February 15, 2007 - John Connors, at 84; longtime agent for FBI
BRAINTREE
-- As a former special agent for the FBI, John C. Connors played
a key role in several high-profile cases, including the
successful prosecution of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa for misuse
of union funds. But even after receiving commendations from FBI
director J. Edgar Hoover and Attorney General Robert Kennedy,
Mr. Connors never liked to talk about his accomplishments.
Mr. Connors,
whose family described him as exceedingly humble, died Jan. 31
at Radius Healthcare in Braintree. He was 84.
"He would just
quietly do his job," said his daughter, Kathleen Barker of
Pembroke, "and he never expected recognition for things he would
do."
Born in
Dorchester and raised in North Quincy, Mr. Connors graduated
from Bentley College with an accounting degree and served in
World War II as a first lieutenant.
He was in the
Army's 434/HQ 2Bn., 106th Infantry Division, and was awarded the
Bronze Star for his service during the Battle of the Bulge.
When he
returned from the war, he was hired as a special agent for the
Federal Bureau of Investigation. He testified at the Hoffa trial
in the early 1960s, and his testimony helped land Hoffa in jail,
his daughter said.
Mr. Connors
spent time on FBI assignments in Galveston, Texas, and Miami
before he was transferred to Boston, said his wife, Elizabeth (Racosky).
He and his wife
lived in Braintree for more than 40 years.
After working
for the FBI for 29 years, Mr. Connors retired in 1976. He then
helped set up the White Collar Crime Unit in Norfolk County
under William Delahunt, then the district attorney, his wife
said. The unit probed tax defrauders and embezzlers.
"He was very,
very intelligent," said another daughter, Teresa Good of Marion.
"He had such a warm personality, and was always smiling.
Everyone who knew him loved him."
Mr. Connors
worked with parishioners from his church, St. Francis of Assisi,
to form Independence Manor, a subsidized senior living facility
that is still run by two of his children.
He recognized a
need for affordable elderly housing, said his daughter Kathleen,
who is the current director. He paid attention to detail, such
as ensuring the facility had free meals for its residents.
"He was very
approachable," she said. "He was the president and director, but
he would still walk down the hallways and say hello to
everybody."
In his free
time, Mr. Connors enjoyed golf, music, and photography, his
daughter Teresa said.
He was the
former president of the South Shore Center for Brain Injured
Children, an organization in which his wife was also involved.
In addition to
his wife and daughters, he leaves four sons, John of Lake Hills,
Texas, Joseph of San Antonio, Daniel of Braintree, and Paul of
Dorchester; one other daughter, Anne Devaney of Henderson, Nev.;
and 15 grandchildren.
A funeral Mass
was said Feb. 3 in St. Francis of Assisi Church in Braintree.
Burial was in Blue Hill Cemetery. Emily Yahr,
Boston Globe - Boston,MA,USA
December 31, 2006 -
Former Staff
Sergeant George Brown, Cannon Company, 422 Infantry Regiment, 106th
Inf. Div., passed from this vale.
The soldiers of the
106th (Golden Lions) Infantry Division took it in the shorts during the
Battle of the Bulge. A brand-new division, it had entered the lines for
the first time 5 days before the Germans attacked.
They were virtually
obliterated. But they went down fighting, every bit as hard as Prentiss
went down at the Hornet's Nest at Shiloh. Like Prentiss, eventually
surrendering, but buying the time Eisenhower and Montgomery needed, just
as Prentiss bought Grant and Sherman needed to rally the Union Army and
finally beat the Southern troops back.
Field Marshall
Montgomery of Alamein noted their courage:
The American
soldiers of the... 106th Infantry Division stuck it out and put up a
fine performance. By jove, they stuck it out, those chaps.
Staff Sergeant George
Brown was a Golden Lion, and like lions they fought.
November 11, 2006 -'Mrs. Kinney's son is safe'
At 81,
W.W.II veteran looks back
Paul T. Kinney dropped out of
high school at 17, enlisted in the Army and served as an infantry
soldier in World War II. He survived serious head injuries and among
other things, became the first dean of the college of business at
Chico State University.(Bill Husa/Enterprise-Record)
When Paul T.
Kinney was 17, he dropped out of high school. "It was 1943. I was
just bored with it," he said.
He did what a
lot of young American boys and men were doing. He enlisted in the
Army so he could serve during World War II.
Kinney was
assigned to Company C, 423rd Regiment, 106th
Infantry Division. His training was in Mississippi and
Indiana, and he remembers traveling aboard the Queen Elizabeth.
"It was the
fastest ship at the time. There were 22 of us to a state room, and
it was quite a ride."
Kinney, 81, was
sent to Germany during the war, and didn't serve long before he was
seriously wounded in Belgium.
"I was a platoon
runner — I delivered messages from the sergeant to the scouts," he
said. "There was lot of snow. One night I was out on patrol and a
German artillery shell exploded in front of me. It seemed like
shrapnel was coming down fast, on top of me.
"Apparently my
unit was forced to evacuate. When I woke up in daylight, I seemed to
be alone. A German medic found me and took me to a German field
hospital where I had surgery and stayed for several days. The
hospital was a converted, two-story apartment building."
A piece of
shrapnel had gone into his right eye, and exited through is left
ear. "I had some pretty severe head injuries."
He remembers his
Belgian roommate. Different cultures prevented a friendship. "We
couldn't speak a word to each other," Kinney said.
Although he was
wounded, Kinney was a prisoner of war and the hospital doubled as a
prison. "I ended up at a hospital in Bad Nauehim, Germany for four
months until the U.S. Army captured the area in April 1945."
He remembers
seeing the Americans march by. "I yelled out the window, 'Hey, I'm
an American!' and they picked me up."
Kinney and the
other American POWs were sent back to the U.S. "I stayed at Dibble
Army Hospital near Palo Alto. I'd had a serious head injury; I could
walk — but not far. I stayed at Dibble for about a year, and was
discharged from the Army in March 1946."
Kinney said he
was considered 100 percent disabled upon his discharge, and that was
later reduced to 90 percent. His disability remained at that level
all his life.
He has spent the
rest of his life with one plastic eye and has used hearing aides
ever since, too. He has a Purple Heart and a couple of other ribbons
and medals that testify to his war experiences.
Once discharged
from the hospital and the Army, he got his G.E.D at San Jose State
University. He continued at the university until he received a
bachelor's degree in economics.
Kinney's first
job was working nights as an inventory control clerk. "I worked at
San Jose Water Works for several months. One night I fell asleep
posting books ... I thought I just had to do something better."
By then married,
he took his wife and three small children to southern California. "I
was eligible for financial aide from the military to pursue a
graduate degree. I skipped a master's degree and got a Ph.D. in
finance at University of Southern California."
Kinney went to
work as assistant professor of finance at University of Illinois in
Urbana, Ill., later returning to California to work in a
similar position at Fullerton State University.
In 1968, he
moved to Chico to teach finance and handle administrative duties at
Chico State University. He became the first dean of the College of
Business there, and retired as professor emeritus in 1986.
Kinney's first
wife, Jodie, is deceased. Their three children are grown and he has
four grandchildren.
He and his
second wife, Fritz Kinney, have been married 34 years and live in
Chico. She accompanies him to annual reunions of 106th Infantry
Survivors. This year's reunion was in October in New Jersey.
"Every year, the
group gets smaller," said Fritz. "This year there were 62 veterans.
Paul never used to talk about the war until we started going to
these reunions. At that time, Americans felt we were going to be
invaded by Japan. There was a real sense of patriotism."
Kinney looks at
his Purple Heart and other memorabilia from World War II. "I did my
duty in the Army— but I was glad to get out," he said.
Fritz
remembers a story Kinney's mother, now deceased, told. "She was a
lithographer for the San Jose News. It was very hard for families
during the war, there was no way to communicate with soldiers
overseas. For a while Paul was missing in action, and after she
finally got a phone call from him, the headline on the front page
was 'Mrs. Kinney's son is safe.' " MARY NUGENT
, Enterprise-Record -
Chico,CA,USA
November 10, 2006 - Siblings to honor fallen WWII soldier
On Veterans Day
Saturday, special graveside services will be conducted for PFC
Philip G. Kaufman, who died while serving his country in World War
II.
Members of
AMVETS Post 115 in Port Hope and the American Legion in Harbor
Beach, along with the Rev. Gregory Eilers of St. John’s Lutheran
Church, will participate in the graveside services followed by a
21-gun salute and the playing of TAPS.
“Well, we are
doing this for the Kaufman family,” said Doug Davis, AMVETS Post 115
member. “You see, his actual body is in Europe. He died in WWII at
the age of 25.”
Official records
indicate the remains of PFC Philip G. Kaufman were recovered and
permanently interred in Netherlands American Cemetery in Margarten,
Holland, Plot C, Row 6, Grave, 15. The cemetery covers more than 65
acres with pristine white marble crosses marking the graves of more
than 10,000 veterans of WWII.
“My folks chose
to leave him with his comrades, buried with his comrades,” said
Mabel Brining.
Brining, 82,
Nathan Kaufman, 81, and Norma Johnson, 80, all of Port Hope, are the
remaining siblings of PFC Philip G. Kaufman. Their parents were the
late Albert and Mary (Phillips) Kaufman.
PFC Kaufman had
served most of his military time stateside, until he was deployed to
Europe prior to December 1944.
“He entered the
infantry tank division, then he went to the air corps in Wisconsin,”
said Nathan Kaufman. “Then when they needed men, they mustered him
out of the air corps and put him in the infantry.”
PFC Kaufman was
25 when he died Jan. 13, 1945 along with more than 19,000 Americans
during what some have referred to as the bloodiest battle of WWII.
That battle
began Dec. 16, 1944 when the Germans attacked the
106th Infantry Division in the Ardennes
Forest located on the German/Belgium border. It ended on Jan. 25,
1945. Statistics show more than a million men, Germans and Allied
troops, fought in the battle. The Battle of the Bulge, also referred
to as the Ardennes Offensive, received its name from the bulge the
Germans achieved in the American line during the first few days of
battle.
None of the
siblings has visited the grave of their brother in the Netherlands,
so they decided to put a headstone in a local family plot to
preserve his memory.
“We just want to
make a memorial for our brother,” Brining said, “by placing a stone
in the Marquardt Cemetery, that is where my grandparents are
buried.”
The public
is invited to attend the 1 p.m. service at Marquardt Cemetery,
located on Moeller Road west of Finkel Road in Port Hope.
Joann Yott,
Huron Daily Tribune - Bad Axe,MI,USA
November 9, 2006 -
Far from home: Belmont veteran remembers battles
It's
a little incongruous, sitting in Armando DeVito's living room on Hill
Road, surrounded by photos of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as
he talks of starvation and despair. He knows it, too.
"We came back
and told our stories. And then we stopped, because no one believed us,"
he said.
DeVito was 25
when he joined the 106th Infantry Division,
Company B, in 1944. On Dec. 16, 1944, he was in a forest along
the German-Belgian border, fighting in what would become known as the
Battle of the Bulge - the bloodiest battle of World War II.
Over 7,000
Americans were taken as prisoners of war in that battle. DeVito was one
of them.
He was marched
across Germany for weeks, walking long distances each day without food
or water.
"There was nothing. We ate snow just to get something wet in our
mouths. We dug in the snow in orchards, looking for a frozen pear or
apple. We turned into animals. We fought each other for a crust of
bread," he said.
At some point
they were transferred to boxcars, which were so full that the men
couldn't lie down. The trains moved slowly, pulling into sidings while
the U.S. Air Force bombed the rail lines.
"The Air Force
was bombing anything and everything, even a mouse," DeVito said with a
laugh. "But we managed, somehow."
He and his
fellow prisoners arrived at Camp IV-F in Germany sometime in the new
year, though he's not sure when. Conditions didn't improve much there.
DeVito remembers
helping an elderly Jewish man carry a heavy load, managing to get both
of them beaten in the process.
He talks of
eating a bowl of soup at night, and splitting a loaf of bread between
eight men, each slice cut in two for dinner and breakfast. A few
soldiers tried toasting the bread, only to find it disintegrated in the
flames - likely because the main ingredient was sawdust.
DeVito said he
dropped to about 100 pounds and was crawling with lice when his camp was
liberated.
"They took us to
Camp Lucky Strike, burned our clothes and gave us new uniforms. I don't
remember how many kitchens the camp had, but we hit every one," he said.
He was
discharged in 1945 and came home to his wife, Frances, and their four
children. The family had moved from Belmont into an apartment in
Cambridge with no heat save the kitchen stove. DeVito said the bathroom
floor turned to ice from the dampness of the unfinished basement.
He turned to the
veterans' agent in Belmont, telling him his wife had not received any
payments from the government while he was away and the children were
often hungry.
"He looked me in
the eye and told me he couldn't do anything for me. I felt like someone
hit me with a sledgehammer," DeVito said.
The story was
the same at the VA hospitals and from the politicians. The POWs were
pariahs, traitors and deserving of their suffering.
DeVito worked
for years to get benefits for himself, his family and other veterans in
the area. Over the years, the status of POWs in society changed and
became easier, but DeVito said it's still hard for families of prisoners
of war to receive their benefits.
After the battles he fought in Germany and
the ones he fought here, Veterans Day is important to him. At the O'Neil
Building, where a POW support group meets on Thursdays, the nursery
school children make cards for the veterans and the parents bake
cookies. DeVito's card last year was signed by Liam, one of his 33
great-grandchildren.
"Honest to God,
it makes your day. It's beautiful. All the POWs just light up. It's nice
to be remembered," he said.
CARMEL — This year,
Frank Bove was the last guy out of the cage, and after a 24-hour vigil
for American prisoners of war, there were only a handful of veterans on
hand for the closing ceremony to mark National POW-MIA Recognition Day
at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1374 on Gleneida Avenue yesterday.
In past years, they
had so many volunteers that each man spent only 15 minutes in the
4-foot-by-6-foot bamboo cage set up in front of the post. This year,
Charlie Johansen took four one-hour turns to make sure the cage always
had a man in it.
"We do it because we
have to let people know what's going on," said Johansen, who served in
the U.S. Army's 106th Infantry Division
between 1943 and 1945. "Young people today don't know what it's all
about. That's one of the reasons we're out here."
After his buddies
helped Bove out of the cage, past commander Karl Rohde thanked all the
men who participated and read a brief dedication as part of the closing
ceremony.
"Let us remember
those who put their country before self and did not return home to their
families," Rohde said. "Let us remember the families of the missing who
continue to burn the candle of hope. And let us continue to tell America
the story that without the service and sacrifice of the American
servicemen and women, there would not be a United States of America."
The National Day of
Recognition was established by Congress in 1979, three years after the
Department of Defense established the U.S. Army Central Identification
Laboratory in Hawaii to recover and identify the remains of all U.S.
service members killed in past wars.
More than 78,000
service members are listed as missing and unaccounted for from World War
II, 8,100 from the Korean War and 1,800 from Vietnam, according to
Department of Defense records.
During the Cold War,
165 air crew members went missing in action when their planes crashed or
were shot down. Of those, 41 have been accounted for, the Defense
Department says.
One service member
is listed as missing in action from the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and Ohio
resident Keith "Matt" Maupin remains the only missing serviceman from
the current Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Rohde, a Vietnam
veteran and Kent town councilman, said that despite the small turnout
for this year's event, he and his fellow veterans would continue the
tradition. As he said that, a car passed by in front of the post, and
the driver honked his horn and waved at the group.
"You see that?
There are some people who understand why we're out here," Rohde said.
"For the others who have no idea, well, the more we can educate the
public, the better off we are as a country.
BILL HUGHES,
"The
Journal News.com - Westchester,NY,USA
August 21, 2006 -
11 forgotten
soldiers honored - Memorial recognizes black men
The
people of Belgium are still grateful for what the Americans
did.
Brig. Gen. Dany Van de Ven, OF THE BELGIUM EMBASSY
WINCHENDON— Although it took 62 years, America finally stepped forward
yesterday in an attempt to right the wrong committed in 1944 when it
ignored the service of 11 black men who were killed during the Battle of
the Bulge.
The men, who were part of the 81,000 Americans who fought in the
Ardennes region of eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg, were honored
with the placement of two memorials at the Massachusetts Veterans
Memorial Cemetery on Glenallen Street.
While the first memorial stands for all those who served in the battle,
the second one was placed to specifically honor the men who were
captured and then murdered by the Nazi SS in Wereth, Belgium, on Dec.
17, 1944.
This second monument
is the first known American public recognition of the massacre.
The facts surrounding the deaths of these soldiers were kept under wraps
by the U.S. government until a few years ago, according to historian
Christian W. de Marcken, a Paxton resident.
“Until the Freedom of Information Act made the facts public, nobody
really knew about it,” Mr. de Marcken said, adding that in the hundreds
of books written on the war, he has not found one published account of
the events that took place that day.
According to de Marcken, the 11 soldiers from the
333rd Field Artillery Battalion were trying to escape capture
when they were found hiding in the house of a farmer who had taken them
in and fed them.
The SS soldiers tortured the men and killed them in a nearby pasture.
Their bodies were left in the snow, unclaimed for months.
The reason their deaths were ignored was because of the color of their
skin, Mr. de Marcken said.
Yesterday’s ceremony finally provided the recognition the soldiers
deserved as well as an opportunity for closure for family members, some
of whom were in attendance.
Elsie Pritchett, daughter of slain soldier William Pritchett, attended
the ceremony with her uncle, McArthur Pritchett, and her children Zena,
Quinton, Montrise and Jasmine Williams.
“This day has been a long time in coming,” she said, adding that she had
mixed feelings about the memorial ceremony.
Because of the war, Ms. Pritchett said, she grew up never knowing her
father. Born in 1943, Ms. Pritchett said that her father only saw her
once, when he was on furlough in 1944.
“He never got to come back home again,” she said. “He was only about 21
or 22 when he died.”
Ms. Pritchett and her uncle together unveiled the memorial honoring her
father.
Stanley A. Wojtusik, 106th Infantry Division, and
national president of the Veterans of Battle of the Bulge, spoke
of the hardship all the soldiers suffered in battle. Fear, hunger, death
and cold were only some of the daily realities these heroes faced, he
said.
“I call them heroes because they kept fighting when all seemed lost,”
Mr. Wojtusik said.
“The circumstances are what made their actions so heroic,” agreed John
E. McAuliffe, president of the Central Massachusetts Veterans of the
Battle of the Bulge.
Made of granite, the two monuments are the first to be placed on the
monument path, which was completed just last week. While monuments can’t
change the events of time, event organizers agree that it does bring
recognition and dignity to those who served.
Brig. Gen. Dany Van de Ven, defense attaché of the Belgium Embassy,
traveled from Washington, D.C., to speak at the ceremony, stated that
when he was asked to attend, his response was that when it comes to
doing what can be done to help the Americans, the word impossible does
not exist for Belgians.
“The people of Belgium are still grateful for what the Americans did,”
Mr. Van de Ven said. “We are free because of them, we don’t ever forget
that.”
Members of the 333rd Artillery Battalion who were killed in Wereth,
Belgium, Dec. 17, 1944:
Staff Sgt. Thomas Forte, Cpl. Mager Bradley, technicians William
Pritchett and James Stewart, Privates First Class George Davis, James
Leatherwood, George Moten, Due Turner and Privates Curtis Adams, Robert
Green and Nathaniel Moss.
June 19, 2006 -
Snowjob Offers Bilge About "The
Bulge" And Iraq
White House Bilgemeister Tony Snow while appearing
on one of Sunday's talk shows on CNN and trying to goose the
Presidents ratings, compared the Battle of the Bulge to Iraq.
"The president understands
people's impatience — not impatience but how a war can wear on a
nation," said Snowjob "He understands that. If somebody had taken a
poll in the Battle of the Bulge, I dare say people would have said,
'Wow, my goodness, what are we doing here?' But you cannot conduct a
war based on polls."
The German counter offensive in the
Ardennes in World War ll was among the largest battles in the history of
warfare. Three German armies, nearly thirty divisions counter attacked
allied forces in the middle of December during the coldest winter in
European history.
The struggle for life, death and
supremacy over the ensuing six weeks was beyond epic, the carnage and
suffering of the combatants was enormous, their valor and intrepidity
was awe inspiring.
The facts, and any comparisons to
be based on them would be better taken from John
Kline of the 106 Infantry Division, a participant in one of the
most epic battles in the history of war not some blow dried Chickenhawk
like Tony Snow.
· The coldest, snowiest weather
"in memory" in the Ardennes Forest on the German/Belgium border.
· Over a million men, 500,000 Germans, 600,000 Americans (more than
fought at Gettysburg) and 55,000 British. · 3 German armies, 10 corps, the equivalent of 29 divisions.
· 3 American armies, 6 corps, the equivalent of 31 divisions.
· The equivalent of 3 British divisions as well as contingents of
Belgian, Canadian and French troops. · 100,000 German casualties, killed, wounded or captured.
· 81,000 American casualties, including 23,554 captured and 19,000
killed. · 1,400 British casualties 200 killed. · 800 tanks lost on each side, 1,000 German aircraft.
· The Malmedy Massacre, where 86 American soldiers were murdered, was
the worst atrocity committed against American troops during the course
of the war in Europe. · My division, the 106th Infantry Division, average age of 22 years,
suffered 564 killed in action, 1,246 wounded and 7,001 missing in
action at the end of the offensive. Most of these casualties occurred
within the first three days of battle, when two of the division’s
three regiments was forced to surrender. · In it's entirety, the "Battle of the Bulge," was the worst battle-
in terms of losses - to the American Forces in WWII.
I have a close friend named Steve
who lives a few blocks from me with whom I share an occasional beer.
Steve is eighty six now and fought his way from the beaches of Normandy
through the frozen forests of the Ardennes until he had his second tank
shot out from under him and spent the next year in military hospitals.
I have a picture of Steve receiving
a Silver Star for valor from Lt General Walt Gerow.
When this so called President and
his ass kissing minions say that they understand anything about war they
insult my friend Steve and every one of us who served and are serving
under arms. They know nothing of war and they exhibit their ignorance,
arrogance, incompetence and complete lack of leadership on a daily
basis.
Comparing this battle to Iraq is
beyond ridiculous, the only valid comparison which could be made by any
reasonable person would be the valor and sacrifice of our forces in both
struggles. Of course we know that reasonable people have been lacking in
the White House and around the President these last several years.
Comparing the support or lack of it
by the people at home is equally absurd and flies in the face of
historical fact. The efforts of our forces in World War ll were
supported with near unanimity by Americans at home, as was our entry
into the war itself. The reasons for going to war were clear to nearly
everyone as they were based on facts and dire necessity and not a pack
of neo con lies.
Support for American efforts in the
war by other nations was also profound and our struggle won the respect
of our allies and eventually our foes alike. Again, no comparison, as
Bush and his band of dilettante hacks have squandered that respect on an
ash heap of conceit and hubris.
There is absolutely nothing to
compare the Ardennes campaign with anything about the war in Iraq, well
perhaps two things, the gunfire and the screams of the wounded and dying
sound much the same and the discordant clanging of the outrageous lies
of Josef Goebbels and Tony Snow are in perfect harmony.
Now there's a valid comparison.
Bob Higgins,
Political Cortex - New York,NY,USA
December 13, 2005 - Veterans news
Early in the morning of December 16, 1944 the Germans started their
Ardennes offensive. During the coldest, snowiest weather of the 20th
century, three powerful German armies plunged into the heavily forested
Ardennes region of eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. Their goal was
to reach the sea, trap four allied armies, and impel a negotiated peace on
the Western front. The battle which lasted until January 25, 1945 became
known as the Battle of the Bulge.
Thinking the Ardennes was the least likely spot for a German offensive,
American Staff Commanders chose to keep the line thin, so that the
manpower might concentrate on offensives north and south of the Ardennes.
The American line was thinly held by three divisions and a part of a
fourth. The 106th Infantry Division was
spread over a 21 mile front and was hit with the full force of the German
advance. Even through the German Offensive achieved total surprise,
nowhere did the American troops give ground without a fight. After three
days of battle however, two of the Regiments, the 422nd and the 423rd were surrounded.
After the determined American stand and the arrival of powerful
reinforcements insured that the ambitious German goal was far beyond
reach. In snow and sub-freezing temperatures the Germans fell short of
their interim objective. All the Germans accomplished was to create a
Bulge in the American line. In the process they expended irreplaceable
men, tanks and material. Four weeks later, after grim fighting, with heavy
losses on both the American and German sides, the Bulge ceased to exist.
The 106th Infantry Division was credited with a
holding action that used much of the precious time of the German
Offensive. Time was an important and vital ingredient in Hitler's
plan to break through to the Meuse River and then on to Antwerp. The delay
and extended battle used so much time that the German advance stalled and
led to the final downfall of the German plans for their Ardennes
offensive. The loss of their resources, both human and equipment
accelerated their final defeat and caused an early end to the long war in
Europe.
More than a million men fought in the Battle of the Bulge
including 500,000 German, 600,000 Americans (more than fought at
Gettysburg) and 55,000 British troops.
There were 100,000 German casualties, killed, wounded or captured; 81,000
American causalities, including 23,544 captured and 19,000 killed. The
Battle of the Bulge was the largest land battle of World War II in which
the United States participated.
This information has been presented by The American Legion in conjunction
with your local American Legion Post.
Moberly Monitor Index - Moberly,MO,USA
Shelbyville News Shelbyville, Indiana July 2005
Gardners mark 60 years
Mr. and Mrs. James W. Gardner,
Shelbyville, Indiana, will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary with a
family dinner at the home of their daughter.
Mr. Gardner and the former Joan
Loudenback were married August 4, 1945, in St. Paul's Methodist Church, in
Rushville, by the Rev. Frank Geer.
Mr. Gardner was a U. S. Army
infantryman during World War II. He was captured during the Battle
of the Bulge and was a German prisoner of war for six months. He has
been a teacher, coach, counselor and assistant principal, employed at
Manilla, Connersville and Shelbyville Central Schools. He retired in
1989 from Shelbyville Central Schools,
Mrs. Gardner was an elementary
schoolteacher for 17 years with Indianapolis Public Schools: 24 years with
Shelbyville Central Schools: and three years in Muncie, Connersville and
Manila. She retired in 1990.
They are the parents of Lisa Beth
Metzger.
They have one granddaughter, Erin
Grace Beyer.
Mr. and Mrs. Gardner are members of
First United Methodist Church and Retired Teachers' Association.
She is a charter member of Alpha Delta
Kappa Honorary Sorority.
He is a member of Elks Lodge, American
Legion, Purple Heart Association, 106th Infantry
Division and Ex-prisoner of War Associations.
(note: Mr. Gardner does not have
email)
September 3, 2004 -
Local woman tells WWII
story
Ozark City Administrator Collin Quigley with his great uncle, Coleman
Estes, his mother and author, Marilyn Quigley and his father, Ed
Quigley, who illustrated the cover of "Hell Frozen Over. The Battle of
the Bulge."
OZARK--Coleman Estes was an average man, born in an Ozark home that
once occupied the parking lot that is now next to City Hall.
He was the youngest
of four brothers, born on June 11, 1919, on the cusp of the Roarin'
20s; a decade before the Great Depression and almost 22 years before
the United States would enter its second world war, his fate was
hinged on tide of events set in motion by a madman-Adolf Hitler.
He could have not
known the horror that would face him and thousands of other young men
in a bitter-cold European forest known as the Ardennes. He did not
know how he would react, how he would survive or the toll it would
take on his new bride and unborn child. He could not have known that
he would be part of what is said to be the greatest generation.
But
now, because of his niece, Marilyn Estes Quigley, the mother of City
Administrator Collin Quigley and English professor at Evangel
University in Springfield, the whole world can know.
Marilyn Quigley began her journey more than a year ago to write the
story of her uncle. It's a story that she said had to be told about
the emotion, struggles and sacrifices of the men in the 106th Infantry
Division-a young, newly formed and ill-prepared group-made in the
famous Battle of the Bulge.
"I
was afraid the story would never be told," she said. "I wanted the
family to know what Coleman did for us and our country Working on this
project has been the most satisfying project of my life.."
Collin Quigley, who works in City Hall, on the site where his
great-grandfather, Coleman's father, ran the Estes garage, said he was
proud of his uncle for living the experience and of his mother for
telling it. But neither surprised him.
"She
has always written," he said. "She's a teacher so I wasn't surprised.
I knew she would do an excellent job. It included a lot of research."
( Donna Osborn,
Headliner News )
The lineup left to right:
John G. Robb, Memorials
Chairman, 106th Infantry Division Association
Walter G. Bridges, 2nd
V.P., 106th Infantry Division Association, AXPOW
John R. Schaffner,
President, 106th Infantry Division Association
Ewell C. Black, Past
Chaplain, 106th Infantry Division Association, AXPOW
John M. Roberts, 1st V.P.,
106th Infantry Division Association, AXPOW
Joseph A. Massey, Veteran,
106th Infantry Division Association, AXPOW
John F. Gatens,
Veteran. 106th Infantry Division Association, AXPOW
106th Division Dedicates Plaque at
Andersonville
In a moving ceremony outside the
National Prisoner of War Museum, surviving members of the
106th
Infantry Division dedicated a plaque to their fellow soldiers. Held on
Sunday, May 25th, 2003 as a part of the park’s Memorial Day activities,
the event was attended by 50 members of the famous unit. The plaque was
specifically dedicated to honor those in the division who were held as
POWs in World War II. In remarks dedicating the plaque, Walter G.
Bridges spoke about the meaning of brotherhood that bound members of the
group together as soldiers, POWs and now as former members of the
Division. During the ceremony a special tribute was presented to
association member Sherod Collins for his work on behalf of the group.
The 106th Infantry
Division was established in 1943 and de-established in 1945. The
division was involved in battles in Northern France, Ardennes and
Rhineland. The unit was active in fighting in the Battle of the Bulge
and many from their number were captured by the Germans and held as
POWs. The plaque reads,
“In
Memory of the Officers and Men from the 106th Infantry
Division who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, many of whom were
captured after exhausting their means to resist when surrounded in
the Schnee Eifel region of Germany, and during actions near St.
Vith, Belgium in December 1944 and January 1945.”
The Andersonville National
Historic Site has dedicated an area outside the National Prisoner of War
Museum to the placement of commemorative plaques to tell the story of
POW groups. Already 13 plaques have been placed at the site. The
106th
Division Association made a contribution to the Andersonville Trust, an
endowment fund set up by the Friends of Andersonville for support of the
park and museum.
Here is the website for the Berga
POW's. List of POW's and lots of other items of POW interviews made for
the production.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/berga/stories/
BRAINTREE
-- As a former special agent for the FBI, John C. Connors played
a key role in several high-profile cases, including the
successful prosecution of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa for misuse
of union funds. But even after receiving commendations from FBI
director J. Edgar Hoover and Attorney General Robert Kennedy,
Mr. Connors never liked to talk about his accomplishments.
