A Hero's Cry Is Heard

A HERO'S CRY IS HEARD

 Private Howard Leroy Smith, brother to my father Robert, was born on the 1st of April 1925 to Malcolm Leroy and Mary Ann Smith.  He enlisted in the army at Fort Devens in Massachusetts on the 29th of March 1943, two days before his 18th birthday, and entered into active service on April 21, 1943.  He joined Company L 134th Infantry APO #35, as a Rifleman 746, an M-1 Rifle Marksman.  He is described as 5'6", blue eyes, blonde hair, weight 135 lbs. 

He was engaged in the battle of Normandy, France where on July 30, 1944 he was shot in the leg with an MG-42 German machine gun, the most powerful and fastest gun in existence, its' nickname was zipper.  Howard lay there in pain, his leg shattered, with dead soldiers all around him as bullets threatened to strike him again.  He cried out, Ma, for he thought he was about to die.

His mother, Mary Ann, was in Florida visiting her other son Robert who was stationed in Cocoa Beach at the Banana River Naval Air Station. She went there to visit him and his wife Elsie who was expecting their first child. Mary Ann felt she was going crazy for she could hear her son Howard calling out to her. She was compelled to go for a walk by herself, haunted by his call. She later learned that her son had been seriously injured and she really did hear his voice calling out to her.

Howard was rescued that night after dark.  He was transported to Staten Island, New York and admitted to the Halloran General Hospital. The surgeon recommended amputation; but Howard and his mother both said no.  Here he stayed until his discharge on November 8, 1946 along with a certificate of disability that discharged him from the military. He returned to Massachusetts and entered the Veterans Hospital in Framingham.  Here is where he met his future wife, Pasqualina Virginia Fazzari, known as Pat. 

 Howard was hospitalized for a period of three years and underwent a total of twenty surgeries. He wore a metal brace for the rest of his life. I babysat for my young cousins, at the age of 16, while my mother drove Pat to the hospital to visit her husband. He died of cancer on Jan 2 1961, at the age of 36 leaving a wife and five small children.  The cancer began in this injured leg. 

Howard was awarded the Purple Heart, WWII Victory Ribbon, American Theatre Campaign Ribbon, and the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon with 1 Battle star. 

Walter Christian Roesch - A Veteran Surprise



Walter as a young man
with his parents,

Julia and Clyde Roesch

 Walter Christian Roesch was born in Potosi Village, Wisconsin on August 9, 1925.   It was in October 2008 that I learned that he was in Heartland Nursing Home in Platteville, Wisconsin, not recognizing anyone.  He passed away this past January 28, 2012 at the age of 86.  He was the grandson of Philip Roesch who served in the Civil War.  Walter never married and never had children.

Walter is remembered as a young boy carrying his violin to school as he took music lessons.  He spent many months in Eau Gallie Florida as a child with his parents in a cottage on Highland Avenue.  His father, Clyde, purchased it from his brother, William Russell Roesch, Mayor of this charming town.

After graduation from Potosi High School, Walter attended Bayless Business College in Dubuque, IA. During World War II, Walter served in the U.S. Army. He worked as an administrative assistant at the Potosi Brewery. Walter later worked at the Civil Defense Office in Lancaster until his retirement. He was a member of the Davies Memorial United Church of Christ, where he played the organ for over 40 years.

Five months have now passed since Walter's death.  Then a surprise came to me on June 22, 2012 in the form of a message waiting for me on ancestry.com.  It read: 

My name is John C. and I work for the Department of Veterans Affairs in the Memorial Programs Service and have received an application for a marker for Walter C. Roesch. Unfortunately there is a requirement that a next of kin signs the request in order to issue the marker. If you wish to be of help in this matter, please contact me at 888-101-1111 ext 111. Regards,

I immediately called John.  It seems a veterans agent in Wisconsin had called him about the situation for he said that Walter had no next of kin.  John told me that when these situations arise he researches ancestry.com to see if he can find a relative.  This is how he found me.

I was overwhelmed with emotion and so grateful for the opportunity to do something so very special for Walter. 

A WWII Hero Dies

I am re-posting this story today, for John Walter Wyman passed away last Thursday. He was a truly loved man by not only his family but by the community as well. We drove the four hours to Rumford, Maine to attend his services that were held on June 20th. Thank you for your gallant and brave service. Rest In Peace.

John was an easy going man, a true hero from WWII.  He raised his four children not by lecturing, but by only two rules, "I won't take you to the hospital, and I won't bail you out of jail."  Another words, stay out of trouble.  He and his wife Rita would have been celebrating 70 years of marriage on July 7th.

John W. Wyman was a gunner in the World War II airplane in this photo.  Squadrons were assigned to fly a maximum of 25 missions over Germany, after which they would be replaced by new forces.  Few made mission 25, but John's squadron did, only to be told that they would need to fly one or two more because their replacements had not yet arrived.  Mission 26 was a success, but on mission 27 they took fire and the pilot was shot and killed.  Their options were few: parachute out or go down with the plane.  John scrambled up into the fuselage of the craft from his perch suspended in its underbelly.  As they looked out the windows, they saw others from their squadron who had jumped, their chutes being riddled with holes as they were fired upon as target practice. The choice quickly became clear when the co-pilot of John's plane said he believed he could land the craft on its belly, so the crew opted for riding it down, which they did safely and quickly abandoned it on foreign soil.  Years later, this photo of the downed aircraft was sent to John's family by someone from Germany.  The family put his photo on it and the words to the rally song "Wild Blue Yonder".

John's plane was shot down and he was taken prisoner. 

 He was moved from one camp to another during one of the worst snowstorms in history known as the "Black March".  Many died but John survived with only a blanket.

From Wikipedia:

The March" refers to a series of forced marches during the final stages of the Second World War in Europe. From a total of 257,000 western Allied prisoners of war held in German military prison camps, over 80,000 POWs were forced to march westward across Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Germany in extreme winter conditions, over about four months between January and April 1945. This series of events has been called various names: "The Great March West", "The Long March", "The Long Walk", "The Long Trek", "The Black March", "The Bread March", and "Death March Across Germany", but most survivors just called it "The March".

Lessons of Fear

Rumors run rampant out of fear and that is exactly what happened when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Innocent people can and do get hurt and not just from bombs.


OHI FAMILY FARM CIRCA 1941

Edward Minour Ohi, a Japanese family had a farm in Eau Gallie, Fl, and was a neighbor of my great grandfather, William R Roesch. The Ohi's were a quiet  family raising their children and working to make a living like every other American family. They grew beans and other vegetables taking their harvest to market to sell.  You can see the family relaxing on their front porch.  Little did they know that fear was about to change their lives so dramatically.

It was rumored that Ohi would write messages on his roof for the Japanese enemy war planes to see giving them an advantage to win the war; which was far from the truth. It was also rumored that their oldest daughter managed to get out of America and back to Japan. 

The family was wrongly imprisoned like so many others only to be released after the war. The Ohi family were guilty only out of the fear of a nation's imagination.  The lesson here is to not let fear get the best of you in any situation, that's when mistakes are made and people get hurt; possibly you.

In March of 1915, the 1st Annual Brevard County Fair was held in Eau Gallie.  Edward M. Ohi won 1st place for the Best Vegetable Collection.

Mr. Ohi ran this ad in the Eau Gallie Record:
Ruby King Peppers $3 per 1000
Florida High Bush Egg Plant $5 per 1000
Livingston Globe Tomatoes $3 per 1000



V-Letter

Veterans, I honor them all.  They have kept us safe so we can enjoy the freedoms our country was founded on so many years ago. We all have veterans in our family whether it be today, or in the far off past, there have been way too many wars.  Every American knows a veteran in their family, more than one I am sure.

I have honored my father, Robert, my uncle Howard, Philip, my great grandfather, my great uncles Herman and Joseph and others in blogs dedicated to them, their lives and military service.  Today I will tell you a little about my uncle Philip Roesch, my mother's  half-brother, mostly through photographs and letters.  You may remember him, I have done other posts about him. Perhaps you might like to read these if you missed them. Inconsolable   Shopping Saturday - Radio Sales & Repair   NASA and Phillip Osborne Roesch

Phillip O. Roesch WWII

Phil's birth mother, Nellie, died when he was only eight years old.  His father, William Philip Roesch remarried to Florence Sterling and it didn't take long before Phil was calling her mom.  He was more like a son, rather than a stepson to Florence; after all, she raised him.  So even after his father and step-mother divorced and she remarried, he continued to call her mom.

 He joined the Army and he would write her V-mail letters addressed to"Dear Mom".  Sometimes he drew cartoons on his letters.  The v-cartoon became highly popular and used very creatively by the servicemen.

Soldiers wrote their letters on a form the military provided.  It was then photographed, placed on 16 mm motion picture film and transported in a mail sack that carried approximately 136,000 letters.  The film was next enlarged to 4 X 5 wet prints that were dried and sliced into individual letters.  There were a total of 19 military v-mail stations across the United States that provided this service.  This saved storage space for the transport of other necessary items during the war.

These letters are treasured by our family.  They are part of him and history.



Wartime Duty for Florence

In 1943, my grandmother, Florence Sterling Roesch Hilligoss, performed her military duty by becoming a volunteer of the Aircraft Warning Service of the U.S. Army during World War II,

The entire family took their turns operating a 24-hour plane spotting station.  These stations were placed in various locations throughout the state.  When a plane was within sight, or hearing distance, they would call in to a central location and report the direction, speed, altitude and number of engines.  That way, the government kept track of any unauthorized planes.

WWII War Effort Donation

My 2nd great grandfather, William R. Roesch established the Eau Gallie Record newspaper in 1916.  He was its writer, publisher, and editor. When this pioneer became Mayor of this quaint town of Eau Gallie, Florida his son, my grandfather, William P. Roesch, assumed most of the responsibility for the production of the paper.

It was in September  of 1925 after the death of the Mayor's wife, Ada, and a week later, his son's wife, Nellie, that father and son decided to sell the newspaper. 

When WWII was fully engaged, my grandfather donated the old printing press. 




Printing Press





Robert Franklin Smith, Military and Family - My Dad's Story

Robert Franklin Smith

Robert Franklin Smith, my dad, was born in Bridgewater, MA, July 10, 1923, the son of Malcolm Leroy Smith and Mary Ann Pierce.  On December 7, 1941 about 7:55 AM, the Japanese attacked Peal Harbor in Hawaii.  It was sometime after the United States declared war on December 8, 1941, that Bob, like so many other young men, left school to enlist in the military.  At the age of 18, Robert was described as having brown hair, hazel eyes and light complexion.  He tried to enlist in the Navy; but did not meet the height requirements, so Bob joined the Massachusetts State Guard, 78th Company.  As the war progressed more men were needed. At the age of 19, Private Robert F. Smith, on September 17, 1942, was discharged from the Guard and was enlisted for active duty in the U.S. Navy. 

He was stationed at the new Banana River Naval Air Station in Cocoa Beach, Florida.  In 1948 this base became Patrick Air Force Base.  Shortly after Bob's arrival he met his future wife, Elsie Louise Roesch, at a local dance hall where her mother was one of the chaperones for the evening. They married on April 22, 1943 after dating for six months.

Their first child, a daughter, was born September 7, 1944. In February of 1945 the Navy sent Bob, known as Smitty to his buddies, to Oak Harbor, Washington.  His wife and daughter traveled with him. Six months later they were off to Seaside, Oregon. Several months later, he was assigned to National City, California.

His next port was China. The military advised Elsie that it would not be a safe place for them so they returned home to Florida to wait. Bob was on the U.S.S. LST 9 (Landing Ship Tank), which is an amphibious vessel designed to unload tanks, troops and supplies. Robert F. Smith held the rank of Damage Controlman First Class (Carpenter).  

While passing by Okinawa on its way to China, some Japanese, who didn't know the war was over, fired upon the ship. In January 1946, the ship pulled into port at the Whangpoo River in Shanghai, China, which flows into the Yangtze River. Bob was assigned to build stables on the American ship for Chiang Kai-shek so he could transport his horses. This was during the pre-communist era when the U.S. supported General Chiang against the Communist's People's Liberation Army led by Mao Zedong in the civil war for control of China. The communist party did assume control after two decades of war and the People's Republic of China was established on October 1, 1949.

 Bob sadly recalled, "Baby girls in China during this period were not valued, and were thrown into the Yangtze River to drown. It was horrible seeing dead babies floating the water." Bob called his wife and told her what was happening and that there was this baby girl he wanted to adopt. Elsie agreed, but the military wouldn't allow it.   

In 1947, Bob was sent to England for a year. His wife and daughter joined him there in Plymouth, England. Bob was discharged in 1948 after five years 11 months and 26 days of service. He and his family moved to his hometown in Massachusetts. He obtained a job working nights at George O. Jenkins Co., a leather mill, and he joined the Reserves.

On December 19, 1950, Bob was called back into active service and assigned to the ship, USS Proserpine, ARL 21, for one final tour of active duty during the Korean War. He was discharged on December 18, 1954 as Damage Controlman First Class/Carpenter.  He had now completed 8 honorable years of service in the Navy.   He received the following medals: WW11 Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, National Defense Medal, Occupation Service Medal and four bars, and two pins.

 Bob and Elsie had four daughters: Kathryn Marie, Sharon Eloise, Janine Lovina and Robin Doreen. Bob retired from the leather mill holding the position of General Manager.  He quietly passed away on the first day of spring, March 20, 2008 with his wife and family by his side.