36th division vet friends

---

Capt. Boyle is the tall man on the right. His best friend was Charles Hearn pictured with him. Capt Boyle was KIA north of Rome on June 12, 1944. He was operating as an FO and was killed during one of the many roadblocks holding actions north of Rome when the 36th began traveling about 30 miles a day. Before liberating Rome, the 36th had been fighting for yards every day.

Capt. Bayne is standing left. This picture was taken after Lt. Quarles (center) and Capt. Bayne escaped from the German POW train. They were in the 143rd infantry regiment and were overrun by the 26th Panzer division on Sept. 13, 1943, at the Salerno beachhead; the Persano gap is exact. The battalion had been sent in to fill a gap that the 179th regiment of the 45th I.D. could not hold during the previous days. The entire battalion was left exposed and therefore encircled. Despite stiff but brief resistance, the Americans were all captured or killed. Whilst on a POW train north between Naples and Rome, they jumped off at night on an incline after finding a door unlocked. They spent weeks getting back to their own lines. The night before the Rapido River attack, Capt. Bayne informed Lt. Quarles that he had received a letter from his wife informing him of the birth of his son. Capt. Bayne was KIA the next night after crossing the Rapido River; never to see his new boy. That is the price of freedom!

Hayden was initially in the Texas National Guard before the war broke out. Once he went into the service he became an officer in the artillery. He went into Normandy a few days after D-Day. These Forward Observers were very brave men indeed. They snuck up and hid between the lines to observe and call in fire on the enemy positions. The Germans were always trying to spot them or capture them with patrols. FOs had to be smart and brave. As FO he went right into the line just a few miles off the beach in Normandy. That is where they lost their first artillery piece. During the Bulge he flew that Piper Cub (Peter Fonda in the movie about the Bulge found the German tanks in such a plane) observer plane himself as he had a pilots license. He mentioned a ME-109 flying directly at him and then over him when flying undefended. At the end of the war, he was in charge of the American guards of SS men. He spoke highly of the Germans during the post-war era. He has since passed, oddly enough on May 7, V-E Day. He is survived by his lovely wife Janet and a beautiful family.

Note the "T Patch on his arm. That is the Texas 36th Division. This picture was taken in the Liri Valley during the Italian campaign. I believe he was getting ready to go back into the line after San Pietro. I met Al in 1984 during a battlefield reunion tour in Southern Italy. He joined the division because some friends told him "it would be fun." He invaded Salerno as my father did. He saw considerable combat and is very active in the division today. I helped a German film crew interview him and I must say that he is very articulate and well-spoken, simply a captivating speaker.

I met Marvin at a 36th Division reunion. He is a very kind and interesting man. Like many of the original 36th boys, Marvin speaks German as his mother tongue. The Texas hill country was settled by Germans from 1849 on. It just reinforces the irony of war, Marvin fighting his kinsmen. After 2+ years of training, Marvin hit the beach at Salerno. Before midday on D-Day, he was already a casualty, having been hit by a German machine gun while crossing a railroad embankment. He carries at least one bullet in his shoulder to this day. It tore his hand up also. He knew not to take cover in the ditch alongside the tracks, fearing that German mortars would have it zeroed in. He took cover and speaking German, tried to call the machine gunners out of their position so he could exact his revenge. He could hear them speaking but was not able to coax them away from their emplacement. So before noon on his first day of combat, Marvin had already received the “million-dollar wound".

Rifleman, 1st Platoon, Co. B, 1st Battalion, 143rd RGT. 36th Division He fought in Italy, France, and Germany and was on the front for 23 months, wounded twice.

This picture was taken in March 1941. Major Hearn was one of the Texas National Guardsmen that became an officer in the 36th when it was mobilized. He is one of the few 36th men that saw action in Tunisia, Africa. He was in the first wave during the Salerno invasion and fought through the war and was conquering Austria when the war ended. He is a true Gentleman! It is hard to get the details from him as it is with so many vets. 

HQ Company, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Division I met Buddy and his lovely wife Katie at a 36th reunion in the early 1990s while trying to find men that knew my dad. They both befriended me and we exchanged addresses. Months later I wrote to Buddy and asked if he would sell me the German hat that he mentioned he brought home from the war. About one week later a package arrived on my desk at work. To my amazement, when I opened it, there was an Africa Korps hat and a copy of the map that Buddy carried at Salerno. I called to ask how much he wanted for them and they said that they were gifts!!! They invited my wife and me to come and visit. As it turned out, they had a beautiful house on Lake Fork, where we spent many hours fishing. They are a wonderful couple. Buddy and Katie donated two monuments to the 36th Division; one on Sulphur Springs and one in Dallas. Unfortunately, as with all of these wonderful vets, Buddy has since passed. Katie and I still keep up. Again what wonderful people my hobby has allowed me to meet.

They had just received these parkas. Imagine trying to dig a fox hole in that rocky ground. The Germans always had the high ground and were well entrenched.   I joined Co. "F" 143rd Inf at Camp Blanding as a second lieutenant in late winter 1942. A large number of officers were sent to the 36th from Ft. McClellan, Alabama. When we arrived the only officers in the 2nd Bn were the company commanders in each company. By summer maneuvers in N. and S. Carolina, we had a full complement of officers. The 143rd was in division reserve when the landing took place at Paestum, Italy. German artillery was landing on the beach. Co "F" had Lt Hauck and Plat. Sgt. Napper KIA. Three days later at night the 2nd Bn by order of the corps comdr. took the place of the 179th Inf. 45th Division in a wide gap between the British and the Americans. The German armor enveloped the left side of the Bn where Co. "F" was located. Twenty-two of Co "F" were killed. Many were grievously wounded, many captured. I had a man on each side of me killed.

I met Mr. Courington at the 2001 36th Division reunion. At that time he was the president of the association. He is truly a gentleman. He joined the outfit as a replacement after Salerno. I remember him saying that one day the sergeant that he admired came to him in his fox hole and told him that he had been promoted to sergeant. Morris replied that he did not want the promotion and could not spend the money that came with the raise while on the front. The platoon sergeant told him that when the new replacements arrived the next day that he could pick out the new sergeant. He relented and accepted the promotion. That particular sergeant was killed north of Rome as the 36th advanced on the back of tanks at a German roadblock. This haunted Morris.... he kept telling me of how he would dream that the sergeant would wake him by kicking him telling him that he had 3 minutes to move out. Morris was wounded in the chin by a German machine gun in France. He has since passed. Yet another great man that I miss. I did call him once for veterans day and expressed my appreciation for his service to our country. He was so surprised that I called. I am proud to have known him.

Bern was a friend of my father. I met him in about 1992 at a reunion while trying to find men that knew my father. He was also the Quater Master in the 36th Division. He invaded at Salerno and somewhere in France, they pulled him from the 36th in October of '44 as infantrymen were badly needed. They put him in the 78th I.D. and he was then committed to the Hurtgen Forest Battle where he was wounded by artillery (tree burst). He is also a big man as was my father. He told me that while in the rest areas, he would play baseball with my father. My father had the baseball glove and Bern had the ball, so they would play catch whenever they had time. He is a great man and I always enjoy seeing him. He had a brother in the Navy and another that was KIA as a B-25 navigator over German where he is buried. One story that I remember from Bern is that a German was badly wounded. They had the same blood type and a field transfusion was set up to pump blood directly from Bern to the German. Later the German died. Imagine the humanity of such a man giving his blood to save an enemy soldier.

1st Battalion, Company C, 142nd Infantry Regiment. Walter was born in Pittsburg, PA. I believe that he was a replacement in the 36th somewhere in Italy. The 36th suffered terrible losses in Italy. Note the combat infantry badge on his shirt. That badge did not come easy. I met his children at the 2003 reunion. They are seeking information about their father. If anyone knows anything about Walter Robbins, please contact his son at the below email address or telephone number. As with many veterans, he did not speak much about the war to his family. Walter has since passed and his family is trying to gather information about him.

Russ in WWI style garb. At the battle of San Pietro, he was ordered to clear a German machine gun nest. He ordered his men to fix bayonets and then began to attack the Germans. As they saw the cold steel on the end of the American rifles, they began to shout "Kamerad" which is the German way of saying, "I surrender." He took the MG nest and was awarded the silver star. He was in the military for a long time.

Wayne is one of my very good friends. He and I just clicked from the start. I have seen him every year at the reunions for almost a decade now. We always buddy up and sit at the dinners together. He hales from Georgia and is a true Southern Gentleman. He was a replacement for the 36th just after Salerno. He fought with them all the way through Monte Cassino to the end of the war. He has some incredible stories. He is also an accomplished rose grower (rosarian?) and painter. He has a beautiful dog, Beauregard, that he treasures as much as I do mine. At the last reunion, he came to my house for lunch and met my lovely wife and beautiful child. I am proud to know him. At the last Dallas reunion, he and I went to his room to drink some "bubbly" as we waited for dinner. We had a great chat about life and at one point he stated that our conversation reminded him of being in the army with a buddy just sitting around and BSing. That made me feel like a million dollars.

Mr. Jameson is a very colorful character! He is a joy to speak with...I have known him for maybe 10 years and have seen him at every reunion that I have attended. He joined the Texas National Guard before the war. When the Guard was nationalized he was suddenly a soldier. He loved to collect German souvenirs and send them home. This picture is of him after he received a battlefield commission. He also was awarded the Croix de Guerre by Charles de Gual himself.