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My name is Roque J Riojas. I have been invited to join this site by j3rdinf.

I am an 83yr. old WWII vet. Lifetime member of the 34th Divn. Assoc.

It became an Assoc. when it was deactivated in '46. I was with the HQ. Co. 1st

Bn. 135th Inf. Regt. The 34th Divn went into combat Nov. '42. Nov. 7 at

Algiers No. Africa and attached to the Divn. was the 109 Combat Engineers.

And they stayed with the 34th thru N. Africa and part of Italy. They were also

used as combat inf.! Several battles, Algiers,Sened Station,KASSERINE PASS,

Fondouk,Hill 609, and after that theGermans were on the run.

It ended around April or May '43. Took anfib. training for the assault atSalerno, Italy Sept. 9,'43. Then it was hell all over again till May 1945! the 34th Divn.

amassed more than 600 days of combat in the two campaigns. Thru all of

this I thank God Almighty for bringing me back home.

I have a cronicle put out by the Army Archives that tells aboutthe 34th Divn.

It's quite long to write it but I could send a copy to Joe (3rdinf) maybe he can

paste it all I have is a laptop and a printer. Anyway this is a short summary

and if you noticed I never said I did this or that, it was WE the RED BULL

DIVN. that did this. Roque Riojas a proud WW II combat infantryman.

Welcome aboard Roque. Glad you finally go on. Joe

Roque: I am a ww2 vet that served in the 36th ID fora short time. June thru Sep 44. Having done that I can understand WHAT you and many others have gone thru in 1943-44. Many would say you deserve a medal.I.d say you all deserve MUCH more. I know you would tell me "We of the 34th ID did it" and We means a group of individuals!

Only one Diviison had the roughest time in Italy, the 34rh ID. Bless em all.

Welcome Roque!! Thank you for coming in and I hope you enjoy it here. We are lucky to have you, I'm looking forward to learning more about you.

Thank you for your service to our country

Hugs,

Brooke

Roque: I am a ww2 vet that served in the 36th ID fora short time. June thru Sep 44. Having done that I can understand WHAT you and many others have gone thru in 1943-44. Many would say you deserve a medal.I.d say you all deserve MUCH more. I know you would tell me "We of the 34th ID did it" and We means a group of individuals!

 

Only one Diviison had the roughest time in Italy, the 34rh ID. Bless em all.

PDHINKLE; You were in a good outfit. The roughest time the Texas Divn. was

when they reached the Rapido River. The Germans flooded that river to keep

from getting crossed. I salute the COMBAT ENGINEEERS, for they got across

under fireand strung cables so the inf. could cross. Anyway the Germans were

way up on high ground looking down and let almost a Regt. cross then they

opened fire. Quess what happened, We were in another sector but word got

to us that that evening a Lt. went across with a white flag so the germans came

down and he asked for permission to pick up his men. The Germans called

for their own medics to help and a truce of 6 hours was called to take care of

the wounded and kia's. This is what WE heard about the 36th Texas Divn!!!

I would love to go to Italy and visit some of the U.S.cementaries there.

Or talk to some one that has seen them. We had better luck crossing the

Volturno River three times. And yes we lost some.

Roque,

My uncle fought in Italy -- all the way up the Boot, he said. Would you believe he got nary a scratch.

You need to click here if you want to go back to Italy again. Scroll down the page till you come to "2006 RETURN TO ITALY TOUR." The 36th vets, family, et al who are interested return to Italy once a year to visit the old sites. They all seem to have a whale of good time. I've never been (yet) but it sure sounds like everyone enjoys himself!

Roque ,

Welcome to our forum .

I've been reading your stories.

They keep mazing me .

Welcome .

Roque ,

 

Welcome to our forum .

I've been reading your stories.

They keep mazing me .

 

Welcome .

Where can I find those stories??

Brooke

LENNON;BROOKE, Thank you for those kind words. No harm intended but

those weren't stories like you would read in like Readers Digest. These

were experiences that WE (34th RED BULL Divn.) went thru. Along with the

3rd I.D., 36th I.D. 45th I.D. !st. Armoured Divn. 109 COMBAT ENGINEERS,

bless them THEY were truly combat. So you see it was not a story it was

an experience and by the Grace of GOD, I'M HERE AIN'T I!!!

Again thank you for having this old dogface here with you. Roque

Dear Rogue:

Forgive me for not welcoming you to my forum personally, but as you probably know by now, my mom passed away this week. As you can imagine I've been swamped with duties that only I can perform since I am an only child, and dad is no longer around either. Anyway...

I see that my dear partner (moderator) has kindly welcomed you, as have my dear friends who frequent this forum. I am happy that they made you feel at home and now it's my turn to say hello (I did manage to get a short email off to you the other day).

I am thrilled to have a Red Bull here and will have many questions regarding your tour of duty. My dad has a Red Bull patch amongst his keepsakes. My dad's unit was attached to the great Bull's during their time in the ETO. I would be honored to add your stories to the book I am writing since your unit, and several other units including the 3rd, 36th and 45th Inf Div's were there along side the VI Corps Engineers.

As things slow down for me and my routine begins to routine to normal, I will have more time to talk with you.

Welcome my friend and God bless you.