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My Book Talk in Schenectady, NY: October 13, 2012
On Saturday October 13th I will be giving a public lecture at the Grems-Doolittle Library in Schenectady, NY. The subject will be my book Longshore Soldiers, with a special focus on wartime...
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Club Chipper, Antwerp, 1945
519th Port Battalion men at Club Chipper, 1945 (left to right): Lee Harringer, Dave Weaver,Bob Lipke (in front), Don Woods, Bernie Beals, and Bruce Kramlich In talking to the GIs who had served in...
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Three 339th Harbor Craft Company GIs on the roof of Tampico Flats
Photo probably by David Stein, 1945, Tampico Flats, Antwerp. The daughter of David Stein, a GI in the 339th Harbor Craft Company, contacted me by email. Her dad and his company were housed in Tampico...
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The Black Swan pub in Bristol
The Black Swan pub (on left) from a 1930s postcard. Click for larger image.The Black Swan today, courtesy of Google Maps.Before the Normandy invasion my grandfather was stationed in Bristol, England....
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Blaise Castle, in Bristol, England
Blaise Castle, spring 1944. Herbert Koller (from Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is kneeling in the center. On the far right is Richard J. Justice (from Ashland, Wisconsin). I think the man on the far left might...
View ArticleA short history of the 11th Port in WWII
A fellow WWII history buff in Wales forwarded a letter to me written by an American veteran. Bob Schultz was a member of the 11th Port. Like the 13th Port, this unit managed the supply operations at...
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Frank A. Cassetta of the 284th Port Company
Frank A. Cassetta posing with his carbine in front of his scratch-built hut on Omaha Beach.A couple weeks ago the son of a WWII port battalion veteran got in touch with me. Joseph’s dad Frank A....
View Article238th Port Company, 494th Port Battalion roster
In my continuing research in to WWII port battalions I requested the National Archives' historic report of the 494th Port Battalion. Among the papers was a May 1945 list of men receiving the Individual...
View ArticleTony Farina in the 518th Port Battalion
Last month I got an email from Tony Farina. He found my blog while he was looking up his old unit from WWII. Tony served in an Army port company just like my grandfather. His 518th Port Battalion and...
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WWII Comics by Private Marvin Newman
An Army port company GI loading supplies in a ship’s hold.Marvin Newman served in the same unit as my grandfather in WWII. They were in the 304th Port Company, which unloaded supplies in Normandy and...
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Color Normandy photos, 1944.
Landing craft on either Omaha or Utah Beach, 1944.The Daily Mail posted previously-unpublished color photos of Normandy in 1944.
View Article240th Port Company roster WWII
This partial list of men in the 240th Port Company, 494th Port Battalion comes from an October 1944 document awarding the Good Conduct Medal. To learn what these guys were up to during the war read my...
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On Leave in Waterloo, 1945
View from the top of the Lion’s Mound monument at Waterloo.After Germany and Japan surrendered thousands of American GIs just waiting around to be sent back home. To keep them out of trouble the US...
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Fox Hole Concerts on Omaha Beach
A photocopy of the 502nd Port Battalion band in Britain, sent to me by Sherwin Grannum.Photo courtesy of Robert Lessard. Just before the D-Day anniversary in June 2013 I got an email from Bob Lessard,...
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Docks in WWII Antwerp
From the collection of Theron P. Snell.Theron P. Snell shared two photos in Antwerp during WWII. They came from Maynard P. Short, who served in the 282nd Ord. Ballistic detachment. It looks like a...
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1943 ad for ALCO, maker of the M4 Sherman and M7 Priest
Schenectady helped turn the tide of at the Battle of El Alamein I recently found a 2-page advertisement that the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) placed in the May 1943 issue of the trade magazine...
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268th Port Company WWII Album
The company "chow hound" sitting on the bumper of a 2.5 ton GMC "Jimmy" truck.On eBay I recently found a WWII era scrap book which belonged to a guy who served in the 268th Port Company. My grandfather...
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A Short History of the 267th Port Company in WWII
Men of the 267th Port Company driving a 13th Port truck in Antwerp, Belgium. 1946?In the spring of 1945 Germany surrendered and their bombardment of Antwerp ended. That fall my grandfather's battalion...
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280th Port Company group photo
A couple months ago the granddaughter of Enrico "Rick" Starnadori emailed me. His 280th Port Company and my grandfather's 304th Port Company were in the same battalion. She was nice enough to scan her...
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Walter Kaplan and GIs at Club Chipper, WWII Antwerp
At Club Chipper December 16, 1945.The daughter of Walter Kaplan sent me this great photo today. It shows her dad and some friends at Club Chipper. This was an enlisted mens' club in Antwerp, which...
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1945 Groenplaats Exposition, Antwerp, Belgium
P-47 Thunderbolt from my grandfather's album.In a 2009 post I shared some photos from the 1945 Groenplaats Exposition held in Antwerp after the war. This was a display of Allied military equipment and...
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WWII Antwerp Dock Pass
A veteran of the 280th Port Company, David Cohen, sent me a scan of himself and the dock pass that he carried with him in the port of Antwerp during the war.
View Article239th Port Company, 494th Port Battalion roster
In my continuing research in to WWII port battalions I requested the National Archives' historic report of the Army's African-American 494th Port Battalion. Among the papers was an October 1944 list of...
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5th Engineer Special Brigade headed to Omaha Beach
I found this color photo of members of the 5th Engineer Special Brigade in Weymouth, England. They're loading landing craft to head over to Omaha Beach, June 1944. You can lisence this image as a stock...
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US Bombers Raid Antwerp Plants, 1943
I bought a 1943 aerial photo of the Antwerp docks where my grandfather's battalion served in 1944–1946. The photo was taken by an American plane that was bombing the automobile factories that the...
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