Wednesday, November 11, 2009

A Veteran Salute

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

To my grandfather (on left), who fought in WWII and loved every single minute.  Known to most as George, or as my grandmother called him “Bum” (not sure why!), he was better known to me as Poppy. My grandmother captured his journey in this lovely hand-painted album. I’m not sure what the significance of this album coming from “Green Cove Springs, Fla.” is exactly. I thought maybe he was stationed there or trained there, but inside the cover there is an inscription that says otherwise. So, that part will remain a mystery. (Although in a footnote below I did find some information connected to WWII there.) Maybe he shipped out from there?

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey


Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey


Above is the inscription page and in case you can’t read it here it what it says in my grandmother’s handwriting:

“S/Sgt. George Sherow 32947541 CO. H. 328th Inf. A.P.O. 26
Entered U. S. Army Dec. 3, 1943.
Trained at Camp Wolters, Texas & Camp Shelby, Miss.
Home on furlough May 1944.
Last 12 hr. pass Aug. 14, 1944
Left for overseas Aug. 1944
With the 26th Yankee Division through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria & Czeck.
Wounded in action Dec. 1944 awarded Purple Heart.
Also holds combat infantryman badge and E. T. O (?) ribbons with four battle stars.
(Note: I think E. T. stand for European Theater Ribbon.)
Awarded Silver Star for gallantry in action.
Home after 15 months overseas.
Discharged November 13th, 1945

At the top of the page is written “arrived in States Nov 8 -45. Home Nov 45 on Howard Victory.”

This silly photo is marked “Taken in Texas 1943” on the back, so it must have been when he was first in boot camp. I think the horse is real, but who knows? Eh, caballero!

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey


Here he is with my grandmother. The date on the back is ” May 1944,” so I am thinking this was his furlough.

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

The album is full of photos of war time events and people. The names, meaningless to me, are written under the photos of long ago war time buddies. Countries are documented as they made their way across Europe.

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

I remember my grandfather telling stories about the war and having met General Patton himself and what a great man and leader he was. I thought it was interesting how he wrote on these photos where Patton was in these two shots. He’s in there somewhere, we just have to trust Poppy.

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

Also Patton related were several post cards of the famous Lipizzaner stallions marked “Horse show in Vienna,” and this one marked “Patton’s Horse.”

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

Now, I doubt this is really Patton’s own horse but there is some reason the photo is labelled that way, both on the back and underneath. Patton did indeed attend a show of the Lipizzaner stallions while in Vienna (and it would seem the two photos above were taken at that very same event!) and was paramount in their rescue during the war.  Here is a link to that story.

A few other pages in the album are worth another look. This one with a ticket from the mess hall stating that the first meal was at 7:30 a.m. and the second was at 4:30 p.m. That seems pretty early to eat in the evening for a hungry soldier! Also on this page, an Army exchange ration card.

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey


One with photos of Austria and a row of stamps with Hitler’s image. Note the inscription under the stamps!

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey


Another page has clippings from the newspaper of his promotions and medals.

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey


Accompanying the album is a small box marked “medals.” I could swear there used to be a paper inside this box that told about his Purple Heart but it’s not there now.

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

Also in the box is this silver dollar. The note attached to it says “this dollar went with Poppy overseas and came back with him as you can see by all he wrote on it.” It was his good luck dollar, and everywhere he went he wrote his destination.

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

And last but not least, the box also contained this newsletter which must have been printed on the ship home—The Howard Victory.

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey


And here they are on the ship home. (Poppy is in the middle of the three men.)

Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

I hope you’ve enjoyed your peek into this wonderful album my grandparents left behind. I know I’ve learned a few things I overlooked before.

On this day, thank you Poppy for your commitment to your country. I’m proud of you!

Thanks to all who serve: past, present and future.


Lynne Robinson, Hewitt, New Jersey

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Welcome, I'm Lynne. You know me better as a 'new' Jersey Girl. But now I've moved once again, this time to North Carolina. Here I write about my thoughts, good food, and of course, dogs.

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