If not, I strongly suggest you check it out. I would urge you to contact the Army Corps of Engineers Office of History, first. Ask to speak with Michael Brodhead, a dear friend of mine.
Next I would try NARA in Maryland and the contact Richard Horrell of WW2 Connections.
Looks like my buddy David has a section on his forum for that unit, and it appears they were an engineer maintenance unit. I would drop him a line and see if he can tell you anything at all.
Let me know if you have any questions re: the above. I'll be happy to help you out. In the interim, I will keep searching through my materials to see if I can find anything at all.
Warmly,
Marion
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Hey John:
Just found something in one of my books. It's not much, but heck, it's a start.
I wanted to announce it here to, for I think it will be of special interest to Vee and our other French friends.
There is a really good story about the Liberation of St Die, and it even includes a French Diary. The liberation story is at the end of the page, in case you want to read about it Vee.
My name is Emilio Menchini, I live in Wales in the UK and I recently attended the 34th Div. Association reunion in Carlisle.
I started a committee a few years ago to help organize a memorial and other events to commemorate the Battle of Mount Pantano.
You may remember the Mount Pantano assault took place on November 29th 1943 just after the third crossing of the Volturno. Mount Pantano is a high rugged mountain which comprises four prominent peaks with a deep gully in the centre. I visited Pantano in June this year and climbed up part of the slopes using one of the trails that was used by the 168th regt.
I know this mountain well because I grew up in the village of Filignano which is around 1km from Mount Pantano, my mother still lives in the village and I visit every year.
I went to the 34th div. reunion this year in the hope of meeting 168th veterans who remembered the Mount Pantano battle, however the vets attending were mostly from the 133rd and a few 135th.
I had hoped to meet you Rocky at the reunion in Carlisle, I was disappointed to hear from Pat Skelly who told me you would not be attending, I was hoping to talk to you about your involvement and experiences on Mount Pantano.
I believe you helped Dr. Emile Schuster on top of the mountain during the 5 day battle and you spent some time in the area around Pantano.
Maybe you can help me confirm this. I would be very grateful Rocky if you could get back to me with any information relating to this battle and any memories you have of being at Mount Pantano, which I believe was one of the most brutal and savage battles of the entire war.
I will include some photographs in this email which I took of Mount Pantano and Filignano in June this year, I hope you like them!
I hope you can help me Rocky,
I look forward to hearing from you,
regards,
Emilio Menchini
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Emilio--I have been caught completely off guard, with your e/mail. That I am at a short for words. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get mail from across the pond.
I just couldn't make this years reunion, too many things just piled up. And since Iost my wife I have had a rough time alone. Anyway getting to Mt. Pantano.
First of all--Do you have the book,"DOGFACES WHO SMILED THROUGH TEARS" ?? It was written by Homer Ankrum, who was in the 168th. It gives a detailed account of the battle at Mt. Pantano. The 168th and 1334rd made the initial attack and later the 135th along with the 100th Bn. relieved and also there was still fighting. The 45th Divn. was on our left flank.
If you don't have the book, get hold of Pat Skelly and he can tell you how to get one. The book is the ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE 34th. FROM BEFORE IRELAND TO THE RETURN FROM ITALY. BATTLE FOR BATTLE. It seems like a lifetime ago that Iwas there. I will be 87 in Aug. and I seem to have forgotten and also I have let myself forget. The book will answer your question better than anyone. If you can't get it, let me know and I will try and get the Gold Star Museum, They have the books. But Pat can help you.
The Mt. Pantano affair starts on page 353.
EXCERPTS OF PAGE-- Mt Pantano will be remembered by participants on both sides as a short-lived, but brutal battle; close quartered and fought with ferocious violence.
Many years have passed since the cold morning Nov. 29, 1943 when the 168thinf. assigned to the left flank with the objective Monte Pantano and the 133rd inf. on the right flank moved up to launch an attack on Monte Marrone. While they waited in pre-dawn darkness, directly ahead of them loomed Monte Pantano, with its four grey hill masses,the highest of which strechingupwards to 1600 feet.
I WILL STOP HERE, SO TRY GET THE BOOK.
Emilio, again this was a very nice surprise to hear from you, so keep in touch.
I've written before about my father, David Weinberg, and his adventures in World War II. Most of my material for that article came from my relatives or from a few newspaper clippings and telegrams that my mother received during the years my father was overseas. My dad was a quiet, soft-spoken man who worked as a clerk in the Newark post office before the war. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, he was one of the first to enlist. After the war, my dad returned to Newark and again worked at the Newark Post Office. For several years he served as the president of the Jewish Civil Service Fellowship. He died in 1983, a few weeks before his 68th birthday.
My father rarely discussed his years in the service or the fighting in Europe. When he mentioned stuff, it was more the oddball disclosure that he first developed a taste for fried fish in England, where he ate fish and chips fairly frequently. Or how he was transported from the USA to England on the same boat that carried war correspondent, Ernest Hemingway. That he could fall asleep in a minute, but awake instantly whenever anyone stepped too close, was another war-time trait. My dad never talked about the fighting or the violence he witnessed. He was a soldier in the invasion of North Africa, participated in the invasion of Sicily, and was a member of the first wave of attackers on Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day. It was there that he was wounded while scouting enemy machinegun nests behind Allied Lines and was later awarded a Bronze Star for his heroism and received a Purple Heart for his wound.
Later in the war, my father became a translator for the Allies. He had studied German in high school and his parents both spoke Yiddish, so he had a fairly good command of the German language. After the war ended, my dad waited patiently for a boat back to the states and my mother instead of going sight-seeing with his friends in Europe. It took him six months to get a ship home. He sent my mom a crystal tea set from Germany, but everything but one tea-cup was smashed in transit. My sister still owns it. My dad also brought home several swords and daggers that had belonged to Nazi soldiers he interrogated, but these got given away or donated to various causes over the years. I have none of them left. But there was something else.
There was one item I was told about by my mother and several of my relatives - unfortunately no longer with us - that fascinated me. The item in question that my father somehow was able to bring back to the USA was a huge Nazi flag that hung from the tallest building (possibly from a radio tower on top of that building) in some (German or Occupied) city. According to the story that I was told, the flag was so large that when my father and a bunch of acquaintances spread it out on the grounds of the local elementary school, the flag completely covered the playground. The school in question was the Peshine Avenue grade school in Newark, NJ, and by memory alone I seem to recall the playground was around 100x50 feet in size. So the flag was a huge one.
Now, my father died in 1983 and my mother no longer remembers the days after World War II. We did not keep the flag (I was not born until 1946) - or at least it was not around when I was growing up. What happened to it I do not know? I would guess it was donated to a museum or library. The few relatives I have contacted who were alive during those years don't remember anything about a flag or covering the playground with it. But I am convinced it happened. Who would make up such a story, or why?
I would like to verify this story. But, I have no idea how. I don't know where to look or who to ask. Suggestions are welcome. The Newark News, the one newspaper that most likely would have covered the event has been out of business for decades. The Star Ledger, Newark's only other paper, has records that only extend back to 1989. I'd like to prove this story really happened; or if it did not, disprove it once and for all. Where did this flag originally come from? How did it make it to the United States? Where is it now? To me, the story of the flag and my father is a living part of history. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Help me locate the missing flag and learn its history. I will post any and all leads and attempts to find the flag online. Somehow, I hope working together we can find it.
Marion's note: I found this request for information, while searching for more information on, "The first Jewish broadcast in 1944". As you've seen many times on this site; that often occurs. Who knows what you may find at the end of the day?
But I felt the letter above, which is posted on Robert's site, should have a place of its own in our research section.
I was not aware of this, and must thank my friend Kitty for bringing this to my attention.
Excerpts of the first Jewish broadcast that took place in Aachen in 1944. Courtesy of the American Jewish Committee and director of public relations Ken Bandler.
