Jack was born in Brooklyn, NY on January 2, 1919. He was always interested in history and politics, and this led him to enlist in the National Guard in 1940.
Jack and I met at a VFW dance in 1941. He sent me a note asking for the “next nice fox trot”. We dated briefly after that and then with the attack on Pearl Harbor, Jack’s unit was federalized. He was sent to Ford Ord, California and then to Kauai, HI, as a radio operator. In 1943, he was assigned to Fort Monmouth, NJ for Signal Corp training.
We were married in September of 1943 and shortly after, Jack was shipped overseas to England. He was assigned to the 291st Combat Engineer Battalion as Communications Chief until the end of the war in 1945.
This was a time of great pride and anxiety as we waiting for mail, radio and newspaper reports. In June, 1944, our first baby was born and radios announced the D-Day invasion. In the hospitals, many new mothers were awaiting news of husbands overseas.
When the war ended in 1945, my husband was in Germany, and he along with many others returned on a troop ship to Newport News, VA. It was a joyous time and I remember watching the Victory Parade in NYC.
There were some tense times with nightmares and Jack yelling “hit the dirt!” In time, these faded and Jack sought out his army comrades and began attending reunions to share each other’s lives.
I began attending many of these reunions with Jack, and after he passed away, I continued to seek these friendships joined by many in my family. They knew him as “Grandpa” "Great Grandpa" or “Dad”, but the reunions gave them all a chance to learn more.
Jack and I were fortunate. It was “a wonderful life” and I have loving memories of “my hero”. I still have the note from that night in October, 1941.
I know my husband would be greatly pleased to know that his Army Service is being preserved in such a special way.
Goshen, NY
