Taps: Martin Winkle

Martin Winkle, of Monaca PA and G Company, 133rd Infantry Regiment, a 3-year Trustee of the National Association and President of the Tri-State Chapter, passed away on 15 April 2008.

He was laid to rest on 21 April with full military honors at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Bridgeville PA. Active duty officers and veterans' organization members served as his honor guard.

Cards and letters for Martin's family can be sent to his niece,
            Carol Ferry
            125 Linden Court
            Seven Fields PA 16046
More information will be placed online as it is received.

Update: Martin's obituary appeared in the Beaver County Times, 20 April 2008. The bulk of his militaria collection will be donated to the Iowa Gold Star Museum and Education Center, Iowa National Guard, at Camp Dodge, Johnston IA.

News, Notes, and Updates

Newsletters and Reunion Registrations

The current Tri-State Chapter Newsletter is now online. as well as a downloadable copy of the Registration Form for the Pittsburgh reunion on 10-13 July. The reunion location is the Holiday Inn Greentree, site of last year's reunion. Both documents are in PDF format.

The current National Newsletter is now online. as well as a downloadable copy of the Registration Form for the Des Moines reunion on 4-7 September. The reunion location is the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites at Merle Hay Road, just south of I-35. Both documents are in PDF format.

135th Infantry Regiment in World War II

A collection of 17 PDF files, totaling 126 MB, brings online almost 700 pages of a draft official 135th Infantry Regiment history. This has been posted on our companion website, Military History Network.

A directory webpage, 135th Infantry History identifies each downloadable file by its date, phase of operations, and size. If you have any 135th Infantry connection, we suggest that you download at least the Foreword section - 12 pages - which includes the contents and outline information along with an overview history of both Regiment and Division.

That extensive history document is on the other website because I am now doing some work as senior historian for the Gold Star Museum at Camp Dodge. We're using the internet as a tool for exchanging documents and various reports. At the same time, we want to be able to share that work with you.

Please get in touch with me by e-mail if you would like to have this particular history on a digital CD.

Members' Discussions 'Guest Book'

We launched as of 15 February a Guest Book resource for this website which will support your Members' Discussions, with a permanent link at the top of this page.

To counteract the massive automated 'spam' problem we had on an earlier message board, you will now need to enter a four-character code when you are ready to upload your message; the code is a part of the message form. I realize it's a bit of a bother, but it's the first line of defense to the hundred-plus nuisance messages per day that forced us to kill our earlier implementation.

168th Infantry Regiment in North Africa

A report by Col. Thomas Drake, commanding the 168th Infantry Regiment in Tunisia, was recently uncovered at the Iowa Gold Star Military Museum. This was his official report of the actions leading up to the capture of much of the Regiment in February 1943. It is now available here as a PDF file, 6.5 MB, Tunisian Operations, 168th Infantry.

In accepting Col. Drake's report, Major General Charles Ryder wrote on 1 May 1945:
"Knowing the conditions, I can only marvel at the gallantry of the 168th Infantry and yourself in the face of overwhelming odds. You and you alone were fighting the entire German armored force of General Rommel and the delay you caused saved the Allied Forces in Southern Tunisia from disaster. Both of you wrote a page in Amerioan history for which you can be well proud. The blame for your defeat can only be layed on the shoulders of those who completely failed to come to your support as had been planned."

Veteran Information and Searches

We now have online a new message forum implementation for the Veteran Information and Searches board which we had provided in the past. The permanent link appears at the top of this page. The return has been long-overdue, but it had to await a more 'spam'-resistant implementation.

The 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division came home from Iraq last August. Pictures of 1-133rd Infantry Battalion return are online here in a separate photo story webpage. The battalion is recognized as having had the longest single deployment of a National Guard unit in the present conflict.

A paper has been published by webmaster Patrick Skelly on World War II Chaplains in Combat (a PDF File). A major portion of this paper looks at Chaplain (Capt.) Albert Hoffman, 133rd Infantry Regiment, and at Chaplain (Capt.) Israel Yost, 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

Taps, Again

The 'Vacant Chairs' of the Desert Bulls.

Many of our own soldiers - the 34th Infantry Division "Desert Bulls" - have died in the U.S. Central Command theater. These losses are detailed in 34th Inf. Div. NG Casualties.

We know, from our own experiences in World War II, what it means to lose a fellow Red Bull. To their families, their friends, their comrades of this generation, we present this small remembrance in their honor, in your honor.