Re: 34th infantry, 168th regiment, Company E
Posted by Gary B. Ruppert on November 30, 19101 at 23:28:42:
In Reply to: 34th infantry, 168th regiment, Company E posted by Pam Gregory on August 26, 19101 at 17:27:25:
Hi Pam:
Your message caught me attention as just today I have begun to upload a web page concerning my father's experiences in WW II. He was in the 34th Army, 168th Infantry Regiment but Company C. His service was mostly in the area of Naples and Rome.
Fortunately, my dad did not suffer the horrors of your father-in-law, but like him, he never spoke of his experiences.
I have been searching for information about the 168th infantry but have found very little. Are you aware of anything?
Thank you.
Gary B. Ruppert
30 November 2001
Baltimore, MD
: My father-in-law served with the 34th infantry (RED BULL) 168th regiment, Company E. As he tells it (and as many of us know, there is realy not much information he wants to share, or wants to remember), he fought from the middle of Italy to Near Bologna when he was captured and taken POW. He tells of mountains he has seen that weren't realy mountains at all but supply tents that were made to look like mountains. The only hint was when they would see someone "dissapear" into the side of one. He was a machine gunner you see, so it was his job to fire phosphorus bullets into these "mountains" and see if they burned. The Germans would also hide supplies in hay stacks, and such. He tells of his Captain telling them not to give up their food. He didn't understand untill he got closer to the front and saw all the starving children, "It was one of the toughest things to except", he said, "children starving and not sharing what we had, but in order to fight we had to have nourishment too". As the story goes he was captured near Bologna in North Italy. The Germans had the company pinned down in a building. They brought the building down on their company. One of their buddies was pinned down by fallen debris and they had decited to send Everett up to cut his leg off and get him to safty when the Germans stormed the building and took the company. The Buddy was shot and left for dead. They were taken to Stalag 7 as POW's. There they were starved, beaten, and interrogated. My father-in-law was beaten so severely he needed reconstructive surgery on his face. "We knew not to fall", he said," that is when they quit beating and used the bayonett". When they were fed, they were mostly given bread. The flour used to make the bread was usualy "cut" with saw dust,"It would have splinters of wood in it several inches long". After a little over 6 months of being POW Stalag 7 was liberated by General Patton himself. "He (Patton) was riding a tank, It was the greatest thing I have ever seen". After the liberation, Everett Gregory was taken to the army hospital in Fort Chaffee. Today he is still alive and well and would very much love to hear from buddies from the war. You may e-mail him at gregory@us.inter.net .