Hellcat News, (Cincinnati, Ohio), Vol. 56, No. 4, Ed. 1, December 2002 Page: 1 of 40
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★ Rhineland
★ Ardennes-Alsace
★ Central Europe
HELLCAT NEWS
Published by the
12th Armored
Division Association
VOL. 56
DECEMBER 2002
NO. 4
President's
Message
Imagine if you will for a moment, that
instead of coming up on Christmas 2002,
we're coming up on Christmas 1944! I was
19 years old... most of you 12th Armored
men were older... I was 19 and scared as hell.
Combat requires all the nerve, all the
physical skills, every bit of the training we
received. It is only in combat, nowhere else,
where time is measured in other ways than by
clocks or calendars.
Only in combat does the soldier realize that he is in the worst
situation that can ever be imagined, that nothing else can compare
to it, that the longer he stays where he is the more likely that he will
be dead, or if he is extremely lucky he will only be wounded.
Only in combat is one in a position in which youngsters his age
that he doesn't know, has never met, are trying to kill him - and he
is trying to kill them. The result of sharing all that stress throughout
combat is a bond that has been created between us that will last
forever.
You men that serve as our Unit Representatives for each
Battalion are performing an invaluable service by creating your
monthly columns and keeping them interesting. You do this
unselfishly and without compensation other than your reward for
performing a service to others. We all appreciate and respect your
efforts with the deepest gratitude.
58 years ago we did what we had to do to make the world a safer
place to live. We've succeeded so far in maintaining our freedom.
Let's make sure that "freedom" doesn't get away from us.
I want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas, happy
Hanukkah and good health. My most sincere thanks for allowing
me the privilege and honor to serve as president of the 12th
Armored Division Association.
John E. Critzas
SdeC-tions and yiura/ids
(yon tde, i2t(t yiiwioktd
Elected to office at the 56th National Reunion of the 12th
Armored Division Association were:
John Critzas, president;
Jim Feezel, vice president;
Norb Bruemmer, treasurer;
Nes Poponi and Herb Luzader, directors for two years;
Bill House, director for one year.
Awards were presented to the following at the final banquet:
Women of the Year: Lola Funk [17th] and Rita Peischl [B/56];
Blue Ribbon: Bernard Rice [82nd], Andrew Woods [23rd],
and Robert Payne [92nd];
Mr. Hellcat: Frank Barndollar [A/56];
Distinguished Member: Earl Norris [714th], George Moss
[714th], and William Funke [17th],
DIVISION HEADQUARTERS UNITS
Herbert Luzader, 10661 Highland Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46280
Phone (317) 846-8789
Just got back from a beautiful trip to Myrtle Beach. We had the
pleasure of meeting again and working with Max and Naomi
Eagelfeld [82/MED]. Max as you know, is the Unit Rep for the
82nd. His group and ours shared room 107 as our hospitality room.
We could not have found a better group to meet and share with than
this group. Thanks, Max and Naomi, for all your help and thought-
fulness, may we have the same arrangement in future reunions.
Those of the Headquarters Groups in attendance at Myrtle Beach
were (as far as I know):
CCA — Earl and Edythe Nichols, Wilbur Claus, Lloyd and
Georgia DeLuca; CCB - Audrey Hammell and daughter Trish
Hammell, Jerome and Betty Grossman and son Michael, Jim and
Harriet Buhr and daughters Maria Bliese and Julie Johnson; DIV
ARTY — Leonard and Trudie Owen, Ray Sacharski, Herb and
Ginny Luzader, John and Pat Lies, Bill and Betty Hardin; DIV HQ
— Joe and Faye Auciello, George and Mary Reseter, Tom and Mary
Austin, Max and Blanche Schwartz; DIV TRAINS - Margaret
Kettler and daughters Darlene Munoz and Melinda Knoerzer, Glenn
and Elinor Rupert.
During previous columns I had asked you to make yourself
known. I am pleased to report that many of you took the time to
either introduce yourself for the first time or remind me that we met
at some previous reunion. I was especially pleased to meet as many
second generation Hellcats and Hellkittens. In addition to the above
list 1 was able to meet Bill Cure [152nd], who had written about
the sinking of U.S. ships off the East Coast during the early stages
of WW II. Bill made it a point to say "Hi" in hospitality room 107.
Glad to meet you, Bill.
At the Wednesday dinner for the headquarters units, above
were: Uoyd and Georgia DeLuca on the left, and Wilbur Claus,
Earl and Edythe Nichols on the right.
Les Porter [A/66| came into room 107 and brought an item he
was giving to the museum. Les and Frank Zendell were in the
rifle squad that was the first to cross the bridge at Dillingen. Frank
and I went through basic training and Texas A&M together before
coming to the 12th. We also see and have lunch together periodical-
ly. Frank had given Les a ring, which Frank's father had commis-
sioned to be made for Frank. The ring shows the 12th Armored
patch, 66A1B, Dillingen bridge, and is a beautiful work of art. Les
presented this to John Ferguson, our museum curator, in a frame
with clippings telling the story of his platoon with pictures of Frank
(continued on page 3)
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Twelfth Armored Division Association (U.S.). Hellcat News, (Cincinnati, Ohio), Vol. 56, No. 4, Ed. 1, December 2002, newspaper, December 2002; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth410179/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.