Worn Guitar Linked to Elsenborn Battle Tales
A worn guitar carried by 18 soldiers in H and S Company of the Second Engineers Battalion traces the Elsenborn battle journey from Canada to the Rhine. Only eight men were killed. two officers and four enlisted men survived to continue the march into Germany. The instrument bears names and places painted on its back, telling a wartime saga.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Fighteen
Elsenborn
Onalaska
Ball
Glen Kelmet
Phyllis Hohmann
Roscoe Hohmann
Camp McCoy
Kellar
H and S Company
Second Engineers
Canada
Rhine
Iee
Robert E. Arkansas
Bobby Hunter
Ga Orieans
Charles Dacus
Texas
Caneehaend
Scotland
Wales
Eng
Normandy
Brittany
Beach
St. Laurent Tregenes
Formign
le Molay
Cerisy la Foret
St. Lo
St. Delle
St. Germanine Vire
Torigny
Survive
St de Bessant
Tinchbray
Fa- Gap
Brest
Plongastel Penn
Derneau
Nicholas
Paris
Belgium
St. Wih
Schonbers
Verviers
Krin- Butgenbach
Wallesiefen
Twas
Gil
Thomas E. St. Paul
Tom Wonerly
Wirtz- Gemund
Schlieden
Hofen
Roer
Erf
Rhine River
Earl Locke
Colorado
Fribune
Glen Kellar
Second Engineers Battalion
Beck and Heslip Return Home From War Camp Experiences
Beck and Heslip recount prisoner of war ordeals in Germany and Italy during World War II. Heslip describes capture after Sicily invasion, brutal food shortages, and liberation by the 5th Armored Division at Hanover. Beck details a Mediterranean crash, raft ordeal, Stalag 4-D detention, and long road to home.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Beck
Heslip
Red Cross
Hanover
Plan Dedication of County's New Veterans Memorial Park
La Crosse county to dedicate Waterloo park as Veterans Memorial Park on Sunday June 24 with a full day program. Volunteers from the county board arrange events including a 11 a.m. baseball game, 1 p.m. city band concert, 2 p.m. interfaith dedication, flag raising by the American Legion color guard, a barn dance by WKBH group, 4 p.m. Camp McCoy team, and free tennis dancing at 7 p.m. committee members Jack Martin Otto Briggs and Louis Nelson lead arrangements.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
la Crosse County
Waterloo Park
Waterloo
American Legion
WKBH
Beanies
Camp McCoy
Jack Martin
Otto Briggs
Louis Nelson
Veteran of 31 Bomb Missions Awarded Caterpillar Club
S. Sgt. Russell Boegeman, a B 24 Liberator gunner with the 465th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force, is on 15 day leave from Fort Myers Florida. He has 31 missions including many over Ploesti Vienna and Budapest and earned the Presidential Unit Citation the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He trained in St. Petersburg Chicago and Denver before serving overseas and is married to Darlene Smith of Boise Idaho.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sgt. Beck
Toulon
France
Corsica
Mediterranean
Marseille
Frankfurt
Main
Beck
Stalag 4-D
Germany
Nurmberg
Red Cross
Mooseburg
le Havre
Miami
Florida
Camp McCoy
A and P
la Crosse
Heslip
Africa
Russell Boegeman
Fort Myers
Fla
L. Boegeman
Ferry Street
Darlene Smith
Boise
Ida
Boegeman
Air Corps
St. Petersburg
Chicago
Denver
Colo
Ploesti
Vienna
Budapest
Fredrickshaefen
States
Texas
Rice
Sgt
Bice
Logan High School
Santa Ana
Calif
Corp
Robert D. Bice
Army
New Guinea
120Th Field Artillery
Taggart Publishes 94 Page Book of GI War Poems
Gordon H. Taggart of La Crosse has released Rhymes of a GI a 94 page poetry collection from The National Surveys spotlighting wartime impact on service members. The former Pettibone Beach guard and Notre Dame graduate now based in Los Angeles is married to Kay Walker with one daughter Diane.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
U. S. Armed Services
Gordon H. Taggart
la Crosse
National Surveys
Taggart
Harry Taggart
Winnebago Street
Los Angeles
Pillsbury Academy
Owatonna
Minn
Notre Dame University
Pettibone Island
Notre Dame
Eau Claire
Minneapolis
Kay Walker
Lancaster
Wis
Diane
Wisconsin Soldier Completes 70 Day Bomber Missions in England
T Sgt Lowell E Bice of La Crosse completed about 70 days of missions as a gunner with the 303rd Bombardment Group 60 miles from London. He flew eight to 11 hour missions over Europe and earned air medals and a bronze star. He met fellow service members in England and later shipped to Santa Ana California for a 30 day furlough.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lowell E. Bice
England
States
Edmund Bice
Charles Street
Sgt. Bice
303Rd
Hell’s Angels
London
Housing Problems At U W To Be Eased
Madison Wisconsin University President Edwin B Fred says fall term will ease campus housing by opening dormitories to civilian students after naval trainees move. He notes steps to add housing for returning veterans and mentions use of planes by marines and a fast fighter aircraft under development.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Madison
Wis
University of Wisconsin
Edwin B. Fred
Fred
Carrier based chance F4U Corsair rated navy’s best
More reports describe the F4U Corsair as a carrier aircraft improving fighter strength for the navy. Observers note its performance and growing reputation among service aviators and evaluators.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Salvation Army Commands About 27,000 Officers
The Salvation Army notes it has approximately 27,000 officers serving globally. The figure reflects its wide network of leadership across churches and charity programs.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
The
Salvation Army
Ristow and 141st Infantry Break Siegfried Line
The 141st Infantry Regiment of the 36th Texas Division, part of the Sixth Army Group, carved a path through the Siegfried Line from a bridgehead on the Moh, engaging in house-to-house fighting in Ha exactly and knocking out 35 pillboxes. Led by Col. Charles H. Owens, they advanced from Salerno to the Rhine, capturing over 6,000 Germans in France and fighting across Italy, France, and Germany in 353 days of conflict. Notable members include Sgt. Clifford A. Ristow of La Crosse Wisconsin and Pfc. Irvin Blackdeer and Pfc. Oscar Churchill of Wisconsin communities.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
States
Fred Beck
Earl Heslip
Mediterranean
Germany
Italy
Sgt. Beck
Peter J. Beck
East Avenue
Heslip
Prudence Heslip
Stoddard
7Th Army
Africa
Sicily
Sixth Army Group
36Th
Texas” Division
141St
Siegfriedge
Hagenau
Seventh Army
Moder
Siegfried Line
Dough
Charles H. Owens
Wallace
Europe
Salerno
Rapido
Guts
Cassino
Velletri
36Th Division
Rome
France
Montelimar
Vosges
Colmar
Maginot Line
Bitche
Clifford A. Ristow
South Seventh Street
la Crosse
Wis
Irvin Blackdeer
Black River Falls
Oscar Churchill
Tomah
Also Mentioned on This Page
Henry Hartman
James Blackwell
Tll
Odell Francis
Clarence Martzall
Byron Williams
Pennsylvania
Lieut. Locke
Phyllis
Borden
Tex
Philips Petrol Company
Bert Keller
R. 2
Nowata
Okla
Lewes
Meses
A&c Johnson Co
Crosse
Pioneer
Fifth Avenue South
Hammerstein Prison
Hammerstein
Tribune
la Crosse Tribune
Pfc
Caroline Thimmesch
Miss Thimmesch
Metal Shop
Barlow
South 4Th Street
U.S. A
Veterans’ Memorial Park
Caterpillar Club
Sgt. Rice
T. Sgt
U. W
Baker‘s
Sunkist
Baker's Dairy
Pitzner’s Cleaners Vth
St. S Eauuay
Thes
Ristow
Chile
Foster Seuls
Teamepess
Yostsnans
Monalou Beauty Shop
June
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!