Hellcat News, (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 9, Ed. 1, May 2008 Page: 8 of 24
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Abilene Library Consortium and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.
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Page 8
HELLCAT NEWS
May 2008
Ralph Jannelli's [B/43] masterpiece, the "CAROUSEL." Sixteen
horses that go up and down with music playing.
that Ralph and I had to move to Charlotte, NC, to be close to our
son. Ralph was very sick in 2006, so we moved to Charlotte one
year ago March. We lived in Florida for 27 years, moved from
New Jersey; we did like living in Florida. We did get to quite a
few reunions and always enjoyed them. After we went to the one
in Las Vegas, we made a few more trips there; never won big but
had a lot of fun.
Ralph likes doing wood work; he used to make a lot of toys, cars,
trucks, trains. His biggest thing was a carousel - had 16 horses that
went up and down and had music playing - he made a lot of them;
he doesn't do much of that anymore. When the weather is nice he
will go out in the garage and do little things. He loves being on the
computer. He can't walk too good, he has an electric scooter that
he uses when we go out.
We keep in touch with the Fords and Hackers. Donald Ford
was pretty sick but doing much better; talked to Walt and Elsie
Hacker last week and they are fine. I keep busy taking care of
Ralph, housework, and what a wife does. I like to knit - when
I hear of someone that had a baby I get out the knitting needles
and make them an afghan. 1 have made hats and scarves for my
daughter and her three kids; they live in Montana. We like living
in Charlotte, our son has a custom advertising business only 15
minutes from where we live.
Seymour Wasserman [D]: Mark, now that 1 have reached my
85th birthday 1 will be going into assisted/independent living.
My new address is Atria South Setauket #323, 4089 Nesconset
Highway, Centerach, NY 11720; phone 631-473-0759. I still
enjoy reading your 43rd column in the HCN. Best regards.
FLU - FLU: Suffering from a bad case of the flu, a man phoned
his doctor to get an appointment. When the receptionist informed
him of the wait, he became outraged and bellow ed, "Two weeks?
The doctor can't see me for two weeks? I could well be dead by
then!'* Calmly the receptionist replied. "If so, please have your
wife call to cancel the appointment."
Andy Andrews [C]: Hi Mark. Thank you for your anniversary
card. Eleanor and I are back to almost normal after our health
problems. We usually go to California for the holidays but we
just couldn't do it this year. I think we made that trip for the last
20 years. At present we are try ing to find time for a Florida trip.
That is on hold now, Eleanor is scheduled for a cataract operation
March 26. That means we will probably go sometime in April.
Mark, I remember you saying you are not making the trip to
Texas this year. Is that still the situation? (Andy, as of now that's
it but we will see what develops this summer.) Eleanor and I are
planning on going to Abilene once again. Our winter has been a
strange one. We only had 2.5 inches of snow, we also had some
record-breaking weather - at times in the 60s and other times in
the lower 10s-20s. Spring is just around the corner, we can't w ait
for this to happen. 1 hope you. Ann and Patty are all well. Take
care and God bless you three.
Jim and Bette Stone [D]: Dear Aults. we are glad you're still
with us little Ann!!! What a scary thing. When you called and told
us of Charles Ippolito's death, the plumber had just arrived, our
son Matt was wanting to say 'hello' but Jim didn't hear him. The
old eyes aren't real good so excuse the errors. Sure a big shock
about Ippolito. Thanks tor calling. I got a card off to Claudette.
Jim: Hi Mark, good to talk to you even if the news was not all
good. The best to you two.
Robert McGuire [C], deceased: Bob's wife Mary Jo sent your
unit rep the following story of Bob being a prisoner of war after
Herrlisheim. Bob's story, "The Underdog: "
It was early Sunday afternoon in a little Alsation village not
far from the Rhine. Snow covered the streets and the debris of
war was every where, yet the air was warm and the sun bright.
This is the first rest in a very long time. Oh what a day, nothing
to do but sleep and wait orders to move up to the front. After
selecting a comfortable place to sleep the door of our shell-torn
chateau sprang open and the first sergeant snapped. "OK you
guys, on your feet, we're moving out." Healy, Cantillon, Bond
and McGuire were reporting to the net and the big steel monsters
of the 43rd Tank Battalion w ere on the road with everyone present
or accounted for.
After driving in column formation several kilometers the halt
was given and every one sat bundled up in those cold hard tanks
awaiting further orders. Everyone checked their guns and ammo
and listened to the cold rain beating a tattoo on the hull and turret
- waiting for orders! Early that morning the CO called a tank
commanders meeting and all the tank commanders were there on
the dot of 3:25 AM. This was it boys, briefing before going in.
First on the program was Dussledorf which we attacked taking
hundreds of prisoners and shelling hell out of the town, every one
had either a tank or a halftrack to his credit. We fought like blazes
all day; at four in the PM we were told to cease fire and back away
from town for a consolidated portion which we would hold for
the night.
In moving back, the diehard German gunners let us go and we
lost several tanks, mine was one of them. My gunner and I popped
out of the turret like a couple of corks from some old vintage wine
when we were hit; we weren't wounded but really shaken up. After
walking behind Cantillon's tank for quite a while, he was drawing
some fire from some of those 88s too, we arrived at the spot we
were to hold for the night. The remains of the battalion started to
make a circle, guns facing in every direction and the COs were
standing in the center talking over future plans, meanwhile my
platoon leader found casualties in other tanks, so my gunner and
I parted company and went to fill the vacancies in the other tanks.
(The Underdog will continue next month.)
OBIT: Charles J. Ippolito |D/43|. 87, a retired Army officer
and IBM manager, died Feb. 28, 2008, at Suburban Hospital in
Bethesda of complications of pneumonia. He was a Germantown,
MD, resident. Mr. Ippolito was born in Fitchburg, MA, and grew
up in the Bronx, NY. During WWII he led an Army tank force
that captured Dillingen on the Danube, a key river crossing, thus
allowing Allied forces to continue advancing into Germany in
1945. An April 22, 1945, issue of the Beachhead News described
what happened: "Led by Lt. Charles J. Ippolito's light tank platoon,
the force swept into the town w ith guns blazing, routing more
than 1,000 disorganized defenders and shooting up a retreating
mechanized column. Surging on to the bridge, the unit captured
a handful of demolition men and drove other Nazis away with
tank fire before the span could be blown. Mr. Ippolito received
the Silver Star for his actions at Dillingen. He also received the
Bronze Star w ith Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart."
At a recent reunion of the 12th Armored Division Association,
known as the "Hellcats," a Holocaust survivor offered his gratitude
to Mr. Ippolito for his rescue from a concentration camp by Mr.
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Twelfth Armored Division Association (U.S.). Hellcat News, (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 9, Ed. 1, May 2008, newspaper, May 2008; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth410582/m1/8/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.