Shows
Aaron Torres Sports PodcastKentucky LOSES key assistant Vince Marrow - is Mark Stoops next? Tyran Stokes recruiting update + Phil Elson on college baseballOn today's show Torres talks a BUSY Monday in sports. Key assistant Vince Marrow leaves Kentucky - is that PROOF that Mark Stoops is out next? Plus, five-star Tyran Stokes takes a visit to Lexington - is there a favorite in his recruitment? Finally, Arkansas play-by-play voice Phil Elson talks college baseball, recapping the Super Regionals + previewing the College World Series!
Key assistant Vince Marrow leaves Kentucky - is Mark Stoops next (3:00): Torres opens the show by discussing Vince Marrow, one of the most well-respected assistants in college football leaving Kentucky for Louisville. Is...
2025-06-1054 minAaron Torres Sports PodcastWay Too Early Final Four picks, Aaron Rodgers, UNC insane NIL spending + Phil Elson previews the Super Regionals!It's a jam-packed Aaron Torres Pod - as Torres hits on a number of different topics. He shares quick Aaron Rodgers thoughts, before moving to a listener question: Is it "Final Four or bust" for Kentucky. Then, he discusses UNC's INSANE NIL spending and drops his "Way Too Early Final Four." Finally, he's joined by Arkansas radio voice Phil Elson to preview College Baseball's Super Regionals.
Quick Aaron Rodgers reaction + is it Final Four or bust for Kentucky (3:00): Torres opens the show with quick thoughts, before reacting to a listener-generated question: Is it "Final...
2025-06-061h 22Aaron Torres Sports PodcastCollege World Series Preview with Arkansas Play by Play voice Phil ElsonWe have a VERY special Aaron Torres Podcast - as we make our once-a-year check in to talk college baseball! With the College World Series beginning on Friday, Arkansas play-by-play voice Phil Elson joins to preview the field, talk about the SEC's dominance, who will get to Omaha and who's a legit title contender?!
Fioboc is giving listeners of the Aaron Torres Pod 20% on their next purchase - for their FULL STORE of beautiful new clothes: Check out their entire store here
Also, thank you to Caulipuffs, the healthy, yet delicious snack that is ta...
2025-05-3042 min
Mostly Yoga - with Aaron Tan41. Elson Sim - Fatherhood, fitness (and life) journey and the never-ending process of building a better youMy 3rd guest from the gym bro series is Elson, one of the OG members of the Morning Crew Boys Club, who shares with us stories from the good old days growing up, experiences of fatherhood and of course, our shenanigans at the gym.
Stuff we talk about:
How to play Basketball, Futsal and Crocodile
Childhood memories and the good ol’ times
Working in Construction
Dealing with the harsh realities of life
F is in the Dictionary
Book Smarts v.s. Street Smarts
Fatherhood and being the ‘Bad Cop’
The Age of Technology
Social Media algorithms: the good, the bad, the ugly.
F...
2023-06-202h 46
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItEpisode 101 Jack PriorWar As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It is a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general. I'm Aaron Elson. In 2005 I recorded this interview with Dr. Jack Prior, a battalion surgeon in the 10th Armored Division. If you've seen Band of Brothers, and who hasn't, you'll likely remember the young Belgian nurse who has a romance with an American soldier, and is killed in the shelling. The real-life nurse on whom the character is based was Renee Lemaire, the "Angel of Bastogne," who was killed on Christmas Eve when Dr. Prior's makeshift...
2022-03-121h 05
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItA Marine on TinianFirst off, I want to thank all of the listeners who stuck with Myfatherstankbattalion through a three month hiatus while I worked on the greatly expanded third edition of Tanks for the Memories, which is now available at Amazon in paperback, hardcover and for Kindle and will soon be available on my web site. As War As My Father’s Tank Battalion approaches its 100th episode, there will be some changes in the format, where I will be interviewing historians and authors about their work, in addition to adding great audio clips from my conversations with veterans. Th...
2021-11-0343 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItA 'guest' of the emperor: WW2 POW Karnig ThomasianWar As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It is a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general. I'm Aaron Elson. Where I used to live in New Jersey there was a remarkable group of ex-prisoners of war. There was Ed Hays of Ridgewood, who traveled with his family to Berlin to meet the German fighter pilot who shot down his B-17. There was Tim Dyas, also of Ridgewood, who parachuted into the middle of the Herman Goering Panzer Division. There was Hal Mapes, the only survivor of the crew of his B-17...
2021-07-141h 07
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItUphill Both Ways: The Great DepressionThank you for listening to War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It, a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general. I'd like to give a shoutout to Naval Air Station Wildwood, which invited me to exhibit at their recent Wings & Things event, and also to the Reading, Pennsylvania World War II Weekend. Which brings me to today's episode. At Wildwood, a visitor to my display asked if any of the episodes were about the Great Depression. I said no, but the next episode will be. So today you'll hear from Dan...
2021-07-0348 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItTank commander Don Knapp, Part 2Part 2 of my 1994 interview with Don and Evelyn Knapp was quite a surprise, as it includes a discussion of my first book, Tanks for the Memories. Don passed away recently at 102 years of age. I found it interesting to hear me talking 27 years ago about my plans for the future. It would be three years before I launched my first web site. Audiobooks were on tape and not CD, and podcasting was not yet a thing. I'm Aaron Elson. Thank you for listening. The usual suspects Myfatherstankbattalion.com aaronelson.com oralhistoryaudiobooks...
2021-06-2549 min
Aaron Torres Sports Podcast12-team CFB Playoff? Pangos All-American camp notes + college baseball deep dive (for dummies) with Phil ElsonAaron discusses talk of a 12-team College Football Playoff and also shares notes from his time at the Pangos All-American basketball camp. Then he brings on Arkansas baseball play-by-play voice Phil Elson to tell us what we need to know for this weekend's "Super Regionals" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2021-06-101h 29
Truckers Network Radio ShowAaron Elson - Tanks for the MemoriesTNCRadio.LIVEAaron ElsonFrom Aaron Elson:They say the memory is the second thing to go.Lieutenant Jim Flowers would say that whenever he hit a speed bump in telling the story of Hill 122, where he lost parts of both of his legs and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.In books, blogs, web sites, audiobooks, and now a podcast, I’ve been preserving the memories of the Greatest Generation for more than three decadesWhen I display my work at air shows and re-enactments, people often sa...
2021-05-2855 minTruckers Network Radio ShowAaron Elson - Tanks for the MemoriesTNCRadio.LIVEAaron ElsonFrom Aaron Elson:They say the memory is the second thing to go.Lieutenant Jim Flowers would say that whenever he hit a speed bump in telling the story of Hill 122, where he lost parts of both of his legs and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.In books, blogs, web sites, audiobooks, and now a podcast, I’ve been preserving the memories of the Greatest Generation for more than three decadesWhen I display my work at air shows and re-enactments, people often sa...
2021-05-2855 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew It"So long kids, and if I never see you again, goodbye" Memorial Day 2021 While crossing the Atlantic on his way to join my father's 712th Tank Battalion as a replacement, Billy Wolfe wrote in a letter to his mother and sisters, "The ocean is so blue it looks like I could dip my pen and write with it." Those words have always stuck with me. Billy burned to death in a tank just two weeks after joining the battalion. He was 18 years old. Karnig Thomasian, a gunner on a B29 in the China-Burma-India theater, became a prisoner of the Japanese after his plane exploded on his third mission. In this epi...
2021-05-2644 min
The Journalism SaluteAaron Elson: On Copy Editing & World War II Oral HistoryOn this episode, Mark Simon is joined by 40-year copy editor and World War II oral historian Aaron Elson. Aaron talked about his long career in newspapers, emphasizing his role as a counselor of wayward commas about their place in sentences, protecting the English language, and writing headlines He also talked about his work compiling more than 600 hours of oral history of World War II and the books and podcasts he’s created from that. Aaron his written multiple books and hosts a podcast: War As My Father’s Tank Batallion Knew I...
2021-05-2555 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItAmputations, skin grafts, maggots, prostheses, medical treatment in WW2Distinguished Service Cross recipient Jim Flowers lost parts of both legs in Normandy. Pfc. Bob Levine, who was following one of Flowers' tanks when he was wounded and captured, had a leg amputated by a German surgeon. Lieutenant Jim Gifford was struck by a bullet which protruded from his head near his right eye. Corporal Jim Rothschadl, Lieutenant Flowers' gunner, was badly burned after his tank burst into flames. These accounts portray a vivid picture of medical treatment during the war, and the often unsung heroism of the doctors and nurses who treated the injured. On Friday-Sunday...
2021-05-211h 01
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItOmaha Beach ArmageddonCombat engineer Chuck Hurlbut landed on Omaha Beach in the early morning hours of D-Day. His compelling interview is included in my Oral History Audiobook "The D-Day Tapes," along with six other interviews, available in my eBay store and at oralhistoryaudiobooks.com. Speaking of D-Day, I'll be exhibiting my work at the Mid Atlantic Air Museum World War II Weekend Friday through Sunday, June 4-6 in Reading, Pennsylvania. This is a premier event and draws hundreds of re-enactors, thousands of attendees, and several World War II veterans available to tell their stories and sign autographs. If you...
2021-05-091h 05
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItExercise Tiger: The tragedy before D-DayIn 1994 I read "The Forgotten Dead," by Ken Small, about Exercise Tiger, the ill-fated practice landing for D-Day sometimes known as Slapton Sands, a stretch of beach on the English coast that resembled Utah Beach. In the middle of the night German e-boats, torpedo carrying surface boats. infiltrated the convoy and sank two fully loaded LSTs and badly damaged a third. Angelo Crapanzano was at his battle station in the auxiliary engine room of LST 507 when the torpedo struck. The photo shows Angelo's memorabilia book. The page on the left contains his watch, which was...
2021-04-171h 01
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItTank driver Charles Vorhees Occasionally when doing an interview, I'm treated to a bit of ancillary history. Once, when I was listening to the tape of an interview with a D-Day, I was annoyed by a radio playing in an adjacent room. Then I realized the veteran's wife was listening to a basketball game, and that it was a Knicks playoff game. That was kind of cool, I thought, as it brought back memories of my years working in the sports department of the New York Post, where I began a five decade career, as a newspaper copy editor. Charles Vorhees was a ta...
2021-04-0843 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItCharles Vorhees Part 1: The explosion at Heimboldshausen April 3, 1945 was a tragic day in the history of the 712th Tank Battalion. A Company had just occupied the village of Heimboldshausen, Germany, and established its command post in the basement of a house facing a small railroad siding. Several rail cars were parked at the siding, on the other side of which was a wide open field. Unkbeknownst to the tankers, one rail car was filled with bags of black powder for propelling artillery; two others were empty, but fume-filled, gasoline tanker cars. At about 6 p.m. a German fighter plane, a Messerschmitt 109, flew...
2021-04-0455 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItInterview With a Loader: Bob Rossi Part 293-POUND GIRL IS HEROINE OF FIRE Jersey City, N.J., Dec. 30, 1937 -- (AP) -- Two score men stood by today ready to give blood transfusions to a 93-pound blond heroine of the Plaza hotel fire who stuck to her switchboard yesterday arousing guests as she beat out her blazing clothing with her hands. Among the last to flee the fire fatal to two other hotel employes, 26-year-old HELEN SULLIVAN had to run through a wall of flame in the lobby, and staggered into the street so badly burned no one at first recognized her. Part of her...
2021-03-271h 07
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew It"Lock and Load" -- Pfc. Bob Rossi, 712th Tank BattalionWar As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It is a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general. I'm Aaron Elson. This interview with Bob Rossi is included in my oral history audiobook "Once Upon a Tank in the Battle of the Bulge." In this episode, there are "cameos" from my interviews with Stanley Klapkowski and Tony D'Arpino, who are mentioned in Bob's interview. Thank you for listening. The usual suspects: https://aaronelson.com https://myfatherstankbattalion.com https://oralhistoryaudiobooks.com
2021-03-2655 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItTank driver George BussellWhen I began interviewing veterans of my father's tank battalion, I heard several stories about George Bussell. Forrest Dixon said Bussell was so heavy he had to shimmy into the tank. Ruby Goldstein and Bussell got into a barroom brawl in Phenix City, Alabama. Dixon told of the time Bussell drove his tank over three German motorcycles, and the time the pontoon bridge across the Saar River was shot out just behind him and Dixon yelled into the radio "Sergeant Bussell, give her hell or you'll drown!" Bussell didn't come to the reunions, so in 1993 I visited him at...
2021-03-161h 05
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItA Marine on IwoWar As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It is a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general. I'm Aaron Elson. Nick Paciullo enlisted in the Marines when he was 17 and fought with the 4th Marine Division on Iwo Jima, Saipan, Tinian and Kwajalein. This interview took place on Sept. 4, 2002, a week before the first anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and both Nick and his wife, Gladys, were deeply affected by the impending date. Early in the interview, Nick describes being out with his buddies in...
2021-03-061h 06
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItEpisode 80: A MedleyWar As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It is a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general. The first 79 episodes represent a fraction of the more than 700 hours of interviews I've conducted over the past 34 years with the men and women of the Greatest Generation. I'm Aaron Elson. If you would be interested in a modestly priced premium section of the podcast with access to exclusive special episodes, full-length versions of excerpted interviews, quizzes, autographed books, and other exclusive features, please email me at aelson.chichipress@att.net for details when they...
2021-02-2843 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItMary Previte: Finding My Heroes War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It is a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general. I'm Aaron Elson. I first heard Mary Previte speak in 1998 at a POW/MIA ceremony that ex-prisoner of war Bob Levine invited me to. Twelve years later my friend Brandon Traister invited her to address the World War Lecture Institute, a monthly program at at the Abington, Pennsylvania, Library. A little over a year ago I heard on National Public Radio that Mary had passed away. Mary's obituary in the New Y...
2021-02-191h 00
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe Last Hurrah: Paratrooper Ed Boccafogli Paratrooper Ed Boccafogli of Passaic, New Jersey, was preparing to return to Normandy in 1994 for the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion when I met him. In this riveting interview, he describes the invasion of Normandy, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. A full transcript of the interview can be found at tankbooks.com The audio is included in the 11-hour audiobook "The D-Day Tapes" available at Oralhistoryaudiobooks.com and on eBay. As this interview is broken into three episodes, it is not necessary but is recommended that you listen to t...
2021-02-0754 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe Last Hurrah: Paratrooper Ed Boccafogli, Part 2 Paratrooper Ed Boccafogli of Passaic, New Jersey, was preparing to return to Normandy in 1994 for the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion when I met him. In this riveting interview, he describes the invasion of Normandy, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. A full transcript of the interview can be found at tankbooks.com The audio is included in the 11-hour audiobook "The D-Day Tapes" available at Oralhistoryaudiobooks.com and on eBay. As this interview is broken into three episodes, it is not necessary but is recommended that you list...
2021-02-071h 09
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe Last Hurrah: Paratrooper Ed Boccafogli Part 3 Paratrooper Ed Boccafogli of Passaic, New Jersey, was preparing to return to Normandy in 1994 for the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion when I met him. In this riveting interview, he describes the invasion of Normandy, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. A full transcript of the interview can be found at tankbooks.com The audio is included in the 11-hour audiobook "The D-Day Tapes" available at Oralhistoryaudiobooks.com and on eBay. As this interview is broken into three episodes, it is not necessary but is recommended that you list...
2021-02-0735 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew It"Tough Guy" Part 2: Sergeant Jim KoernerWar As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It is a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general. I'm Aaron Elson. This episode concludes my interview with Sergeant Jim Koerner, an engineer with the 10th Armored Division who was captured during the Battle of the Bulge.
2021-01-2245 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew It"Tough Guy": Jim Koerner, Part 1 In this picture, you'll notice a yellow manuscript on the table. I asked Jim Koerner about it. He said after the war he worked as a night foreman for a trucking company. He had time on his hands, and began writing down his experiences while they were fresh in his mind. He then put it in a drawer and didn't take it out for more than forty years. Its title was "Nine Lives." Read this excerpt and you'll understand why. (From the book: 9 Lives: An Oral History" (c) 1997, Aaron Elson) Highway to hell Dec. 16, ’44. Hot mis...
2021-01-1835 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItBastogne: 101st Airborne veteran Maurice Tydor, Part 1Maurice Tydor, a radio operator with the 101st Airborne Division, went into Normandy on an LST, into Holland on a glider, and into Bastogne on a truck. In this interview, he talks about the siege of Bastogne. This interview and several others is included in my Oral History Audiobook "D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge," available at aaronelson.com and eBay. D-Day and the Bulge The D-Day Tapes My Father's Tank Battalion, the podcast
2021-01-1233 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItBastogne: Maurice Tydor, 101st Airborne Division, Part 2War As My Father's Tank Battalion is a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general. In part 2 of this 1994 interview, Maurice Tydor, a former neighbor of mine, was a radio operator in the 101st Airborne Division during the siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Resources: myfatherstankbattalion.com The official podcast site aaronelson.com My author web site Oral History Audiobooks A wide range of World War II oral history audiobooks on CD mathewcaruso.com A tragic hero of the...
2021-01-1234 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItInterview With a Tank Driver: Tony D'Arpino Part 2 C Company veterans, from left, John Zimmer, Cecil Brock, Buck Hardee, Ralph Tambaro and Tony D'Arpino War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It is a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general, or maybe it's about General Patton in general and the Greatest Generation in particular. Whatever it's about, every episode is a piece in the ten thousand piece jigsaw of history, in the words and voices of the people who made it. In this and the previous episode, Tony D'Arpino of Milton, Massachusetts talks about driving...
2021-01-0440 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItInterview With a Tank Driver: Tony D'Arpino Part 1 Tony D'Arpino War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It is at a crossroads, perhaps not as complex as the intersection between time and space, but rather the intersection between stagnation and growth. Please give it a comment or a review wherever you listen to podcasts, be it spotify, gaana, audible, itunes or its host, libsyn. That will help attract new listeners and help the podcast grow. Today's episode is excerpted from my interview with Tony D'Arpino. Tony was a tank driver in C Company, but he was way more than that. He w...
2021-01-0337 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItFive 101st Airborne Veterans Talking Bastogne (Part 2)Aaron Elson sat in a lounge at West Point in 1994 with five veterans of the 101st Airborne Division as they reminisced about the siege of Bastogne. This episode concludes that conversation. For a transcript of the full conversation, please read the show notes for the previous episode (Episode 68). Important resources: aaronelson.com Myfatherstankbattalion oralhistoryaudiobooks.com A Mile in Their Shoes D-Day and the Bulge The D-Day Tapes
2020-12-1837 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItFive 101st Airborne Veterans Talking Bastogne (Part 1)In 1994 I was a guest at the annual "Nuts" dinner of the General Anthony McAuliffe New York-New Jersey Chapter of the 101st Airborne Division Association. Before the dinner, I sat at a table in the lounge with five of the veterans, Bill Druback, Frank Miller, Len Goodgal, John Miller and Mickey Cohen. One of them said, "He wants to hear about Bastogne." Due to the background noise which can be distracting, I'm including in the show notes a transcript of the full conversation. The transcript is included in my book "A Mile in Their Shoes: Conversations With...
2020-12-1548 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHitch Hiker Part 4: The ConclusionThis episode concludes the John Sweren story. It's a departure from my father's tank battalion but is well worth a listen, as it covers many of the universal themes of World War II: The post traumatic stress, the brushes with fate, the concept of heroism, the uplifting moments of humor in the darkest of circumstances, the importance of family and home and a future to return to. John's story of growing up on a farm with 2,000 chickens in the throes of the Great Depression, and of traveling the world as a paper mill executive later in life, are as...
2020-12-091h 10
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHitch Hiker Part 3: Close Encounter With a Buzz BombJohn Sweren of Mesa, Arizona, was a tail gunner on a B-26 in World War II, and a former prisoner of war. In 2005, he attended a ceremony in the Normandy village of Fierville-Bray for the dedication of a memorial to Hitch Hiker, his plane, which was shot down over the village with the loss of three of its crew members while three survived. John's story is a roller coaster of emotions. His memories are both unique -- as every flier had a different set of experiences and connections with family and friends -- and universal in the...
2020-12-0829 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHitch Hiker Part 2: Merry Christmas in JulyJohn Sweren of Mesa, Arizona, was a tail gunner on a B-26 Marauder in World War II. On July 28, 1944, while on his 58th mission, his bomber took a direct hit of flak and the tail section broke off with John in it. He survived to become a POW. John suggested the name Hitch Hiker for his B-26 and the crew approved. The nose art shows a woman modeled after Betty Grable with her thumb out and her skirt pulled up. On the ground is a suitcase with "TNT" painted on its side. Today there is a memorial...
2020-12-0749 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHitch Hiker Part 1: "One a Day in Tampa Bay" When I launched War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It, I intended it to be mostly about tanks. But the title is misleading, and I'm the person who came up with it. About half of my work comprises interviews and conversations with veterans and families of my father's 712th Tank Battalion. , and I thought, well, there are a lot of people who are interested in tanks. But there are also people who are interested in D-Day, and prisoners of war, and Marines, and air battles, and Gold Star families, and World War II in general, and those interviews com...
2020-12-0641 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThanksgiving in the RainOur nation spent Thanksgiving this year in the middle of a war that has claimed a quarter of a million lives. My father's tank battalion spent the Holidays in a different kind of war. Just as today, Thanksgiving was a special day.
2020-11-2809 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItCult of PersonalityThis episode of the War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It podcast is not about my father's 712th Tank Battalion. Rather, it is about Joseph Stalin. Ten years ago I met Ludwik Kowalski, a retired college professor who grew up in Russia and emigrated to the United States. His story is both powerful and timely in light of recent events.
2020-11-211h 16
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItAvez Vous de Erfs, and Other Stories of Food and WarYou've probably heard the phrase "An army travels on its stomach." In this collection of culinary anecdotes from Aaron Elson's archive of oral history interviews, I doubt that you'll find any recipes that would appeal to the Cooking Channel.
2020-11-151h 00
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItYou Could Die Laughing: Stories of Humor and WarIn one of Bill Mauldin's Willie and Joe cartoons, a grizzled sergeant says to his squad, "I need a volunteer what don't owe me money." Many combat veterans credited a sense of humor with helping them maintain their sanity. These are their stories.
2020-11-0445 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItCannon Fodder: Rifle Company Commander Arnold Brown Part 2Arnold Brown enlisted in the Army as a private in 1936 and despite having only an eighth grade education became a rifle company commander in the 90th Infantry Division. My father's 712th Tank Battalion was attached to the 90th for most of the war in Europe. Myfatherstankbattalion.com ; Aaronelson.com
2020-11-011h 04
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItCaptain Arnold Brown, Part 1Arnold Brown enlisted in the Army in 1936. Despite having only an eighth grade education, he rose in the ranks to become a rifle company commander in the 90th Infantry Division. He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for the battle of Oberwampach, where his company and tanks from my father's 712th Tank Battalion withstood nine German counterattacks.
2020-10-2653 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItMy Father's Tank Battalion: Booze and WarA few years ago I began experimenting with themed audio CDs, where I would take stories from interviews with different veterans that had the same theme: Stories about jumping out of airplanes, about food on the front, about growing up in the Great Depression, about meeting General Patton, about romance and religion and strange events. In this episode of Myfatherstankbattalion, I present some excerpts from the double audio CD "Booze and War."
2020-10-1635 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItDale Albee Part 3: Handlebar HankThis is the 56th episode of the podcast and it seems like I'm just getting started. I want to thank all of you who have listened to more than one episode. You can find episode titles and supplemental material at myfatherstankbattalion.com and aaronelson.com. An edited transcript of the Dale Albee interview in booklet form and for Kindle is available at amazon under the title "From the Cavalry to Czechoslovakia."
2020-10-0940 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItLieutenant Dale Albee, Part 2Dale Albee enlisted in the Army in 1938, became a sergeant in the horse cavalry, earned a battlefield commission as a tanker, and led a platoon of light tanks through the Battle of the Bulge, the Siegfried Line, across Germany, and into Czechoslovakia.
2020-10-0244 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItDale Albee: From the Cavalry to Czechoslovakia, Part 1Dale Albee enlisted in the horse cavalry in 1938, earned a battlefield commission in my father's tank battalion, and led a platoon of M3 Stuart light tanks from the time he was promoted until the battalion reached Czechoslovakia at the end of the war in Europe.
2020-09-2539 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe Kissless Bride, A "Late Date," and The Richest Man in TownLillian Feiler tells how she met her husband, Samuel Charles Feiler, a dentist in the 101st Airborne Division; Red Cross girl Kay Brainard Hutchins describes her romance with her second husband; and Nancy Mapes, wife of ex-prisoner of war Hal Mapes, tells how her young postwar family came to be featured in a photo spread in the Ladies Home Journal. For more about these and other stories please visit www.oralhistoryaudiobooks.com.
2020-09-1341 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItMaintenance officer Forrest Dixon Part 2In this episode of Myfatherstankbattalion, maintenance officer Forrest Dixon talks about battlefield commissions, guns, cameras, Hitler Youth, the Bridge at Remagen, Mein Kampf, a broken beer mug, the salt mine that would later be depicted in The Monuments Men, the Flossenburg concentration camp, and spark plugs. For information about previous episodes, please visit myfatherstankbattalion.com.
2020-09-1027 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItMajor Forrest Dixon, Part 1An onion farmer from Munith, Michigan, battalion maintenance officer Forrest Dixon was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for climbing into a tank whose engine was removed and singlehandedly knocking out a German tank. For more about this and other episodes, please visit myfatherstankbattalion.com.
2020-09-0552 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew It"Those 88s Are Breaking Up That Old Squad of Mine"Jim Cary and his ukelele led the annual Saturday night singalong in the hospitality room at reunions of my father's 712th Tank Battalion. He also was a company commander with two Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a story you'll want to hear. For more about this podcast, please visit myfatherstankbattalion.com
2020-08-3150 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItEd Stuever Part 2: "Watch My Smoke"In Part 2 of this 2005 interview, maintenance Sgt. Ed "Smoky" Stuever describes with remarkable clarity events from 60 years before. These include his experiences in the veterinary detachment of the horse cavalry, chaperoning Spanky McFarland, towing trucks onto Utah Beach after their engines sputtered out, getting drunk on mirabeille (white lightning) and making his captain pull guard duty, repairing tanks at night by the light from gun flashes, and helping a German woman and her three children escape from Russians near the end of the war. The episode is long and I've dispensed with the usual narrative, so I'll say it...
2020-08-091h 21
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItEd "Smoky" Stuever Part 1: The Song of IllinoisEd "Smoky" Stuever was a fixture at reunions of my father's 712th Tank Battalion. I would sit down with him and record a couple of stories every year. In this episode, he describes growing up on a farm, trapping muskrats and catching bullfrogs, winning a 4H competition, telling time by the sun, how his hearing-impaired father called square dances, how he met his wife, and being drafted into the horse cavalry. Check out my new web site, oralhistoryaudiobooks.com
2020-07-311h 12
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItTail Gunner Sam, Part 2Tail gunner Sam Mastrogiacomo shares the escapades and adventures of his months as an internee in Sweden, his youth in the tough neighborhood of South Philadelphia, and his return to Tibenham two days after the disastrous Kassel Mission. For more great interviews with World War II veterans, visit myfatherstankbattalion.com
2020-07-1257 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItTail Gunner Sam, Part 1My father's 712th Tank Battalion didn't win the war all by themselves. They had help from above. In today's episode, we meet Sam Mastrogiacomo, a tail gunner on a B-24 who, when bullets from a German fighter plane shattered the glass of his turret, thought about his mother getting a telegram that he had been killed. For a full list of episodes and extra background, please visit myfatherstankbattalion.com. For my books and audiobooks, visit aaronelson.com. Thank you. PS: This interview was recorded at a reunion. There are occasional brief interruptions, and a pesky air conditioner keeps kicking...
2020-07-0542 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItBig Andy: A Tank Driver in World War IIExciting news! My web site, https://www.myfatherstankbattalion.com, is now live with extra information about the episodes and a unit history of the battalion. Today, we meet Bob "Big Andy" Anderson, a tank driver who was awarded three Bronze Stars in 11 months of combat. The drivers in the 712th Tank Battalion were a close-knit community with a special set of skills.
2020-06-2258 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe Company CommanderClifford Merrill was the first of four A Company commanders. After recovering from wounds suffered in Normandy, he sat on a tribunal at the Dachau War Crimes trials, helped run a prison compound in the Korean War, and was wounded leading a convoy in Vietnam. To quote A Company veteran Sam Cropanese, "He wasn't afraid of nothin'!"
2020-06-1554 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe 4th of July on the 6th of JuneThe 712th Tank Battalion landed in Normandy on June 28, 1944. Twenty-two days earlier the D-Day invasion took place. In 1994, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of that historic day, I interviewed several D-Day veterans. Lou Putnoky was one of them.
2020-06-0650 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItGood News Bad NewsBob Levine was an 18 year old infantryman who was wounded, captured, and had a leg amputated by a German doctor in Normandy. Bob's daughter recently posted a photo of Bob and his wife Edith on Facebook with the notation that they both survived Covid-19, and Bob was just been released after two weeks in the hospital. Way to go, Bob! Today's episode is excerpted from my 1999 interview with Bob. For more on Hill 122 check out the nine earlier episodes on the battle.
2020-05-3021 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItMemorial Day: Pine ValleyMemorial Day, 2020. The 712th Tank Battalion monument in the memorial garden at the Patton Museum at Fort Knox has 100 names. The eighth name, going in alphabetical order, is Quentin Bynum, a tank driver who gave my father a lift to the front in Normandy. Quentin, whose nickname was Pine Valley, was a farmboy from Stonefort, Illinois ...
2020-05-2544 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItParis, IllinoisRussell Loop started out in the horse cavalry, became a driver in D Company of the 712th Tank Battalion and was transferred to C Company as a gunner in a medium Sherman tank just prior to the Battle of the Bulge. In this interview, he shares his experiences in 11 months of combat.
2020-05-171h 00
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThis episode is personalMy father, Lieutenant Maurice Elson, joined the 712th Tank Battalion in July of 1944. He was wounded in Normandy and again in Germany. He died of a heart attack before I began collecting the stories of his unit, but what I learned of his brief time with the battalion launched an avalanche of stories.
2020-05-0924 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHow Cold Was It? The Battle of the BulgeHow cold was it in the Battle of the Bulge? It was so cold that an assistant driver from Tennessee told George Bussell that when he got home, if it was the middle of July and he thought about how cold it was, he'd go out and build a fire. The mountainous roads going into Luxembourg and Belgium were so icy that 37 and 44 ton tanks were sliding all over the place. These are a few of the many stories about the Bulge told by veterans of the 712th Tank Battalion.
2020-04-2641 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItSam and Joe: Tank crewmates wounded at the Falaise GapSam Cropanese and Joe Bernardino were members of the same crew in A Company of the 712th Tank Battalion. They were both wounded at the Falaise Gap in mid-August of 1944. I interviewed Sam in Cape Coral, Florida, in 1993, and Joe in Rochester, New York, in 1994, 50 years after the war. Their story presents a vivid picture of life and death in a tank in World War II. Warning: Contains some graphic descriptions.
2020-04-1948 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew It"The Iron Cross and a Three-Day Pass" -- Habscheid, Feb. 8, 1945In episode 36 of War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It, Bob Rossi, Ed Spahr, Tony D'Arpino and Grayson Lamar offer their perspective on a battle that took place in Habscheid, Germany, a village in the Siegfried Line, on February 8, 1945. Warning: Graphic content.
2020-04-1226 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItA couple of tankers talking World War IIJim Knispel and Bill Whitley joined the 712th Tank Battalion as replacements in France. This interview, at the battalion's 2001 reunion, touches upon some of the significant events in the history of the battalion's A Company. Knispel was wounded when his tank was hit by a panzerfaust in a confrontation with SS troops who were defending the town of Merkers, where vast amounts of treasure were stored in a mine that would be depicted in the movie The Monuments Men.
2020-04-0632 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItA tank recovery driver in World War IIIn the712th Tank Battalion's 11 months on the front lines of World War II, there were many significant events: Hill 122, the Falaise Gap, the light tank that ran over a string of mines, the battle with the 106th Panzer Brigade at Mairy, the Saar River crossing at Dillingen, the Battle of the Bulge. Tank recovery unit driver Eugene Sand was involved in all of these and more.
2020-03-281h 05
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe Man Who Wasn't ThereYesterday upon the stair I saw a man who wasn't there He wasn't there again today I wish I wish he'd go away So begins the poem Antigonish by William Hughes Mearns, about a ghost in a village in Nova Scotia. According to theghoststory.com, it's the most famous ghost poem of all time. Who knew. Glenn Miller even performed it. In episode 32, I included audio from the driver, the assistant driver, the lieutenant and the loader of a tank that was knocked out in the Battle of the Bulge. Stanley...
2020-03-081h 02
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItOnce Upon a Tank in the BulgeAt the 1992 reunion of the 712th Tank Battalion, I sat at a table in the hospitality room with four veterans -- Jim Gifford, Ed Spahr, Bob Rossi and Tony D'Arpino -- whose Sherman tank was knocked out on January 10, 1945. They reconstructed the details of that day, and spoke about other events in the war. There is some graphic content in this episode of the War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It podcast.
2020-03-0245 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew It"What Do You Want, To Live Forever?"In this episode of War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It, Lieutenant Jim Gifford touches upon some of the major events in the history of the 712th Tank Battalion. These include the hedgerows of Normandy, the moonlight battle with the 106th German Panzer Brigade, and the taking of Maizieres les Metz.
2020-02-2341 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe Road to FalaiseThe independent 712th Tank Battalion spent 311 days in combat from Normandy to Czechoslovakia, and earned a reputation as the "armored fist" of the 90th Infantry Division. This episode of War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It follows Lieutenant Jim Gifford of C Company from his arrival as a replacement in Normandy to the Falaise Gap on August 18-19, 1944. Warning: This episode contains some graphic descriptions.
2020-02-1636 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItValentine's Day: Stories of Love and WarSometimes a veteran's wife would sit in on an interview, or I'd be chatting with a couple at a reunion of my father's tank battalion, and it was only natural at some point to ask the couple how they met. These are their stories.
2020-02-0635 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItLieutenant Warfield's WidowBefore Harry and Meghan, as royal scandals go, there was Princess Diana, and before Diana, there was Wallis Warfield Simpson, for whom King Edward VIII abdicated the throne. All the fuss about Meghxit got me to thinking about Lieutenant Marshall Warfield, who was a cousin of Wallis Warfield Simpson. This episode largely departs from the stories of combat and contains excerpts of my interview with Lieutenant Warfield's widow, Olga.
2020-01-2033 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHill 122 Part 9: The Turning PlowIn this episode, which concludes the series on Hill 122, Lieutenant Jim Flowers is reunited at the 1995 reunion of the 90th "Texas-Oklahoma" Infantry Division with Claude Lovett, who led the platoon that rescued him and Jim Rothschadl; and Dr. William McConahey, who treated their wounds and later wrote about Flowers in his book "Battalion Surgeon."
2019-12-2543 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew It"It says here hand to hand combat ... that's me."Many podcasts have background music. In this and a couple of other episodes, the background music is provided by a radio or TV playing in the next room. It's annoying, but only a minor distraction from the compelling events being described. In Part 8 of the Hill 122 series, you'll hear from Michael Vona, Clarence Morrison and Kenneth Titman, whose tank was one of four that were knocked out in the battle. Vona gives a chilling account of hand to hand combat. For more about Hill 122, go to the Audio Books aisle of the WW2 Oral History Store at aaronelson.com...
2019-12-151h 02
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHill 122, Part 7: A Side Trip to AnzioWhen Myron Kiballa received the letter from his family telling him his brother Jerry was killed, he had just gotten out of the hospital after being wounded at Anzio. Reading the letter, he said, was like entering the Twilight Zone. For more of the story of Hill 122, visit aaronelson.com/the-middle-of-hell. There will be more about Hill 122 in the next few podcast episodes. First, though, let's hear about Anzio.
2019-11-1834 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHill 122, Part 6: No Man's LandIn this episode Lieutenant Jim Flowers and his gunner describe the two days and nights they spent in no man's land waiting to be rescued and fearing they wouldn't. But first, we solve the mystery of how a fellow named Rothschadl grew up on an Anishanaabe Indian reservation in Minnesota. For more on the battle of Hill 122 involving the first platoon, Company C, of the 712th Tank Battalion, check out They Were All Young Kids in print or for Kindle at amazon, or order the audio epic "The Middle of Hell" in the ecommerce section of aaronelson.com.
2019-11-1051 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHill 122, Part 5: Lieutenant Jim Flowers' statementThis episode of War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It begins with a description of a letter gunner Jim Rothschadl wrote to his younger brother from his hospital bed, and concludes with a statement Lieutenant Jim Flowers wrote from his hospital bed after being recommended for the Medal of Honor (he received the Distinguished Service Cross). There will be more from my interviews with Flowers and Rothschadl in the next episode.
2019-11-0822 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHill 122, Part 4: Survivor GuiltTank commander Judd Wiley describes a harrowing week of combat leading up to the battle for Hill 122, in which nine members of the First Platoon, Company C, 712th Tank Battalion were killed. Among them were the tight-knit crew of Wiley's Sherman tank, a day after he was injured and evacuated. For Wiley's full interview, and interviews with several survivors of the battle, check out "The Middle of Hell" in the ecommerce store at aaronelson.com, or "They Were All Young Kids" in print and for Kindle at amazon.
2019-11-0442 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHill 122, Part 3: The kettenkradOn July 10, 1944, four Sherman tanks of the first platoon, C Company, 712th Tank Battalion came to the rescue of a 90th Infantry Division battalion that was surrounded by German paratroopers. After breaking through the German lines and leading an infantry company off of Hill 122, the four tanks kept going. The infantry, having sustained heavy casualties, dug in at the base of the hill. Soon all four tanks were knocked out, three of them bursting into flames. In this episode, we hear from Lieutenant Jim Flowers, the platoon leader, and Sergeant Judd Wiley, a tank commander. For more about Hill 122...
2019-10-2949 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHill 122 Part 2: Tank gunner Louis GerrardThe story of the First Platoon, Company C, 712th Tank Battalion in the battle for Hill 122 contains many universal themes that run through the stories of World War II veterans: survivor's guilt, fate, courage, heroism, irony, among others. Hill 122 Part 2 is excerpted from a 1993 interview with Louis Gerrard and his brother Jack. The gunner in Captain Jack Sheppard's tank, Lou lost an eye when his tank was hit and played dead while German soldiers searched him and took his watch. A 17-CD oral history "epic," The Middle of Hell, is available in the ecommerce section at aaronelson.com and...
2019-10-2250 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItHill 122, Part 1The destruction of the First Platoon, Company C, on July 10, 1944 -- four tanks knocked out, three of them "flamers"; nine of 20 crew members killed, several wounded, two captured -- was a defining moment in the history of my father's tank battalion. Lieutenant Jim Flowers would be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross after leaving parts of both legs "on a piece of bloody French real estate." The next few episodes of the War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It podcast will include interviews with survivors and people directly related to the battle. Narratives from my interviews are in the...
2019-10-1843 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe Kassel Mission: George CollarIn this episode of War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It, we take a detour from the hedgerows of Normandy and the banks of the Moselle River, and hitch a ride on a B-24 into the dangerous skies above Germany. This interview was recorded in 1999 and there is some background noise on portions of the tape. Running time: An hour and 25 minutes.
2019-09-301h 25
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe Kassel Mission, Part 1While visiting a village in Germany where my father's tank battalion lost several men near the end of the war in Europe, I learned of a spectacular aerial battle that took place in the area. Sept. 27, 2019 is the 75th anniversary of that battle.
2019-09-2339 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe Barroom BrawlPhenix City, Alabama was off limits, but that didn't stop tankers and paratroopers from going there. Tank driver George Bussell and tank commander Reuben Goldstein took part in a brawl at Ma Beachie's, an iconic establishment in a city described in a government report as the "wickedest city" in America. But first, a couple of anecdotes about a friendly fire incident and a mad gunner, both of which will be elaborated on further in future episodes of War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It.
2019-09-1225 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe General Patton EpisodeMany veterans of my father's 712th Tank Battalion had stories about General George S. Patton, also known as "old Blood & Guts." The 712th, attached to the 90th Infantry Division, was part of Patton's vaunted Third Army. It was not uncommon to hear a veteran quote a Patton speech almost word for word more than 45 years later. As for his language, Arnold Brown, a rifle company commander in the 90th, said it best. His company was bringing up the rear on a road march, and had acquired several stragglers, when Patton drove up and asked "Who the blankety blank is...
2019-08-2923 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItConversation With a Tank GunnerClaude Pittman was a Sherman tank gunner in the first platoon of A Company, 712th Tank Battalion. In this conversation, he talks about a tank-to-tank duel, about fear, about coming back after being burned, about a close call, about being cooped up in a tank for days at a time, about a tanker who had combat fatigue, about humor, about liberating some American prisoners, but first, a story about going to visit a member of his company on his way home from a reunion.
2019-08-1923 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItNever Salute an Officer With a Cigarette in Your HandEd "Smoky" Stuever, a maintenance sergeant in the 712th Tank Battalion, never missed a reunion. He loved to bring memorabilia from his days in the Civilian Conservation Corps and the horse cavalry. As I go through the digitized files of interviews and conversations I recorded some 25 years ago, I'm finding a treasure trove of stories from Ed and many others that I'll be sharing as the podcast grows. I welcome comments and questions and even relevant audio clips that listeners would like to share.
2019-08-1319 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItA 1992 conversation with three World War II tankersAnother tanker's son brought a picture taken from German documentary footage of a disabled tank with 712th markings to the 1992 reunion, hoping to find someone who could identify the circumstances and the crew. Spoiler alert: The results were inconclusive. but the nearly hourlong conversation the image sparked went in several directions that give some insight into life as a tanker in World War II. The cover photo is a generic illustration taken from the battalion's unit history.
2019-08-0657 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItA Tale of Two TonsillectomiesMy father joined the 712th Tank Battalion as a replacement in Normandy, but many of the battalion's original members were in the horse cavalry in California before the United States entered the war. Under the Selective Service Act, draftees were obligated to serve a year. Early in 1941 President Roosevelt asked Congress to extend the period of military service, leading to the acronym OHIO -- Over the Hill in October -- which became a popular saying among the recruits. When Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, many of those servicemen whose year was almost up, including Art Horn, who had...
2019-08-0219 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThe Runaway TankThere's no easy way to stop a runaway Sherman tank, as Sergeant Dan Diel learned at Fort Benning in 1943. But first, an introduction to Colonel Whitside Miller, the 712th Tank Battalion's original commander who inspired an insurgency among his officers. Check out this and earlier episodes of War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It.
2019-07-2623 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItMy Father's Tank Battalion: The Death of ShortyMarion "Shorty" Kubeczko and Ed "Smoky" Stuever were buddies in the 11th (horse) Cavalry. They remained close when the 11th was mechanized as part of the 10th Armored Division and when the 712th Tank Battalion was broken out of the division as an independent unit. Stuever was a sergeant in the battalion's Service Company, and Kubeczko was the driver of his tank recovery unit. Shorty was killed during the battle for Hill 122 in Normandy. In this episode of "War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It," Stuever describes some of those first moments of combat, and the pain of...
2019-07-1633 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItThis Old HorseIn this episode, Ed "Smoky" Stuever, a maintenance sergeant in the 712th Tank Battalion, shares some memories of his time in the horse cavalry in 1941 before the 11th Cavalry was transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia, as part of the cadre of the 10th Armored Division.
2019-07-0719 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItJuly 4, 1944July 4th came a day early in 1944 with a massive artillery barrage in preparation for an assault on the Haye du Puits sector of the Normandy campaign. The 712th Tank Battalion suffered numerous casualties on its first day of combat. Lt George Tarr became the first officer in A Company to be killed. Sgt. William Schmidt was the first member of C company to be killed. In this episode, Jim Rothschadl, a gunner in C Company, talks about the meaning of the Fourth of July, and Stanley Klapkowski describes the death of Sergeant Schmidt.
2019-07-0406 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItPfaffenheck, Part 3: The TelegramIdentical twins Maxine Wolfe Zirkle and Madalene Wolfe Litten, in a 1993 interview, talk about the day the telegram arrived informing them of the death of their brother, Billy, in World War II. On 16 March 1945 the second platoon of Company C, 712th Tank Battalion, went to the assistance of a company of the 90th Infantry Division that was taking heavy casualties in a battle with elements of the 6th SS Mountain Division North. The platoon leader, Francis "Snuffy" Fuller, described the battle in Pfaffenheck as his "worst day in combat." He had four men killed, three wounded, and lost three...
2019-06-2314 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItA Cow in a TreeNormandy in World War II was not a good place to be if you were a farm animal. George Bussell, a driver in A Company of the 712th Tank Battalion, describes with wonder the sight of a cow that was blown into the air and landed in the fork of a tree. In a later interview, Joe Bernardino, also of A Company, describes what may have been the same scene, with a far more tragic twist.
2019-06-2107 min
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew ItMy Father's Tank Battalion: Pfaffenheck, Part 2On 16 March 1945 the second platoon of Company C, 712th Tank Battalion, fought a battle in Pfaffenheck, Germany, in what Lieutenant Francis "Snuffy" Fuller called "my worst day in combat." His platoon lost four men killed, three wounded, and had three tanks knocked out. In this episode Aaron Elson, whose father served in the 712th, presents accounts of the battle from several of its participants.
2019-05-3048 min