Hellcat News (Garnet Valley, Pa.), Vol. 69, No. 4, Ed. 1, December 2015 Page: 12 of 32
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Hellcat News and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.
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Page 12
HELLCAT NEWS
December 2015
to not only adjust to these conditions, but to also improvise
and make emergency decisions on the spot. In some instances
their proximity to war saw Army nurses using firearms for
protection. In addition to working in field hospitals, some
nurses underwent additional training to become flight nurses
or evacuation nurses. The positive advancements of nurses
were not shared by all women, however. African-American
nurses battled for admittance to serve during the war.
Ultimately, only five hundred African-American nurses were
allowed to serve, and those who did were allowed to only care
for African-American soldiers and German prisoners of war.
“World War II brought nurses closer to battle than ever
before. They were allowed to demonstrate their skills and
competence during extreme, dangerous conditions. In
addition they were also able to serve in all of the arenas of
war. Although being so close to battle also put nurses at risk
of becoming prisoners of war, the risk was outweighed by the
service that was provided and the lives that were saved.”
I think we all need to take our hats off to these wonderful
American citizens who helped us win the war and saved many
of our precious soldiers!
Until next time.
119TH ARMORED
ENGINEER BATTALION
Mary Anne Delker
7 Voyager Dr., St. Peters, MO 63376
636-928-5391 mdelker@att.net
It is hard to believe that December is here and 2015 is
coming to an end. The year sure has gone by quickly. I hope
everyone has their Christmas decorations up and are close to
finishing their Christmas shopping.
I want to remind legacy members that your annual dues are
due for the coming year. The renewal form is located in this
issue of the Hellcat News. Please drop your check in the mail
to our secretary, Peggy Anne Vosseler. For those life-time
members, a donation for covering the mailing of the HCN
would be greatly appreciated.
You should have received in the mail a special ballot
that requires your vote on the changing of the structure of
the Executive Council. During the past couple of years our
nominating committee has had a very difficult time getting
someone to run for the office of president and vice-president.
We have decided that it might be more advantageous for
the organization to work more as committee members and
the committee members would vote among themselves who
would be in charge of the executive council. This setup may
seem familiar to many of you as a lot of local governments are
run this way. As residents in your community you may vote
for an alderman to represent your area. The elected alderman
for your city will then vote amongst themselves for who will
be the board president. For future elections we would only
vote for members to be on the executive council.
We are looking for nine members where each member
would then be responsible for being the chair of a committee
to support the Association. The November issue of the HCN
describes some of the committee chairs that we have thought
up of, but these can always change depending on the needs of
the Association and members’ interest. The purpose for this
change is to spread some of the responsibilities so that they do
not all lie on one individual. If you have any questions, please
feel free to contact myself or anyone else on the executive
council. Please mail in your ballot. This proposition requires a
passage of 2/3rds of the membership. Ballots must be received
by Dec. 20.
Again, I want to wish everyone a joyous holiday season
and a Happy New Year. I look forward to hearing from you in
the coming year.
Remember When
By John Parkison [B]
Winter Survival in Combat
The winter in Europe, in 1944-45, has been reported to be
the coldest winter in the prior 29 years. Frostbite and frozen
toes, or feet, took a high toff on the USA combat soldiers on
the front lines. They often outnumbered combat wounds.
Surviving the extreme elements we were in, on the front line,
was a ‘battle’ of its own kind.
General Eisenhower’s intelligence sources stated that the
war in Europe would be over before Christmas 1944. This
belief prompted General Eisenhower to order his command
to limit the supply trucks’ use strictly to hauling ammunition,
food rations, and mail only. Consequently these orders
prevented any warm winter clothing from reaching the front
lines. It was reported, however, that rear echelon soldiers were
wearing warm winter clothing.
Then came the deep snow and extreme cold weather. I can
only speak for the 12 men in my squad. We went for a long
time before we were issued rubber overshoes. The combat
boots we wore had the rough side of the leather on the outside.
They were ideal to act as a blotter, to soak up all moisture. We
each had been issued a small can of dubbin to treat the outside
of our boots with. This dubbin consisted of oil and tallow. If
used often it did slow down the process of moisture getting to
your feet. Then came the blessed day when it was our turn to
be issued overshoes!
We were stiff in France, and many of the French villages
had been abandoned or were mostly rubble due to heavy
combat. One day a little heating stove was spotted by one of
our squad members in an abandoned house. This little wood/
coal burning stove appeared to be very lonesome and in
need of use by us, so it found a ride in a small utility trailer.
Whenever conditions allowed us to use the ‘little stove’ we all
wore smiles of anticipation for a hopeful good night. When
we were blessed with a room or shed to spend the night in,
we would set it up. If no chimney outlet was available, we
simply knocked out a windowpane for the stovepipe exit.
Two great soldiers in our squad always took on the task of
setting up the stove. Glen Mcllvain and Lenzie Buchanon
were very efficient, and would have a roaring fire going in
just a few minutes. Sometimes orders came to “mount up,
we are moving out”. By using our asbestos gloves (carried
for facilitating changing red-hot machine gun barrels), the
stove would be carried outside and emptied in the snow, then
quickly loaded on the trailer. It was completed in less time
than the set-up time.
On a few occasions we were able to really warm up, wash
our feet, put on dry socks, and clean our weapons in comfort.
I considered this as “living high on the hog” or “pure luxury”!
These combat luxuries I’ve remembered often, over the past
60 years. The one I enjoyed the most was when I would come
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Twelfth Armored Division Association (U.S.). Hellcat News (Garnet Valley, Pa.), Vol. 69, No. 4, Ed. 1, December 2015, newspaper, December 2015; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth861614/m1/12/?q=%22Military+and+War+-+United+States+Armed+Forces+-+United+States+Army%22: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.