Dr. Walt’s Latest World War II Blogs

Ross Calvert, Phil’s good friend from Officer Candidate School two years before, walked him into the building, where Phil’s men rose to attention. “At ease!” Ross […]

In the middle of February, the weather turned rainy, and the wind was sharp and ice-cold. Phil and the other men were a miserable bunch, and […]

Phil was one of 182 men (17 officers and 165 enlisted men, including men returning from the hospital) who received slips indicating they would be replacements […]

On February 19, 1944, Phil received his orders to report to the 30th Infantry Regiment on the Anzio Beachhead. Late that afternoon, he hopped aboard a truck […]

Phil returned the next day and began instruction with the master and one of his apprentices, Antonio, who was bilingual. “He wants you to mount one […]

After arriving on the docks at Naples, the ever-present Army 6×6 trucks were waiting to take Phil and the other second lieutenants to the Replacement Depot, […]

On February 16, 1944, the Germans had completely surrounded the Allies that were pinned down on the Anzio Beachhead — which the men quickly named ‘The […]

In Oran, Phil was among 200 infantry lieutenants who boarded the Highland Queen, a small British steamer bound for Naples, Italy. He was part of a […]

Orders were issued for 1,000 men, including Phil, to board narrow-gauge railroad cars for a three-day train ride across Morocco and Algeria to Oran, a major […]

Phil had written his mother about letting “a cute girl that I met near camp teach me French.” He also learned from her about a Moroccan […]