds he hasn't heard for a 

long time. He planted 100 hills 

of potatoes and it looks like he 

will have a good crop. Their 

son will have throat surgery - 

hope all went well. They are 

hoping to make the Orlando 

reunion. 

SERVICE COMPANY, COM- 

PANY "A", and COMPANY 

"B" - no news. So here is a 

little item I read recently that 

you might enjoy - There may 

not be much to see in a small 

town. But what you hear makes 

up for it. 

COMPANY "C" - Ilda Henley 

says their hot weather finally 

came to an end and they re- 

ceived some much needed rain. 

Her mother-in-law passed away 

in July. Also her brother had a 

severe heart attack. He is doing 

well now. Illda says that she is 

finally feeling better. She is 

proud of her grandson, Paul, 

who is studying for the min- 

istry. Ilda will be busy running 

the American Legion Auxiliary 

food booth at their local fair. 

Nice to hear you are doing well, 

Ilda. Ralph Hietalati called to 

let us know that Dorothy was 

home recovering from a four 

week stay in the hospital. Her 

kidneys had quit functioning 

and it took that long to get 

them working again. We talked 

to her on the phone and she 

had been up and did a little 

walking and was happy about 

that. Hope you keep on improv- 

ing, Dorothy. Harry Morris said 

it takes two hours to water all 

his outdoor plants. They are 

still having their remodeling 

going on. Should be done when 

you read this. They have plant- 

ed their second crop of string 

beans, Harry hopes lots of Com- 

pany "C": members make it to 

Orlando - so do I. So far he has 

heard of the following planning 

to attend: Ray and Shirley 

(Golden) Clark, Drakes, 

Friends, Jensens, Millers, 

Morrises, Robertsons, Ryers, 

Sterns. We will be there to but 

haven't really heard from any 

others but do expect more than 

those listed. 

COMPANY "D" did not re- 

port either. Slim pickings this 

month. 

So . . . because news is so 

scarce I'll bore you with some 

details of our trip. July 11th 

Dorothy and I and my sister 

left for Winnipeg, Canada. 

Then on to Edmonton. One day 

in that tremendous mall was 

an eye opener. Many, many 

stores, a fantasy land with all 

sorts of rides under one roof, a 

large room that had a lake, 

beach, trees, and water slides. 

There was even wave action on 

the lake for surfing (?). There 

was an ice skating rink and 

eating places of every kind that 

you can imagine. Then we head- 

ed for their national parks - 

Jasper, Banff, Yoho and Koot- 

enai. Gas was over two dollars 

a gallon (Canadian or about 

$1.75 American). We drove into 

a strong head wind traveling 

west so you know what that 

did to our mileage pulling a 

trailer. Then on to Calgary, 

Waterton/Glacier National 

Parks, Black Hills and the Bad- 

lands. In Minnesota we stopped 

at Pipestone National Monu- 

ment and then headed home. 

We pulled the trailer 4,000 miles 

and drove another 1,000 miles 

sight seeing. We had rain 

almost every day but it was 

usually at night or when we 

were driving so it didn't really 

interfere. Got cold enough to 

use the furance a couple of 

nights. Was a nice trip and saw 

lots of beautiful mountain 

scenery. 

If you haven't signed up for 

the Orlando reunion better get 

at it. Sure hope to see you there. 

Until then - Best to you and 

yours. 

Will miracles never cease!? I 

was just getting ready to print 

page 3 when the phone rang. It 

was Delia Wilson. She and Jim 

are doing well and had made 

their reservations for the Orlan- 

do reunion. That was good 

news. The bad news was that 

Jim Barrentine's wife, Chris- 

tine, passed away September 

1st. We extend our sympathy 

to the Barrentine family. It was 

nice of Jim and Delia to go 

down for the funeral. Jim Bar- 

rentine said he'd like to try to

SOUTHEASTERN 

CHAPTER MEETING 

The annual meeting of the 

Southeastern Chapter will be 

held at the Colonial Inn on the 

280 Bypass in Phenix City, 

Alabama, on the 25th, 26th and 

27th of October 1990. This is 

just across the Chattahoochee 

River from Columbus, Georgia 

and about five miles from Fort 

Benning, Georgia. It is easily 

accessable in all directions by 

highway and is within easy driv- 

ing distance of many outstand- 

ing attractions. Phenix City 

and Columbus were the site of 

one of the last battles of the 

Civil War, two weeks after Lee's 

surrender at Appomattox. Col- 

umbus has a Confederate 

Naval Musuem containing the 

remains of two gunboats built 

in Columbus and sunk to pre- 

vent their capture. Thirty miles 

to the north is the "Little White 

House" where President Roose- 

velt died and which is now a 

park. Near to this is the Call- 

away Gardens which has many 

acres of nature trails and the 

Sibley Horticultural Center, a 

showplace of beautiful flowers 

the year round, as well as the 

Day Butterfly House, the 

largest enclosed butterfly house 

in North America. The Colum- 

bus Musuem of A*rts and 

Science has recently been en- 

larged and is now one of the 

best in the Southeast. It has a 

make the reunion. Sure hope 

he is able to. Jim and Delia 

have been busy this summer 

helping care for their four year 

old grand daughter who broke 

her leg and is in a body cast. 

I have another addition to 

this letter: Last February I re- 

ported that Dave Scobie told me 

that Paul Held, C/44, was ser- 

iously ill. Then I later received 

information from Paul's brother 

that Paul passed away Novem- 

ber 5, 1989. I even received two 

obituaries. For some unknown 

reason I never mentioned Paul's 

death in any of my Newsletters 

and never sent an obituary to 

the HELLCAT NEWS. I'm cor- 

recting that omission now. I 

will send an obit to be included 

in the September issue. His 

name will also be reported at 

the 12th ADA reunion when the 

list of the deceased members 

are read. Sorry about that. Re- 

member those in need in your 

prayers. And write or call, I 

need your help. 

large exhibit of the history of 

the area and permanant and 

temporary exhibits of various 

works of art. Fort Benning, the 

Home of the Infantry, is the 

site of the National Infantry 

Museum. This three story build- 

ing houses exhibits showing the 

history of the Infantry from 

before the Revolution to the 

most modern of infantry weap- 

ons. It also has an outdoor 

exhibit of guns, tanks and 

armored personnel carriers. An 

ex-GI can easily spend the day 

here and not see it all. For 

those interested in dining out 

there is a wide variety of food 

available in the area. This 

ranges from very basic South- 

ern home cooking to exotic 

Oriental and almost every 

thing in between. For the sports 

fan there is golf within 10 min- 

* 


utes of the hotel. We think that 

we have something to offer for 

everyone and that you will en- 

joy your visit to the Columbus, 

Phenix City, Fort Benning 

area. 

Address Changes 

ROGER G. ROY, B/82 

(22 Kessler Farm Drive #653) 

Nashua, NH 03063-(7131) 

GENE C. DUNA WAY, A/92 

(1508 Magnolia Drive) 

(Palmetto Shores) 

(North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582) 

LLOYD MEYERS, B/134 

(270 N. Clark Road #332) 

(Show Low, AZ 85901-4418) 

DAVID W. ANDREWS, B/495 

(Box 128) 

Haw River, NC 27258 

MRS. OTTO C. HEUBLEIN, 

(244 Woodhill Lane) S-A/714 

(Frankfort, KY 40601) 

•o 

o 

REV. LAURENCE L. BOUGIE, 

JR., C/66 

(Rt. 3, Box 161D) 

(Pine City, MN 55063) 

RAYMOND MONTGOMERY, 

Hq/66 

(413 W. 11th Street, Apt. G51) 

(Alexandria, IN 46001) 

RAY H. FREDRICKSON, C/82 

(609 Cimarrón) 

(Lake Elmo, MN 55042) 

CLARENCE A. JOHNSON, C/82 

(4462 Alderberry Drive) 

(Hermantown, MN 55811) 

KEITH J. ROTHER, D/714 

(44 Flaherty Road) 

(Storrs Manfield, CT 06268-2353) 

JOHN T. SAUNDERS, Hq/23 

(P. O. Box 10512) 

(Prescott, AZ 86304) 

SAM LEONE D/119 

(85 Franklin Ave.) 

c/o Lena Leone 

Dunkirk, NY 14048 

^^^ml^^^Á 

SEND YOUR 

HOLIDAY GREETINGS 

by placing it in the December Hellcat News 

GREETING AD LENGTH 

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It's simple, easy 

and inexpensive to 

say Merry Christ- 

mas to all your 

friends in the 12th 

ADA by placing a 

Holiday Greeting 

ad in the December 

issue of HCN. Fill 

out this form and 

rush it back to 

Norb Bruemmer by 

NOVEMBER 1. 

Make your checks 

payable to 12th 

ADA. 

Please PRINT 

plainly so your 

copy can be follow- 

ed to your wishes. 

DO IT TODA Y. so 

you won't forget it 

tomorrow. 

1 Column 

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Enclosed find $ Please insert a Christmas Greeting 

ad for me in 1989 DECEMBER HELLCA T NEWS 

Name 

My Greeting is as follows 

Unit: Co 

Bn. 

Ad size: No. of columns Length in inches 

(If you do not insert your own greeting above, your ad will 

read "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year".)


Kenneth G. Bradstreet 

Back Tracks 

Historian-Past President 

1018 Prairie Street 

Emporia, KS 66801 

Phone (316) 342-8373 

In July of 1954 a Combat History of the 12th Armored 

Division was prepared by G-3 Information and Education Sec- 

tion Section. It was edited by Owsley Costlow, then Historian of 

the 12th Armored Division Association. Few of our present mem- 

bers possess a copy of this important historical book. The Histor- 

ians feel that all members should be able to read and collect this 

information as a part of their personal memoirs so we will print 

the book in its entirety in the coming months. 

OPERA TIONS IN FRANCE- DECEMBER 1944 

The first day of Dece'mber 1944, found the 12th Armored 

Division opening a new command post in Luneville, France, in 

preparation for its initial commitment to combat. Acting under 

orders of Lt. Gen. Alexander Patch's U. S. 7th Army, the Division 

left its first bivouac site at Auffay, France on 29 November. A 

three day march was concluded with establishment of the new 

CP at Luneville at 1600 1 December. The entire division had 

closed at Luneville by 2200 2 December. The Division Com- 

mander, Maj. Gen. Roderick R. Allen, received and passed on to 

the troops a commendation from the Commanding General, OISE 

Section, on the superior performance of convoy operation from 

Auffey. 

Several special teams joined the 12th Armored Division on 3 

December for duty with the G-2 Section. They included two IPW 

Teams, a PI Team, OB Team and Mil Team. On the following 

day the 92nd Cav. Recon. Squadron, commanded by Lt. Col. 

Sherbume Whipple, Jr. left the division temporarily to operate 

near Pasteroff under control of XV Corps, to whom the 1.2th 

Armored Division was to be assigned. The Division's strength 

was augmented on 4 December with the attachment of the 572nd 

AAA (AW) Battalion. 

At 0001 5 December the 12th Armored Division was officially 

assigned to XV Corps. On the same day, acting under Corps 

orders, movement was initiated from Luneville to Kirrberg. Excep- 

tions to this move were the 12th's three armored field artillery 

battalions. XV Corps ordered the 493rd AFA, commanded by Lt. 

Col. Charles D. Hartman, and the 494th AFA, commanded by Lt. 

Col. Harold M. Crawford, to an area near Drulingen to support 

the 44th Inf. Division; the 495th AFA, commanded by Maj. 

Richard W. Hockman, moved to the vicinity of La Petite Pierre to 

support the 100th Inf. Division. It was after moving into this 

support position that the #2 Gun Section, Battery A, 493rd AFA 

fired the first round of any unit of the 12th against the enemy. 

The shot was fired at 1638 5 December 1944 from a position%near 

Weisslingen, France, while reinforcing the fires of the 217th Field 

Artillery Bn. This honor went to the #2 Section because it was the 

senior section in the battery commanded by Capt. William P. 

Wilson, senor battery commander in the battalion. Col. Charles 

Gildart was in command of the Division Artillery of the 12th. 

The first enemy fire was also received on 5 December. CCA, 

commanded by Brig. Gen. Riley F. Ennis, moving from Luneville 

to Kirrberg with Division Forward Echelon and attachments, 

was strafed by enemy aircraft while on the march. There were no 

casualties. On the following day, Rear Echelon and units of CCB 

and CCR moved from Luneville to an area near Hellering. The 

Division Administration Center was set up in the village of 

Lutzelbourg. 

CCA was alerted 6 December to reconnoiter routes into the 

zone of action and begin relief of the 4th Armored Division. The 

12th Armored Division was to relieve the entire 4th Armored 

Division, support the attack of the 26th Inf. Div. by fire or by 

advance with the 26th Infantry if the situation warranted. Relief 

of the 4th Armored Div. was completed by 0600 8 December, with 

the 12th Armored Div. CP moving to Domfessel. The 12th 

prepared to attack on Corps orders, breach the Maginot Line and 

continue advancing to the Siegfried Line. An Air Party from the 

7th Army reported to the division at Domfessel. CCR and CCB 

moved from Kirrberg into positions in the line, with CCR locating 

near Rahling. Thus the division sector was split into two parts: 

CCR on the right and CCA on the left, with CCB in reserve. The 

three AFA Battalions returned to Division control and were 

ready to begin supporting the action. 

The 12th's actions during December were split into two 

phases, the first combat taking place from 7-15 December and the 

second from 19-25 December. In the initial action the 12th was 

opposed by elements of the 111th Panzer Div. These were fighting 

a delaying action, supported by the 119th Artillery Regt. of the 

same division, the 401st Artillery Regt., artillery from the fortress 

of Bitche to the east, and long-range heavy artillery fire, presum 

ably from the 710th and 715th Railway Artillery. 

Three Task Forces, composed of infantry-tank teams, were 

formed in the 12th under the commands of Lt. Col. Clayton W. 

Wells, Maj. Nicholas Novosel and Maj. John W. Cunningham. 

CCA launched the first attack - a limited objective affair - at 2000 

8 December, to seize high ground northeast of Singling. The 

attack began in earnest on 9 December and resulted in the 

capture of two towns and an enemy barracks. Lt. Col. Wells task 

force captured the town of Singling 45 minutes after the attack 

began at 0400, then moved on to occupy high ground beyond the 

town and consolidate positions. Maj. Novosel's force sent out 

patrols in the vicinity of Singling and later moved to a position 

southwest of Rohrbach when bogged down by mud and heavy 

fire. Maj. Cunningham's force, composed principally of the 17th 

AIB, seized the town of Bining and advanced to a point half-way 

through Bining Barracks, an enemy military installation. On 10 

December, the 17th AIB captured the enemy commandant's flag 

at Bining Barracks. Also on 10 December, Lt. Col. Wells force 

attacked and took Rohrbach, encountering only slight enemy 

resistance. The unit then routed a delaying enemy force of 50 

men and six machine guns and occupied high ground north of 

the town. 

A task force (23rd Tk. Bn. reinforced) under Lt. Col. Mont- 

gomery C. Meigs, moving out from Oberstmuhl on 10 December, 

struck mines 200 yards from the assembly area, forcing the 

battalion to turn south and jump off at Sinnesberg. The force 

advanced under heavy fire to initial Maginot Line defenses but 

later was forced by increased fire and mounting casualties to fall 

back to a defiladed position for the night.. Six medium tanks were 

lost in the action and one enemy Mark IV was believed destroyed. 

The attack was resumed on 11 December and the task force 

advanced 1200 yards, engaging 12 enemy tanks. One of these 

was destroyed and the others withdrew towards Petit-Rederching. 

Two medium tanks were lost by the task force, which again 

withdrew under heavy fire to its original position. It was in this 

action that Lt. Col. Meigs, commander of the 23rd Tk. Bn. was 

killed. He had manuevered his tank to a position of hull defilade 

where he could view the enemy positions when the enemy fired 

through the turret hatch of the tank, killing him instantly. He 

was awarded the Silver Star posthumously for gallantry in this 

attack. Capt. William Comfort, Bn. S-3, assumed command of the 

task force and resumed the attack. 

The 17th AIB attacked at 1400 but was pinned down on the 

first crest by fire from pillboxes to the front and left flank. These 

forts, strongly defended, were reduced by Corps Artillery fire 

directed by 12th AD liaison planes. 

Three task forces made separate successful attacks on 12 

December which resulted in the capture of the town of Bettviller, 

the objective assigned to the division. The 43rd Tk. Bn. and 66th 

AIB took both Guising and Bettviller in daylight attacks. Another 

force, the 714th Tk. Bn., commanded by Lt. Col. William J. 

Phelan, and Co. C, 56th AIB, moved across country toward 

Bettviller and aided in the final attack on the town, occupying 

Bettviller when TF-1 withdrew to Guising for the night. The 17th 

AIB took two objectives during the day, one of them the town of 

Hoelling. A fourth force, the 23rd Tk. Bn. and Co. B, 56th AIB, 

remained in position to protect the combat command's right 

flank until noon and then moved to Rohrbach to remain in 

reserve. CCA moved its CP to Bining Barracks and CCB moved 

from Rahling to Rohrbach. A new Div. CP was opened at Rahling 

on 13 December. Then, with the objective taken, consolidation of 

positions began. The 92nd Cav. Recon. Sq. moved to the front of

the Division zone and remained there until the Division was September 1990 HELLCAT NEWS Page V 

relieved. 

The first battle casualty re? 

ports of the Division were received 

11 December on casualties 

which occurred 8, 9, 10 

December. Casualties in the 

Division's entire first action, 

covering the period 7-15 December, 

were: six officers and 37 

enlisted men killed, sixteen 

officers and 141 enlisted men 

wounded. 

Several changes in command 

took place at the close of the 

initial action. On 13 December, 

Maj. William A. Edwards, Exec. 

Off. of the 714th Tk. Bn., 

assumed command of the 23rd 

Tk. Bn. On 14 December, Col. 

Wallace H. Barnes became 

Division Chief of Staff, replacing 

Col. Richard A. Gordon 

who became Reserve Commander; 

Col. John H. Evans, former 

Chief of CCR, succeeded Lt. 

Col. Douglas Cameron as Commander 

of Division Trains; and 

Lt. Col. Cameron became Exec. 

Off. of CCR. On 16 December 

Maj. John W. Cunningham was 

relieved of command of the 

17th AIB and Maj. James 

Logan assumed command. Maj. 

Cummingham became Exec. 

Off. of the 17th AIB. On the 

same date Maj. Jerome W. 

Schrader was relieved as Headquarters 

Commandant and became 

Exec. Off of the 23rd Tk. 

Bn. 

On 14-15 December the adjacent 

units, 87th Inf. Div. on 

the left and 44th Inf. Div. on 

the right, converged in front of 

the 12th's troops to take over 

the line. The 25th Cav. Recon. 

Sq of the 4th Armored Div. 

relieved the 92nd Cav. Recon. 

Sq. on the counter-reconnaissance 

screen. With the relief of 

the Division's front lines, the 

Corps boundary was changed 

and the 80th Inf. Div. took over 

the area formerly occupied by 

the 12th. TF-5, under command 

of Lt. Col. Phelan, remained in 

the vicinity of Bettviller to 

cover the Division's withdrawal 

to Rimsdorf on 16 December. 

Several awards were received 

during this period. The 134th 

Ord. Bn. was awarded the 

Meritorius Service Unit Plaque 

for "superior performance of 

duty in the performance of 

exceptionally difficult tasks." 

Brig. Gen. Riley F. Ennis, Commander 

of CCA, received the 

first Bronze Star in the Division 

on 17 December for outstanding 

leadership in the 12th's initial 

attack. Brig. Gen. Ennis was 

awarded the Legion of Merit 

shortly after the Division's 

arrival in France. 

Seven enlisted men were 

awarded the first Purple Hearts 

in the Division on 19 December 

for wounds received in action; 

S/Sgt. William C. Gaines, 43rd 

Tk. Bn.; T/4 John C. Maulden, 

T/5 Frank L. Csenosits, PFC. 

Albert D. McElroy, 23rd Tk. 

Bn.; Pfc. Floyd E. DuBois, Pfc. 

Edward J. Roberts, Pvt. Mortimer 

Scharf, 17th AIB. The 

first Silver Stars in the Division 

were awarded posthumously to 

Lt. Col. Montgomery C. Meigs 

and Capt. Carl J. Adams, both 

23rd Tk. Bn. The same General 

Order awarded Silver Stars to 

Sgt. Edward M. Madrack, 43rd 

Tk. Bn., and Pfc. Dave Hake, 

Med. Det. of the 23rd Tk. Bn. 

Thirteen Bronze Stars also were 

awarded at this time. 

1st Sgt. Billy D. Hanover, Hq. 

Co., 43rd Tk. Bn., won the Division's 

first battlefield appointment 

as a 2nd Lt. on 24 December. 

¿fn/ J/t&mjytdti/ 

"The Clock of Life" 

The clock of life is wound 

but once and no man has 

the power to tell just when 

the'hands will stop at a late 

or early hour. Now is the 

only time you own, to live, 

love, work with a will; place 

no faith in tomorrow, for the 

clock may then be still. 

Author Unknown 

WILLIAM O. COOPER, 

CCB, 81, 8223 Summer Place 

Drive, Austin, TX 78759, died 

June 3, 1990. He is survived 

by his wife, Lucille, a son, 

Don and two grandchildren. 

He reached the rank of major 

before leaving the service. In 

addition to his campaign 

ribbons he earned the Bronze 

Star and had received International 

recognition for his 

work on the behalf of veterans. 

• • • • • 

JOHNF. SPEEDY, HQ/ 

17, 74, 7044 - 18th Avenue, 

South, Minneapolis, MN 

55423, died July 10, 1990. He 

had suffered with cancer for 

two years prior to his death. 

He is survived by his wife, 

Marianne, a sister, Alice, 

three nieces, a nephew and 

several great-nieces and 

great nephews. John had 

served as the 17th unit rep 

at one time. 

• • • • * 

EUGENE "GENE" R. 

MILLER, D/23, 64, RR 3, 

Box 171, Guymon, OK 73942, 

died June 15, 1990. He was 

active in church and community 

affairs and served as 

a County Commissioner 

since 1987. He is survived 

by his wife, Jo Marie, one 

daughter, two sons, his 

mother, a brother, and ten 

grandchildren. Gene held 

life-membership U399. 

• • • • • 

PA UL HELD, C/44. died 

November 5, 1989. He was a 

carpenter for 30 years before 

his retirement. He was a 

member of Moose Lodge 

U1349, the Knights of Columbus 

2944, VFW Post 2859 

and the 44th Tk. Bn. Assoc. 

He served with the 44th in 

the South Pacific. He is survived 

by a brother and two 

sisters. 

• • • • • 

HOLLIS MASSINGILL, 

A /56, 72, 228 Fred, Lufkin, 

TX 75901, died June 20, 1990. 

Hollis was a Mason and 

active in church, community 

and veterans affairs. He is 

survived by two daughters, 

five grandchildren, three sisters 

and a brother. A cousin, 

Giles Albritton is a member 

of the 152nd Sig. 

• • • • • 

RICHARD W. ROBIN- 

SON, A/56, P. O. Box 1519, 

Puyallup, WA 98371, succumbed 

to a heart attack, 

July 25, 1990. He is survived 

by his wife Betty. In addition 

there are surviving children. 

Dick held life-membership 

U94. 

• • • • • 

EDWIN R. LAAK- 

SONEN, Med/56,107 -15th 

Street. Cloquet, MN 55720, 

died May 11, 1990. Word 

received from postal notice. 

• • • • • 

CLARENCE E. CUR- 

TICE, Hq/66, 3941 Welcome 

Avenue, N. Minneapolis, 

MN 55422. Mail returned 

marked deceased. 

SHERMAN E. KAP- 

LITZ, MD, Med/66, 609 

Leamington, Wilmette, IL 

60091, died May 20, 1990. He 

is survived by his wife, 

Leatrice Rickey", and two 

daughters, Nancy and 

Wendy. 

• • • • • 

CLIFFORD ONSRUD, 

Hq/92, died July 23, 1989. 

His wife who resides at 98 

Hiawatha, Apt. 9, Coon 

Valley, WI 54623 informed 

us of the death. 

• • • * • 

CHARLOTTE THOMP- 

SON, wife of Donald C. 

Thompson, Major USA ret., 

1105 E. Alameda Street, 

Manteca, CA 95336, died 

April 20, 1990. 

• • • • • 

DONALD T. McMUL- 

LEN, C/119, 42 Crosby 

Street, Lawrence, MA 01843, 

died July 23, 1990. He was a 

POW for three months. He 

and two others escaped and 

were rescued by the French 

Army. He was a member of 

the Holy Name Society, 

VFW, Letter Carriers Assoc, 

DAV, Mass. Chapter of POW 

and a volunteer for the Red 

Cross. He is survived by his 

wife, Edna, a daughter, a 

son and three sisters. 

• • • • • 

CLARENCE J. KOL- 

LIAN, Hq/134, died May 

15, 1989. He is survived by 

his wife Inge who has since 

remarried. 

• • • • • 

WELDONE. NORMAN, 

Hq/494, 68, RR 6, Box 306, 

Canton, TX 75103, died July 

17, 1990, as a result of injuries 

received in a tractor 

accident. He was a retired 

auto dealer, a member of the 

Methodist Church, and a 

Mason. Among his medals 

was the Purple Heart. He is 

survived by his wife, Sarah, 

a son, a daughter, a sister, a 

brother and four grandchildren. 

• • • • • 

ELMER A. PETERSON, 

A/495, died June 3, 1989. 

• • • • • 

ROBERTL. SEYMOUR, 

C/495, died January 1987.

Kage 10 HELLCAT NEWS September 1990 

L to R: Michael Aeillo, Capt., U. S. Army; Dominic 

Aeillo, MSG U.S. Army (RET) C/56; Thomas Aeillo, Major, 

U. S. Air Force. Father and sons. Photo by Elmer Bright, 

C/56. 

56th 

Armored 

Infantry 

Battalion 

MARVEL E. ROWLAND 

471 BERNHARD ROAD 

COLUMBUS, OH 43213 

Phone: (614) 231-5749 

BOOS TE RS 

Howard J. Toms ■ B 

James Czarnecki - A 

Dante E. Bonatucci - Hq. 

About the time you are read- 

ing this, the rest of us will be 

at Charlotte enjoying the com- 

radeship of our buddies, or you 

will just have returned from 

there. Hope you are one of the 

ones that attended. 

On July 2 and 3 Ollie and I 

journeyed north to Niles, OH, 

to the home of Robert and 

Bertha Clare. There we were 

met by Reds and Nancie Gren- 

fell, of Collingdale, PA and Vic 

and Wanda Challen of Toledo, 

OH. We were treated like 

royalty by the Clairs. We all 

went out to an Amish restau- 

rant for the evening meal on 

Monday, then back to the 

Clares for a few hours of rag 

chewing. I guess you all know 

most of the stories by now. 

After a good nights sleep we 

went to their house for a hearty 

breakfast. 

We took our 11 year old grand- 

daughter, who was visiting us 

from Colorado, with us. Clare's 

granddaughter is about the 

same age and they had a good 

time swimming in the motel 

pool. 

After lunch at their house, 

Ollie and I returned home to 

Columbus, but Reds and Nancie 

stayed until the next day. Ollie 

and I will always remember the 

wonderful time we had those 

two days and want to thank 

Bob and Bertha for being such 

great hosts. All of the above 

are from B/56 and three of us 

were in the same squad. 

Letter from Roy and Loraine 

Hansen (Sv) who says its very 

hot in Minneapolis, MN. Roy 

just had a check-up and the 

doctor found several small 

things wrong, but Roy says 

that his health is good enough 

for him. 

He just sits around the house 

most of the time, but did talk to 

Elmer Heinichen a while back 

and he is on the go again. 

Roy just passed his 72nd 

birthday (Happy Birthday 

Roy). He still has to do physical 

therapy every Mon., Wed., and 

Fri. His knee went out with 

arthritis so had to get a cort- 

isone shot, which he said 

helped. 

Loraine feels fairly good too, 

but has lots of little things 

wrong with her also. 

(Roy, even though you say it 

is getting harder to write, I 

wish every member would write 

as good and as often as you. 

Your Unit Rep appreciates 

your effort and I have no 

trouble reading it.) 

Chet and Julie Andrzejczak 

(A) writes from Florida to say 

that they are getting along fine. 

They run into a Hellcats there 

every once in a while. They had 

one come knocking on their 

door a while back. Said he was 

in the area and decided to look 

them up. It happened to be Stan 

Szarnocinski and his wife 

Libby from the 714th. They also 

bumped into John Haskedakes, 

B/17 in Spring Hill, at the Flag 

Day Parade. 

Chet said that he got a call 

from Charles Trusty (A) and 

had a nice long talk with him. 

Chuck said he is going to try 

and make it to the reunion in 

Charlotte. Chet says that he 

and Julie have their reserva- 

tions in also. 

I don't believe the photo of 

the ship from Roy Hansen in 

the July issue of the Hellcat 

News was identified. Just in 

case you don't remember - It is 

the "Empress of Australia". 

(Yep! Same name as shown on 

the bow in the picture. ED.) 

Received an Obit from Gils 

Albritton 152nd Sig. of the 

death of Hollis Massingill (A). 

Hollis died on June 18, 1990. 

He is survived by daughters, 

Pat Diaz of Palo Alto, CA and 

Wanda Spiker of San Jose, CA; 

grandchildren, Marissa, Mary 

Jennifer, Warren and Wendel, 

sisters and brother. I am sure 

we all will miss him and we 

send our condolences to his 

survivors. 

I am so sorry to have to 

inform you of the death of Dick 

Robinson (A). I received a 

phone call from Editor Bob 

Head and then a letter from 

Norb Bruemmer telling of his 

death on July 25, 1990. Not 

many other details available 

except that he died of a heart 

attack. We will remember Betty 

in our prayers. Her address is: 

Betty J. Robinson, P. O. Box 

1519, Puyallup, WA 98371. 

Jim Czarnecki (A), Eugene, 

OR says that summer began 

there on July 5th. (It usually 

starts on July 4th.) and the 

temperature is running around 

85 to 90 degrees. 

The feeling seems to be com- 

ing back in his hands and the 

new specialists is helping him. 

Lois and Jim are moving into 

the city of Eugene and he has 

to give up his horse. A friend of 

his has been riding the horse 

for the past year, since Jim has 

been unable to ride, to keep the 

horse from going wild again. I 

guess Jim is getting too old, as 

he quit breaking horses 3 or 4 

years ago. He says that he 

doesn't bounce too well now. 

Otherwise everything is going 

along good. 

Since Jim's school in Calu- 

ment City is having his 50th 

reunion this year at about the 

same time as the 12th, he will 

not be able to attend our re- 

union in Charlotte. He will be 

attending the chapter and 

national reunions from now on. 

He will miss seeing all the guys 

and Hellkittens. 

Elmer Luber (A) has change 

of address: 1036 Julia St., St. 

Louis, MO 63104-3708. Notifica- 

tion from Ronald J. Laaksonen, 

Personal Representative, of 904 

Northland Ave., Duluth, MN of 

the death of Edwin R. Laak- 

sonen, Med/56 on May 11, 1990. 

No mention on his card of any 

spouse. 

A note from Harold Williams 

(Hq) says that he lost his wife 

the first of the year and he has 

had some health problems 

himself this year. He is enjoy- 

ing the Hellcat News. 

Dante Bonatucci (Hq) sends 

his new address - 4000 Pinyon 

Dr., Cocoa, FL 32926. He has a 

few odds and ends to clear up 

in NJ first. He is looking for- 

ward to the reunion in Char- 

lotte, NC and seeing his old 

combat buddies from Hq Co., 

Robert Frenz, William Clifford, 

Clem Beatrice, Lou Gangi, Jim 

McCormick and others. (Unit 

Rep Note: Bill Clifford and Lou 

Gangi have already registered 

for the reunion. Clem Beatrice 

is not able to attend because of 

his health. Bob Frenz passed 

away in 1985.) 

Rejuvenated member, Robert 

F. Blakey (A) 12424 South

These are the host and hostess in the 56th hospitality 

room at the reunion in Charlotte, NC. They have served 

the 56th in that capacity for some time. Phil and Zetta 

Parr atore. Photo by Jim Czarnecki, A/56. 

Keeport Rd. NE, Poulsbo, WA 

98370. 

Ollie and I have just returned 

from our annual visit to our 

daughter's home in Colorado 

Springs, CO and had a wonder- 

ful time as usual. We did have 

a little bit of trouble as our 

water pump gave out. But it 

did happen in Colorado Springs 

and not somewhere in the 

middle of Kansas where we 

would have to be towed for a 

hundred miles to facilities to 

fix it. 

I did some fishing with my 

son-in-law and grandson 

Jimmy, in the rockies. Not 

much luck the first two days, 

but on the third day we did 

real good. 

When we got home on Friday 

night at 10 PM we had to get 

ready for the wedding of our 

grandson David on Saturday. 

They had a beautiful wedding 

outdoors, and the weather was 

perfect. 

The latest records shows that 

the 56th now has 286 members 

- 255 regular members and 31 

associate members. Twelve of 

those members were boosted. 

I want to thank all members 

that sent in boosters this past 

year and a big thanks to all 

those that wrote to me to make 

our 56th column great. 

Letter from Bob Brooks (Hq) 

along with a nice booster. He 

has been in contact with Jim 

McCormick (Hq) and he is do- 

ing fine. 

Jim has been in contact with 

Jack McClellan, also of Hq. Co. 

and said Jack is OK. He still 

plays the guitar as he did in 

Army days - he used to sing 

some pretty rollicking songs, 

says Bob, It made him remem- 

ber a U.S.O. party their com- 

pany had one time in Nashville 

where Jim McCormick sang 

some lovely Irish songs, and 

Hank Wiedholdter sang a deep 

bass song, "Rocked In The 

Cradle Of The Deep". Bernard 

Brusatte played polkas and live- 

ly pieces on the accordian. Bob 

says that they had some talent- 

ed people in their outfit. 

Bob noticed in the last 

column that Elmer Bright was 

ill and hopes that he is doing 

fine now. He says that Elmer 

went through everything with 

the 56th and was a good officer. 

He also remembers Clyde Mad- 

dux, Andy Cavanaugh, Sal 

Galiardi, Bob Bach, Dave Fair- 

bairn. They were officers who 

were up front, and says that 

we were fortunate having good 

leadership. 

Bob says, "Don't know if I 

told you about my meeting a 

German soldier who had been 

at Herrlisheim. He spoke 

English enough to understand. 

He was a tall, strong young 

fellow - evidently one of their 

elite. Told me that Herrisheim 

was a hell of a place for them, 

too. They had many casualties 

- he was wounded. Said they 

were ordered to do things they 

were sure would lead to dis- 

aster. So it looked like the 12th 

gave as much as it took." 

The following article was 

written by Elmer Bright (C) 

about one of our Association 

members, Dominic Aeillo (C). 


Letter follows: 

"In March of 1943 when I 

took command of Company I, 

56th Armored Infantry Regi- 

ment at Camp Campbell, KY, 

as a 1st., I first met Dominic 

Aeillo, 2nd Cook and company 

barber from Coatesville, PA. 

Little did I know how long I 

was going to know this charac- 

ter. The only other member of 

the Mess Crew that I remember 

is George Antoine, the Mess 

Sgt., who still comes to re- 

unions. We went through train- 

ing and the Tennessee Manau- 

vers eating like things through 

their efforts, especially the 

baked goods which we supple- 

mented by buying flour on the 

local economy. 

Upon the end of maneuvers 

and reorganization from the 

Regimental system to Combat 

Commands, I was assigned as 

the Battalion Motor Officer and 

left the company. We went to 

Camp Barkeley, then overseas, 

but I always kept in contact 

with what was now Co C of the 

56th A.LB. On one of those 

visits I found that Sgt. Aeillo 

was no longer there. 

I took some leave to go to 

Dijon, France and the first per- 

son I saw in the Officer's Mess 

at the hotel was Dominic Aeillo, 

the Mess Steward of the hotel. 

What a reunion we had! Before 

we parted he asked me what I 

would like for dessert for dinner 

that night. I answered 'Chocol- 

ate eclairs', with a laugh. After 

dinner the dessert was fruit 

cocktail until the waitress 

brought out two of the most 

beautiful eclairs and put them 

in front of me. What a reaction 

that got from the rest of the 

men at that table. I was also 

the recipient of several other 

favors while on that leave, 

thanks to my good friend, Dom- 

inic. 

When the war ended, the 1st 

Armored Division, due to their 

long time in combat, began 

sending their officers and men 

home first. The 12th Armored 

Division filled most of those 

vacancies and I went to the 1st 

AD as the Division Athletic 

Officer whose Headquarters 

was in the city of Schwabisch 

Gmund. I went to the hotel 

where the Officer's Mess was 

established and who was there 

greeting the officers? You 

guessed it Dominic Aeillo, the 

Mess Steward. I was on crut- 

ches due to a foolish attempt to 

play football again in Darn- 

stadt. However, Sgt. Aeillo 

again took good care of his old 

friend. 

After the war I became active 

in the Maryland National 

Guard and visited Ft. Meade, 

MD for both training and social 

events. It was on one of these 

occasions that I visited the 

Officers' Open Mess and again 

found Sgt. Dominic Aeillo as 

the chief honcho of that Offi- 

cer's Mess. We have kept in 

close contact ever since, be- 

cause when he retired, he re- 

mained in Odenton, MD near 

Ft. Mead. I subsequently found 

out that he had married a love- 

ly young lady from Schwabisch 

Gmund and they had two sons. 

Dominic and I have had a 

long and rewarding friendship, 

but that is not the point of my 

writing this letter to the Hellcat 

News. The rest of the story is 

about what Dominic Aeillo and 

his wife have accomplished 

since they were married. 

Dominic and his wife Hedy 

have reared two sons, Thomas 

and Michael, in the best tradi- 

tions of our country through 

High School and into the ser- 

vice of this great nation, from 

which Sgt. Aeillo retired with 

honor in 1975. 

Major Michael Aeillo graduat- 

ed from the University of Mary- 

land Air Force Program and 

has been on Active Duty ever 

since. He is on the promotion 

list for Lieutenant Colonel. 

Captain Thomas Aeillo is a 

1979 graduate of the United 

States Military academy at 

West Point. He is Branch Artil- 

lery and is on the promotion 

list for Major. He is also a 

career Officer. 

I am proud to have served 

with and been friends with 

Dominic Aeillo for these past 

forty-eight years and I thought 

that his many friends from C 

Co., 56th AIB as well as his 

other friends in the 12th AD 

would like to know about his 

contribution to our great nation, 

both as a good soldier for his 

career in the Army, and as the 

father of a fine family of which 

he and his wife can be proud." 

Elmer says that he is recover- 

ing from recent heart surgery 

and hopes to be back on the 

golf course very soon. He 

thought it would not take so


BDBOBOBOBnBnBOBOBnBOBDBOBnBOBOBnBOBOBDBOBaBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBDBaBnBnBnBOB 

This group of B/56 members attended the Western 

Meeting. They are Bill Jones, Harold Mothersell, Art 

Kinney and Roy Learned. All from the same squad. Photo 

by Kenney. 

long to recover, but the medics 

said that it would be three 

months or more before he would 

be back in action. At the time 

of this writing he was hoping 

to make the reunion in Char- 

lotte. 

Elmer spoke to Bob Beach 

(B) lately and aside from his 

bad legs, Bob is still the same 

old guy. They reminisced about 

old H and I companies when 

they were in Col. Means' 3rd 

Battalion and about a crusty 

old soldier named Lear who 

was the 1st CO of I Co. and his 

peculiar "old Army" sayings. 

Chester Bragg (Hq) has sent 

Elmer Bright and me the diary 

of (Hq) company, which Elmer 

is going to rewrite, adding 

some things he remembers and 

it will be given to the 56th Unit 

Rep to put in this column in 

future months. The diary was 

written by Sgt. Major Karika 

and Operations Sgt. Einar 

Lapic. Chester told Elmer that 

he has had some health prob- 

lems but is getting back on his 

feet and hopes to attend the 

reunion this year. 

(NOTE: July 30 -1 just receiv- 

ed a letter from Elmer today 

and he had to return to the 

hospital for 9 days in July, but 

is back home now and hopes 

that he is on the road to re- 

covery this time.) 

See you next month 

Marv 

WRITE YOUR REP 

V i 

66th 

Armored 

Infantry 

Battalion 

GEORGE R. O'BRYAN 

1016 MONROE 

RED BUD, IL 62278 

Phone: (618) 282-6079 

BOOSTERS 

Bob L. Mead - B 

Leonard S. Lenig - Bn. Hq. 

James F. Sinnett - A 

George W. Carpenter - C 

Stephen Czech a - C 

Charles M. Fitts. Jr. - C 

Alva L White ■ Hq. 

Paul M. Birsen (A) 

By this months report the 

National reunion should b§ in 

full swing. Registrations for 

Charlotte seem slower than 

usual but so far we have some 

who have their bags packed 

and are ready to be on hand 

for the 44th National starting 

on August 29. Already register- 

ed are Evans, Lenig, Pope and 

White of Hqs Company, Birsen 

of A, Grebl and Mead from B, 

Heine, Carpenter, Burton and 

Ralph Davis of C Company and 

Owney from Service Company. 

We expect that there are many 

more who have preregistered 

and are ready to be in Charlotte 

for a great time with old bud- 

dies. 

Bob Mead informs us that 

through the efforts of "C" 

Company member Tom Perrett 

he has signed up new member 

Randall D. Morris (C) and has 

sent him information regarding 

the ordering of the POW book 

and the two History books. This 

is the second buddy that Tom 

has been able to track down 

and get signed up and we all 

thank him for all his efforts in 

finding some of his old buddies. 

Morris sent along a note telling 

Bob that he is looking forward 

to reading the Hellcat News 

and that he probably couldn't 

make this year's reunion in 

Charlotte but would sure try 

hard to be on hand next year 

in Omaha, Nebraska. (Randall, 

your old buddies will sure look 

forward to seeing you in 

Omaha - (GeoO). 

Tom Perret (C) has sent along 

a note advising us that he and 

Shirley have their reservation 

made for Charlotte and are look- 

ing forward to seeing many of 

his old 66th buddies there, he 

said that Richard Brock (C) 

also plans on being in Charlotte 

and he will be able to see his 

old squad leader for the first 

time since the war. 

Bob Grebl (B) writes that he 

was so sorry to hear of the 

death of Pearl Hemme, wife of 

Floyd (C) and he thought that 

Nick and Fran Nicholson were 

able to go to the funeral. Bob 

remarked what a great gal and 

friend Pearl was and she was a 

wonderful part of our 66th gang 

and will be sadly missed by us 

all. We all wish Floyd well and 

sure hope to continue to see him 

at our reunions. Bob tells us 

that he plans to drive to Char- 

lotte and intends to visit some 

old Hellcat friends along the 

way. Bob said that he plans on 

stopping in Louisville to have 

a visit with Thelma Berry. He 

said that he sure is looking 

forward to visiting with Ken 

Lipstreuer and family again 

this year. Bob also sent along 

a letter he received from George 

Hatt along with a lot of inform- 

ation regarding a bitter fight 

in a small German town where 

several young German soldiers 

were killed. George advised BoB 

that the attack on a couple of 

small towns (Sonderiet and 

Nassig) was made by CCA/ 

Task Force 1, which consisted 

of B and D of the 66th, the 43rd 

Tank Bn. and the 493rd FA 

Bn. The Germans resisted, the 

town was smashed and 34 

young German soldiers were 

killed. Most were 16 years old. 

Bob was wondering how many 

of the "B" Company gang re- 

member this battle. George 

Hatt sent along a very interest- 

ing article regarding this battle 

and we hope to see that this 

account will appear in the News 

for everyone to read. George 

Hatt has corresponded with a 

Mr. Albrecht Englert who is 

trying to get some history to- 

gether for his hometown, 

Nassig. (We will continue to 

follow up on this article and 

keep the Hellcat News informed 

of information received from 

any of our members who remem- 

ber or was there at this battle - 

(GeoO). 

We have another letter from 

buddy "Muscles" Emery (C) 

who is still working and com- 

ing along great on C/66. He 

has contacted quite a few 

fellows who at one time were 

members of "C" 66 and has 

had some success. Ralph Davis 

said he would be in Charlotte. 

Therman "Pete" Bryson died 

of a heart attack in 1971. His 

widow, Bonnie who has remar- 

ried would love to hear from 

anyone who knew Pete. Sidney 

Dentón is a diabetic and gets 

about in a wheelchair and is 

interested in the Association 

and with some urging may be 

in Charlotte. Percy "PW Cor- 

bett reinlisted in the army and 

was sent to Germany and soon 

thereafter, in 1947, was killed 

with a jeep turned over on him. 

Louis "Pop" Edwards died 

May 3, 1989 with Parkinson's 

disease. He and his wife Ger- 

turde had four children and his 

wife said that she would love 

to hear from anyone who knew 

Pop. Muscles had a nice letter 

from Orville Holderman with 

information for C/66 including 

his and Hank Noeske's Bronze 

Star citations. (Does Holder- 

man know anything about the 

whereabouts of Noeske? - 

GeoO). Muscles said that Mrs. 

Joseph Husid called him just 

before he left for France and 

mentioned that in his terminal 

illness, Lt. Husid was no longer 

able to read letters and Muscles 

said that he fears that Lt. 

Husid many have passed away. 

Muscles remarked that, "Lt. 

Husid was well known in the 

66th Battalion as he accepted 

the assignment of Company 

Commander of Provisional Com- 

pany "D" of the 66th AIB, a 

colored company made up of 

members of a National guard 

unit." "At that time he was 

criticized for taking command 

of this company which went to

prove that. Lt Husid was far 

ahead of his time in the human 

rights area." (Does anyone 

have any information regard- 

ing "D" Company?) Muscles 

remarked that this Company 

performed well under very try- 

ing times. "D" Company was a 

rifle Company. (We think Glen 

Toy may have been a Platoon 

Leader in this Company - How 

about it Glen, can you remem- 

ber anyone of that Company 

and any stories or records of 

their accomplishments while 

fighting with the 66th - GeoO). 

We have word from Steve 

Czecha (C) that he and Faith 

will defiantly be in Charlotte. 

Steve is still playing bridge and 

is traveling the country, enjoy- 

ing bridge tournaments more 

than ever. Had a tournament 

in Boston in July and has been 

to most of the beach cities on 

the Atlantic Costal areas. Steve 

remarked that his letter was 

"writ by hand" as Duncan used 

to say. 

Hope to see everyone in Char- 

lotte - "It's great to be a Hell- 

cat". 

PROFILE OF A BUDDY 

S/Sgt Joe Spicer, was a 

buddy remembered by Bob 

Grebl. Bob said that if his 

memory had not failed him, Joe 

was a member of the original 

cadre to form the 12th Armored 

Div. Bob has not heard from 

Joe since they came home after 

the war at which time his 

address was: 324 East Main, 

Denison, Texas. Joe was in the 

second platoon of "B" Com- 

pany and "was a real hand- 

some fellow that the girls -all 

went for." Maybe some of the 

Texas guys can check to see if 

he is still around. 

WRITI YOUR REP 

82nd 

Armored 

Medical 

Battalion 

MERRILL McNAMEE 

24 SPRING DRIVE PLACE 

OCALA, FL 32672 

Phone: (904) 687-2535 

Hi - again from your new 

Unit Rep! Don Seedbord re- 

minds us of the Rhin et Danube 

reunion being held in Montreal, 

Canada October 4-5-6, 1990. At 

this time the nominations will 

be held for replacing all the 

former officers of their follow- 

ing post - President - Vice 

President - Executive Secretary, 

Treasurer and Editor, Publis- 

her, Quarterly News letter. All 

the former Officers will be 

ready to hand over their duties 

at this meeting. Also Don 

wants to thank all lifetime mem- 

bers and those that sent in 

extra money with dues to help 

with printing and postage for 

your quarterly news letter these 

past years. We sure will miss 

you as President of the French 

- American Association. Good 

luck in your new ventures. 

Sorry to hear you won't be able 

to make Charlotte reunion. 

Anthony Trogan Hdg. Co. 

dropped a note telling of their 

plans on working out an itiner- 

ary fo'r the trip South to the 

Charlotte reunion. They were 

glad to see all those that attend- 

ed the Eastern from the 82nd. 

Olga and Tony had a week of 

vacation in the Catskill Mts, 

N.Y. That's sure a nice place to 

spend a vacation. Lucky you. 

A letter from Art Long states 

that he was so sorry that so 

many missed the 82nd reunion 

because of health and other 

reasons. It is very hard to 

believe that the Long's made 

the return trip home in 12 

hours. (640 miles) Art you sure 

are getting better in your 

older age. Thanks for giving 

me confidence in doing the Unit 

Rep job. 

Edmund Sorola the Texan 

from San Antonio writes "We're 

having a terrific heat wave." 

We should know what Ed is 

talking about because last 

year's 12th reunion the heat 

wave was on at that time. Ed 

also went on to say tht Bernie 

made sure that he and Stivers 

got to the airport safely and on 

time. Ed on Sunday afternoon 


MEETING REGISTRATION 

for Lake Erie-Ohio River Meeting 

NOVEMBER 2, 3, 1990 

Name 

Spouse or Guest 

Address 

Unit 

City/St./Zip 

Registration Fee is $25.00 per person 

Please indicate the number in your party 

Amount Enclosed 

A light LUNCH will be served Friday and Saturday at noon. 

Make Check Payable to and Mail To: 

Victor Challen, 11127 Weston Road, Weston, OH 43569 

• •••••••••••• 

*********** 

ECONO LODGE 

(FORMERLY THE ROYAL TOLEDO INN) 

1800 MIAMI STREET(419) 666-5120TOLEDO, OHIO 43605 

Individual Name: 

Address: 

City/State/Zip: 

Phone: Home . Work 

Date of arrival: leaving 

No. of rooms: single (1 per. 

Major Credit Card #: 

Exact name on card: 

Expiration date on card: 

Double (2 per.) 

'38.00 Per Room no matter how many in room. Plus Tax 

Rooms are held until 6:00 PM on the date of arrival. If you will be arriving 

after 6:00 PM, advance deposit equal to one night's rental will guarantee your 

room for late arrival. Checks and/or Money Orders must be made payable to 

the ECONO LODGE TOLEDO. Check in time on the of arrival is after hOO PM. 

Check out time on the day of departure is 1:00 PM. Guests arriving without 

advance reservations will be accommodated on a space available basis. 

SPACE is limited and reservations are accepted in the order received. 

Return this form as soon as possible to the above address. 

*********** 

new TC REACH THE 

ECONO LODGE 

TURNPIKE: Take Exit 5, North on 1-280 to Route 795. Route 795 

west to Oregon Road. North on Oregon Road to the Econo 

Lodge. 

1-75 From North: Continue on 1-75 to Miami Street Exit 199A. 

1-75 From South: Continue on 1-75 to Miami Street Exit 199. 

Phone Numbers are (800) 242-6446. (Ohio) (800) 252-6446

Page 14 HELLCAT NEWS 1990 

BnBOBOBDBOBaBDBOBDBOBDBaBOBaBnBOBnBDBDBOBDBDBOBOBDBaBDBOBOBaBOBnBDBaBOBOB 

Elkhard, Ind. June 1990, 82nd Medics reunion. Left to 

right: Clarence and Mary Johnson - C, Wink and Betty 

Bottemiller - C, Nick and Louise Lupo - C. Photo by 

Truman Stivers - C/82. 

and Truman Stivers on Monday 

morning. Both were treated to 

a lunch at Bernie's house on 

Sunday. A visit was made to 

one of the Rice's daughter and 

husband house who has a col- 

lection of antiques. "It was like 

visiting a Museum" quoted Ed. 

Truman Stivers spent overnite 

with the Rice's hefore departing 

to Calif, on Monday morning. 

News Flash Bulletin from the 

82nd reunion committee consist- 

ing of Nick and Louise Lupo, 

Allen and Violet Starck both of 

"C" Co. and Richard and Grace 

Hendry from "B" Co. as fol- 

lows: we are booked into the 

Club House Inn in Westmont, 

Illinois right off Rte 83-34. The 

rooms have been promised at 

$58.00 per rate plus tax. Rooms 

are good sized. Price includes 

complimentary cocktails every 

day from 5 to 7. Rooms at these 

prices are available Wednesday 

June 18th thru Sunday June 

23, 1991. 

The Lupo's said they are for- 

tunate to have the Hendry's 

and the Starck's on their com- 

mittee. St. James Crossing a 

quaint shopping center is with- 

in walking distance. There are 

also other villages and large 

shopping centers nearby. If 

you're flying in let the commit- 

tee know. Also they would like 

to hear from anyone on what 

they may be interested in so 

they can fulfill your dreams. 

Perhaps a theatre play may be 

available at that time. An early 

start and it sure sounds terrific. 

More news to follow in the com- 

ing months. So keep this notice 

available. Let's all plan on mak- 

ing this 1991 reunion. 

After thinking about the num- 

ber of the fellows complaining 

about the Social Security pay- 

ments to the Army age bracket 

of our times, Truman Stivers 

"C" Co. decided to write a letter 

to the President of the United 

States. If everyone would do the 

same maybe by chance this will 

come to a head. The letter is as 

follows: The President, The 

White House, Washington, D.C. 

20012 Dear Mr. President: Why 

is it that the people of our age 

group who fought for our 

Country in World War II re- 

ceive less Social Security pay- 

ments than those before or after 

that time frame? 

Further, just as we (WWII 

Veterans) reach the age to re- 

ceive payments, they are taxed 

as income. There were certainly 

no deductions for income tax 

purposes when the funds were 

withheld from our wages. 

I don't understand and would 

appreciate an answer and also 

request your administration con- 

sider correcting this unfair sit- 

uation. Respectfully yours. Free 

to copy, put in letter form, sign 

same and mail. 

An update on Allen Horowitz 

"C" Co. injury from the fall 

from a ladder reported in a 

previous Hellcat News. He will 

have surgery to repair the 

damage to his rotator cuff in 

his right shoulder. The ortho- 

pedic surgeon's verdict was 

that surgery --is essential for 

healing to take place. So after 

some troubled reflection and 

with some trepidation Allen 

authorized the surgeon to sched- 

ule the operation, he was to 

enter hospital on July 9th. 

Allen said that due to his arm 

being in a sling for a period of 

time he may not make the 

Charlotte reunion. We under- 

stand Al and hoping to see you 

at next years 82nd reunion. By 

the time this goes to press Allen 

will be thru the surgery and on 

the mend. 

In early July Noble Stuffle- 

bean "C" Co., wife Imogene 

reports that Noble has been 

down with Kidney stones in the 

right Kidney plus blood pres- 

sure problems. We are sorry to 

hear of your health problems. 

May you have a speedy re- 

covery. It was sad news to hear 

of Imogene's father passing 

away just before the 82nd re- 

union and of her brother is 

somewhat worse with cancer. 

Our prayers are with you. 

At the Charlotte reunion the 

committee will decide on how 

to curb the expense of the Hell- 

cat News. Lately the expense is 

larger then the income so some- 

thing must be done now. The 

committee will resolve this 

matter and it will be made 

known in a further issue of the 

Hellcat News. 

Ken Zraco arrived in Elkhart 

with his left arm in a sling 

from surgery he had performed 

on his left shoulder. In early 

July he reports that he is still 

having therapy for his shoulder 

surgery. Ken eat your heart out 

that you can't be on the golf 

course with your buddies. But 

if I know Ken he will be there 

before long. He also said it 

pains like hell. Come on Ken 

who are you kidding you're no 

weakling. 

After much research by the 

former Rep and agreement with 

the Executive Secretary, Com- 

modore Griffith will be listed 

in Hdgs Co. 82nd Medics. 

Again welcome aboard Com- 

mordore. 

At press time there were four 

unpaid membership dues for 

1990. Some are not aware that 

82nd Veterans at the Elkhart, Ind., June 1990 reunion. Standing left to right: 

Wright, Hq. - Finley, C - Nicholson, B - Johnson, C - Zaraco, C - Robinson, C - Hendry, B 

- Pounds, C - Stivers, C - Kaminski, B - Long, C - Van Slyke, B - Rice - C and Fredickson. 

Kneeling and sitting left to right: Griffith, C - Lupo, C - Santoro, C - Bottemiller, C - 

Lane, B - Rhodes, C - McNamee - C, Plautz, Hq - and Sorola, C. Photo by Truman Stivers, 

C/82.

Joe and Given Nicholson, "B" Co. 82nd Medics reunion 

held in Elkhart, Ind. June 1990. Photo by Merrill McNamee, 

C/82. 

dues are now due the first of 

the year. Let's hope this is the 

case and eventually the Execu- 

tive Secretary will receive the 

dues. 

In closing let me remind you 

that this is your column. With- 

out your letters there can be no 

column. Till next time, God 

Bless. 

Merrill 

92nd Mech. 

Cavalry 

Récon. 

Squadron 

ERNEST M. AKAIWA 

82 N. Bishops Lane 

Southampton, L.L, NY 11968 

Phone: (516) 283-3069 

BOOSTERS 

William L. Lafkowitz - Hq & 

Su 

Louis B. Walton, Sr. - A 

Robert O. Schlenker - B 

William B. Bartholomew, Sr. D 

Joseph F. McCluggage, Jr. - D 

Major (USARet) Donald C. 

Thompson - Hq & A 

Leonard P. Dooley - Hq 

Raymond J. Pieterick Sv & Hq 

Major Herbert L. Short (Ret.)-A 

Dues but NO news: 

A Troop: Kenneth W. Knorr, 

Louis B. Walton, Sr. 

B Troop: Robert O. Schlenker 

C Troop: Mike Barber 

D Troop: William B. Barth- 

olomew 

E Troop: Nestore "Pony" 

Poponi 

Med. Det.: Reuben G. Lorenz 

NEWS: Hq & Sv Troop: 

Roland B. Rickert: "It was such 

a shock to read about our dear 

friend, Cono. He will be missed 

by all. He was such a great 

guy, full of life. My heart goes 

out to Audrey. 

Had some part time house 

painting this spring and a new 

roof on boss's house. Now I am 

loafing again. Who said when 

you retire you won't know what 

to do with your self? I don't 

seem to be able to catch up 

with everything around the 

place. Hope that you beefed up 

your place more securely after 

your break in last winter. 

In May the Tour-de-Trump 

bike race went from Allentown 

to Easton in the morning. They 

ride right past our house. At 

1500 there was a 3 lap race 

around Allentown, 90 some 

miles total. They went through 

Lehigh University 3 times. The 

University is situated on the 

north side of the mountain. 

A lot of Friday evenings I go 

to Trexlertown to the bicycle 

races. It's 25 miles from here 

and as a senior I get in for 

$1.50. On June 24th ABC 

Sports filmed the races here, 

live. Russia, France and Eng- 

land were there racing for gold 

medals. 

The National Championships 

were held here July 10-14th. 

There was so much rain on this 

outdoor cement veledrome that 

they were hard pressed to get it 

all in. 

On July 16th I went to St. 

Thomas in the Virgin Islands 

with my son, Daughter and 

son-in-law for a week." (Rick - 

the clipping was interesting. 

See Notes and Stuff.) 

Bill Self: "After reading the 

September 1990 HELLCAT NEWS Fjge 15 

HCN, I felt that I hadn't sent 

enough for the hospitality 

room. Here's some more to go 

with the first donation. We 

won't arrive in Charlotte until 

Friday. We plan on joining 

everyone at the 92nd Dinner." 

(Bill - thanks for the additional 

donation.) 

Don Thompson: "In October 

'89 I had a heart attack. I had 

another one in January '90. 

Then I turned up with cancer 

and had to take 42 treatments. 

In the meantime, on April 1st, 

my wife Charlotte, of 49 years 

had a stroke and heart attack 

and passed away on the 20th 

of April. So you see things have 

not been normal. I do hope you 

can read this as you see I now 

have Parkinsons Disease. What 

next? All part of the Golden 

Years." (Don - The Troopers of 

the 92nd join me in extending 

our condolences at your time of 

great loss. We wish you the best 

in the future.) 

A Troop: ? ? ? 

B Troop: Eldon H. Kohler: 

"Last month the Brittons and I 

drove to Mayfield, NY to visit 

Bob Claus and his wife, Norma. 

We arrived at his house about 

1300 and were greeted at the 

door by Norma. Bob was in the 

dining room on a hospital bed. 

He was smiling and held out 

his left hand. Lou and I talked 

to him for a couple of hours 

and he would nod his head 

either yes or no. 

We went back to his house 

that evening and the next day. 

When we talked to him about 

the Army and Germany he did 

not recall either. I think he re- 

membered us from the past but 

could not recall where or when. 

I talked to him about the 12th 

Armored and the "Big 4" and 

he would shake his head to say: 

'I don't remember.' 

Bob looked very good and is 

very well cared for by Norma. 

His children who live nearby 

stop in to see him often. 

After we left the Clauses we 

drove to the Glens Falls area to 

visit with the Brittons son and 

his wife. They have a beautiful 

house there. We spent the rest 

of the day with them and head- 

ed home the next morning." 

(Eldon - thanks for the update 

on Bob.) 

C Troop: (See Notes and 

Stuff) 

D Troop: R. Carlton Figg: 

"We had a wonderful time at 

the Smoky Mountain meeting. 

It really was a big success. 

Sarah and I enjoyed our trip 

through North Carolina and 

Tennessee. We visited lots of 

friends on the way back to 

Virginia and home. 

I have just gotten home from 

the hospital after an unexpect- 

ed triple by pass. It's been 

tough going but very fortunate 

to catch it in time. Sorry I won't 

be able to attend the Charlotte 

Reunion. The doctor says NO - 

not this year. Give my regards 

to all our friends and enjoy 

yourselves." (Carlton - We will 

miss you and Sarah. See you in 

Omaha next year.) 

John Lott: "Genny is still 

having her problems. Her 

arthritis is bad. She gets cramps 

nearly every day lately. I'm 

Marker on the grave of PEC Dale H. Thornton, C/92, 

Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avoid, France. Flowers 

courtesy of Charlie Anderson, C/92.


Marker on grave of 2nd Lt. Cloyce F. McLaughlin, 

C/92, Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avoid, France. 

Flowers courtesy of Charlie Anderson, C/92. 

doing fairly well. We are plan- 

ning on Charlotte. Since we 

haven't gone anywhere this 

year except to the Eastern we 

may go farther than Charlotte. 

I can't write very good any- 

more or very much." (John - 

you write fine.) 

E Troop: Ralph E. Johnson: 

"I entered the hospital on July 

6th for an operation for degen- 

erative arthritis with calcifica- 

tion between the fourth and 

fifth spinal disc which was 

compressing the sciatic nerve. 

The operation was a great suc- 

cess. About 24 hours after I was 

walking upright again instead 

of like a fiddler crab (or a side 

winder for you western readers). 

I was in the hospital for 

another three days and am now 

on the four week recovery per- 

iod at home with no driving or 

strenuous activity. It sure is 

funny how you don't appreciate 

a lot of your family or friends 

until you need their help. 

Unless I have a faster re- 

covery, I don't think we will be 

able to come to Charlotte this 

year. Maybe next year I'll be 

able to greet "Curly" Taylor at 

a reunion. I'm learning more 

than ever that: 'It's great to be 

a Hellcat'." Ralph - ("Curly" 

Taylor should have made his 

contact with Earl Auxier by 

now. "Curly" is also one of us 

now.) 

F Company: ? ? ? 

NOTES AND STUFF 

There is still plenty of room 

for new members in the "Last 

Man Club". 

Many months ago I made you 

aware of the possibility of de- 

corating the gravesites of our 

Troopers who are at rest in the 

Lorraine American Cemetery at 

St. Avoid, France. Through the 

generosity of Charlie Anderson 

(C/92) our two "C" Troop mem- 

bers were remembered on 27 

May 90. Floral decorations were 

placed on the graves of PFC 

Dale H. Thornton and 2nd Lt. 

Cloyce F. McLaughlin by the 

American Battle Monuments 

Commission. Perhaps other 

Troops may want to consider 

this service. 

I was privileged to attend the 

"C" Troop social event of the 

year on 28 July 90 when Mar- 

garet E. Tranchida and Lucius 

Marcellus Wheeler Gardiner III 

were married at Our Lady 

Queen of Peace Church in Har- 

per Woods, Michigan. Also attend- 

ing were the Conklins, the Poo- 

littles, the Kridners and the 

Pickells. At the reception Don 

Doolittle poured the champagne 

for the toast at table 12. Ernie 

Conklin ladled the soup. 

We wish Marge and Lou the 

very best in the future. 

Roland Rickert sent me an 

article published in The Phil- 

adelphia Inquirer recently 

about the increase in the num- 

ber of veterans who are going 

overseas to visit WW II battle 

areas. John Emerich (102nd 

Inf. Div.), Hershey, PA said: 

"The Dutch people are so grac- 

ious to the people who won 

them freedom. In America, they 

forget you in six months, but 

over there they still feel a great 

gratitude. I've had as a house 

119th 

Armored 

Engineer 

Battalion 

GENE A. CURRY 

1612 WALNUT 

LA GRANDE, OR 97850 

Phone: (503) 963-2400 

BOOSTER 

Clifford S. Koah - A 

Well, here it is? The month of 

Sept. If you were able to make 

it to our reunion in Charlotte it 

was nice seeing you. Now you 

can think and plan for the one 

in Omaha. If you could not 

make it this year I'm sorry be- 

cause you missed a super time 

and we missed you. 

We have some good news this 

month as we have two new 

members. Glenn H. Waltner, 

C/119th and Victor M. Buzard 

A/119th. I wrote about Glenn 

last month but was not sure of 

his last name until I got the 

official word from Norb. Bruem- 

mer, our Executive Secretary. 

I sent each one a letter and 

asking for information about 

guest a Dutch boy who is the 

third generation of a family 

that takes care of the grave of 

an American soldier in the 

Margraten cemetery. Each 

Dutch family has adopted a 

grave and every Memorial Day 

they make sure it is decorated 

and they watch over it." 

Glad to have seen those of 

you who made it to Charlotte 

and hope to see the rest of you 

some time this coming year. 

Ernie 

Bob Claus, pictured in a 

recent visit by Lou Britton 

and Eldon Kohler. All of 

B/92. Photo by Kohler. 

their life. When I hear from 

them I will relay it to you. 

Victor's phone # is 517-839-9693. 

We still have 154 members in 

our Btn. and did not have to 

drop any because of failure to 

pay dues. We do have six mem- 

bers that are boosted this year 

so keep your donations coming 

in for the booster fund. 

Despite the recruiting of 56 

new members since the first of 

the year, our regular member- 

ship total dropped by 22. Now 

is the time to write any of your 

old buddies that are not a mem- 

ber and get them signed up. 

I will try and hold down the 

size of our column because of 

the cost of printing. I'm so 

windy it won't be easy but I'll 

try. 

COMPANY A 

We are happy to welcome our 

old buddy from Co. A back in 

the fold. Victor Buzard not only 

sent in his membership fee but 

plans on being at our reunion 

in Charlotte. 

Norbert Ehlers sent in the list 

of the members of Co. A that 

were still together at the end of 

the war. I see that you lived in 

Clara, MI, Victor, back in the 

old days. You must like the area 

as you still live in MI. 

Norbert is in good health as 

far as the usual wear and tear 

is concerned. He plans on mak- 

ing the reunion in Omaha next 

year. Maybe you can throw a 

rope around Ernie Stanczyk 

and drag him along with you. 

Ernie lives in St. Paul, NB 

that's just a hoop and a hollar 

from Omaha. 

Norbert wished all of us'the 

best and looks forward to see- 

ing us once again. That goes 

both ways, Norbert. 

Dan Vachet made a phone 

call to me this month and we 

had a very long visit, Dan had 

a little problem with his ticker 

awhile back so I hope the 

phone bill won't shock him to 

much. 

Dan asked if Pablo F. Velasco 

was a member so I checked my 

records and could not find a 

card on him but I swear he was 

signed up this year so please 

let me know Pablo or Ed 

Arvayo. 

We had a good laugh about 

what Dan called my love me or 

leave me request for votes to 

keep me or get rid of me as 

your rep. Like I told him I will 

do anything to get a letter from 

you. 

COMPANY B 

Herb. Brinlee sent in his pay-

A 119th AEB foot bridge somewhere in Germany. Pic. 

sent in by Ed Gross. 

ment for our hospitality room 

in Charlotte. It is always nice 

to get a check but it even better 

to find out that he will be with 

us at that time. 

Herb, keeps busy in politics 

by helping to get the right man 

or woman in office. His Grand- 

son just got married and also 

won the state baseball cham- 

pionship for Class A. 

His wife, June, is doing ok 

with just a few health prob- 

lems. I hope that she will be 

able to go to Charlotte with 

Herb as they plan on stopping 

by the Grand Old Opera in 

Nashville. 

Thanks for the good words 

about the HCNs and our col- 

umn. 

We also got a check for our 

hospitality room from Melvin 

and Inez Meyer. We missed 

them at the last reunion so it 

was nice to find out that they 

will be in Charlotte. 

Melvin wrote that AZ was 

having a lot of rain for a 

change. I'm sure they are 

happy to have the rain but I 

think that the rain really be- 

longs to your buddy from Co. B 

John P. Parkison of Calif. 

COMPANY C 

Jules Tervay and his wife 

Annette are still on the move. I 

think they just stop at home 

long enough to pick up a clean 

shirt. They drove up to our 

Northwest Chapter meeting in 

May and then did some work 

in Calif. Then to AZ and back 

home for a day or two. They 

just got a new Suburban auto 

and it already has over 5000 

miles on it. 

Annette just had a birthday 

and I would guess it was num- 

ber 39, (or was it 29 Annette?) 

They will be in Charlotte bright 

and early for our reunion. 

George T. Figas sent in a 

very short letter this month but 

that beats the heck out of no 

letter at all. He asked for the 

information on how and where 

to send for his medals from the 

army. I was happy to send it to 

him. If you need this inform- 

ation don't be bashful. Just let 

me know. 

Thanks for the good words 

about the HCNs and our col- 

umn. Now that you wrote one 

time, George, if there was no 

pain why don't you try it 

again? 

COMPANY D 

No News. 

HEADQUARTER CO. 

Thanks to Lifetime Member 

Elmer Gilchrist Hq. Co, did not 

strike out this month. He had 

asked me for the information 

on receiving his medals from 

the army. I sent him the inform- 

ation he needed and in his 

thank-you letter he added a 

check for our hospitality room 

in Charlotte. 

Elmer also sent us a "Remem- 

ber When" story for this 

months HCNs. 

He also passed along a sad 

fact about growing old. That is 

when you start looking like the 

picture on your driving license. 

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS 

Marjorie Schorer and her hus- 

band Bill got back from their 

trip to England. While there 

they visited Tidworth and took 

several pictures with regular 

camera and video camera. I'll 

bring them to Charlotte and 

have some printed in the HCNs. 


I sent a letter with them for 

the leaders of Tidworth thank- 

ing them for the kindness they 

showed us while we were in 

their town. Marjorie said that 

they were very happy to receive 

the letter and a little history of 

the 12th after we shipped out. 

I guess a lot of you spent a 

lot of your extra time at the 

Pub called the "Ram", The 

brick buildings we stayed in are 

in good repair along with the 

rest of the camp still being 

used. I didn't spend any time 

at the Ram Pub because I was 

lucky to have met a young lady 

and her family at the Hip- 

podrome Theater and was able 

to spend my off time at their 

home. 

Marjorie and Bill plan on 

going on a trip with Bernie and 

me to France in 1992. 

The old Garrison Theatre is 

now a museum. The town looks 

the same and the tunnel that 

one of you wrote about a few 

months back is still there. If 

you remember one of you took 

a short cut and fell down the 

banks. 

The night of the Northwest 

Chapter banquet last May Mar- 

jorie and her husband pulled a 

fast one on me. She had asked 

to borrow my G. I. jacket that 

had the medals pinned on it for 

decoration in our hospitality 

room. Bill mounted the medals 

in a very nice frame and they 

presented it to me at the busi- 

ness part of the evening. This 

is one of the few times in my 

lifetime that I was speechless. 

REMEMBER WHEN? 

Elmer Gilchrist sent along 

this story. He and Doc. Rhoads 

used to buddy around together. 

When they got in a rest area 

they would take off and see the 

sights if the top brass liked it 

or not. Elmer said that he had 

just about enough points to get 

home but if they had twice as 

many as they needed they 

would not be headed anywhere 

near home. 

Elmer felt that Doc. Rhoadf 

was one of the most fearles. 1 

men he ever knew. Elmer waf 

ordered to go up to the front 

lines and pick up a disabled 

halftrack, Doc, told him not to 

go as he would never get back 

but they took off anyway with 

six men, 1 Jeep, 1 6x6 and a 10 

ton wrecker. They got as far as 

they could then were told the 

halftrack was totaled so they 

Germany 1945, Col. Paul 

Wood, 134th Btn. Hq. pre- 

senting Capt. Bob McMena- 

min, Btn. Hq. 134th with 

Bronze star about the same 

time John McNaull received 

his. Both Hellcats were well 

deserving. 

started to return when the Ger- 

mans lite the sky with flares. 

The wrecker stood out like the 

Empire State Building. Every- 

one made it back that night. 

(Elmer you should have just 

called the auto club and let 

them take care of it). 

Well, folks, it's time again to 

sign off for another month. I 

will have to have next months 

column ready before we go to 

Charlotte so it might be a little 

short and also my last as your 

rep. is voted in at that time. 

Who knows, you might just be 

stuck with me for another year. 

Don't forget we need new mem- 

bers. Send in your booster 

donations and if you get a few 

spare minutes you might write 

your 119th rep. 

Its Great To Be a 119th Hell- 

cat. 

Matt Deljanovan, Co. A 

119th telling Dan Vachet 

what he was going to do 

with the ball that Ernie 

Stanczyk plans on striking 

him out with the next time 

they meet.


134th 

Armored 

Ordnance 

Battalion 

DONALD J.HERING 

HCR BOX 186A 

SPOTTED FAWN, NO. 25 

KESHENA, WI 54135 

Phone: (219) 397-2922 

BOOSTERS 

Charles Leo Grande - B 

Robert J. McMenamin - Hq. 

Mrs. Wm. E. Ashleman (Inge, 

former wife of Clarence Killian 

■ Hq/134) 

Dale A. Bryhan - A 

Paul Severino - B 

Greetings, Hellcat and Kit- 

tens: Once again we get to- 

gether in our September col- 

umn. By the time you read this 

our 44th National Reunion will 

be history. I am sure that every- 

one had a never-to-be-forgotten 

time reminiscing with your bud- 

dies, old friends and new fri- 

ends. More detail in our next 

column. Hope that you all used 

your 134th Road Atlas after 

the reunion and you arrived 

home safely with many memor- 

ies and mementos which will 

make it possible to forever 

cherish those days. 

I hope that all you Hellcats 

and Kittens enjoyed a beauti- 

ful Labor Day weekend. 

This month our Jewish bud- 

dies and friends will be observ- 

ing Rosh Hashanna and Yom 

Kippur. We convey to them our 

very best on these most relig- 

ious holidays. 

Marge and I had several 12th 

Armored friends over for a pot- 

luck picnic in June. It was great 

to see everyone. We would like 

to include more each year. Good 

food was enjoyed by all, especi- 

ally Jo's Italian dinner she had 

prepared. Here were Rube and 

Marge Lasee (714), Bob and 

Velma Luedtke (17), Elmer Hein- 

echen (56), Floyd and Gloria 

Peck (56), and Frank and Jo 

Lantero (17). 

We are constantly on the 

lookout to find former members 

or old buddies. I am happy to 

report to you 134thers that 

thanks to Richard Ennis (A) 

we have a rejuvenated member. 

His name is Clarence J. Miller 

(A), 107 Cross Creek Rd. - 

Kohler, WI 53044. 

Welcome back, Clarence. You 

are rejoining one first-class 

bunch of Hellcats. Please, write 

to him and make him vaelcome 

to our group. Clarence, please 

try to attend one of our many 

chapter reunions throughout 

the country and also the 

National reunions so that we 

can all get reacquainted. May 

God bless you and yours. 

The following are excerpts 

from letters to Bill Giannopou- 

los regarding his beautifully 

done 134th Road Atlas. Ken E. 

Ray (A): "Thank you for the 

134th History Book and Road 

Atlas. It was obviously a love 

effort. I wasn't able to find C. 

J. Miller (A) who used to live in 

Wisconsin." Thanks, Ken, for 

this letter. Please see fit to write 

your rep soon. 

Paul Fish (C): "We left Aug- 

ust 25 and returned home April 

12. It has been cold ever since 

we returned home. It almost 

makes us wish we were back in 

Yuma, AZ. We are both well 

but it seems that each year it 

gets harder to do what you 

want to." Thanks, Paul, for 

your letter. Marge and I can 

contact you in Yuma if we get 

down there next winter. Please, 

drop me a line. 

George Holmes (Hq.) "Thank 

you for sending me the Road 

Atlas. We hope to use it one of 

these days when we get to do 

some traveling. We have had 

to cancel out the last two re- 

unions but that will change 

soon. I received a letter from 

Willis Ackerman (B) the other 

day, such a joy as we cor- 

respond regularly. They have 

moved to Fort Collins from 

Denver." Thanks, George, for 

your note. 

Marlene Ennis: "I am writing 

this letter for Dick as he hates 

it. He has Parkinsons and 

arthritis but gets around very 

well so that he works 4 half 

days a week at the hospital as 

a volunteer in the Accounting 

Dept. which is therapy for him. 

We are leaving to visit our 

daughter in the Binghamton, 

N.Y. area. We will also call 

Donald Tiffany (B). (Thanks to 

your atlas.) We do not know 

Don but it's time we get acquain- 

ted." Thank you, Marlene and 

Dick, for your note and help in 

getting Clarence Miller back in 

the fold. He is from my home 

state of WI. Please drop a line 

again soon. 

Harold Barton (A): "Some 

Hellcat Reunion S. A. 1989 - 134th Hospitality Room 

- Clifford Woycke 134th C Co. and Mary Silsby, 134th A 

Co. Cliff is elaborating on his hobby photography. Did I 

hit it right Cliff. Let me know at Charlotte. 

time ago I went through the 

address book of the 12 AD 

before we traveled, but now as 

I travel I can look at each state 

in your Atlas and locate my 

buddies." Thanks, Harold, for 

your note and please, another 

soon. 

Paul Severino (B): that he 

enjoys looking up his old bud- 

dies. See you in Charlotte, N.C. 

in August. Thank you, Paul, 

for your happy letter. Good to 

hear you'll be in Charlotte. 

Henry Young (A): "We have 

just purchased a motor home 

so your Atlas will help us to 

find old buddies as we shuffle 

along. God willing and the 

creeks don't rise, we will see 

you at Charlotte. Thanks for 

the Atlas." Thank you, Henry, 

for your good-humored note and 

good luck with your RV. Let's 

hear from you later about your 

travels. 

Harley Olson (B): "What a 

pleasure it is to see where every- 

one lives. It's too bad the MN 

Hellcats can't get together but 

I don't like to drive anymore 

and my wife, Gwen, hasn't 

agreed to take over that job:" 

Harley, how about trying to 

make the North Central next 

year as it will be close to home 

in Mankato, MN? Look forward 

to hearing from you sometime. 

John and Bonita McNaull (A) 

write from Ashland, Ohio 

enclosing an explanation of 

how to play "chicken tracks" 

with dóminos. Looks like a fun 

game! "Things are busy here. 

John is helping Dan with his 

farming, gardening, making a 

trailer for his McCormick 

reaper and trying to keep me 

from getting involved over my 

head. I am Treasurer of the 

church, DAR and secretary of 

our 50th High School reunion 

class of 1940. So, obviously, 

that is time consuming. John 

has big farm machinery show 

on July 4th which will kick off 

Ashland's 175th celebration. 

All told it is a 4 day affair. The 

middle of July we will spend 4 

days camping in MI with our 

134th group. We had a ball with 

them at Fort Wayne in May. 

Thanks, John and Bonita, for 

your beautiful letter on station- 

ery showing your son-in-law's 

fantastic art work of the 

Mohican State Park covered 

bridge. Enjoy your 50th re- 

union! Marge and I are attend- 

ing my 50th High School re- 

union this fall, too. See you in 

Charlotte. 

Doug Post (Hq): "I was so 

pleased to receive one of Bill's 

Road Atlases with all the 134th 

names and addresses. There are 

some Hellcats I have been won- 

dering about and hoping they 

are still with us. Things were a 

little tough for me through the 

first part of the year but are 

leveling out now. We moved 

down from the snow country 

into a new home closer to 

cilvilization. The winters were 

getting a little rough for us up 

there. There is plenty of work 

for me to do and it keeps me 

out of the ole rocking chair. I 

have always been proud to be a 

part of the 134th as it's a first-

class outfit and of our Hellcat 

Division which did it's part and 

then some. I have lots of good 

friends to remember in Heiden- 

heim. Took a trip back there in 

1985." Thanks, Doug, for your 

letter. Many of us can empath- 

ize with you about memories of 

those days. Write again soon. 

Paul and Dorothy Hoffman 

(Hq) write how proud he is of 

his brand new 12th Armored 

jacket. He asks "Does anyone 

know the whereabouts of Lt. 

Claybaugh or William Bonner 

who drove jeep for Col. Wood? 

When I drove to visit my 

daughter in Fort Wayne I dis- 

covered that Gerald and Eunice 

Bright (Hq) were only 30 min- 

utes away. We were privilegd 

to spend a couple hours with 

this charming couple of Hell- 

cats. Does anyone remember 

Paul J. Greenspun? He lives in 

the Cleveland area. If any of 

you remember him, why not 

drop him a line extending an 

invitation to join our Assn. His 

address is 1030 Euclid Ave. 

Cleveland, Ohio 44115. Life has 

been kind to me. I was privileg- 

ed to be a member of the 12th 

Armored Division and specific- 

ally the 134th Ord. and in 

addition I married my high 

school sweetheart, Dorothy, 

who blessed me with my daugh- 

ter, Christine, and 3 precious 

granddaughters. They are Kell 

and Christine who are 10 year 

old fraternal twins and 5 years 

old Corinne." Thank you, Paul, 

for your letter. I will cover more 

of it in next month's column. 

Lewis and Doris Beaver (C): 

"We still prepare the dip recipe 

that Marge gave us in Kansas 

City. We are expecting com- 

pany from San Antonio. We are 

looking forward to visiting with 

our many friends in Charlotte. 

(God willing.)" Lewis and 

Doris, may God bless you. Have 

a safe trip to North Carolina. 

Herb Senecal (B): "Just a line 

to tell you that Alma and I will 

be in Charlotte and are looking 

forward to it. We plan to drive 

arriving on Aug. 28th. This will 

be our 3rd National Reunion. 

See you all in N.C." Thanks, 

Herb, and we look forward to 

seeing you in Suite 1866 and 

Alma in her new red dress. 

Bob McMenamin (Hq): (new 

address, 825 Fountain View Dr. 

- Deerfield, IL 60015): "Mar- 

garet and I are planning to 

attend our reunion in Charlotte. 

We will fly down and then go 

on to D. C. and elsewhere. Re- 

cently I received a note from 

Joe Sirkowich (Former Bn. 

Exec, officer before transfer) 

which stated that because of 

his health, he will not be able 

to make Charlotte. I also re- 

minded Tom Foley (B) who 

promised to attend this reunion 

when we were in San Antonio." 

Thanks, Bob, and it will be 

great to see you and Margaret 

again in N. C. 

I regret to inform you that 

two of our buddies' membership 

have been terminated due to 

non-dues payment. They are 

Lawrence Alberring (C) and 

Elmer Spaulding (Med.) This is 

sad to hear and hope that some 

of you will write them and con- 

vince them to change their 

minds as I am trying to do. 

As I am finalizing your Sept. 

HCN column it is raining and 

storming outside so that means 

that grass cutting is out for 

today. 

What a way to start a day! I 

just received a phone call from 

C. J. Miller (A) in response to 

my letter welcoming him to our 

134th family. C. J. and I are 

going to get together next week 

at his condo in Kohler for some 

134th reminiscing by two grow- 

ing younger every year Hell- 

cats. (Don't we wish!) C. J. has 

6 children and 3 grandchildren 

and he was an I. H. dealer in 

WI. He and his wife, Paula, 

spend most of their winters 

with their children in Lake 

Tahoe or California. So nice, C. 

J., to hear from you and I look 

forward to seeing you. 

C. J. and Herb Price (A) have 

both informed me of the health 

problems of Philip J. Arnold 

(A) who had 3 heart bypasses 

in 1982 but mother nature inter- 

vened and Philip had to endure 

painful balloon catherization to 

dilate and clear his arteries. He 

is home now recuperating and 

I know he would appreciate a 

card from you Hellcats. Well, 

Philip, we all wish God speed 

to you in your recovery. His 

address is Clear Lake, MN 

55319. Please write when you 

feel up to it. 

I just received a letter from 

Exec. Secretary, Norbert Bruem- 

mer, informing me that despite 

the recruiting of 56 new or re- 

juvenated members, our total 

membership dropped by 22, or 

3 /4% of 1%. He hopes that the 

increase in boosted members to 

45 is not indicative of a loss of 

interest by a few members. 

Let's hope that this is not the 


case, because it is a rare 

privilege to be a member of a 

first class outfit and it's Associ- 

ation. 

1991 dues received from 

Edwin N Long, Hq - Herbert G. 

Senecal, B and Willis Simons, 

Alabama 

Cha 

B 

Please watch for a change of 

address for Lloyd V Myers B in 

your Hellcat news. I regret to 

inform you of the passing of a 

comrade in arms. He is Clarence 

J. Kollian, Hq. who went 

To Atlanta 

PRE- REGISTRATION 

for Southeastern Chapter Meeting 

Colonial Inn, Phenix City, Alabama 

Thurs., Fri. & Sat. Oct. 25 - 27, 1990 

Name Unit 

Spouse or Guest 

Address 

City/St./Zip 

Registration Fee (includes Saturday Banquet) 

$12.00 Per person Total Enclosed 

Registration should be received by Oct. 10, 1990. 

Send Pre-registration form and make check payable to: 

GEORGE E. WELLS 

3041 Luclcie Street 

Columbus, GA 31903 

Phone (404) 689-2393 

Note: Hotel does not require advance registration. 

Rates are $21.95 - Single; $23.95 - Double, plus tax


to his eternal resting place May 

15, 1989. This information was 

conveyed to me by his wife 

Inge. We of the 134th Ord Btn. 

wish to convey to Inge and her 

family our deepest sympathy 

in the passing of her Hellcat. 

May God Bless his memory for- 

ever. 

I have been informed that for 

personal reasons John F. Town- 

send Hq. wishes not to renew 

his membership in the 12th AD 

Assoc. How sad. I shall en- 

deavor to change his mind ^God 

Willing). 

Paul Hoffman, (Hq) called to 

say his wife, Dorothy, is doing 

fine after surgery for a perforat- 

ed appendix. They have been 

looking forward to Charlotte 

and hope they can still make 

it. Thanks for the call, Paul. 

We hope Dorothy a speedy re- 

covery. 

Morris Fortin, (B) called to 

say that Harold Hains (B) had 

rectal surgery. Harold is wait- 

ing his doctor's decision about 

prostrate surgery which may be 

necessitated as a result of the 

rectal surgery. Our prayers are 

with you, Harold. A word from 

you fellows would be appreciat- 

ed. 

So for now you gallant Hell- 

cats and Kittens I bid you a 

fond adieu. Till we meet again 

in our October column may God 

get to know yee better. 

GO GO HELLCATS and re- 

member always, once a Hellcat 

always a Hellcat. 

152nd 

Armored 

Signal 

Company 

CHARLES R. MEHLE 

84 LEXINGTON DRIVE 

TUCKERTON, NJ 08087 

Phone: (609) 296-1463 

I know you all must be too 

busy enjoying the Summer to 

write me. At least, that's what 

I hope the reason is for the 

scarcity of mail this month. I'd 

hate to think your failure to 

write reflects a disinterest in 

the Association . . .? 

Have you ever written to a 

representative of the Signal 

Company since you became a 

member? I know, during my 

tenure as Unit Rep, there are 

many who have not bothered 

to get in touch. I think you 

might believe that your mes- 

sage is unimportant to the rest 

of us, but that is not so. We 

want to know what's going on 

in your life. 

The primary objective of the 

Association is not only to bring 

you together, but to keep you 

together. We hope the annual 

and regional reunions, as well 

as the efforts of the Unit 

Representatives, through the 

medium of this paper, go far to 

make this happen. 

End of speech. 

I did get a postcard from 

Wayne Young, that inveterate 

reader of books dealing with 

the war, informs us that the 

book Patton: Ordeal and 

Triumph, by Farago, makes 

mention of the 12th on page 

757. 

OK, Wayne, Both Koci and I 

thank you. 

A phone call from the 

01' Sarge, Frannie Reed, to let 

us know he has been in touch 

with Jack Doran. And, if Jack 

is up to it come Reunion time, 

Fran says he will transport the 

Dorans to the reunion site. He 

even promises to bring them 

back home, too! Great! Hope 

everything works out for you 

all. 

Fran wants to apologize to 

Walt Brokop for the harsh treat- 

ment he bestowed on Walter 

that fateful day at Campbell 

during the war. (See Walt's 

story in the June HCN). Fran 

claims he doesn't remember the 

incident. 

The Sarge, an avid fisher- 

man, boasted of a rainbow 

trout he caught this Summer, 

his best catch ever. He s«id it 

wasn't the biggest trout he has 

ever seen, but certainly was the 

liveliest he's ever caught. He's 

having the fish mounted to 

memorialize the catch. Fran is 

quite happy about landing a 

fish he can brag about so he 

doesn't have to lie anymore. 

Fran discovered Raystown 

Lake, a fishing and recreation 

area which is only 80 miles 

from his home. He'll be return- 

ing there often the rest of the 

Season, he says. 

And that closes down the 

message center. 

Does anyone remember Stan- 

ley Rosenthal? He was a good- 

looking guy who sported a 

blonde, pencil-line moustache 

that always looked trimmed 

Tom and Deane Tutt, 152nd Signal Company. Meet 

them in person in Charlotte in August. 

and cared for. I used to wonder 

how he managed to maintain 

his neat appearance, consider- 

ing the conditions we were 

enduring. One night, some- 

where in Germany during the 

war, Rosie and I were on guard 

duty. We were required to patrol 

a block of houses, hardly visible 

from the sidewalk because of a 

large brick wall fronting the 

dwellings. It was a dark night 

and news that German para- 

troopers were in the area had 

us up tight. We decided to start 

out at opposite ends of the block 

and meet somewhere in the 

middle. It worked fine for the 

first couple of passes, but then 

Stash disappeared. I continued 

to walk the post, imagining 

that, at any moment I would 

stumble over the lifeless body 

of my fellow guard. Then, by 

chance, as I walked past an 

opening in the wall, I spotted 

Stan in one of the houses. I left 

my post just long enough to 

discover Stash had joined some 

of his drinking buddies for a 

quick one. I prevailed on him 

to continue his guard duties 

but, shortly, he was gone again. 

This time I knew where to look 

for him. For the next half hour 

or so this scenerio was repeated 

several times, and each time I 

was getting angrier and Rosie 

was getting more inebriated. 

I decided it was better to walk 

with Stan rather than to try to 

meet him somewhere along the 

route. After a pass or two up 

and down the block, we heard 

the sound of voices emanating 

from the darkness in front of 

us. We flattened ourselves 

against the wall and, when two 

figures neared us, we sprang 

out at them, raising our car- 

bines in challenge. They were 

soldiers of some foreign nation- 

ality and excitedly attempted 

to identify themselves in- a 

language we didn't understand. 

After several confused minutes, 

Rosie had had enough. He rais- 

ed his carbine at the two 

strangers and was prepared to 

shoot them and be done with 

it. My more sober judgement 

prevailed however, and it was 

with considerable difficulty 

that Imade Stash see the error 

of his decision. Eventually the 

Jiggs Sager (D) on Eur- 

opean Tour. Picture from 

Lou Kochi (152nd).

two very nervous soldiers con- 

vinced us to allow them to walk 

to the corner. We were close 

behind them when we approach- 

ed a vehicle, barely visible in 

the inky blackness. One of the 

two men called out and was 

answered by a grunt from in- 

side the vehicle. At the same 

time a door at the rear opened, 

spilling a puddle of light on the 

four of us. More garbled conver- 

sation ensued while Rosie and 

I waited, guns at the ready. It 

was then one of the men in the 

vehicle, speaking French-accent- 

ed English made us to under- 

stand that they were French 

radio operators and the two 

young men who narrowly miss- 

ed being blown away by the 

tipsy Rosenthal were their relief 

crew. 

Rosie and I, convinced that 

we were not dealing with the 

enemy, slung our carbines over 

our shoulders and walked out 

of the circle of light into the 

blackness of the night to con- 

tinue our assigned duty of guard- 

ing all government property in 

view. 

I don't recall speaking to 

Stash the next day about our 

misadventures of the night be- 

fore. It would be fun to know 

what his reaction was after it 

was over. I was shook up for a 

few days, thinking of what 

could have happened. 

Well, nobody promised the 

war was gonna be all fun and 

games. 

That's it for now. As always, 

do well and be well, my friends. 

493rd 

Armored 

Field 

Artillery 

FRANK J. CZEINER 

3225 LANDSDOWNE DR. 

WILMINGTON, DE 19810 

Phone: (302) 478-3462 

BOOSTERS 

Charles L. Zincon, Sr. - A 

J. W. "Bill" Arbuckle - C 

George C. Carr - A 

Edward F. Cotter - C 

William S. Weldon - Hq. 

Tilford N. Julson - B 

The 44th National Hellcat 

Reunion is now in the annals 

of history but you will not read 

that history until Oct. and then 

perhaps not much of it. Since 

the Oct. column will be sub- 

mitted to our editor, the Hon. 

The war was over and the 

boys are happy. They are 

Charles Wilmeth and Tony 

Arena of Hq Btry 493rd. 

Charlie was a member from 

'80 to '82. No word about 

Tony. 

Bob Head, at the reunion, some 

of the history could be written 

at that time. If not in the Oct. 

issue, surely in Nov. Advance 

reservations in late July were 

indicative of one of the best 

reunion attendances. Moreover 

we expected a couple of BN 

First-Timers. We hope so. Keep 

tuned to this station for all the 

exciting news. 

Ginny Wates Pardue, daugh- 

ter of Vernon and Sarah Wates, 

sent us Vernon's obituary. Her 

letter was dated July 4 and she 

hoped that it would reach us in 

time for inclusion in the Aug. 

issue. It did not but the sorrow- 

ful news of Vernon's death will 

be reported. Ginny is thankful 

for the many expressions of 

love and sympathy from the 

Hellcats that have been so 

meaningful and comforting to 

the Wates family. Her note end- 

ed with, "Although it will be 

difficult for us, we will see you 

in Charlotte." 

Sarah sent a tape of the Fun- 

eral Service for Vernon. The 

Hellcat Division was mentioned 

so often throughout the minis- 

ter's oration that, though he 

was been their minister for 

only 4 years, Sarah surmises 

that he and Vernon must have 

gotten together quite often. Hell- 

cats who attended the burial 

are John Daivs, 494th, Charlie 

and Mrs. Comingore, 92nd, and 

Harold and Mrs. Harold Wrenn, 

17th. John Davis presented the 

flag that had draped Vernon's 

coffin to Sarah. Naturally, 


Sarah was pleased and honored 

by the presence of these Hell- 

cats and Hellkittens. 

Sal Delgado, one of Vernon's 

batterymates, called in late 

July to tell that he is forever 

grateful to Vernon. Sal had 

dropped out of the association 

many years ago. Then one day 

he received a letter from Vernon 

who was BN rep at the time. 

Sal rejoined and is happy. Sal 

and Alexis have become great- 

grandparents for the 3rd time. 

Congratulations. 

There will be a reunion of the 

Delgado clan at about the same 

time as our Hellcat get-together 

and Sal and Alexis could pos- 

sibly attend both if Alexis 

would fly. It's a far distance 

from Salt Lake City to Char- 

lotte and travel by car is out. It 

is possible that they managed 

to get to the reunion via Am- 

trak and could spend some time 

with us. Sal spoke with Walt 

Johnston who assured Sal that 

he and Lou would be at Char- 

lotte. 

Harvey and Dorothy Shoe- 

maker were at their retreat on 

the lake in mid-July. Dorothy 

wrote that they are both fine 

and were busy entertaining. 

They will leave for Charlotte 

on Aug. 26 and will do some 

visiting on the way. Dorothy is 

guardian of a 91 year old lady 

who is not well but is hanging 

on. She included an obit of 

John Speedy, Hq/17, who was 

a regular at the Christmas get- 

togethers of the Hellcats in the 

Minneapolis area. 

In mid-July Johnny and Bar- 

bara Carr flew to Seattle and 

during the flight passed Mt. 

Rainier which Barbara found 

to be "so beautiful". From 

Seattle they traveled by boat to 

Victoria and Vancouver. We 

spoke with Johnny and Barb. 

It was a most enjoyable trip 

and they highly recommend 

Seattle. We have heard such 

praise of the city that we are 

sorry that we missed the 1980 

reunion but hope to visit there 

someday. 

Steve and Ann Tratnik have 

been in touch with the Carrs. 

They have relatives in Mary- 

land whom they plan to visit 

en route to Charlotte and hope 

to get together with the Carrs 

while in the vicinity. Johnny 

and Barb have been together 

with Jake and Mary Elliott on 

several occasions. We regret to 

say that Jake is no longer a 

member of the association. 

Johnny tried and I tried but 

Jake will not rejoin. Perhaps 

one of his more intimate bud- 

dies can be more persuasive. 

His address is 2585 Davidson- 

ville Road, Gambrills, MD 

21054, Tel: (301) 721-0528. 

About 3 years ago in his idle 

moments Bill Arbuckle put 

some of his wartime reminisc- 

ences on paper. There were 

more idle moments, and encour- 

aged by Mona who was probab- 

ly trying to keep him out of the 

kitchen, he continued with his 

memoris and gradually the man- 

uscript grew to the size of a 

Michener novel. Bill had some 

copies made and distributed 

them among the men who shar- 

ed his experiences. I was one of 

that select group. I found his 

account most interesting and 

especially, since there were 

several instances of our com- 

mon adventures, exploits and 

escapades, quite flattering. 

A publishing company is con- 

fident that Bill's opus has 

potential and will print a First 

Edition of 1500/2000 hardbacks 

in time for Bill to bring some to 

the reunion. Don't be discourag- 

ed, you who could not come to 

Duane Bergeson, C/493 with his M-7, Fat Boy. It looks 

as though Duane was prepared for an attack by the krauts. 

Wonder who the inspiration for the name of the tank was.


Ruth and Paul Johnson, B/493 with their new mobile 

home at the time of their visit to Vernon and Sarah Wates. 

We hope to report that the mobile home made it to Char- 

lotte. Photo from Sarah Wates. 

Charlotte. All will not be sold 

and there will be future 

editions. You will be informed 

where and how to subscribe to 

a copy. I guarantee that you 

will find the book interesting, 

entertaining and evocative, and 

so will your children, grand- 

children, etc., provided they 

still understand Hill-billy. And 

perhaps we can prevail upon 

the author to autograph your 

copy. 

We had progressed thus far 

in the hunting and pushing 

when I went to see what the 

mailman had brought us. There 

was a letter from Sarah Wates. 

Again she wants to thank all 

for the cards, calls, flowers and 

memorials to different organiza- 

tions, but most of all "for your 

caring love which helped ease 

the pain." 

Sarah planned to attend the 

reunion at the request of her 

children and grandchildren 

some of whom will be with her 

in memory of Dad and Gran- 

dad. The children had been at 

reunions when they were much 

younger. At Orlando in '85 

daughter Ginny renewed her 

friendship with Linda Julson 

whom she had met years be- 

fore. 

The card from Sal Delgado 

especially made her feel good 

to know that someone can re- 

member and appreciate the 

work that Vernon put into the 

association and into the bat- 

talion and modestly she added, 

"I did help him a little. In his 

note, as has been mentioned, 

Sal expressed his thanks to 

Vernon for bringing him back 

into the association and to the 

fun and enjoyment of our're- 

unions. 

The photo of Bill McWork- 

man and Thomas Guigon in 

the July HCN brought a re- 

sponse from Gene Blumenshine 

of the 494th. Tom and Gene 

were very close friends and 

Gene thinks their acquaintance 

goes back to the 8th Armored 

at Campbell. We are all losing 

our memories, Gene. I can't 

remember the 8th being at 

Campbell but my memory, 

what is left, goes back only to 

Nov. '42. Later at Barkeley 

when they were together in the 

494th, Gene and Tom rode to 

camp with a Sgt. Graves of the 

82nd and Bill Church of Div. 

Arty. Tom Guigon is not a 

member, nor is Graves. Bill 

Church is listed in the roster 

with Div Arty. Tom and Lou 

Ella Guigon lived in or near 

East St. Louis, IL in the 40's. 

Wells Erickson, we are happy 

to say, is in good shape. But, at 

64, he is a comparative young- 

ster. He regrets that during his 

short stay in Service Battery 

he did not get to know Wolfe 

Nichols better and says that 

Wolfe was always busy with 

the important business of the 

battery like, "Shall we send a 

six-by or a peep to that winery 

in Katzenjammerheim?" Wells 

494th 

Armored 

Field 

Artillery 

MAURICE L. GLOVER 

4325 MILL RUN ROAD 

DALLAS, TX 75244 

Phone: (214) 239-5890 

BOOSTERS 

Norman S. Denny - Hq. 

Anthony Carbon - Med. 

John W. Thompson - Hq. 

Paul L. Jarvis - A 

Michael W. Nawara - B 

Joseph Yurisich - B 

Walter F. Mursewick - A 

Tony Carbon, Medics, "I 

would also like to hear from 

Ivan Leinicke who, he feels, 

considered him a goof ball. 

Ivan would tell the fellows that 

Wells' brother was Paul Erick- 

son who was "a big league 

pitcher. Wells says that Ivan 

had a good sense of humor. In 

those days Wells also rode with 

Tony Couch and remembers 

that Tony was a nice guy too. 

The reference to baseball brings 

to mind that on July 23 the 

local radio station in its broad- 

cast of 'Famous people born on 

this date' announced that 

Pee Wee Reese had attained the 

age of 72. 

We hear and read much about 

the S & L collapse and bailout 

but only a very few are directly 

affected. One of those is Ralph 

Lattig who says that the 

debacle cost him thousands. It's 

inconceivable that the bailout 

should cost 500 billions, about 

2 grand for every man, woman 

and child. WW II doubtlessly 

cost somewhat more but at least 

we Hellcats got a trip to Europe 

out of it. We hope that you 

recover those thousands, Ralph. 

You could then afford a lifetime 

membership. 

Long ago a wit coined the 

phrase, 'No news is good news.' 

If that wit had to write a 

column he was a nit-wit. We 

would appreciate anything, any 

yarn or anecdote, any remem- 

brance, real or fanciful. Say 

something nice about your chief 

of section. If you can't find 

anything nice, say something. 

Jog your memory and if and 

when something exciting sur- 

faces, jot it down and send it. 

It won't be long before the 

snowbirds head south. Be sure 

that our secretary is notified of 

any change of address. 

have just sent in my reserva- 

tions for the reunion and also 

received my plane reservations 

to Charlotte, so I had better 

stay a little bit healthier than I 

have been for a while. I had 

some surgery of late but it 

hasn't stopped Catherine and 

me from going dancing, we just 

love to go, it's usually at the 

V.F.W. on Saturday nights. We 

also have become great-grand- 

parents, to a granddaughter 

that lives in Georgia, so we 

may go from the reunion 

straight to my granddaughter's 

home. I quit playing football 

with my grandson and his pals, 

since I fell and had a shoulder 

separation last November. I got 

to remember how old I'm really 

getting and the old body will 

not react to healing as easily 

as the young ones. I only hope 

this reunion can be as good as 

the one in San Antonio. I still 

correspond with the priest I met 

there and I watch him every 

Sunday morning on cable." 

Al Reiser, A Btry., "I don't 

know if this letter will reach 

you in time for the August 

edition but I am hoping to see 

you at the reunion in Charlotte. 

It was great going around with 

Henry Landis as he looks more 

like a cowboy than some real 

cowboys and I have a picture 

to prove it. (Al send your pic- 

tures on to me and I will use 

them.) What I would like to tell 

the fellows is that Phil Galu, 

Barkey, Gildea and myself. We 

were at Jack Dempsey' when 

the picture was made. We had 

a very decent early spring, and 

I found time to read "The Other 

Side of Time", I can see why 

there was so much controversy 

concerning the book. Hope to 

see all of you in Charlotte." 

Ann Kleon, A Btry., "Thanks 

for asking about us. We are 

doing fine, Jim my oldest son 

is 25 he still lives at home and 

works for a car dealership. He 

is a mechanic. Joe, my young- 

est, is 22. He is married and 

has a 11 month old daughter. 

Yes, I am a grandmother and I 

just love it. Her name is 

Rachael Ann. I still live in our 

home and I work for a Podia- 

trist. I am a medical assistant. 

I have worked for the Dr. for 6 

years. I did not think my life 

would ever come together after 

Jim died, he was our whole life. 

But God has been good to me. I 

am happy and have too much 

to be thankful for. I enjoy the 

Hellcat News and remember

Left to Right: Gene Blumenshine, Tom Guigon, #3 Man 

unknown, Bill Church. Picture sent in by Gene Blumen- 

shine, Hq/494, Abilene, March or April 1944. 

the good times we had at the 

few reunions we attended. Tell 

everyone we said hi. May God 

keep you safe and in his care. 

Love, Ann Kleon." 

Margaret and Gene Blumen- 

shine, Hq. Btry., "In the HCN 

of July, 1990 I noticed in the 

493 column a picture of Bill 

McWoi nan and also Thomas 

Guion. x'om and I were very 

good friends and I think our 

acquaintance went back to the 

8th Armored Div. in Campbell. 

Anyway, we used to ride into 

Barkeley each day from Abilene 

with a Sgt. Graves. Also a Bill 

Church was with us at that 

time. Bill and his wife Marie 

shared a house with my wife 

and myself. Bill was in Div. 

Arty. Tom and I were in the 

494th at that time. Tom may 

have ended up in Div. Arty. I 

found a picture of all of us and 

our wives so you can print it. 

Mayb we can hear from Bill 

and Tom if given enough pub- 

licity in the HCN. Tom and Lou 

Ella Guion lived in or around 

East St. Louis, IL during the 

1940's. I see Bill's name in the 

HCN under Div. Arty every so 

often. I believe he lives in NJ." 

Julian Langseth, A Btry., 

"Sorry I haven't written before. 

I've never been very fond of 

using a pen. Lucille and I are 

still working, thanks to the 

Lord for health and strength to 

do so. Last week I hauled baby 

chicks out to farms, most of the 

quarter million that we hatch- 

ed. I enjoy the work and as 

long as we Americans eat lots 

of chicken, these jobs will con- 

tinue. We flew back to our old 

dairy farm in Minnesota for a 

short vacation last month, our 

son Grey is operating it. Crops 

look good this year after two 

dry years. Nearly 14 years since 

we left for Portland, how time 

flies. We have enjoyed living 

here also. We have 2 great 

events coming up this year. Our 

daughter May Beth is engaged 

to a neat Christian fellow, 

wedding to be November 3rd 

and 2nd event we will be taking 

a trip to Europe. Would love to 

get to Charlotte for reunion but 

it is not possible this year. If 

we retire soon we may make it 

next year. We had fun at North- 

west Chapter meeting." 

Raymond F. Kuehn, A Btry., 

"Hi to all Hellcats and Hell- 

kittens. I guess I never did 

write saying my right leg was 

amputated below the knee in 

May 1989. Then it was quite a 

long summer in a wheel chair 

before I got my artificial limb, 

then I had about 45 days to 

take my drivers license test. I 

passed it but driving is much 

different with no ankle move- 

ment. Went deer hunting Novem- 

ber 89 from a stand. Was very 

sorry to hear about Cono Sideri. 

I read some of all units and I 

did like his." 

Terrell and Vera Lamb, B 

Btry., "Vera and I have had a 

rather busy summer, working 

in the garden, keeping grand- 

children and doing a little 

traveling. Keeping the grand- 

children is always the most 

exciting thing. I love to help 

them learn about new things 

in their lives, even if its nothing 

but the definition of a new 

word. All our family health is 

excellent and we are very grate- 

ful for that. We took a short 

trip about 2 months ago and 


plan on going to the mountains 

of NC and TN starting this 

week end, in May we toured 

Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, 

Alabama and Tennessee. Talk- 

ed to Bill Pensy in Beaver Falls, 

PA and he says he is doing 

pretty good for now with his 

cancer, sure wish he and 

Frances could make Charlotte. 

Had a chat with Bill McCloud 

from Bluefield, West Virginia 

last week. He had hoped they 

could come to Charlotte but 

feels it not possible at this time. 

Joann's wreck over a year ago 

has caused her a lot of prob- 

lems. With much effort she can 

walk across the room now with 

her walker. Bill is caring for 

her almost completely. Their 

only son who lives in Bluefield 

had to go to Mayo Clinic in 

Minn, about 2 months ago for 

knee surgery which was can- 

cerous so he can't be a great lot 

of help to them at this time. As 

most may know Mary Rexroat 

has moved to Pocahontas, Ark. 

and seems to be doing fine. She 

has a sister and brother there 

so this must be helpful since 

her loss of Rex. We talked to 

her last night and she will not 

make the reunion this year. 

Also talked to Henry Ebeling 

last week. They would like to 

make the reunion but it is 

uncertain at this time. Hope to 

see everyone at the reunion." 

Ted Herrmann, B Btry., "Ted 

writes there has to be a lesson 

here for those of us who aren't 

as active seeking out old "Bud- 

dies" as we might be at times: 

recently I dug out of my files a 

letter dated January 10, 1947 

from A. B. (Ansel) Tarrant. It 

said he was a Veterinary Med- 

icine graduate from Kansas 

State University. The address 

was Manhattan, KS. This week 

after 43 years I called the phone 

information operator there. No 

such name. Next I called the 

alumni association records de- 

partment. They said Ansel was 

deceased and they had no 

address. So I called Vet Med at 

K State. Got his address at 501 

W. State St., Clarinda, IA 

51632. I called Clarinda for 

phone number and got one for 

Ruth (Mrs. Tarrant). I spoke 

with Ruth for a half hour. She 

filled me in this much: Ansel 

died July 1978. He went into 

the service August 1941 an 

came to 12th AD as a 2nd Lt 

from Camp Polk bringing his 

new bride. He served in Bn Hq 

and Service Btry. Later he was 

sent to the hospital in Ft. Knox 

with an aggravating back prob- 

lem an subsequently was releas- 

ed to inactive duty and rehabil- 

itation in 1944. Then came Vet 

School in September '44 and 

graduation in June 1947. He 

practiced as a Vet in Clarinda 

until his death. The Tarrants 

had four children, 2 girls and 2 

boys. What a shame I didn't 

contact the Tarrants earlier. I 

grew up in Iowa, graduated 

from Iowa State and my best 

friend lives just 60 miles from 

Clarinda. I get to Iowa several 

times a year. And Ruth told me 

they never heard of the 12th 

AD Assn. So if any of you have 

an old letter, a hidden note, 

phone number or address of a 

former Buddy, run it down and 

have a wonderful day. Ruth 

and I will stay in touch. Why 

don't others of you do the 

same? She is in good health 

and sounded great". Ted also 

writes in another letter "This 

again shows the joy we Hell- 

cats miss when we fail to be 

punctual "digging out Buddies. 

After 45 years, I picked up the 

phone and called information 

for a number for Dale Boyce in 

Bellflower, CA. I talked with 

Dale and we had a wonderful 

lunch. I only regret I waited 45 

years, esspecially that it allow- 

ed him to miss our Queen Mary 

Convention, 5 to 10 miles from 

his house. Dale was in B Btry 

Reconnaissance Section with 

then Sgt. (Lt) George O'Brien 

and his crew, George (Gus) 

Frentsos, Robert Drescher, 

Bobby Erb, Jud Edwards and 

Joe Birong. He came to the 12 

at Camp Barkeley in 1944 from 

Soccoro, NM, where he was 

taking a crash course in 

engineering at the New Mexico 

School of Mines. After his stint 

in the military he received a 

degree in education from the 

Univ. of So. CA and taught 35 

years in the L. A. City School 

District from which he retired. 

Dale is married to Audrey and 

they have a family of 5 boys 

and 1 girl. Jud Edwards of B 

Btry visited with Dale in L. A. 

years ago. We'll try to get Dale 

to a reunion soon. At one time 

he was a member of our Associ- 

ation and he gave me $10 bucks 

to get back into the fold. Write 

or call him at 10525 Compton 

Blvd. #3, Bellflower, CA 90706.


March or April 1944, Abilene, TX - Left to Right: 

Margaret Blumenshine, Gene Blumenshine, Tom Guigon, 

Lou Ella Guigon, Marie Church, Bill Church, 5th person 

not identified. Picture sent in by Gene Blumenshine, 

Hq/494. 

Phone (213) 886-1985. Glad to 

have you back Dale." 

After I had finished the col- 

umn for September I received 

in mail today from Joe Stan 

kunas the notice that Weldon 

Norman was killed in a tractor 

accident and I am copying from 

the news article in the Canton 

Herald news paper. (A 68 year 

old Canton man was killed in a 

farm tractor accident Tuesday 

afternoon, according to Sgt. 

Scott Johnson of the Van Zandt 

County Sheriff's Department. 

Canton native Weldon Earl Nor- 

man died after the tractor he 

was driving overturned on top 

of him around 1 p.m. Tuesday, 

Johnson said. Norman was 

working at a pasture located 

about two miles north of 1-20 at 

the time of the accident. "No- 

body knows exactly what hap- 

pened because he (Norman) 

was by himself when it happen- 

ed." Johnson said "It appears 

that the tractor flipped over on 

him while he was cleaning out 

a steep gully," the deputy added. 

Norman, who was crushed by 

the vehicle was discovered by a 

family member who came to 

check on him when he did not 

come in for lunch. Members of 

the Canton Ambulance Service 

and the Canton Volunteer Fire 

Department responded to the 

call.) Weldon and Sarah attend- 

ed their first reunion in San 

Antonio one year ago and had 

such a great time visiting with 

old buddies that they hadn't 

seen in 43 years. All of us that 

served with Weldon mourn his 

untimely death and our sym- 

pathy goes out to Sarah. 

495th 

Armored 

Field 

Artillery 

FRED STILLMAN 

15 GREENWAY SOUTH 

BABYLON, NY 11702 

Phone: (516) 669-8158 

BOOSTERS 

David W. Sloop - A 

Frederick C. Erichsen - A 

Robert H. Saehloff - Sv 

Clinton E. Seitz - B 

Col. Merle L. Carey (Ret) - B 

Arve Bakken - C 

This is a tough time of year 

to write this column. The news 

doldrums carry over from last 

month, so there's very little to 

report. In addition, this column 

(September) will be issued after 

the Charlotte reunion which is 

almost one month from the date 

I'm writing this. Next month's 

column should contain a lot of 

reunion news. 

Through the efforts of Clint 

Seitz, we have a rejuvenated 

member. Peter Pliska, "B", sent 

in his 1990 dues to Norb Bruem- 

mer. Welcome back, Pete! Hope 

you will be able to join us at a 

National, or Chapter reunion. 

Also, thanks to Clint Seitz for 

his continuing efforts to find 

new members. 

For a couple of years, I have 

been boosting a close buddy of 

mine, Bob Seymour, "C". Dur- 

ing our training years in the 

States, and through combat, 

Bob and myself were very close. 

After the war, I completed my 

college education at the Univer- 

sity of Wichita (now Wichita 

State ) in Kansas. At that time 

I visited Bob several times in 

Iola, Kansas. In recent years, 

I've lost touch with Bob, even 

though I wrote to him several 

times. The other day I received 

a letter from Bob's son, Mich- 

ael, advising me Bob passed 

away in January 1987 from 

Pancreatic cancer. I will miss 

Bob, and I know others of you 

from Charlie Battery will miss 

him, too. 

Short note from Maxine and 

David Sloop "A". They live in 

Salisbury, N.C. which is a short 

29 miles from Charlotte. They 

plan to be at the National Re- 

union, and we will be delighted 

to welcome them. 

Fred Erichsen called me to 

add some names to Bob Sch- 

wartz's memorial list, most of 

them from "A" Battery. Here 

they are Bob - Garland Adair, 

William Newman, Don Murphy, 

Grant Shatto, Lou DeMauro, 

Tom Freeman, Domingo Lopez, 

and Larry Johnson. Are you 

keeping this list updated, Bob? 

The Erichsens, Fred and Isa- 

bella, had lunch recently with 

Bob and Joan Saehloff at the 

Hotel Thayer which is on the 

West Point Reservation. A good 

time was had by all. 

Speaking of Bob Saehloff, he 

sent me a couple of pages from 

an Armored Divisions book 

entitled "Chariots of Fire". 

There were two pages devoted 

to the 12th A. D. In relating 

our history, there was one sent- 

ence that said the following: 

"It (the 12th) then moved to 

Camp Barkeley, Texas, and, 

while there, spent practically 

the entire month of June, 1944, 

away from station undergoing 

Division tests at Camp Bowier, 

Texas." Bob is perplexed as I 

am, by this statement. We 

never heard of Camp Bowier 

(maybe it's Bowie), and we have 

no knowledge of spending the 

month of June 1944 away from 

Camp Barkeley. I will bring 

this article to Charlotte for your 

information. The same article 

said we went on "Louisiana" 

maneuvers. Obviously, this 

should have been Tennessee. 

We will try and find the source 

of this article, and have them 

make the necessary corrections. 

Last month I reported the 

death of Houston "Smokey" 

Lovell. More details are as 

follows. Smokey was born in 

Coal Hill, Ark. on Aug. 11, 

1921. He entered the Army from 

Sikeston, MO. When he was 

discharged from the service he 

was a Sergeant in Service 

Battery. Smokey was a retired 

inspector for the Toledo Scales 

Co. He passed away on June 

16, 1990, after a short illness, 

in Pittsburg, Texas. Smokey is 

survived by his wife, Rose, one 

son and one step-son. 

No more news - reached the 

bottom of the well. Some of you 

non-writers have to pick up your 

pen and drop me a line. It's 

later than you think, and we 

want to hear from you! 

Last minute news arrival - 

Joe Mielnik sent his usual up- 

beat note. Will be in Charlotte 

for the National, but we all 

knew Helen and he wouldn't 

miss it unless there was an 

earthquake or war! Helen's 

been so busy since their move 

to Montana, she's ready for a 

vacation! They had a big sur- 

prise in early July. Bob and 

Audrey McMillen, "Hq", stop- 

ped by for a short visit. The 

McMillens were on their way 

home to Missouri, after a trip 

to the West Coast. 

Old faithful, Clint Seitz, check- 

ed in with Norb Bruemmer after 

attending the Armored Divis- 

ions Meeting in Louisville. 

Clint reported the death of 

William O. Cooper, CCB", who 

was not a member of our associa- 

tion, but was an outstanding 

man belonging to many other 

organizations. Clint reported 

the program at Ft. Knox and 

the Patton Museum was- very 

impressive. The 12th was well 

represented with Hempfling, 

Downey, Maue, Costlow, Ken- 

nedy, Bright and John Davis. 

The sidewalks around the 

Obelisk are now paved with 

concrete, improving the appear- 

ance immeasureably. 

CALL YOUR REP.

714th 

Tank 

Battalion 

RICHARD IVERSON 

15509 E. Mill Plain # 36 

Vancouver, WA 98684 

Phone: (206) 256-6153 

BOOSTERS 

Ralph L. Wilson - A 

Robert D. Adams - Med. 

Robert E. Hunt - B 

Charles R. Thompson - D 

Edwin W. Zimmerman - C 

Jeepers, here I am writing 

about what a great reunion we 

had in Charlotte and its still 3 

weeks away! Wow! How time 

does fly! Anyhoo, no harm 

anticipating our having a great 

time because that's what we 

always do anyway. 

I don't have to check the out- 

door thermometer to see if it's 

still summer, I can tell by the 

amount of 'SICKIE AWARDS' 

that are awarded due to the 

lack of news received because 

of other interests - mostly 

'outdoors. 

HEADQUARTERS CO. 

Raymond Barley has a 

change of address, it is now: 14 

James Buchanan Drive, Eliza- 

bethtown, PA 17022-3101. Very 

nice letter and phone call from 

Col. Fred Field about our Fri- 

day nite shindig which of 

course as you read this you are 

probably still picking your 

teeth. In the letter, he tells of 

his research in the liberation of 

the Landsberg Concentration 

Camps by the 12th Armd. Div. 

so that we could be accredited 

in the Holocaust Museum. He 

turned up the fact that a plaque 

had been taken from the Lans- 

burg Prison which commemor- 

ated Hitler's imprisonment 

there and that he tried to locate 

it so that it could be preserved 

as a war trophy. He located it 

in the Kentucky Military Histor- 

ical Museum in Frankfort, KY. 

The 12th should have had this 

trophy since CCA was the first 

to enter Landsburg and Col. 

Harry Lardin told him that he 

had seen it while touring the 

prison. When he asked him 

why he did not take the plaque, 

his response was that it was too 

damn big. So, Col. Yeuell who 

commanded the 411th Inf. Reg. 

of the 103rd Inf. Div. claimed it 


by detault when his regiment 

captured the city after we left. 

He took it home with him and 

shortly thereafter asked his 

wife to present it to the Harrods- 

burg Historical Society, where 

it has resposed in storage 

since. When he wrote the Har- 

rodsburg Society, they denied 

knowledge of its existence. In 

1965 when it had not been 

displayed, Mrs. Yeuell had it 

transfered to the Kentucky 

Historical Society in Frankfort, 

KY. They promised to display 

it and cite it's history. How it 

now comes to be located in the 

Kentucky Military Museum is 

a good point, which is un- 

answered. 

KEN WARNES - SV By the 

time you read this we will be 

thinking about Omaha in '91. I 

sure hope we have two or more 

Service Company Hellcats with 

us. As I read the July HCN it 

sounds like Karcher will be 

there and I am sure he can get 

that rice grower from Merrys- 

ville, CA to come. I am sure 

they will as Lew and Leota 

visited Ken and Charlotte in 

Doniphan. OK. George you and 

CAN YOU DIRECT US TO THE PRESIDENT'S SUITE? 

A/714 Waiting! (for what?) 

Left to right: Capt. McLaugh- 

lin, Sgt. Morgan, Sgt. 

Hagen, Put. Driscoll. 

your wife (Please forgive me her 

first name has not been in the 

Computer (brain) for a long 

time so you will have to refresh 

the mind) and the Brubecks. 

Maybe we can entice Dan and 

Edna Jefferys, maybe Earl 

Royer and if Earl can work on 

Everett Davis that will be 

another group. And from Ohio 

the Hectors Bob and Norma 

from Springfield, Illinois the 

Brackets. Now I could go far- 

ther out of the area for one that 

has traveled quite a lot, George

i 


Troxell. You Service Company 

Hellcats, how about making '91 

a banner ye>ar for us. Time 

marches on and we are not 

getting any younger. I will 

mention the name Lt. Chri 

Garvey of Omaha. I do hope 

we can contact him if he is still 

living in Omaha it would be 

nice if we can get him at home. 

Letters I wrote have not come 

back, so he has to still live at 

7915 Harney. Work on him 

guys. It is nice that Charley 

(not Chris) Eichenauer is back 

in the fold and so he does not 

forget next year sending in two 

years dues. Great Charley. 

Got a nice letter from Harold 

Keefer #2 two man of that 

Ration Crew. He still cannot 

get over the first reunion we 

had with Flyr and Loftin . Yes, 

1945 is ages ago and their lines 

have not changed. It was Gre- 

e-e-at Harold is hoping his legs 

hold out, so he can make it to 

Omaha (Keep thinking positive 

Harold). I think the San 

Antonio Reunion was a great 

one all around. Many thanks 

to all that had anything to do 

with the operation of it. Gone 

but not forgotten. Harold is 

saving his legs for Omaha. 

Harold, you are using your 

head. We hope that you and 

Oneida can make it, so let us 

all say WE ARE OMAHA 

BOUND IN'91. 

It was nice to see that Stan 

Glumac has joined the Life 

Member catagory with #537 

(Now how about you brother 

Nick of CCB). I decided to go 

through my Life Member Roster 

that I keep up, adding new ones 

each time they appear in the 

HCN and here is the 714th run- 

down. Hq's - 12, A-16, B-9, C-7, 

D-5 and Sv-4. We are doing 

pretty good with a total of 53. 

How about making it 75 by 

years end??? 

One word the HAT will be 

back. Going through my desk 

drawer I found a postcard dated 

February 19, 1954 (2 days after 

our 12th Anniversary) from the 

A. G. Meier Co., Chicago, who 

made my cap up with the letter- 

ing on it. I have been wearing 

it ninety percent of the time 

and shall start once again. 

"Chick" Williams, let us show 

them. Wear your broken down 

one also, O.K.? No offense Cap, 

just talk. We will have Earl 

take a picture of us displaying 

them. Sooo be in Omaha, PRE- 

PARED. Over. 

How about a big turnout in 

'91, in Omaha? Those I mention- 

ed other than Karcher and 

Brubeck live within striking 

distant of Omaha, (George get 

Lew Brew to get them thar dues 

in. O.K.??) So let's start saving 

those greenbacks, for that 

occasion and I assure you we 

will have a great time. If we 

could just win this here Wash- 

ington Lottery, we could pay 

for all of Service Company to 

attend. It doesn't cost anything 

to think. Keep them dues up as 

we do not want to lose you. We 

want to gain more and with 

your help we can go forward. 

Are you with me.??? See you 

next month and always remem- 

ber, "IT GREAT TO BE A 

HELLCAT". 

PS: By the way the Currys, 

119th Engineers, presented me 

a Teeshirt at the Northwest 

Chapter Mini Reunion with the 

words across the front "Its 

Great To Be A Hellcat". They 

are great people (Gene when he 

sleeps). 

MEDICS 

Dues and booster from Bob 

Adams, but that is all as far as 

news is concerned - SOOO! Its 

the "SICKIE AWARD" for 

youse guys. 

"HUMILITY", its the sense 

you experience when you check 

yourself in a clothing store's 

three-way mirror. 

A COMPANY 

By George Moss A/714 - The 

last name on the roster came 

through again, ZUCKER! With 

a big thank you for Fort 

Wayne! A large 'sheet cake' was 

divided equally notifing all of 

Mollie Zucker's Birthday *and 

the 49th Anniversary for Bob 

and Jo Fudge! It was big 

enough to slice into 46 pieces 

at the Wednesday night dinner. 

Three of the same tank crew 

from Bittwieler and Uttwiller 

were there, Baldwin, Hagen 

and Zucker. Zucker's yell still 

rings out, "Hagen, where are 

you?" As a tank turret guard 

(listening post) when C/56 

walked the road west of Utt- 

willer in the wee hours of 

morning. We were in that small 

orchard northwest of Uttwiller 

when we captured so many Ger- 

mans that afternoon. The next 

day we learned to two of 

Phelan's crew being killed, 

Godwin and Peterson - and - 

York being critically wounded. 

Who could relax with that rocket launcher. Elmer 

Shaffer, A/714 from South Fork, PA, Patrick Griffin, 

A/714 from Buffalo, NY. (Compliments of Patrick J. 

Griffin). 

I recall the 'hate that seethed 

through us' for capturing so 

many Germans! 

Why don't you men put your 

short stories in the Hellcat 

News? Mine are so different 

after being hit at Herrlisheim. 

None of you would recognize 

where and when I was station- 

ed, six months at Camp Lucky 

Strike! Hagen saw me in a 

'passed out' state in the 21st 

General Hospital at Miracourt, 

France, 16 days after being hit. 

Guys of that old 2nd platoon 

could write a 'Mike Barnes His- 

tory' for all of us. You could 

even castigate a few that never 

helped the war effort! 

Ruby Critzas was in need of 

an address and a short conver- 

sation. Somebody near Gettys- 

burg was celebrating their 50th 

wedding Anniversary, Dick and 

Dot Thompson of D/714. June 

and I had forgotten to send 

John and Ruby a postal note 

from a sandy beach on the 

Oregon coast, south of Portland 

at the 313 mile marker on US 

101 - no TV, no radio, no phone, 

just rock and sand and wind 

and people from California try- 

ing to get away from it all. Not 

many Hellcats in that area! 

Holman, Pete and Frances, 

sent a short note regarding a 

biopsy report on Frances, (7-20- 

90). It came back positive and 

she was to have a melanoma 

type cancer removed from a 

strategic location. Hope to have 

a more favorable report in the 

next issue. 

No up-to-date report on the 

address of Nancy Heublein. 

Home town is a-calling. See 

change at address column. 

Short phone call revealed a 

wee bit of news regarding 

Eugene Wilson and his wife of 

41 years. Ava, Missouri - Doug- 

las County - Ozark Country - 

hills and lakes. He broke an 

ankle about three years ago and 

has been suffering ever since. 

Greatest draw back has been 

his gain of weight because of 

inactivity for too long a period. 

He and Chloe had just returned 

from the dedication of a new 

Church near Bull Shoals. And 

he had just turned 68 July 1st - 

how about that - and Chloe has 

her celebration March 23rd. 

Just dig out the address. He 

told me of the firefights that 

the 3rd platoon (A/714) had 

January 10-11, 1945 in holding 

back the Germans at that lake 

bank (not lake, creek!) so many 

years ago. They were trying to 

hold long enough for infantry 

support to move up. I believe 

that the 36th Infantry relieved 

that area about 8 days later. 

Those are the stories that we 

need to supply the truth to the 

facts. Gene was another that 

could really handle an ax. 

Post cards are 15

PLEASE CLIP AND MAIL 

Enclose Annual Dues-12th Arm'd Div. Assoc. $ 10.00 

12th ARMORED HELLCAT BOOSTER DONATION J ' 

(•TAX DEDUCTIBLE) 

TOTAL 

Name 

Address 

(CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE) 

Co Bn. 

City State Zip 

Malee all checks payable to the 12th Armored Division Assoc, 

Mail to: 1913 Jerome Drive, Godfrey, IL 62035 

Annual Membership Fees in the 12th Armored Division Association 

are $ 10.00. Return this completed form with your remittance. 

Membership fees are due and payable on or before January 1st. 

• ••••••••••••••A-****** 

PLEASE CLIP AND MAIL 

Enclosed Lifetime Membership Dues $ 100.00 

Name Co. Bn. 

Address 

City State Zip 

Make all checks PAYABLE to the 12th Armored Division Assoc, 

Mail to: 1913 Jerome Drive, Godfrey, IL 62035 

• ••••••••••••******** 

and booster from Ralph Wilson. 

B COMPANY 

Frank Hougasian and Robert 

Hunt with A nice booster and 

Harry Kettler and Merle 

Loomis and Ed Mayberry with 

dues. Mrs. Roy Daniels has a 

change of address, it is now: 

9624 Chamblin Dr., St. Louis, 

MO 63123-6208 and that is that 

extent of this newsy outfit. 

Therefore, they are now sentenc- 

ed to the lowly 'SICKIE 

AWARD'! 'The difference be- 

tween education and experience 

is really quite simple: Educa- 

tion is what you get from read- 

ing the fine print. Experience 

is what you get from NOT read- 

ing it.' 

C COMPANY 

Dues and booster from Ed 

Zimmerman and Gerry Roche 

sent a card saying: 'Guess our 

trip to Charlotte is off, I have 

done everything else but cancel 

the room to date. We are hoping 

for a miracle, but it looks now 

like early Dec. or Jan. before 

we can consider any trips. 

Enjoy yourself and give my 

best to all. Will sure miss that 

round of golf.' (Gonna keep my 

fingers crossed that you guys 

will have been in Charlotte 

when you read this. Dick). 

D COMPANY 

Charles Thompson with a 

booster and that is it from this 

3rd time in a row for the 

'SICKIE AWARD'! SHEESH! I 

think you guys follow this 

theory: 

'Work on the theory that you 

can fjnd what you want when 


you don't want it by looking 

where it wouldn't be if you did 

want it.' 

I received a nice letter from 

Bob Grebl of B Co. 66th Armd. 

Inf. as follows: 'I came across 

former Lt. Garvey's name from 

Service Co. 714th in the HCN 

and I immediately called him, 

but sadly report that he has no 

interest in the Association. I 

did learn that after the war he 

graduated from Iowa State U. 

and spent his working life with 

the U. S. Corps of Engineers. 

He said those days are past. I 

did my best, but I'm afraid its 

a lost cause,' (Thanks a lot Bob, 

maybe some day he'll have a 

change of heart and find out 

what he's been missing.) 

In as much as this is my last 

column, I want to thank all of 

you for your contributions and 

help in running this thing for 

the last 8 years. I know you'll 

find Dave Golden very dedicat- 

ed and capable in taking over. 

Your Buddies 

ore waiting to 

hear from you! 

Write Your Rep. 

After the War was over! 

Left - Benny Weish erg - 

Brooklyn. Right - Ted 

Mando - Scranton ■ 1st 

Platoon - A/714. Pic from 

Geo. Moss. 

PLANNED DATES FOR 

1990-91 CHAPTER MEETINGS 

Southeast 

Lk. Erie-Oh Rv. 

Western 

Midwest 

No'central 

Colonial Inn 

280 Bypass 

Phenix, AL 36867 

OCTOBER 25-27, 1990 

Econo Lodge 

Toledo, Ohio 

NOVEMBER 2/3,1990 

Country Inn 

1455 Mission Drive 

Solvang, CA 93463 

MARCH 22-24, 1991 

The Ramada Inn 

3555 West Centerville Rd. 

West Carrollton, Ohio 

(513)866-6261 

APRIL 4, 6, 1991 

Garden Inn 

1111 Range Street 

N. Manicato, MN 56001 

APRIL 19 & 20, 1991 

George Wells, Chairman 

3041 Luckie Street 

Columbus, GA 31903 

Vic Chalen 

11127 Weston Road 

Weston, OH 43569 

(419)669-2288 

Roy Learned, B/56 

330 So. D Street 

Lompoc, CA 93436 

1 (805) 736-3003 

Warren E. Maue, A/17 

4320 Germantown- 

Liberty Road 

Germantown, OH 45327 

(513)866-5004 

Neil Gregor, Hq/56 

Rt. 2, Boxl31C 

Le Center, MN 56057

HEADS UP 

Due to the thoughtfulness of 

Audrey Sideri, widow of Cono 

Sideri, Who asked that the 

Association be the beneficiary 

of contributions in Cono's 

name, we have received, as of 

July 31, $100.00. That money 

goes into the general fund as a 

tribute to the years of dedica- 

tion to the Association by Cono. 

The contributors are: Wm Laf- 

kowitz, Hq/92; Clint Seitz, 

B/495; Earl Nichols, CCA; Len 

Dooley, Hq/92; and, Norb Bruem- 

mer, D/43. 

Others wishing to commem- 

orate Cono in this fashion 

should mail their check to the 

Executive-Secretary. 

We have another author 

among us. J. W. "Bill" Arbuckle 

of the 493rd has recorded his 

recollections of experiences of 

his service. We have not read 

the finished product but were 

privileged to read a working man- 

uscript. If the finished 

product agrees with the man- 

uscript then Bill lived a very 

antiseptic life in the service. Per- 

haps our memory is wrong but 

we remember people getting 

kicked in the ass instead of the 

butt. Maybe they did ask that 

the fresh dairy butter to be 

passed instead of the kind that 

was described with the gerund 

form of an anglo-saxon word. 

But, then we went directly from 

the High School campus to the 

service so how could we know. 

We were still fascinated by 

Bill's stories. 

Oh, yes! Gene Curry, Unit 

Rep., 119th, said that if you are 

still interested in getting a 

jacket with the 12th's logo you 

should write to him. 

ADDITIONAL LIFETIME 

MEMBERSHIPS 

The following names have 

been added to our ever growing 

list of Lifetime Members: 

545 - Carl S. Landis (F/92nd) 

546 - James L. Deans (F/92nd) 

567 - O. Theodore Blostein 

(Hq/23rd) 

* Issue out of sequence, at 

member's request.) 

Norbert H. Bruemmer 

Exec./Sec'y. 

• 

RHINELAND 

LAKE ERIE-OHIO 

RIVER CHAPTER 

L.E.O.R. is ready for our get 

together on Nov. 2 and 3, 1990. 

We have made a small change 

in our hospitality room at the 

Econo Lodge. It will be on the 

first floor. Now we won't have 

to carry everything up to the 

second floor and anyone in a 

wheel chair can be taken any- 

where they want to go. The 

room is the same size as before 

and the committee feels this 

arrangement will be better for 

the group. 

We are looking for a good 

crowd. The more the merrier. I 

hope you can come and enjoy 

the fun we have. If you can 

bring a small prize for the 

drawing it adds to the fun. 

Andy Danbar tells me that if 

you fly in he will pick you up if 

you let him know when you are 

to arrive. Write or call. 618 Earl 

Street, Toledo, OH 43605. (419) 

693-3776. If he can't make it 

call me. My address and phone 

number is with the registration 

form. 

We will be in the same place. 

Two changes have been at the 

motel. The name has been 

changed but it is as clean as 

ever and we will be treated like 

royal guests. And, the room rate 

is $4.00 less at $38.00, for all 

rooms and is good Thursday 

through Sunday. It will be a 

help to the committee if you 

have your reservation back to 

the motel or me by Oct. 26, 

1990. If you are going to be 

impaired in walking or are in a 

wheelchair please make a nota- 

tion on your reservation to the 

motel and they will see that 

■DBDBDBDBDBaBDBDBDBDaDBaBaBDBDaDBDBaBDBaaDBnBDBaBDBaBn 

HELLCAT NEWS 

ROBERT E. HEAD - EDITOR 

1080 HUFFMAN WAY * KINGMAN, AZ 86401 

The Hellcat News is published monthly by the 12th Armored Division 

Association. All communications should be sent to the Executive 

Secretary and checks made payable to the Association. 

• 

ARDENNES-ALSACE CENTRAL EUROPE 

fiom©&Tr mm 

************************* 

2nd CLASS POSTAGE 

PAID 

at Godfrey, IL and 

at additional offices 

************************* 

Twelfth Armored Div. Assn. 

(USPS 350-210) 

NORBERT BRUEMMER ACHOLAS HAR0ONT C-56 

Executive Secretary 25104 TARA LYNN i3R • 

1913 Jerome Drive N0 ' OLMSTED, OH 44070 

Godfrey, It 62035-1506 

9-90 

IDIDIDIDIDflDIDIOIDiaiOIDiaiDI iDiniDiDiniDiniDiQiriinioiDini 

Address Changes 

and/or 

Corrections 

*GLENN ELEY, D/92 

(1923 Gordon Landis Road) 

(Arcanum, OH 45304-9417) 

COL. RUSSELL W. ERNST, (Ret), 

Hq/92 

RAY STARR, Hq/17 

6517-28th Avenue 

Kenosha, WI (53143) 

FRANK CONWAY, C/23 

(235 Holiday Lane) 

Greentown, IN 46936-1644) 

JAMES R. RASMUSSEN, C/43 

(12800 Marion Lane, Apt. 401) 

Minnetonka,-MN 55343) 

ELMER J. LUBER, A/56 

(1036 Julia Street) 

(St. Louis, MO 63104-3708) 

(1570 Heatherwood Drive) 

(Decatur, GA 30033-1705) 

RICHARD M. HARDIN, A/92 

(105 Circle Drive, N.) 

(Wilburton, OK 74578) 

WILLIAM L. WALTERS, C/92 

(203 N. Main, Apt. 18) 

(Deer Lodge, MT 59722) 

EMERSON EZELL, A/119 

(411) Taylor Street 

Paragould, AR 72450 

♦RAYMOND H. BARLEY, Hq/714 

(14 James Buchanan Drive) 

you get a room close to the (Elizabethtown, PA 17022-3101) 

hospitality room. 

MRS. ROY G. DANIELS, SB/714 

We hope to see you in Toledo, 

OH, Nov. 2 and 3, 1990. 

Good luck to all. 

The Committee: 

Vic Challen, 56th 

Andy Danbar, MP's 

Ray Richardson, 23rd 

(9624 Chamblin Drive) 

(Affton, MO 63123) 

♦RANDALL SCHNEIDER, C/56 

(P. O. Box 24) 

(Shannon, IL 61078-0024) 

♦ALTON HEGVIK, C/66 

(P. O. Box 92) 

(Glenfield, ND 58443-0092) 

12th Armored Division 

BALANCE SHEET 

AS OF JUNE 30, 1990 

ASSETS 

FIFTH THIRD BANK 23,934.00 

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT 80,000.00 

ADVANCE REUNION EXPENSE 1,272.00 

RECEIVABLES 1,450.00 

TOTAL ASSETS 106,656.00 

LIABILITIES 

DEFERRED DUES: "90-91 3,188.00 

91-92 375.00 

*92-93 440.00 

"93-94 30.00 

DEFERRED INCOME UFE MEMBERS 51,400.00 

REUNION INCOME DEFERRED 14,870.00 

TOTAL LIABILITIES 70,303.00 

NET WORTH 

BEGINNING OF YEAR 51,786.00 

INCOME CURRENT YEAR (15,433.00) 

TOTAL NET WORTH 36,353.00 

TOTAL LIABILITIES & NET WORTH 106,656.00

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