Comments on: Firsthand Account 4th Armored Division Spearhead at Bastogne - November '99 World War II Feature

By: Gary Dunow

Gary Dunow — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:08:12 +0000

I am desperately looking for any information I can find on my dad Alton Dunow who was a Tec Sgt. in the 4th Armored Division during WWII. He was in the Battle of Bastonge and I recall him having a shoulder patch of the 4th Armored with "Battle of Bastonge Spearhead" I also know he was a tank driver (A Sherman tank which was named Lulabell). Lulabell was also in a movie entitled "Sahara" which was filmed in the 40's sometime. Other info I have was he was in Company B Ord Maint.
I tried several times to find out more about his part in WWII as I grew up but he would never talk about the war or the battles he was in. I know he saw alot of things that he probably would have preferred to forget. Back then post war trauma was not known about but I know he suffered from it until his passing back in 1972. If anyone reading this knew him, I would like to hear from you.
Thank You

By: Ron Jackson

Ron Jackson — Thu, 26 May 2011 00:03:39 +0000

My uncle Yates Jackson served in the 4th armored during the Battle of the Buldge and was killed in action are there any ww2 vets that remember him.
Thanks.

By: Adam Drach

Adam Drach — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:56:56 +0000

Hello, Mr Citron. You don't know me, but my Grand father, Anthony"Andy" Drach, from Ferdinand IN, fought in WWII in the 3rd Army, 4th Armored Division. As far as what Company he was in I am not sure. I know he was used as a translator often, he spoke fluent German. My Dad,(USMC, Semper Fi) has told me some of what he remembered from my grandfather. He died when I was 6. My dad said that at home, before the war, they all spoke German. After the war, my dad said he never spoke German again, and when some of the older German farmers would speak to him in German, he would get riled up and tell them to speak English. Now that my children are older, they have asked about him. My Dad said that even with his friends from the American Legion, he wouldn't talk about what happened over there. He participated in the Battle of the Bulge, but like I stated before, I was too young to ask him about any of that.That, and my Dad's study of military history,has installed in me a love of history, and wanting to know more about that time. One of his cousins was in the 101st Airborne as well. I want to thank you for your service, and for all the other brave men and women who fought and died in WWII. Reading Gen. Irzyk's account, reminds me of how little I still know about that time in history. I do remember my grand father talking abut General Patton, whom he had a lot of respect for. When the move was played in their small theater, I think that was the only time I can remember him actually going to a movie theater. I just found out a few years ago, that he was there when they liberated one of the camps. I know more about my other grandfathers history, he was a sailor in the Pacific, in the US Navy. If you drove a foreign car, especially if it was a Japanese car, he wouldn't let you park it in his driveway. I didn't understand why at the time, until I was older. Now I know why. It is great that people can now communicate online, and have the opportunity hear the firsthand accounts from Veterans such as your self, to share the "real" history of that time period. Once again, thank you for your service, a the valuable history lesson.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:05:47 +0000

thanks so much for answering Josef. I am in awe and wonder of all of your service. Did they have therapy offered to the soldiers of WWII? I can't even imagine what you all saw. I miss my grandfather very much, now that I am older, I wish I coul dask him so many questions, but your answer was what I was looking for. God bless.

By: Josef Citron

Josef Citron — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:15:58 +0000

Response to the question from "Nicole" this past February, 2010: YES, we did actually "liberate" a Nazi concentration camp by the simple proccess of coming upon its entrance on the road we were following in convoy.

I was in Company C of the 51st Armored Infantry Battalion, 4th Armored Div. Our convoy had come to a point where the entry to the camp was on our left side, the gates with a sign saying: "Arbeit Macht Frei" (horribly ironic statemen that the Germans put at the entrance to all of the camps.)
Because I spoke some German, I was called up to speak to the emaciated figures at the gate, the prisoners. (They told me that the Kraut guards had fled the previoius afternoon, on learning of our approach.) There was not much known of these camps at that time, and we were bug-eyed at what we found. What I will always remember was the smell, it was overpowering and nauseating.The sight of these pitiful prisoners was overwhelming, something that I will never be able to forget.

I reported to our CO my conversation with the prisoners, and he then asked me to go with him and some other officers to the village across the road, where the Germans were waving their arms in negative gestures and declaiming that they were "Nichts Nazis" and knew nothing of what had been going on across the road. My CO told me to order the town Burgermeister to assemble all of the townspeople over 15, and we conducted them on a thorough tour of the camp, much to their dismay.

I have forgotten the name of the place, all these 65 years later, and have been trying to see what I could find in the 'Net, but so far, nothing.

I would be happy to correspond with her, or anyone that I might be of help to, and can be reached by eMail: jlcitron@aol.com

By: RICK

RICK — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:06:33 +0000

IM REAERCHING THE 544TH ORD HEAVY MAINT. GROUP THAT WAS AT BASTOGNE 12-45 THRU 2-45 ANY INFO ON OR HOW TO FIND IT WILL BE GREAT. MY EMAIL big138d2@YAHOO.com yhanks

By: warren brown

warren brown — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:18:24 +0000

I was fortunate to visit the Irzyks , due to my history class at Suncoast High School(Riviera Beach, Fl),Gen Irzyk ,I now serve in the army 21 yrs.and the Gen. "not big in stature", yet, Wow. I saw things his soldiers gave him, they loved him, from Vietnam,,,on. His wife was a great History Teacher, she won't remember me, but what matters is this couple is a national treasure(color meant nothing to them)Today, Riviera Beach has changed,yet, they opened their home to all of us(students) anuually. man i wish i could see him/her again. enjoy your lives(90+yrs young);tradition lives on from the seed you planted in me….God Bless warren brown ex quarterback/track captain) 1985

By: Nicole

Nicole — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:13:26 +0000

Just wondering if anyone knows if the 4th armored division saw concentration camps? my grandfather was in the 4th armored, but never said, perhaps too hard to talk about?

By: Nicole

Nicole — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:12:40 +0000

Just wondering, my grandfather, salvatore scalzo, was in the 4th armored division… do you know if they saw concentration camps? he never said. maybe too hard to mention if he did.

By: William Nichols

William Nichols — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:23:44 +0000

My father, William S. Nichols was a sergeant in Patton's 3rd Army, 4th Armored Division, 8th Tank Battalion, A Company. He drove a sherman tank. He did not arrive in Europe until late January, 1945. So he did not participate in the 8th Tank Battalion's heroic exploits described in this account. It was fascinating to read and I beleive my father was fortunate to have entered the war after the Battle of the Bulge. I read a book entitled, the Siege of Bastogne, the untold story of the units to bore the brunt of the initial attack by the Germans on Dec 16, 1944. To be sure my father saw his share of front line combat and he saw Buchenwald Concentration Camp, and he was with the occupation forces in Prague and in southern Germany for one year after the war ended. I did not know that the 8th Tank Battalion was the spearhead of Patton's dramatic 90 degree turn to save Bastogne. Thanks for your accurate recount of the important and critical time in history.
regards, Willam K Nichols B.A. History, Sonoma State University.