Some World War II treasures...

[PALADIN85020]

When I was a boy and growing into manhood, the family next door to us was headed by a man I'll call Moe, because that's what we always called him. He preferred that to his given name, Maurice. Moe was a WWII vet, who fought with a tank destroyer outfit during the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of the Huertgen Forest. If you know your history, you have a small inkling of what the man went through - he was lucky to have returned with his life.

At any rate, Moe died a number of years ago. I still love to visit with his widow, Gloria. Today, knowing of my interest in firearms, she gave me some cartridges, both U.S. and German, that Moe brought back as souvenirs. Here's a couple of them, next to a small photograph she loaned me to copy:

The cartridge on the left, if I remember correctly, would be a tracer round. The one on the right with the silver-colored bullet and the crimps in the shoulder area, I'm going to need some help on identifying from any of you knowledgeable people. I've not seen one before. These are both intact .30-06 rounds; both are loaded rounds with intact primers.

The picture itself is remarkable. I believe Moe took the picture himself with a "liberated" Kodak camera - he had his mother send him some film for it. Here's a more closeup view of it:

To some of you, the people pictured in the first row need no identification, but from left to right:

Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.

Gen. Omar Bradley

Gen. Dwight Eisenhower

Gen. Courtney Hodges

The men in back are lesser luminaries, but maybe they can be identified by some of you - let me know what you think.

I thought I'd share these remarkable souvenirs with you - these are genuine pieces of history, brought back from the battlefields of the European Theater of Operations by a true American hero, my next door neighbor when I was a boy.

Hope you enjoy seeing them.

John

 

[DeathGrip]

Great treasures.

I found this for you scroll down to Gallery/Guard/Short Range

An Introduction To Collecting .30-06 Cartridges - International Ammunition Association

 

[PALADIN85020]

Great treasures.

I found this for you scroll down to Gallery/Guard/Short Range

An Introduction To Collecting .30-06 Cartridges - International Ammunition Association

Many thanks! And the round on the left is a tracer.

John

 

[Texas Star]

Thanks, John. Rare photo of Patton without a visible gun.

 

[Cooter Brown]

Fantastic stuff and as usual I from your threads I learned something, about the ammo and the men in the photo.

I didn't realize Patton was the tallest of those generals.

 

[COULT D]

General Patton is the only one to "open carry" in the front row. (blown up you can see the Colt Pocket Model M behind his right elbow.)

 

[jlrhiner]

Thanks again John, great stuff.

 

[quneur]

Wow, Moe kept with some high company. When did Bradley get his 3rd star? As I remember correctly (from the movie Patton) he received it during the Italian campaign?

 

[PALADIN85020]

Wow, Moe kept with some high company. When did Bradley get his 3rd star? As I remember correctly (from the movie Patton) he received it during the Italian campaign?

Bradley was promoted to temporary 3-star rank (lieutenant general) in March 1943 and succeeded Patton as head of II Corps in April. He directed it in the final Tunisian battles of April and May. Bradley continued to command the Second Corps in the invasion of Sicily.

I attended Bradley's funeral in 1981 when we lived in El Paso, Texas, where he was quartered at Fort Bliss, still listed as being on active duty until his death in the "21" restaurant in New York while having dinner there with his wife. He was until then the only living 5-star general (General of the Armies).

I bought a wind-up portable wooden-cased olive drab Army record player from his estate after he died; he used it to play martial music for his troops when he was a young officer. I still have it, and it still works to play 78 RPM records just as it did so many years ago.

John

 

[TACC1]

Thanks again, John. Really appreciate learning some
more history. My personal WW2 hero passed on w/o
telling me much of anything about his war. It's still hard
to picture him as a warrior instead of as an average American.
Sure wish he was still here.
TACC1

 

[PA Reb]

Great stuff and thanks for posting it. It sounds like your neighbor Moe may have served along side my father-in-law in Patton's 4th Armored Division ( http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge...rophy-flag-means-me-updated-new-pictures.html ). At any rate, thanks again!

 

[PALADIN85020]

Great stuff and thanks for posting it. It sounds like your neighbor Moe may have served along side my father-in-law in Patton's 4th Armored Division ( http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge...rophy-flag-means-me-updated-new-pictures.html ). At any rate, thanks again!

I talked with Moe's widow again this morning; there is no doubt he took this picture himself. She has many others, much more mundane, taken in the same very small format. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time when these generals were assembling for a more formal picture.

Moe was an enlisted man in the 893rd Tank Destroyer Battalion. His widow related that he narrowly escaped death when his 3-vehicle platoon was on line in the Huertgen Forest, facing German Tiger tanks. The tank destroyers rotated, with two up and one in reserve. On this particular day, Moe's vehicle was back in reserve by chance, and the two lead vehicles were demolished. If he had been up, he never would have survived the war. His unit also crossed the Rhine at Remagen (the movie "The Bridge at Remagen" covers this action). If anyone is interested, here is the unit history:

893rd Tank Destroyer Battalion

The account of the unit's actions during the Battle of the Bulge is graphic and amazing; it's found here in a report and analysis put together for the Infantry School after the war:

http://www.tankdestroyer.net/images...tions_of_893rd_TD_Bn_at_Vossenack_Germany.pdf

My stepfather-in-law was an armor officer under Creighton Abrams and George Patton in WWII, and also was a veteran of the Korean War, wounded in action behind enemy lines there.

There are so many stories that now can never be told as the WWII vets die off. It's sad to see them go.

John

 

[klondike]

My Dad took a shot of Patton apologizing to the Texas 36th Division. I believe that it was after Salerno.

 

[PA Reb]

I talked with Moe's widow again this morning; there is no doubt he took this picture himself. She has many others, much more mundane, taken in the same very small format. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time when these generals were assembling for a more formal picture.

Moe was an enlisted man in the 893rd Tank Destroyer Battalion. His widow related that he narrowly escaped death when his 3-vehicle platoon was on line in the Huertgen Forest, facing German Tiger tanks. The tank destroyers rotated, with two up and one in reserve. On this particular day, Moe's vehicle was back in reserve by chance, and the two lead vehicles were demolished. If he had been up, he never would have survived the war. His unit also crossed the Rhine at Remagen (the movie "The Bridge at Remagen" covers this action). If anyone is interested, here is the unit history:

893rd Tank Destroyer Battalion

The account of the unit's actions during the Battle of the Bulge is graphic and amazing; it's found here in a report and analysis put together for the Infantry School after the war:

http://www.tankdestroyer.net/images...tions_of_893rd_TD_Bn_at_Vossenack_Germany.pdf

My stepfather-in-law was an armor officer under Creighton Abrams and George Patton in WWII, and also was a veteran of the Korean War, wounded in action behind enemy lines there.

There are so many stories that now can never be told as the WWII vets die off. It's sad to see them go.

John

"Unit History: 93d Infantry Division Antitank Battalion redesignated on 15 December 1941 at Fort Benning, Georgia. Arrived at Liverpool, England, on 20 January 1944."

Well, it seems like Moe's and my father-in-law's paths may have indeed crossed, at least before they entered combat (and maybe during). My father-in-law trained in Fort Benning at the same time and was shipped out and arrived in England at the same time. who knows but it sure is a small world!

I'm not trying to "hijack" your thread in any way but I've attached two pictures (for you to save) below of the 4th Armored, 25th Cavalry Recon Troop while in combat. I'd bet Moe was somewhere close by!