Of the 350,000 trucks used by the motorized German Army as of 1942, roughly one-third were Ford-made.

cadetat6

This story is about two air cadets who were both , only ten rooms apart in " OLD DORM " Gettysburg College for 1943 Christmas. They did not know each other until 2003 when they saw these story's on the internet

Almost AWOL Christmas

Christmas Season 1943. I had been away from my fiancee for only 4 months

when I arrived at Gettysburg College as Air Corps Cadet. I was a homesick

fly boy. I called my Charlotte (Micky) and told her I missed her and was going

A.W.O.L. and come home to see her. Bang!! I got a stern voice saying, "No

you stay there†and she would come to see me. On Friday Dec 24 Micky came

with my mother and father. I met them at 9 A.M. The next three days were great.

Sunday night I walked (Gettysburg was only a couple of blocks in those days)

them to the Bus Stop. I said goodbye and slowly walked back to "Old Dorm."

which was our barracks and as the old song said "tears flowed like wine."

A fellow cadet Don Murray story

This really isn't a Christmas story so much as a Christmas parable - call it The Parable of the Rash Judgement and What Befell Him Who Exercised It.

In December, 1943, I was one of about 100 pre-aviation cadets assigned to the 55th College Training Detachment at Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania. As Christmas approached, it was decided to grant a few days' holiday leave to a limited number of men. I was not one of the lucky few. Rashly, I refused to accept a lonely Christmas in Gettysburg. With or without a three-day pass, I would go home for Christmas in New York.

It matters not how I managed to slip away undetected from Gettysburg on the morning of Christmas Eve. I boarded a bus for Harrisburg, caught the first train for New York and was on my way. No sooner was I in my seat in a car full of Christmas travelers - some in uniform like me, most in mufti - than in strode two MP's, their white Sam Browne belts and black armbands generating terror in my guilty soul. I prepared to surrender quietly and be shipped to Leavenworth.

But they were not checking for passes and furlough papers. Filled with the Christmas spirit, they greeted each serviceman cheerfully as they moved down the aisle. They didn't notice my ashen face and trembling hands when they passed my seat and wished me Merry Christmas. They did not return during the remainder of the three-hour trip, but I never unclenched my fingers until the train stopped at Penn Station.

Boarding the Long Island Railroad train I became aware that I was drenched with sweat. By the time I walked in the front door at home, I was weak and dizzy. My mother, an RN, hustled me off to bed and called the family doctor. I had a fever of 102. "Flu," said the doctor. "Stay in bed for the next two or three days," he said. When he had gone, I confessed. "Dad," I said, "I can't stay beyond tomorrow. I'm AWOL." To my Spartan father, a doughboy in World War I who never broke a rule, I might just as well have admitted to murder.

I don't remember Christmas Day, except being sick and remorseful. My father raged quietly about my shameful escapade. I was a pariah in my own home. Toward the end of the day, I began to feel a little better, and Dad and I discussed how to get me back to Gettysburg alive and, if possible, without arriving under military arrest. Despite my feeble protests, he said he was going with me. On the morning of December 26th, we boarded the LIRR for Penn Station. An hour later we were on a train for Harrisburg. I took the window seat; Dad took the aisle and opened the NY Times as if it could serve as a curtain concealing his dishonorable son. I pulled my GI overcoat up to my neck and feigned sleep, remaining in that position for the entire miserable journey. Again the car was filled with holiday travelers, again MP's roamed the aisles and again I was not accosted. I began to think I might get away with it. We left the train at Harrisburg, boarded the bus for Gettysburg and arrived late in the afternoon - but in plenty of time to get to the college in a taxi, safe at last. ..

An hour before cadets on pass had to report back, my father and I stood on the steps of the college Administration Building as he prepared to leave for the bus station. He was quiet for a few moments, then he stuck his hand out and said "You'd better see a doctor." I nodded. We shook hands, and I said, "I'm sorry for what I did, Dad, but thanks for coming with me." He looked at me for a long time and then turned to go down the steps to the cab. And then, to my surprise, he looked back, smiled and said, "Take care of yourself, son." He didn't hear my whispered "Merry Christmas, Dad" as the cab drove off.

That evening as I sat wearily on my bed, the staff sergeant who served as barracks chief stuck his head in the door. He was not a favorite with us. "Hey," he barked, as I looked up expecting the worst. Since I had never been authorized to leave on Christmas Eve, I had not dared to report back. Did he know?

"Have a nice Christmas?" he asked with a grin, adding, "I didn't see you around."

"It was OK, Sarge," I said, "but I think I caught a cold.".

"Better get over to the Dispensary, then," he said and closed the door. I did that. An hour later I was hospitalized with a strep throat infection that would keep me there for a week. .

And that was Christmas, 1943.

cadetat6

Sent to me by Al Kincer 48th CE.

Sgt. Lester Flory, Headquarters & Service Company, 48 Engineer © Battalion died 22 November, 2005. Lester was a member of the Defiance Ohio VFW.

Rest in peace our dear engineer!

Veterans recall time in groundbreaking WWII unit

Web-posted Nov 11, 2004

'Black Panthers' battalion consisted of black soldiers drafted into war effort

By CAROL HOPKINS

Of The Daily Oakland Press

When Rufus Taylor and Gloucester Stephens were soldiers traveling on troop trains during World War II, Army officials would pull the shades so they wouldn't be seen.

"They didn't want white people to see us on those trains," Taylor, 91, said, noting a fear existed then that people might throw bricks into the train.

On this day set aside to honor veterans for their service, the two African-American veterans of World War II look back on the years of their service with mixed feelings - but they feel times are changing for the better.

Taylor and Stephens, 79, both of Pontiac, served with the 761st Tank Battalion, also known as the "Black Panthers," a unique unit of young black men drafted to fight in the war.

The 761st fought in six European countries and participated in four major Allied campaigns, enduring a casualty rate of nearly 50 percent. In recent years, it has begun to receive long overdue credit.

Records indicate the unit - whose motto was "Come Out Fighting" - captured, destroyed or aided in the liberation of more than 30 towns, several concentration camps, four airfields, three ammunition supply dumps and thousands of weapons.

Taylor, drafted in 1941, worked as a vehicle mechanic and Stephens, drafted in 1943, was assigned to supplies.

The 761st experienced 183 days of combat in Europe during the fall and winter of 1944-45. Instead of fighting on the front line for two months before rotating out, the 761st was kept on the front line for six months.

"No other groups did that," said Stephens, seated in Taylor's den, a mile from his own home.

Stephens said his unit faced intense racism. Some soldiers in the racially segregated Army wanted to "wipe out the unit."

Taylor nodded. "At the time, the perception was the Negro soldiers were not intelligent enough to man artillery trucks and machinery operated in the war, but we proved we were."

One man who welcomed the first black armored unit was Gen. George Patton. Taylor clearly remembers Patton addressing his company in Europe:

"He came to us in an open field and stood up on a half-track (vehicle). He said, 'I don't care what color you are, as long as you can go out there and, excuse me, kill those German SOBs.' "

Taylor chuckled, "He always used a little profanity. We thought a lot of Patton. He was always up in front of us, not behind."

Taylor's most vivid memory of the battlefield was a day he had to help move five dead soldiers out of a tank, victims of a nearby explosion.

"Blood was coming out of their noses and ears, but they were all just sitting right in position," he recalled, "just like nothing had happened. I had nightmares after that for a long time."

That incident led to soldiers leaving hatches open to eliminate the pressure.

Stephens still questions whether German prisoners of war were treated better than black soldiers by the U.S. military.

He recalled a concert when singer Lena Horne performed for the troops. When she saw German prisoners seated in the front and the black American soldiers in the back, "She walked out," he said.

The men - who both returned to Pontiac to live after the war, and wound up working in a General Motors plant - do say recognition of their war service has increased in recent years.

Taylor pointed to NAACP awards.

Stephens said when alumni of the 761st hold reunions, host cities often roll out the red carpet.

This week, officials at the Warren-based U.S. Army Tank Automotive and Armaments Command honored the veterans with a tour and short ceremony.

"So many people think African Americans were just support units in the war," said Oakland Circuit Judge Fred Mester, who helped arrange the tour. "These were men who fought bravely and with courage."

>

> WHAT SENATOR JOHN GLENN SAID :

>

>

>

> Things that make you think a little:

>

> There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in January.

>

> In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the

>

> month of January. That's just one American city,

>

> about as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq.

>

> When some claim that President Bush shouldn't

>

> have started this war, state the following:

>

> a. FDR led us into World War II.

>

> b. Germany never attacked us; Japan did.

>

> From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost .

>

> an average of 112,500 per year.

>

> c. Truman finished that war and started one in Korea.

>

> North Korea never attacked us.

>

> From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost ..

>

> an average of 18,334 per year.

>

>

>

> d. John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962.

>

> Vietnam never attacked us..

>

>

>

> e. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire.

>

> From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost ..

>

> an average of 5,800 per year.

>

>

>

> f. Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent.

>

> Bosnia never attacked us..

>

> He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three

>

> times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on

>

> multiple occasions.

>

>

>

> g. In the years since terrorists attacked us, President Bush

>

> has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled

>

> al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran, and North

>

> Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who

>

> slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.

>

> The Democrats are complaining

>

> about how long the war is taking.

>

> But

>

> It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno

>

> to take the Branch Davidian compound.

>

> That was a 51-day operation.

>

> We've been looking for evidence for chemical weapons

>

> in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find

>

> the Rose Law Firm billing records.

>

> It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the

>

> Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard

>

> than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his

>

> Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick

>

> It took less time to take Iraq than it took

>

> to count the votes in Florida!!!!

>

>

>

> Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB!

>

> The Military morale is high!

>

>

>

> The biased media hopes we are too ignorant

>

> to realize the facts.

>

> But Wait. There's more!

>

> JOHN GLENN (ON THE SENATE FLOOR)

>

> Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:13

>

> Some people still don't understand why military personnel

>

> do what they do for a living. This exchange between

>

> Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum

>

> is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive

>

> impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of one

>

> man's explanation of why men and women in the armed

>

> services do what they do for a living.

>

> This IS a typical, though sad, example of what

>

> some who have never served think of the military.

>

> Senator Metzenbaum (speaking to Senator Glenn):

>

> "How can you run for Senate

>

> when you've never held a real job?"

>

> Senator Glenn (D-Ohio):

>

> "I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps.

>

> I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions.

>

> My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different

>

> occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my

>

> checkbook, Howard, it was my life on the line. It was

>

> not a nine-to-five job, where I took my tie off to take the

>

> daily cash receipts to the bank."

>

> "I ask you to go with me ... as I went the other day...

>

> to a veterans' hospital and look those men ...

>

> with their mangled bodies in the eye, and tell THEM

>

> they didn't hold a job!

>

> You go with me to the Space Program at NASA and go,

>

> as I have gone, to the widows and orphans

>

> of Ed White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee...

>

> and you look those kids in the eye and tell them

>

> that their DADS didn't hold a job.

>

> You go with me on Memorial Day, and you stand in

>

> Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more friends

>

> buried than I'd like to remember, and you watch

>

> those waving flags

>

> You stand there, and you think about this nation,

>

> and you tell ME that those people didn't have a job?

>

> What about you?"

>

> For those who don't remember ..

>

> During W.W.II, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney

>

> representing the Communist Party in the USA.

>

> Now he's a Senator!

>

> If you can read this, thank a teacher.

>

> If you are reading it in English thank a Veteran.

>

>

>

>