Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
Leo Goldner's experiences in Ft. Benning dealing with a tough tactical officer and teaching judo to a Colonel.
Mr. Goldner becomes the assistant to the Lieutenant in charge of entertainment for the troops, and has many interesting experiences with the entertainers including an attack during a performance.
During duty looking for Japanese combatants in the Philippine jungles after the Japanese surrender, Leo Goldner almost accidentally orders the destruction of huts occupied by hiding Jews.
Mr. Goldner describes a trip when he was supposed to return home, but instead, his ship was re-routed to the Aleutian Islands to help another ship. The exposure to cold weather caused many of the men to get sick, but Goldner nursed them back to health.
Leo Goldner is working in an Army Replacement Depot when he disobeys regulations resulting in an interesting move to the Pentagon.
SSG Leo McLaverty discusses his time as part of the 66th Infantry Division (Black Panthers) during WWII, which included combat across Europe in harsh conditions, and nearly being one of the crew members of the ill-fated SS Leopoldville.
Leonard Ploeckelman's unit descended upon Omaha Beach at 7am on June 6, 1944 amid German machine gun fire, & had to break through barbed wire defenses with a Bangalore torpedo. This document contains 2 articles about Leonard Ploeckelman's role on D-Day.
Melzar Booker tells of his time in the 420th Armored Field Artillery Battalion (10th Armored Division) in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. In this account, he describes the freezing cold, loss of friends, and constant threat from Germans.
Memories of Michael Ruffolo's time in the Army during WWII. As a member of the 137th Infantry Division, Michael witnessed death, destruction, and religion as a BAR man in the Pacific.
Norman Grossman describes his harrowing experiences on D-Day and into France towards St. Lo, and the many close calls he had with death.
