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Pyramid Tents on Omaha Beach
A year ago I wrote a post about the huts built by the supply troops working on the Normandy beaches from June to November 1944. While these simple accommodations were the typical living arrangements,...
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Francesco Barone 1944 article
I found a 1944 issue of the Schenectady Gazette that tells of a member in my grandfather's unit killed in Normandy. (Unfortunately, the article misspells his last name.) Francesco Barone, like my...
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Lehigh Portland Cement at Indiantown Gap
I found this 1941 magazine ad on eBay. It's interesting to me because my grandfather had his training at Fort Indiantown Gap, and my dad worked for Lehigh Portland Cement. I bought the ad and gave it...
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WWII E-Award Poster
I found this WWII era E-Award poster on the New York State Museum website. In 1942 the Schenectady plant of the American Locomotive company received the Army-Navy Production award in recognition of its...
View ArticleHistory of the 502nd Port Battalion
My book Longshore Soldiers focuses on my grandfather's port battalion, the 519th, so I am pleased to use this blog to share short histories of the other Normandy port battalions. This month the...
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Omar Bradley, by Steven Zaloga review
My grandfather Cortland had a lot of respect for General Omar Bradley. He was proud to say that her served under Bradley during the Normandy invasion. Cortland even saw him on Utah Beach shortly after...
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A Short History of the 487th Port Battalion in WWII
My book Longshore Soldiers follows the experience of my grandfather and the 519th Port Battalion. While the history of his unit is very similar to that of the Army's other port battalions in European...
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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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