MARK BANDO'S WEBSITE



LEST WE FORGET

Unforgettable

In this photo, taken 21 September, 1987, Bill Guarnere of E/506th, remembers comrades slain during Market-Garden. This is their final resting place, at Margraten, Holland. Bill, who lost a leg at Bastogne, is carrying flowers and a list of grave locations. This photo is worth a thousand words. It appeared on the back cover of the Screaming Eagle magazine, November-December issue of 1987. I think of this photo often, and can't forget it.





In September of 2002, I encountered Wild Bill at the German Military Cemetery at Recogne, Belgium, north of Bastogne. In this 'Soldatenfriedhof' are 6700 Germans who died in the Battle of the Bulge. It must be an odd feeling to stand there and to know that you personally put some of them there. For decades after WW2, German highschool students came to manicure the lawns and tend these graves, as a reminder of the cost of war.





Each month on this page, I will honor the memory of a fallen 101st trooper who was killed in action during WW2. As in all wars, some of the finest men who served were killed before their time-we can only speculate on what miraculous contributions they might have made to the world, had they survived. Among the 101st fallen were artists, musicians, writers, skilled athletes, scientists and mathematicians, architects and builders. Above all, there were sons, brothers, lovers, friends, (and in some cases), husbands and fathers, whose caring and vibrant personalities are missed by those they left behind. The human race is diminished by their loss.













Trooper of the Month For July, 2010
T/4 Joseph T. Mero HQ Co. 2nd Bn 501 PIR
Joe Mero was already in his late 20's when he enlisted in the US Army in 1942 and volunteered for duty in the Parachute Infantry. He had been married for over six years to his wife May, and he entered the war against her objections. Joe rode a train down to Toccoa from Camp Upton, NY (known as Yaphank) and because of his literacy and maturity, he was assigned to be the 2nd Bn clerk-as such, the right hand man of 1st Sgt Lyle Snyder and later 1st Sgt Charles Lumpkin.
Joe landed on DZ 'D' near Angoville in Normandy and survived that campaign without being wounded. He fought in the engagements near Veghel during Market-Garden in September, 1944 and about five days after the jump, established a reputation among his heroic comrades, as a exceptionally daring hero. Ascending a tall grain elevator near the harbor in Veghel, Joe shot numerous German troops across the canal with his carbine. Return fire shot away the binoculars he was wearing around his neck, but he escaped unscathed. His soldierly actions and courage were widely-admired by the troopers in Ballard's battalion.
On 24 September, 1944, LTC Robert A. Ballard's 2/501 was sent along the railroad tracks, west from Veghel, to assist in the fighting at Eerde. The battalion advance was made under heavy enemy artillery fire and a number of troopers were killed and wounded along the way. While negotiating a lane flanked by a double row of trees, artillery shell fragments seriously wounded T/4 Mero, causing his evacuation. His buddies never saw him again and he died 16 days later, after writing a short note to his family to alert them that he would be home for Christmas. The hopeful news in Joe's letter sadly caused a lack of closure and disbelief amongst members of his family. Joe's buddies assumed he had passed away in the UK, but his initial burial place at Neuville en Condroz, Belgium, suggests that he died in continental Europe. The 501st PIR sustained so many casualties in killed and wounded between 22-27 September, 1944, that the record keeping-even on daily morning reports, did not get caught-up until a week into October. As you can see on this example, dated 6 October, 1944, Joe Mero's status as wounded in action was finally recorded. Morning report courtesy of researcher Brian Siddall.

A few years after WWII ended, Joe's remains were returned to the states at the family's request and were re-interred at Long Island National Cemetery. Joe was especially adored by his sister Pegg who was twelve years younger. He even escorted her to her junior prom. "The best date I ever had", she later wrote.
Pegg was alerted to my 101st history books in late 1995, when one of her nephews discovered a photo of Joe Mero in my 2nd book, while perusing it in a NY bookstore. This led to Pegg writing me a letter of introduction and she and her husband Bill began attending 501st PIR reunions the following year. Bill has since passed-on, but Pegg and her daughter Ann have become regulars at the 501 PIRA reunions and Ann hosted the reunion in 2008, in upstate NY.
The sad and heroic saga of Joe Mero caught my attention back in the 1970s. I know he also made a lasting impression on the soldiers who served with him in the 501. As a result, I made a special effort to tell his story and show his photo in one of my early books. It is gratifying to know that this became the catalyst which brought Joe's relatives back to the 501st family. Pegg was able to meet 501st veterans who knew Joe personally and could tell her first-hand stories, like Lt. Bill Sefton, Sam Pope, Nick Schmidt, Harry Mole and Ralph Smith.
Joe Mero's spirit has never really left those who cared for him and Pegg still converses with him daily. On the night when Pegg first wrote a letter to me, she was alone in her house and was conversing with Joe, when the door of her liquor cabinet suddenly drifted open and banged into the wall. Joe was inviting her to have a drink, to help calm her as she composed the note. I still have that letter and it is one of my prized possessions. The opening lines run:

"Dear Mr Bando-
Do you have any idea what you have done?
Please be aware that you have pleased and given much happiness to the MERO family and their dear friends.
After 51 years, it is wonderfully thrilling to know that my dear brother has not been forgotten by people other
than his family and close friends."

The rest as they say, is history. T/4 Joe Mero ASN: 12187535

And so we remember here and honor, another fallen hero of the WW2 era Screaming Eagle Division.

*Photos and information on these pages Copyright Mark Bando*



Saluting a Fallen Hero Standing amid a sea of white marble crosses, in the US military cemetary at Margraten in 1994, this un-posed photo was made of Hilly Rosenthal and Dan Olney of C/501, saluting the grave of a fallen comrade.
Tom McNabb was KIA 28 September, 1944, and this visit fifty years later, was the first pilgrimmage these guys made to their buddy's grave-photo courtesy H. Rosenthal
(note from webmaster-we lost Hilly in early 2007-a great guy, he will be missed.
R.I.P. my friend)


One of our Finest Officers-A Remembrance by E.O. Parmley of F/502PIR

"Time has not made me forget the wonderful soldiers I served with over sixty years ago.
Time has only deepened the feelings of respect and gratitude I have for them.
Our platoon leader 1st Lt Nick Schlitz assigned me to accompany Lt. Wolfe (a replacement and 2nd in command), to bring-up the rear of the platoon. This is a much safer position than platoon runner, which is what I was when assigned to him. He knew it was going to be a rough day (18 September, 1944, at Best, Holland). I feel he was protecting me, possibly saving my life.
Lt Schlitz was one of our finest officers.
Tall, with a boxer's nose, he was state boxing champion in his weight division, from Charlotte, N.C. He was the image of a soldier's soldier. We called him 'The Scar', so he must have had a scar on his face. I do not remember a scar. It could be we do not remember imperfections on people we like.
Always optimistic, his favorite saying was 'We are going to Berlin.' We heard it when in formation or on breaks. He would say it to a picture of his son, which he carried inside his helmet. His son looked to me to be only 2 or 3, but he would look at him whenever the helmet came off and usually it was 'son, we are on our way', or 'Berlin, we are coming.'
When he said nothing, I often wondered what he was thinking.

He was killed that day and buried close to where he fell in the courtyard of a house on the outskirts of Best, with a wall about 4 feet high enclosing the yard about 40 feet square. I found his grave about the center of the yard. His helmet was on a rifle butt with a bayonet stuck into the ground. It was not his, as he carried a carbine. I saw no other graves in the courtyard. I looked into his helmet to see if the picture was still there ...and it was. I thought of taking the picture with me.
It then came to me: This picture is all this soldier has. HE has nothing else. It should stay here. His happiest moments seemed to be when he was looking at the picture and talking to his son.
I put the helmet back on the rifle butt. Looking up with smiling welcome were fresh flowers, put there by the Dutch people. It was so peaceful and quiet I was reluctant to leave. I could still hear him saying we are going to Berlin, but now it will only be his words that go, they are not buried here.
They are buried in the hearts of all who heard them.
He has shown us what it will take to get to Berlin.
The road is rough and dirty, with many holes that await us, but it is the only road.
Few will have flowers on their graves. Some will have no one to mourn them. But all who knew him will have his words and his order, which is 'on to Berlin'."



January, 1945, a paratrooper of the 501 PIR lies dead in the snow in the Bois Jacques forest, northeast of Bastogne, Belgium

POEM
We have only died in vain if you believe so

You must decide the wisdom of our choice

by the world which you shall build upon our headstones

And the everlasting truths which have your voice.

Though dead, we are not heroes yet, nor can be,

'Til the living by their lives which are the tools,

Carve us the epitaphs of wise men

and give us not the epitaphs of fools.

-David J. Phillips, 506th PIR



MARK BANDO'S WEBSITE



Sad Physical Evidence of a Tragic Plane Crash Most visitors to this website are familiar with the D-day plane crash of a C-47 chalk #66, bearing members of Company Headquarters, Company E, 506th PIR. This famous group, immortalized in the book and film 'Band of Brothers' included 1st Lt Thomas Meehan, then Easy Company commander, and 1st Sgt William S. Evans.

The artifacts pictured above, were recovered from the crash site between Beuzeville au Plain and Haut Fournel, France, both locations east of St Mere Eglise, on digs by Sgt Nico Jongneel of the Dutch Army, in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Numerous other individuals have been recovering items from this site for over 20 years now, and some of the objects, including dogtags, are pictured in the book entitled 'Forrest Guth', by Michel deTrez.
Sgt Nico was kind enough to pass along some of his discoveries to the webmaster of this site, in the interest of sharing the objects with the larger Trigger Time audience.
The items pictured include:
pieces of M42 jumpsuit, including metal snaps.
Lift a dot fasteners of two sizes, for carbine clip pouch or .45 clip pouch (smaller ones presumably for a compass case).
Black rubber pieces from assault gas mask bag
Pieces of chain from canteen cap
Partially-melted green camouflage parachute canopy
The buttplate from a M-1-A1 Thompson sub-machinegun
A Mae West life preserver clasp
Two pieces of metal plate from the C-47 fuselage
Small dogtag chain
Two C-47 mass earth connectors
One British coin (penny)
D-ring from gasmask bag
Assorted cartridge casings(broken/ruptured) and projectiles for caliber .30 M1-A1 carbine and 30-06 M-1 rifles. As would be expected, the 30-06 projectiles are a combination of black-tipped armor piercing and red tipped tracer rounds.
It is likely that the TSMG butt plate belonged to 1st Sgt Evans, as he was most likely to have been armed with a Thompson, of all the troopers aboard. The carbine may have belonged to Lt. Meehan or one of the Technicians on board.

Thanks again to Sgt Nico for this contribution to Trigger Time and I will post a list of the victims' names here in the near future.



Was Mysterious Photo a Harbinger of Combat Death? Corproral Bert James Coder was a paratrooper from Kansas City, MO and a pre-war friend of John Luteran (I/506th). Before going overseas, to fight in the Pacific Theatre, Corporal Coder went to a photo studio and had the above picture taken. For some reason, a mysterious light spot appeared over two boards of the picket fence, giving the appearance of a white cross. Upon seeing this photo, Luteran's dad remarked "He won't be coming back!"
Corporal Coder went to combat with the 503rd PRCT and was killed in action on 6 September, 1944. John Luteran survived all the missions of the 101st Airborne Division in the ETO and came back alive. But the Luteran family would never forget the mysterious photo. Carol Luteran, John's widow gave me a copy of the photo in 2009, so I could post the story here. This will remain one of the haunting mysteries of a costly and tragic war. Bert Caloud is an employee of the American Battle Monuments Commission and he currently works at the US Military Cemetery in Manilla. In March of 2010, he sent this photo of Bert Coder's grave marker, verifying his unit, date of death and final resting place. Thanks to Geurt v.d.Bogert, 'Hermie' and Mr Caloud, for getting this photo to me.





Remembering A Tragic Mine Accident in Holland On 22 October, 1944, the 502nd was providing south flank security for the 101st Airborne Division, on the Island, near Dodewaard, Holland. Seven demolitionists from RHQ were assembled under their section leader, Lt. Richard A. Daly, at a 'Y' junction west of the town. About a dozen German Riegel mines (anti tank mines) had been recovered from the dirt road where German Engineers had planted them. A table was brought out of a nearby Dutch house and the mines were placed on and near the table as Sgt Schlensker demonstrated how to open the lid and disarm one of them. The Germans had evidently placed a anti-tampering device in that particular mine, which exploded, setting off all the other mines stacked nearby. S/Sgt Schlensker was among those killed immediately by the devastating explosion. Bob Brigham, who had been wounded in LTC Cole's bayonet charge above Carentan, was fatally wounded and would die in the early morning hours of 23 October. Oreste 'Rusty' Quirici was blown into the nearby 'canal' (a narrow, water-filled ditch) and was rescued by other Deuce soldiers, although he lost one eye and part of his leg. Rusty survived until 2005. Lt. Daly and all the others present were killed outright by the blast. Others killed in this tragic incident included Pfc Edmund Ambrose, Pfc Joseph Hill, George Sheppard, and Joe St Clair.
Lt. Daly's brother, James Daly, who had survived the Bataan Death March earlier in WW2, returned home alive at the end of WW2. above:Pfc Edmund Ambrose-more photos of victims from this incident to follow.

Above, S/Sgt Oswald Schlensker, another original member of regimental HQ 502 PIR who died in this tragic mine explosion.



Tragedy at the SeminaryThe regimental Command Post of the 501 PIR during the Bastogne campaign was in the seminary across from the church, at the east end of town. On 5 January, 1945, a truck loaded with landmines exploded in the seminary courtyard, killing 12 members of the H&H Demolitions platoon, 501 PIR, and another trooper, who was a driver assigned from Service Company. The photo above, taken by Jimmy Duggins, shows what remained of the truck after the massive explosion.

According to Charlie Vess of Service Co. 501, there was a sizeable mine dump beside the truck before the explosion, consisting of over 300 additional land mines, which we piled in front of the seminary wall. To this day, nobody knows if a direct hit from a mortar or artillery shell set off the lethal cargo in that truck, or if the mines exploded from the weight created by stacking them atop each other. Some of the mines had already been laid once in the Bastogne perimeter, and were frozen and some were missing safety clips. They had been picked-up and were about to be re-laid in another sector.

In addition to Pvt Walter Craley, ASN: 32837774, 501st Demolitions, pictured above, the victim list includes:
S/Sgt Leon W."Pappy"Brown ASN: 19073730, 501st Demolitions
Pvt Frank Baer ASN: 36695174 501st Demolitions
Pvt Michael Balducci ASN: 33610655, 501st Demolitions
Pvt Harold Brisco ASN: 38508635, 501st Demolitions
Cpl Bonnie Caroon ASN: 6379505, 501st Demolitions
Pvt Latcher Coney ASN: 38493384, 501st Demolitions
Pvt Wallace Diefenbach ASN:16006826, 501st Demolitions
Pvt James A. Keel ASN: 34663498, 501st Demolitions
Pfc Sam A. Lappin ASN: 33273212, 501st Demolitions
Cpl William B. Maue ASN: 15336388, 501st Demolitions
Pvt Earl F. Smith ASN: 13175240, 501st Demolitions
Pvt Robert L Rutherford ASN: 32772538, of Service Co. 501 PIR.

After WW2 a small marker was erected near the triangular repaired hole in the north seminary wall, listing the names of the known victims. Medic R. Edward O'Brien of G Co. visited the place in the late 1980's, and found the marker was crumbling from age and neglect, and that the list of names thereon was incomplete. A project was started within the 501 PIRA to raise funds and create a permanent marker to place at that repaired wall. In May, 1999, two 501st veterans, Len Cinquanta and Julius Schrader, traveled to Bastogne and placed the new marker bearing the names, ranks and serial numbers shown above. Both men passed away less than a year after placing those markers.

The Explosion and the AftermathDick Thorne of regimental S-2 told me that he left the perimeter on the evening of January 4, 1945, and ventured into town, looking for something warm to eat. He was sick of cold rations. He got a meal in the seminary, then went into the basement and crawled under a 3' stage, where he joined other troopers and went to sleep. That night, during a Luftwaffe airraid, a 500 lb German bomb crashed through the ceiling of the seminary and came through to the basement, but failed to explode.

After daylight Thorne went to the doorway facing the courtyard and was leaning against the wall when a truck pulled in and stopped.

Out from the front passenger seat, jumped Lt Roy F. Waring, who was in charge of the mine laying detail. Lt Waring was short and balding, and wore glasses. He recognized Thorne and paused to speak with him before entering the building. The lieutenant stated that he had 12 demolitions men aboard, along with 150 landmines, and that they were enroute to lay the mines in the perimeter.

Lt Waring entered the building, then came back out after a few minutes. He started toward the truck, then paused and stated "I forgot something", turned around, and re-entered the building. At that moment, a horrible explosion rocked the area. Thorne was pushed backwards against the wall and a piece of flesh struck him in the face. (Witnesses have stated they later saw flesh splattered all over the seminary and courtyard walls.)

In the 1980's, Thorne visited the Republic Bank, Greenville, TX, where Roy Waring was bank vice president. When Thorne mentioned the truck explosion, Waring broke down right in his office, and it was evident that he had experienced tremendous 'survivor guilt' since WW2. On Thorne's next visit, he learned that Waring had passed away on 12 January, 1983. "I don't see any reason why he should have felt responsible for what happened", says Thorne. The photo of Walter Craley shown above, was provided by his good buddy, John Primerano, who took the photo on the 'Island' in Holland, October, 1944.

Here's a 1943 photo of Sgt Leon W. Brown, taken at Camp Mackall, N.C.

Remember The Others Who Paid A Price Beyond Measure The many soldiers who were maimed, crippled and otherwise incapacitated to varying degrees, were forced to remember the war every day for the duration of their lives. Some, like Major Francis Liberatori (shown above, 3rd from left, reading) were paraplegics, who spent the duration of their lives in a wheelchair. Libby was hit in the spine near Carentan in June, 1944.
He later became president of the Eastern Paraplegic Veteran's Association at Cushing General Hospital, Framingham, MA. That club was eventually taken over by the Veterans' Administration. Libby became a successful architecht in Springfield, MA, but his serious wound also cut his life span short. He was only 55 years of age when he passed on. photo c/o P. Yankow.



*photos and text on these pages Copyright Mark Bando*