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The following is a slightly edited, firsthand narrative of his service during WW II.
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“Shortly after my 18th birthday and at the beginning of senior year at Verona High School I was inducted on October 3rd, 1944, at the Newark Armory. We spent a week getting shots, uniforms, etc. Training was cut from 17 weeks to 15 because of the Battle of the Bulge. We reported to Ft. Meade, Maryland where they issued us tons of clothing, heavy overcoats, helmets, gas mask, etc. I think they used us as bearers to carry the stuff for the Service of Supply. We boarded the Aquitania, the third largest ocean liner at the time with thousands of other GI’s. We landed in Glasgow, Scotland, took a train to South Hampton England where we boarded a ship for Le Harve, France. After going through a series of Replacement Depots we arrive at the 78th Division Headquarters in Bonn, Germany. The next day, March 23rd, we were trucked to M Company, Third Battalion on the Sieg River across from the city of Siegburg.
My first night on the front lines we commandeered a large house and farm on the edge of town. From a high hill in Siegburg the Germans had excellent observation of our side of the river. All the crossroads were zeroed in. Whenever the mess crew delivered our chow, the jeep jockeys would lollygag along until they neared the crossroad. Soon after dashing through the target area the “88” rounds would come in. Their artillery never did time it right. Also, they never shelled the house we were in. I am sure the enemy knew we were there and suspect they also knew who owned the house.
Early on the morning of April 6th we jumped off in the Ruhr Pocket. The Division drove northeast through the center of the Ruhr Valley, taking town after town and countless prisoners. At places there was heavy resistance and many casualties. I do remember April 9th when attached to H Company waking up to intense sniper fire. During this time, I also experienced my first mortar and 88 attack. Unfortunately, at the back of the column where I was, the culvert we were using for cover ended. I think I got all my body under my helmet. The German army was about to surrender in Wuppertal. The night before, they tried to use up all their ammo. Their artillery fired the heaviest barrage of the war, or so I was told. I slept through the whole thing in a bunk bed in a summer house on the outskirts of the city.
Over the next four weeks we were trucked to Gummersbach to guard 60,000 prisoners in a valley outside of town; then moved to Bonn to man checkpoints and guard equipment depots. We next moved to Homberg and Germany officially surrendered on May 9th. In July we moved to Balhorn and at this point began training to go to Japan. I joined the boxing team to get out of night training. Japan surrendered and WW II ended on September 2, 1945. In a short time, we were put on detached service with the Battalion boxing team in Ippinghausen. After losing my first and only fight (by points), I received a ten-day pass to the British Isles. The trip took almost a month. When I returned, the Regiment was preparing to move to Berlin. Our occupation duties included the manning of guard posts at gas works, breweries, train stations and freight yards, the Berlin district stockade, Spandau Prisoners of War facility, Red Cross clubs and riot squad duty at the Excelsior Hotel. At this point the redeployment of troops to be sent home and discharged hit our company. To bring us up to strength we received many new recruits. I moved from section Sgt. to the 2nd Platoon Sgt.
In the summer of 1946, they deactivated the 78th Division and we were transferred to the 3rd Infantry Regiment at the SS barracks outside of Berlin. While in the 3rd I was eligible for a 10-day pass in Switzerland and when I returned the point system was down to my total. It was my time to become a civilian. We boarded a train to Bremerhaven and waited for a ship. After a week on the high seas, we docked in Staten Island and got a train to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. I immediately got a pass and was home by 5 o’clock. After a couple days I was sent to Ft. Dix Separation Center and was officially a civilian on August 1st, 1946. “
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Following the war Jack completed high school and attended St. Peter’s College. While working summers “down the shore” in Spring Lake he met Elizabeth Scheuermann from Westfield. They were married at Holy Trinity in 1952. After a few years living in Illinois, they returned to Westfield in 1970. He balanced his career as a manager for the Pennwalt Corporation with his family life, volunteer work for the Boy Scouts, membership in the Knights of Columbus, playing sports, traveling, and camping. He passed away peacefully in June 2022 at the age of 95.
