The Star in the Window: Select Stories of World War II Veterans

by Louis C. Langone

Overview

When a service banner adorned with stars was displayed in a home’s window during World War II, it meant a family member was involved in the war. Some of the soldiers never returned, but those who did come home carried memories and war stories. In The Star in the Window, author Louis C. Langone tells the stories of more than seventy-five WWII veterans who lived in Waterville and Central New York. Langone personally interviewed and listened to more than 100 men and women telling their wartime stories—from bombing missions over Europe to the “island hopping” campaigns of the Pacific to suffering as prisoners of war. The narratives are supplemented with material from books, periodicals, the Internet, press releases, unit histories, and letters, providing a mix of memories and facts. Photographs and community honor rolls are also included. The Star in the Window not only preserves special WWII memories, but also gives insight into the hardships endured and sacrifices made by the veterans of the Central New York area. It provides an opportunity to experience history through the eyes and ears of veterans from the various military branches of service revealing shocking and obscure incidents of the war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781462014279
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	06/21/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

Read an Excerpt

The Star in the Window

Select Stories of World War II Veterans

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By LOUIS C. LANGONE

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 LouiS C. Langone
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-1425-5

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Chapter One

Carlton Alsheimer

BANDSMAN

Few things are more inspiring to the military man than hearing the sounds of John Philip Sousa parade music. Every branch of service, division, or capital ship has a band and throughout history the soldier, sailor, and airman have appreciated the entertainment and morale boosting that the band provides.

From the Revolutionary War fife and drum music to the modern huge military bands serving around the world, these music men and women have served their country well. Today, the Army, Air force, Navy, and Marine Corps bands also perform for the civilian community including assembly programs at secondary schools and colleges.

During World War II there were 500 bands serving the Army and were divided into three categories- Special – Separate and Organizational. Examples of the Special Band were the U.S. Band (Pershing Band), the U.S. Military Academy Band, and the U.S. Air Corps Band. Separate Bands were bands attached to training units. Organizational bands were infantry division bands assigned to a combat command. The Army also had dance bands, which helped boost morale of the troops. The drafting of men into the service helped to bring excellent musicians into the Army and Army Air Corps/Air Forces (Army 1).

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Carlton Alsheimer of Waterville was one of these outstanding musicians to serve in an Army Organizational Band – the 69th Infantry Division band.

Carlton "Carl" Alsheimer graduated from Waterville Central School in 1937 and then attended the Capital Engineering Institute at Washington, D.C. where he studied electronics and engineering. He had also performed with local bands at hotels and nightclubs.

At the age of 23, and months before Pearl Harbor, he enlisted into the army. His basic training, which he referred to as "rigorous and complete," took place at Fort Benning, Georgia.

After basic training, Alsheimer was assigned to the 78th Division, 101st Tank Destroyer Battalion. Between 1941 and when he became part of the 69th Division band, Alsheimer was a member of Headquarters Company at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. He was assigned to Publications and his duties involved distributing army regulations. He also ran the movie theater and played in small group bands at service clubs during off-duty hours. Promoted to sergeant by 1943, he was transferred to the 69th Division in June of 1944 and to the Division band in August of 1944. While stationed in the United States, the 58-member Division band was required to entertain at concerts, parades, service clubs, and enlisted men's clubs. The band also performed for arriving and departing dignitaries, and embarking and disembarking troops. They also performed for the USO and with celebrities such as Bob Hope, the Marx Brothers, and Peggy Lee when they visited to entertain troops. (Alsheimer's wife, Anne, also sang with the USO in the States.)

According to J. A. de Mond's book, What the Hell! - the 69th Division left Camp Shelby November 2, 1944, destination unknown. "Our instruments and equipment were loaded onto freight cars. For three to four years the band had played for departing troops. Now it was the 65th division playing for us as we left"(2). Thanksgiving Day was spent aboard the troop train and in the early hours of November 23, the 69th arrived at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.

de Mond's book goes on to relate that at Camp Kilmer there was training in security, censorship regulations, lifeboat drills, abandon ship drills, and films on escape methods if captured by the enemy (2-3).

The time came to board ship so they packed up and took a train to Staten Island for the ferry ride to Pier 10 in New York City. The Band was playing for the troops at Pier 10 and the Red Cross was there with coffee and doughnuts. They boarded the USS LEJEUNE and the sleeping quarters, named One Peter Baker, were not very favorable. They were located in the most forward part of the ship. It was very crowded and the lighting was very bad. The LeJEUNE left New York on December 1, and joined into a convoy following a zigzag course to avoid submarines. The ship headed toward the Bahamas and then swung northward and joined another convoy and continued the voyage across the Atlantic.

"While crossing the Atlantic," Alsheimer related, "the Chaplain gave us some instruments and our band performed on decks for various shows. One day aboard ship we heard these loud noises. Our destroyers had sighted some submarines and dropped depth charges destroying one sub."

On December 12th the troops arrived at Southampton, England. Their quarters were about two hours from Southampton at a Boy's School called West Downs.

On January 23, 1945, the 69th left England for the continent. They got aboard a British ship and went to the port of LeHavre. On January 24th, the troops landed on French soil. LCT landing boats transported them from the ship to the shore.

By the spring of 1945 the 69th division was in Germany and by late April had met up with the Russians but the band instruments were 300 miles behind. On April 23 several men took off by bus, truck and a quartermaster truck to bring back the instruments. They returned on the 28th(deMond 31-2).

On May 1st, the band performed for General Reinhardt and two other high-ranking officers. "The 1812 Overture," "The Red Cavalry March", and a Glen Miller version of the "Song of the Volga Boatman." were played. The band's arrangement of "Der Fuhrer's Face" was also included in the performance The Russian officers were very pleased and they said good music could promote good relations between nations. (deMond 36). On May 3rd the band went to the allied prisoner of war camp and played for the prisoners who were mainly French.

In addition to England and France, Alsheimer served in Holland and Germany. Most of the time overseas was spent in Germany. The 69th suffered no casualties but lost one man through sickness.

While overseas, the 69th Division band performed many times. "We played for dignitaries, kings and queens. At the same time we entertained our own troops with concerts, dance music, and parades - similar to what was required of us in the States," Alsheimer explained.

The author asked Alsheimer if he could recall some of his most memorable experiences. He said he had performed for generals as they deplaned at various air bases. One time he was in a marching band, which performed at a Duke University football game. He also mentioned that the band had performed at shows for servicemen.

A talented musician, Alsheimer had written musical arrangements for the band and played in concert and marching bands. They marched in a lot of cities and he played in dance bands before he was shipped overseas. A versatile musician, Alsheimer has played guitar in dance band, the tuba in marching band, and the trombone in concert band. Also, he remembers that because of his talent in electricity he was nicknamed "Sparks".

In addition to his music assignment he stood guard duty with Headquarters Company, guarding post perimeters, warehouses, and supply trains. "At times, Alsheimer said, "the Germans were very close."

DeMond recorded in his short history of the 69th Division Band that at Kassel, Germany:

... Eight of our men were sent to a captured Nazi warehouse, which was filled with rations, liquor, and thousands of cases of sardines. Their duty was to guard the warehouse and of course its contents. Several cases of sardines and a number of cases of Schnapps were requisitioned for our own use, which resulted in many stomachaches and even more disastrous consequences. (25).

In concluding his history of the 69th Division Band, de Mond further writes that "We didn't win the war by playing in the band or by standing guard duty -but we like to think that we were an intricate part of the machine. We did not spend the entire war without hearing a malicious shot fired. And, we have one battle star to our credit at least"(37).

By May 12, 1945, after the Germans had surrendered, the 69th Infantry Division was located at Naunhof, Germany. Alsheimer said that he remained in Germany until it was time to return to the United States.

Sergeant Carlton Alsheimer was discharged from the Army on October 18 and worked in heavy military equipment engineering at General Electric for four years. Following that he was proprietor of Modern Electric, a former Waterville, New York TV appliance and repair business. His talent in electronics was evident by his development of TV test equipment for a prominent television manufacturer.

He died November 30, 2003.

Chapter Two

Lester Barnes

ARMY FARRIER/CLERK

The soldier on horseback has been a part of warfare for over 2500 years and these cavalrymen charged into battle ahead of the infantry. Glorified in countless novels and movies, they have left an indelible mark on history as part of our romantic and adventurous past.

The horse cavalry was not used much in World War I and between the two world wars. The cavalry was changed into armored cavalry units and in the Viet Nam War; air cavalry used helicopters for rapid transport of men and materiel. (Cavalry -Encarta).

When World War II began there were about fifteen horse cavalry regiments maintained by the army. "In 1941, the cavalry arm was an elite element of the Army's front line troops"(U.S. 1).

Lester Barnes of North Brookfield was assigned for a while with one of the last of the horse cavalry regiments of World War II and also served as a personnel clerk.

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After graduation from Waterville Central School in 1939, Lester Barnes worked as a farmer and at the Savage Arms defense plant in Utica, New York. On October 20, 1944 he enlisted into the Army and was inducted at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Following induction, Barnes was transferred to Fort Riley, Kansas for several weeks of basic training. At Fort Riley, in addition to the regular basics of military life, Barnes worked in the horse stables, took long rides on horses, and performed KP (kitchen police) duty.

During basic training he rode horses almost every day. "A lot of rides and quite a bit of time in bivouac," he said. The author asked Barnes as to why he was assigned to a horse cavalry unit. "We were asked if anyone could ride a horse. I told them that I had ridden horses on the farm so I was assigned to the unit and had to take care of two horses," he said.

Following basic training Barnes was selected to attend cavalry horse shoeing school at Fort Riley to learn all about horse shoeing. He said that he had had no previous experience with horse shoeing and that he attended the school for twelve weeks. At the school the students learned how to make a horseshoe from a bar of iron and he would put small shoes on little donkeys. "They were corkers to shoe," he laughed. I'd pick up a front foot and the donkey would stand on its hind feet. I would have to pick up the other front foot – couldn't do a damn thing. They'd kick like a son-of-a-gun. The horse manure was stacked and it looked like big hills. There must have been a thousand horses in ten or eleven barns at Fort Riley," he explained.

From Fort Riley, Barnes rode to Monterey, California aboard a passenger train (not a troop train). There were no available seats, he remembered, so he had to ride between the coaches (area where coaches are connected). The area was covered with soot and there was a lot of smoke from the engine. "I had to sit on my barracks bag and the trip took two days and nights," he stated.

From Southern California Barnes boarded a navy ship bound for Japan. Sailing across the Pacific the ship went by Pearl Harbor, Wake Island and Corregidor. "We had good 'eats' on the ship and I was lucky since I didn't get seasick. We stopped at the Philippine Islands, probably Manila, for two overnights," he recalled. There, it was the first time that Barnes, the upstate New York farmer from North Brookfield, swam in the ocean. Barnes described his attempt to crack open a coconut.

... I cut my thumb trying to open a cocoanut with a knife. Boy, they are tough. There was a guy there with a bulldozer and I put the cocoanut behind the bulldozer and had him back up to crack it open. I lost all the milk that I was after and it was hot and dry that day in the Philippines.

From the Philippines the ship headed in the direction of Japan. Barnes said he remembered when the first atomic bomb was dropped on August 5, 1945 and pointed out that he was near Japan when the war ended on August 14. He could not remember any Japanese submarines in the area and things were very quiet.

After the Japanese surrendered the ship docked at Yokohama and the troops spent a few days there. He then took the train to Nagoya, which he said was an ordinary train that was full of people.

Searching his memory about his arrival in Japan, he thought that the trip on the train to Nagoya took place just before Christmas of 1945. Barnes said that it was real nice in Nagoya where he stayed while in Japan. His main duty was working as a personnel clerk in the office of his company, and he made sure that the men received their required inoculations and he did general office work.

When it was time to leave Japan he took an all day train ride from Nagoya. Along the way there was a spectacular view of beautiful Mount Fujiyama. While riding the train, he said, he noticed again how crowded the train was from Nagoya to Yokohama "It was really packed with people."

Leaving Japan by ship, he crossed the Pacific again and returned to the west coast of the United States. There he boarded a train for the cross-country trip to the east.

He was discharged at Fort Dix March 26, 1946, where he had been originally inducted into the Army seventeen months earlier. Upon his return to civilian life, he again engaged in farming in North Brookfield, and married Betty Ford in September of 1946.

Lester Barnes passed away January 9, 2001 at the age of 78.

Chapter Three

Ebenezer Belfield

QUARTERMASTER TRUCK COMPANY

The oldest logistic branch of the Army, the Quartermaster Corps, provided supplies and transportation. During World War II the quartermaster truck regiments, though not front line combatants, drove their trucks to the front lines, often living in and out of foxholes.

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Ebenezer, "Ebb," Belfield, originally from Bridgewater, and later in Sangerfield, New York, enlisted in the Army on November 12, 1942. He was then twenty years old. Before entering the military at the age of 20, Ebb Belfield worked on the assembly line at a General Motors plant in Buffalo, NY At the time Belfield was there, the plant manufactured Pratt and Whitney aircraft engines.

Ebb Belfield's first orders sent him to Fort Dix, New Jersey and then to Fort Custer, Michigan for ten weeks of basic training. Of his time in boot camp, in the winter, in Michigan, he recalled that while crossing the Kalamazoo River a few men fell through the ice and needed an ambulance to take them to the hospital. After basic training, Belfield was transferred to Camp Phillips in Salina, Kansas. His longest lasting memory of his time there was of the 35-mile strenuous marches in full gear and pack. Belfield laughed when recalling the officers on the training marches. In particular, Belfield remembered one lieutenant filled his pack with paper to lighten his load. After Camp Phillips, Ebb Belfield traveled to Camp Shanks, New York before boarding the Queen Mary ocean liner on September 1943 for Europe. Belfield described his rough crossing of the Atlantic as follows:

... On the third day out, the ocean really got rough. The waves seemed as high as mountains. I heard that three men who were afraid of going into battle, committed suicide by jumping off the bridge of the ship into the water. On the third deck of the big ocean liner, a few of these men were slammed into the inboard windows of the former passenger ship. It took us four and [a] half days to cross the ocean and get to Scotland. We then got on a train for Liverpool, England and stayed at the Seaforth Barracks. We spent nine months at Liverpool and put 48 trucks and three jeeps together to haul cargo off the docks. During those nine months we loaded trucks and went to farmlands in Scotland and Wales where troops were located. We put the supplies and some eight-man tents there and we also went to airfields in England and hauled bombs for the bombers. We saw quite a bit of England and Wales.

In preparation for the Normandy invasion, we went from Seaforth Barracks and gathered at Gladstone Docks in the heart of Liverpool ... We then boarded a Liberty ship and the trucks were placed in the holds of the ship and waterproofed in preparation for crossing the Channel. We crossed the Channel June 6, 1944. "There were so many ships – hundreds of them in the channel. [The] Army guys had to man the guns of the Liberty ship. [And], the sailors ran the ship. We were on that ship for eight days and sometimes, at night, the Germans were dropping bombs. I saw the third ship over from us, another liberty ship, get hit. It sank and there were no survivors.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Star in the Window by LOUIS C. LANGONE Copyright © 2011 by LouiS C. Langone. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS....................193
EPILOGUE....................383
APPENDIX....................385
INDEX....................457