<!--quoteo(post=25307:date=Jun 8 2009, 11:07 AM:name=Walt's Daughter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Walt's Daughter @ Jun 8 2009, 11:07 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=25307"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><!--sizeo:3--><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>i am the niece of john denapoli who was in the 135 army combat engineers building bridges on the Rhine. my father Joseph denapoli was in the navy in the pacific arena as a gyro compas engineer. last year i bought my dad a hat that had his ship on it, and showing it to his brother, my uncle johnny responded that we wouldn't find that sort of thing for the army. he likes to tell stories of how he was sleeping on the ground and eating rations while his younger brother was sleeping in a cot and eating hot meals.
i took up his challenge to find something about the 135th. if you know anyone who prints up hats with the army units on them, it would bring some joy to a 91 year old man.
thank you,
jo-lynne denapoli</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
M father was in the 135th Combat Engineer Battalion. I have found a great deal of information that I received about 9 years ago on the battalion. My father was in Company C. The battalion was sent to Trinidad before being sent to England and on to France, where it was attached to the Third Army. My dad passed away in 1999, but I would love to know if your dad knew him.
Alice Presson
oh alice, i am so sorry i did not check back into this forum. my uncle passed away in january. although his body failed him, his mind was sharp until the day he died. if he was with your father i have no doubt that he would have remembered him. i have been cleaning out his house, and i found some letters from the 135th combat association from the early 80's and i was just looking to see if it was still around, googling it i came back here.
i have found many pictures from the 135th, if you have any interest in looking through them for your dad, let me know and i can do my best to scan a few in. please send me an email, since i do not keep up with this forum.
if there is anyone else searching for the 135th combat engineer's and end up here. i regret to say my uncle, john denapoli passed away january 28th, at the age of 93. he was very proud of serving his country in world war two, and told us many stories that we will always treasure. in addition to pictures, i have recently found many of the letters my uncle wrote to my father during the war. he is very descriptive of the war and his part of it. i have only read a few of the letters, (they were amongst all of the letters my father received during the war...people wrote much more back then...) but i have really enjoyed reading them. on my list of things to do is to compile them for family and friends. if anyone is interested in one man's account of the war as written to his younger brother, let me know. it may be the motivation i need to get it together.
jo-lynne