I'm trying to see if there are any relatives around...feel free to forward to any POW, veteran, etc... Found my grandfather (Nathan Leibowitz) book of POW close mates when he was in Slaughterhouse 5 ( Stalag 4b Muhlberg Sachsen 51 13 ) he was in the 28th division , captured December 18 1944. The people/address are: Walter Brauer (120 w. 97 st NYC New York) Russel Fraugella (405 Desplaines,Joliet, Illinois ) Stanley Ksrazek or Krazek (chicago,Illinois ) Martin Greengold (1820 Phelow Place, bronx,ny) Hyman Feldman (497 Chalkstone ave, providence, RI) George Metcalfe (531 Norwood st, Orange, NJ) Leonard Spear (221 Hood ave, Syracuse, NY) Alfred Friechill or Frichill (113 east 177 st, bronx, ny) Humphreye (65 upper park ave, nyc, ny) Lee Bow Gar c/o Jon Cafetorire ( 964 Sixth ave, nyc,ny) Norwood Frye (39 clinton st, Glastonbury, Conn) Charles (chas) M. Biscoe (448 west Ogden st, Girardville,pa) Wayman E. troxel (Route #1, Romney, ??) Same Baglio (1523 Eight st, alexandria La) Pete Lennogonis(Sp?) ( 3413 Ormond street, Tuscaloosa, ala) Max Diller ( 2103 M Street, Belleville, Kansas) Nat Bloom ( 7th street, brooklyn, Ny) James Heavner ( 410 No. Main St, Elmira, NY) Dever d. Mitchell (Road #2, Volga, West virginia) Judson Davenport (Route #1 Sparta, NJ) John R. Hayes ( Glendale,ca) Carlo Uciferro ( 153 simmonsville ave, Johnston, RI) Andrew J. Voorhis ( 60 No. Eastway drive, Pontiac, MI) Clifford Arnold ( 25 Field Street, Reidsville, NC) Robert H. Wood Jr. ( 600 3rd st,west fairview, PA ) Donald Goetz ( Panama, Iowa) Clair Kimpel ( 613 E. Smith Street, Hicksville, OHio) Kurt Vonnegut Jr ( Willams Creek, INdianapolis,IN)--yes the Kurt Vonnegut Dick Coyle ( 594 Kossuth Street, Columbus,OH) John Freed ( 2416 E. valley st, seattle, wa) willis belanger ( 415 State st, Fulton, NY) Charles (Chas) Larsen ( 18 rockingham st, Cambridge, mass) Carl Niklas (1512 W. Moore St, Henryetta, Oklahoma) Thomas R. Haydock (34 Burham Ave, Yonkers, NY) Sam Giles ( 112 School st, Bradford, PA) Raymond T. Makoski ( 343 Whitridge Ave, Baltimore, MD) James M. Donnini ( 525 Scott ave, Jeannette,pa) James Mullins ( 445 John St, east Newark, NJ) Chet Kobylas ( 11673 Moran st, Hamtramck, Mich) Ellsworth E. Brown ( 434 Monson St, East Peoria, Ill) Jesse Me Benevidez ( 4115 Floral Ave,South Norwood Cinciniati, OH) Albert Hroch ( 1154 w. 18 st, Chicago, IL) Joe Valdez (box # 157, Lumberton, NM) Louis V. Curto ( 104 -12 95 ave, ozone park, NY) Leonard Dake ( Pine River, wisconsin) Sol Epstein ( 25 Hobson st, Newark, NJ) Izera Emerson 3881 Sedgewick ave, Bronx, NY)
should i send a letter tho their addresses, even though the chances that any relatives living in the same house as their grandfather is close to zero? any other recommendations to try and contact their family?
I doubt you will hit paydirt taking that route. I Googled one address and looked it at from streetview. The house is not there anymore; it has been replaced by a large building. I'd look to see which houses might still be there. Who knows, with a list that long, you might find a man or his relative. It is going to take some work. Consider searching obituaries in the cities for names. If they died in the last 10 years, you might be able to find relatives. The addresses that say "route x" are not going to be much help. "Route" was short for "Rural Route." They lived in the country and the house could be most anywhere along the mail route, which changed through out the years. Consider posting this query at WW2f.com There is a much larger contingent of Americans there. This is mostly a British and Commonwealth forum, so most couldn't you help much, even if the wanted to.
And some of these men are still alive, erd. Have a google of "James M. Donnini" and you will see he is now living in Florida, age 88. Carlo Uciferro died in 2008: http://www.sysoon.com/deceased/carlo-uciferro-35 Albert Hroch died in 2002: Albert Hroch (1912 - 2002) Genealogy - Family Tree and History I'll have a putter on a few more of the less common surnames later today. Regards, Dave
You mention the 28th Division, which lost heavily in POWs in the Bulge (as well as killed and wounded, of course). The Bulge represented the biggest "bag" of US POWs for the Germans in the entire war. I would guess, therefore, that a majority of the men in your list came from outfits that fought in the Ardennes, particularly in the early phase when the Germans overran many American units. Many US Army WWII units and divisions have websites and associations, and relatives often stay in touch with these. I would find out about any such organizations or sites for the 28th, the 106th Division, the 2nd, 4th, 99th, and the 9th Armored, all of which were heavily involved in the opening phase of the Bulge. Try posting your list on sites for those and other Ardennes outfits and see if you get any responses.
Also, another tip about addresses. The US Postal Service has a web page where you can look up street addresses. Anything that comes up as "non-deliverable" can be scratched from your list. (Building no longer there, street name changed, etc.)
Genealogy sites like ancestry.com are useful too, as Dave (alieneyes) has discovered. Findagrave.com and sites for the census may help as well.
Carrying on, it seems that another fellow is still with us: Charles (chas) M. Biscoe (still goes by Chas and still lives in Pa.), aged 87. http://radaris.com/p/Charles/Biscoe/ As this forum is based in the UK and subject to the UK Data Protection Act I won't post anybody's address or phone number here. If you don't see it in the links I provide, PM me and I'll pass the info on there. Regards, Dave
Wayman E. Troxel: Nobody with that precise name but a Wayman D. Troxel, son of Reuben, of Romney shows up as a released POW here: http://www.google.se/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDYQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vigo.lib.in.us%2Farchives%2Finventories%2Fwars%2FWWII%2FScrapbooks%2FDigital_Images%2FDC3%2FScrapbook05A%2FFolder12%2Fpage015.pdf&ei=XYtAUZ3cIsqh4gTi84CABg&usg=AFQjCNFwy6WHYWDBEVIVbpbm11zgk0JyWQ And, there is a Wayman D. Troxel, aged 87 in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Regards, Dave
Clair E. Kimpel, deceased Hicksville, Ohio 7 April, 1995: Clair E Kimpel (1925 - 1995) Genealogy - Family Tree and History Chester Walter Kobylas, deceased St Clair County, Michigan 23 September 2008: Chester Walter Kobylas (1924 - 2008) - Find A Grave Memorial Chester served his country with the United States Army during WWII from 1943 to 1945 with the 1st Army, 424 Infantry, 106 Division Company M, 81MM mortars and machine gunners. He was taken prisoner of war December 16, 1944 at Ardennes, Belgium in the Battle of the Bulge. The name of his wife, two sons and two daughters-in-law are given as well. No doubt you could locate them in a Michigan phone book. Regards, Dave
As this forum is based in the UK and subject to the UK Data Protection Act I won't post anybody's address or phone number here. I have been advised that the UKDPA does not apply as the forum is hosted in the US, not the UK. I will pass on any contact information on living people via PM only. Regards, Dave
wow, thanks Dave, how did you find all this information, i was searching the internet for hours and couldn't find people....
Chas Biscoe.....i spoke to his wife.... passed away in 1999.... but new of some of the people on the list...... it got me thinking, what is 'goal"?
Thanks for your PM, erd. I'm glad some of this is of use to you. I can only tell what the internet says when it comes to fellows who are listed as still alive. I used the same thing you did. Google. All I did was right click the names and towns on your list. I discard stuff like facebook etc but as TTH said ancestry, findagrave, obituaries etc. And being creatures of habit a lot of people don't move too far from where they were born. As you know that Chas Biscoe is deceased, perhaps you might wish to list those from your list whom you know are no longer with us. That might save someone the time of duplicating your work. When I looked up Willis Belanger I came across this book which you should consider obtaining, entitled "Recollections and Reflections of the Ex-POWs of Schlachthof Fünf, Dresden, Germany" by Ervin E. Spezik, Jr (his dad was there): Shadows of Slaughterhouse Five: Recollections and Reflections of the Ex-POWs of Schlachthof Fünf, Dresden, Germany: Ervin E. Szpek Jr., Frank J. Idzikowski, Heidi M. Szpek Ph.D.: 9781440105678: Amazon.com: Books Quite a few of the names on your list are in this book. Google it and you can see some of it but there pages that aren't online (Belanger passed away in 1987). Pretty steep price but there's a Kindle version for about a quarter of the price of the book. Good luck with your research. Regards, Dave
One more. From "Shadows of Slaughterhouse Five": JESSIE M. BENEVIDES, Unit Unknown Jessie M. Benevides, last known address of Cincinatti, Ohio, was killed on May 9, 1945, two days after the war ended in a Russian air attack, it seems. Fellow prisoner Raymond T. Makowske: www.IndianaMilitary.org After a few weeks the Germans fearing a Russian advance, began marching us toward American lines, possibly Chemnitz. The road we were traveling was filled with refuges moving in the same direction. They used all sorts of carts to carry their possessions; baby carriages, wagons, bikes anything with wheels. Suddenly from out of the sky, Russian airplanes began strafing the lines. I don’t know why? Unless there were German soldiers also fleeing. Chaos occurred. People were running every which way. Thomas Hayduk and myself along with other GI's took to the woods. The guards lost control. We were now on our own. The planes left. Recently I was told that Jesse Benavides, my Mexican buddy, was killed in the raid. Makowske (on your list as "Makoski"), deceased Timonium, Maryland, 10 June 2003: www.IndianaMilitary.org Raymond T. Makowske, a retired accountant who wrote of his experiences as a World War II prisoner of war, died of multiple rnyeloma June 10 at Stella Mans Hospice In Timonium. The Lutherville resident was 77. Born In Baltimore and raised on Whitridge Avenue, Mr. Makowske was a 1943 graduate of Loyola High School. While a preXdental student at the University of Maryland, he was drafted into the Army in 1944. During the Battle of the Bulge, his infantry unit was forced to surrender to the enemy. “I was concerned as were the others that the Germans would shoot us down. On seeing German soldiers, we were told to put our hands In back of our heads. They searched us and moved us on,” Mr. Makowske wrote In an unpublished memoir. “On reaching the bottom of the bill we observed more Germans with many, many howitzers pointing to the area we had left. One German remarked, we were really going to be hit hard that night had we not given up.” Mr. Makowske and his comrades were placed in cramped boxcars and taken to Stalag IV-B in Muhlberg, Germany. They were then moved to a labor camp in Dresden called “Slaughterhouse 5” by inmates. “Conditions were far from the best. Food was sparse, the area was cold and damp, and toilet facilities primitive. Our bodies were lice covered and most of us had dysentery. We had no change of clothes. There were no shower facilities he wrote. Regards, Dave
here are some hand written accounts of what happened to my grandfather. i posted this under another topic but i though alieneyes would like to see it ( and others)
Name Nathan Leibowitz Serial Number 32248777 Grade (alpha) Private First Class Service Code Army Arm or Service Infantry First Report Date day: 20 | month: 12 | year: 1944 Last Report Date day: 04 | month: 06 | year: 1945 Racial Group State Residence Organization Type Branch Immaterial Infantry Division Band Dental Co Parent Unit Number 0110 Parent Unit Type Group Regiment Commands System Area European Theatre Germany Source of Report Official Sources Status Liberated Or Repatriated Detaining Power Germany Camp Stalag 4b Muhlberg Sachsen 51 13
here are some hand written accounts of what happened to my grandfather. i posted this under another topic but i though alieneyes would like to see it ( and others) Hi erdoc, Unfortunately I cannot make out what they say. Any chance you can scan them and post them here? Regards, Dave
Name Nathan Leibowitz Serial Number 32248777 Grade (alpha) Private First Class Service Code Army Arm or Service Infantry First Report Date day: 20 | month: 12 | year: 1944 Last Report Date day: 04 | month: 06 | year: 1945 Racial Group State Residence Organization Type Branch Immaterial Infantry Division Band Dental Co Parent Unit Number 0110 Parent Unit Type Group Regiment Commands System Area European Theatre Germany Source of Report Official Sources Status Liberated Or Repatriated Detaining Power Germany Camp Stalag 4b Muhlberg Sachsen 51 13 Yes, you've posted his partial POW record from the NARA site: NARA - AAD - Display Full Records - World War II Prisoners of War Data File, 12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946 There is also his partial enlistment record showing his address as Kings County, NY and a DOB year of 1913 and enlisted at Ft Dix New Jersey 11 March 1942 here: NARA - AAD - Display Full Records - Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946 (Enlistment Records) Brief Scope: This series contains records of approximately nine million men and women who enlisted in the United States Army, including the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. But as I mentioned in my reply to your PM I cannot answer as I do not know what regiment he was in. Regards, Dave
