Representatives of American Legion Magazine will be accompanying Battle of the Bulge veterans during their reunion in Columbia SC for a story for the magazine and website.
Henry Howard, the deputy director of the Legion’s Media and Communication Division, will conduct the interviews. Brett Flashnick, a Columbia, SC area photographer and videographer, will be handling the photo and video duties.
Howard and Flashnick are willing to work around the reunion schedule. They will be available Saturday and Sunday morning, and other times convenient to the veterans. Battle of the Bulge veterans are welcome to contact Howard in advance to set up a time, or meet up at the hotel. Howard can be reached at 317-630-1289 or hhoward@legion.org.
The American Legion, which is the nation’s largest veterans service organization, is dedicated to honoring America’s past and present war heroes by sharing their stories in print and online. In the past, Howard has interviewed and written about the Doolittle Raiders, Medal of Honor recipients and survivors of the USS Indianapolis.
Click here to read about a quest of son, John Ricker and daughter, Shirley Ricker Theis to learn about Homer D. Ricker, their father lost in battle during World War II.
Shirley Ricker Theis is an associate member of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge
The 87th Infantry Division was a relative newcomer to the US Army. Most of the
Officers, commissioned and Non-commisioned, were new to the Army and the soldiers were primarily of young college age as the result of a change in approach on the part of the army in which the participants in a program designed to train engineers for the Engineering Corps were transferred to the Infantry when demand for the latter skill intensified as the result of the German Invasion of France.
The Engineering Training Program was known as the US Army ASTP with many
of the participants underage (less than 18 years of age] for the regular army and
were carried in a reserve category known as the ASTRP. The end result was a
division with a preponderance of very young soldiers with most 18 years of age. The
87th and probably the 106th Divisions were probably the youngest soldiers in the US Army.
Members of the ASTP completed their Basic Training at Fort Benning GA and
then were assigned to the 87t [and the 106th] when the ASTP was discontinued. The
87th left Fort Jackson in mid October 1944 and were received on the Queen
Elizabeth and the H.H. T Pasteur for the trip to England. We arrived at Gourock
Scotland on the Firth of Clyde on 22 act 1944 and were transported via train to the
Biddulph Moor area to regroup and reequip. During the 23-27 November period
the 87th departed for France and eventually combat with the German Invaders. We
had a great month with the people of Biddulph.
During our sojourn in England prior to being shipped to France, D Company-
345 Infantry [my company] was billeted in an old stone velvet mill on the moors
outside of Biddulph. There were no sanitary facilities except for an outside latrine.
At night, everyone kept a #10 can underneath one’s bunk to use for middle of the
night nature calls and it would be emptied in the morning when you went to the
latrine for the AM activities. Some unfeeling scoundrels would use their neighbors
can and occasionally would fill it to the point where the rightful owner would find
it full when the need arose at 100 or 200 AM. Needless to say, the language that ensued could not be described in polite terms as the latrine was a good 100 yards outside and it was overcoat weather.
The velvet mill also lacked shower or bathing arrangements and we were transported to a nearby coal mine to use the shower facilities. About 20 or so of us soldiers would position ourselves under the shower heads and the water would be turned on and off from a central spigot. There were no individual controls. It was strictly a case of wetting down, soaping up and then showering off after a quick washup. It worked!! Any alternative was not in the cards and we managed to keep clean especially for the Saturday Night Dance back in Biddulph that the residents arranged for this young group of soldiers. We appreciated the effort and we hoped that the young ladies also received some gratification.
The bus route from town terminated at a crossroads pub (The Rose & Crown] about a mile cross country from the mill and most of us would get a cone of chips in town prior to boarding and have them with a pint or so of good English beer before commencing the trek on foot back to the mill. We had ample opportunity to restock our bladders with this arrangement. The people were very friendly in the Town of Biddulph and I keep fond memories of my sojourn there. I was especially intrigued by the narrow canal boats that hauled coal to the nearby potteries and pottery back. The canal’s were very narrow. I understand that most of these boats have been converted to tourist use.
We were sorry to leave in late November as the people of Biddulph has been so kind to we young soldiers. A number of us returned following the war for a visit and especially a ride on the converted Canal Boats that became so very popular during the post war period. My Wife Carol and myself took advantage of the opportunity later in the 1970’s when we undertook a driving tour of England and Ireland. Biddulph was just as I had remembered it and the Canal Boat ride was wonderful.
Girard Calehuff, 87th ID, 345th IR, Co D
I will always have a fine memory of Happy Days in Biddulph.
It is hard to believe that 10 years have passed since the World War II Memorial Dedication my now-late mother and I attended with the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge. I recalled this experience from that wonderful tribute to the Greatest Generation, and I’d like to share it with you:
Tech. Sgt. Vincent A. Rella, 1st Army, 7th Corps, 507th Engineer Company, Light Pontoon, Combat Engineers
The letter written nearly 60 years ago from Belgium after the Battle of the Bulge remained yellowed and faded among my father’s Army mementos until his death in 1996. At one time, I had it translated for him, and tucked it away in an album to preserve it.
And there it stayed until I decided to bring a copy of it with me to display in the Memorabilia Room at the 2004 VBOB Convention with its simple, but caring message, addressed to my father and the three other soldiers who stayed at the Closset Family’s farm for one week before returning to the front:
“We often speak about you and the time we spent together. We are well and hope you are too…If you have a couple of days’ leave in Belgium, we’d be happy to welcome you (again).”
After visiting Normandy and Belgium with my mother in 2001, and then meeting the Belgian students and veterans at the VBOB convention in May 2004, it haunted me. Was this wonderful family still alive?
I found the answer through the May 2004 issue of the The Bulge Bugle – when I spotted the blurb about the U.S. Army Descendents Association (USAD). I then sent a copy of the letter and its translation to the group’s headquarters in St. Simeon, Belgium.
Less than a week later, I received an e-mail from Marlyse Larock, secretary of the three-year-old organization she and her husband Jacques founded after he searched for his American father – a U.S. soldier named J.F. Chadwick — and wanted to help others do the same.
The Closset Family’s farm near Liege, Belgium (1945)
It was good news. Marlyse found Marie Therese Closset, who was a teenager when she wrote the letter on behalf of her family (five aunts, an uncle, and a sister). Marie Therese, who was 79 and living with her husband an hour from the USAD headquarters, was delighted to hear from me. She said the family worried about the four soldiers and always wondered what had happened to them. She was glad to hear my father made it home.
Marie Therese Closset (on horse) with her sister, her aunt, and three other soldiers from the 507th Engineer Company
With Marlyse as our go-between (aka translator), Marie Therese sent me a photograph of three of the soldiers (my father apparently took the picture) and photographs of the Closset Family’s farm near Liege, Belgium. The truck in which the soldiers arrived was hidden behind the farm under a camouflage cover, she said. Seeing these old photographs brought it all to life for me
In turn, I sent her photographs of my father, a newspaper column I wrote about him and his fellow veterans, and copies of his two entries in the World War II Memorial Registry.
Thank you, The Bulge Bugle, for helping me learn more about my father’s war experiences and honoring his memory.
Best regards,
Nancyann Rella, Associate
Daughter of Tech. Sgt. Vincent A. Rella, U.S.Army, 1st Army, 7th Corps, 507th Engineer Company, Light Pontoon, Combat Engineers
On Mar 8, 2013WWII Vet Hope Carlson Kirkendall threw the honorary first pitch at today’s spring training matchup of the Tigers and Mets in Lakeland, Florida.
Throughout our nation’s history, service men and women have gone bravely into battle, risking their lives and livelihoods, sacrificing their safety to defend America. When their duty is done, many return home to life as it was. Sadly, for over 4 million veterans seriously injured in the line of duty, leaving the battlefield does not mark the end of conflict. These permanently disabled heroes often carry home life-altering disabilities – stern reminders of the price of freedom.
America’s disabled veterans have honored us with their service and selfless duty. It is now our turn to honor them.
For the first time, America will pay tribute to some of our most courageous heroes – our disabled veterans. The American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial will celebrate those men and women who may be broken in body – but never in spirit.
