D-Day + 4

By Joseph W. Mann Jr.

A few days ago we somberly marked the anniversary of the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy, France to retake them from the entrenched German forces and begin the long push to Berlin. But June 10th marks an anniversary a little closer to home for this author. This year is the 77th anniversary of when the U.S. 9th Infantry Division landed at Utah Beach, 4 days after the primary Allied invasion to recapture France had begun. With them was Lt. Vinnie Mann of Hoboken, New Jersey, as a member of the 39th Regimental Combat Team under the colorful leadership of Colonel Harry “Paddy” Flint.

“A sunny day. July 4, 1944, near Valones, France.” A comrade snapped this photo of Vinnie enjoying a break in the fighting. Photo courtesy of Vincent James Mann.

The 39th Regimental Combat Team was nicknamed by Flint “AAA-O” (Anything, Anywhere, Anytime, Bar Nothing) as a morale boosting move and he had the label painted on every vehicle and sign he could — including his soldiers’ helmets — to remind them of their mission. The 39th was part of General Manton S. Eddy’s 9th Infantry Division “Hitlers Nemesis.” This group landed on Utah Beach following D-Day after months of training in England. While their landing was less fraught with danger than the first invaders four days earlier, no cakewalk awaited them. The Allies had secured the beaches but the toehold was still tenuous and did not stretch very far inland. Vinnie had recently celebrated his 25th birthday in England waiting for the go orders on the invasion, but when he hit the shores of France he was no green recruit: in the past year and a half he’d traversed the rugged terrain of North Africa with the 39th from the first landings to recapture Algiers, to Tunisia, and on to the heavy fighting to take Sicily.

General Manton Eddy (9th Division commander) reviews troops with Colonel Paddy Flint (39th RCT commander), at Les Pieux July 4, 1944. Photo by Vincent James Mann.

Now, after unloading men and materiel on the beaches of Normandy, the 39th wasted no time pushing into the Cotentin Peninsula and through the terrible hedgerow fighting of the area to break German resistance. After all of his regular duties as a liaison officer ferrying news and orders between command posts, Vinnie still took the time to indulge a shutterbug hobby to document many of the sights he saw or, on occasion, had others photograph him. During a brief lull in the fighting in early July, Vinnie captured scenes in Valognes, France following its liberation on June 20th. On a sunny July 4th he captured on film a troop review by General Eddy and Colonel Flint in Les Pieux. It’s very possible this event was where Vinnie received the Combat Infantryman Badge awarded to him and Pvt. Joseph Becker (also of Hoboken) by General Eddy. The news even made it back home to an article in The Jersey Observer where parents John and Stella (Kearns) Mann waited nervously for any word of their son.

Summer 1944 article in The Jersey Observer reporting that Vinnie Mann and one other Hoboken soldier had received the Combat Infantryman Badge.

But by July 9th, the 9th Infantry Division and the 39th RCT were back in action for an offensive on the town of Saint-Lô-Périers. A small and ancient town, Saint-Lô had the misfortune of being on a confluence of roads to all points in Normandy, making it a strategic point in the Allied offensive. Although the fighting was slow and deadly, several days before breaking through the German positions and out of the Normandy zone on July 25, the 9th Infantry Division succeeded in cutting the Saint-Lô-Périers road. Vinnie snapped a photo of some of the destruction from the battle on July 21.

Still, there was little time for rest and “sightseeing.” Colonel Flint led them onward in the race to push the Germans out of the Cotentin area. The official stories tell that on the Saint-Lô-Périers road, Paddy’s men were held up by heavy mortar fire. Up in front of the action, as usual, the Colonel and a rifle patrol found the trouble. In his characteristic style, he said over the walkie-talkie: “Have spotted pillbox. Will start them cooking.”¹ Colonel Flint then called for a tank and rode atop it in a rain of fire as it sprayed the hedgerows. Actions like these had led General Patton to comment about the beloved leader: “Paddy Flint is clearly nuts, but he fights well.”²

The desolation of Saint-Lô, Normandy, France, after the battle to recapture it. Taken on July 21, 1944. Photo by Vincent J Mann.

The ruins of Chérencé-le-Roussel after the fighting (late July 1944). Photo by Vincent James Mann.

In the ensuing fight for Saint-Lô, the tank driver was wounded. Paddy crawled down and went forward on foot. Vinnie was perhaps a hundred yards away when a sniper’s bullet found his commander leading the patrol into the shelter of a farmhouse. When the medics soon came up they loaded the Colonel on a stretcher. A Private encouraged him, “Remember, Paddy, you can’t kill an Irishman — you can only make him mad.”³ Colonel Flint smiled at the comment as they started to the rear. He died the next day, July 24th.

Wrecked German tank smashed during breakthrough captioned “One of the 19 German tanks smashed out at breakthru at Chérencé-le-Roussel S of Martini.” Martini possibly refers to the French town of Marigny, which is some distance north of Chérencé-le-Roussel and west of Saint-Lo. Taken late July 1944. Photo by Vincent James Mann.

Later in July, after the breakthrough into more open country had been attained, Vinnie again found a moment to catalog the cost of war. This time he was in Chérencé-le-Roussel, France, surveying the rubble from another battle. The destruction he captured on film was terrible, yet only a preview of what was still to come in the remaining 10 months of the European war.

In memory of my great uncle Vincent J. Mann (1919-2010), whose army service in June 1944 was more than halfway through, but far from over. And for all the others who served and are gone, rest in peace.

June-July 1944 travels of 1st Lt. Vincent Mann during the Normandy Campaign. The towns and dates in green are overlaid on a 1944 Army Corps of Engineers map that Vincent Mann carried with him.

Sources & Notes:

¹ Max Hastings. Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy. Simon & Schuster. 1984. pg. 252
² “Patton’s Quotes”. Archived from the original site (now offline) on 2005-09-20. Retrieved 2005-11-15.
³ William Breuer. Death of a Nazi Army: The Falaise Pocket. Madison Books. 1997. Pg 55.
“Combat Infantryman Badge.” Wikipedia. Accessed 1/4/2009
“Combat Infantryman Badge.” Paragraph 2-6, Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) 25 February 1995. American Division Veterans Association Web Site. Accessed 6/25/2008 Original Link (now offline).
“Local Infantrymen Win Badges.” The Jersey Observer. July 1944. The Jersey City Free Public Library. Accessed June 2008.
“Harry Albert Flint” Arlington National Cemetery. Accessed 6/25/2009
“9th Infantry Division”. 9th Infantry Division Society. Accessed 6/25/2009
“9th Infantry Division”. US Army Center of Military History. pgs 84-87. Accessed 6/25/2009
“39th Infantry Regiment.” Wikipedia. Accessed 6/25/2009

Honoring Our Departed Veterans

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a federal holiday for honoring and mourning the military personnel who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. The holiday is now observed on the last Monday of May, having previously been observed on May 30th from 1868 to 1970. It was at one time but now seldom called Decoration Day and has somewhat murky origins with many places claiming to have started the tradition of decorating soldiers’ graves. The practice has been performed both before and after the American Civil War.

In any case, it is appropriate that today we share two links:

West New York, New Jersey Veterans of World War II: A project that compiles names of people from West New York who served in the military during World War II and refers to newspaper articles documenting their lives, families, wounds, and deaths during the war. The project was started by Estela Longo, head reference librarian, under direction of Mr. Weiling Lai, West New York Library Director, Patrick Cullen, Town Historian, and volunteer historian Alan Ballester. Images are forthcoming, but you can browse the list of names on the website of the Hudson County Genealogical & Historical Society here.

Civil War Soldiers Buried in Hudson County Cemeteries, part of the larger New Jersey Civil War Gravestones Project here.

Please observe a moment of silence today to remember those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice.

Never Forget – 2019 Tribute

Empty Sky 9/11 Memorial LSP

On September 11, 2011 the Jersey Journal printed an article listing the names of individual with ties to Hudson County who were killed in the terrorist attacks committed on 9/11/2001.

By The Jersey Journal

“They were mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, coworkers and loved ones – residents and former residents of Hudson County – who perished Sept. 11, 2001, in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and on the hijacked United Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.

No Hudson County residents are known among the victims of the attack on the Pentagon.

This memorial list has been compiled by comparing information provided by relatives and local officials with the list of victims provided by the government. Unless otherwise noted, all died in the Twin Towers.”

9/11 Hudson County Casualties

Agarwal, Alok 36 Jersey City

Aguiar, Joao Jr. 30 Hoboken

Allegretto Edward L. 51 Colonia formerly of Jersey City

Amoroso, Christopher 29 Staten Island formerly of North Bergen and Bayonne

Andrucki, Jean A 42 Hoboken

Apollo Peter Paul 26 Hoboken

Arlene T. Babakitis, 47 Secaucus

Barbosa, Ivan Kyrillos Fairbanks 30Jersey City

Basmajian, Alysia 23 Bayonne

Bella, Andrea Della 59 Jersey City

Donna Bernaerts Kearns, 44, Hoboken

Bordeaux, Sherry Ann 38 Jersey City

Bordenabe, Krystine C. 33 Old Bridge formerly of Jersey City

Boryczewski, Martin 29 Hoboken

Brandemarti, Nicholas W. 21 Hoboken

Bright, Gary L 36 Union City

Broderick, Mark Francis 42 Old Bridge formerly of Bayonne

Calderon, Edward 44 Jersey City

Cashman, William Joseph 60 West New York United Flight 93

Centeno, Ana M 38 Bayonne

Chalasini, Swarna 33 Jersey City

Cirri, Robert Dominick 39 Nutley Port Authority Police Lt., formerly of Guttenberg

Cisneros, 23, Juan Pablo Alvarez Weehawken

Colasanti, Christopher M 33 Hoboken

Colbert, Michel Paris 39 West New York

Cooper, John A 40 Bayonne

Costello, Michael S. 27 Hoboken

Cramer, Christopher Seton 34, Manahawkin formerly of Hoboken

Cruz, John Robert 32 Jersey City

Cudina, Richard Joseph 46 Glen Gardner formerly of Secaucus

Cushing, Patricia 69 Bayonne United Flight 93

Cushny, Gavin 47, Hoboken

Deloughery, Colleen Ann 41 Bayonne

DeRienzo, Michael37 Hoboken

DeSantis, Jamal Legesse 28, Jersey City

Dickinson, Lawrence Patrick 35 Formally of Bayonne

Diehl, Michael David 48 Brick Formally of Jersey City

Dincuff, Christopher 31 Jersey City

DiStefano, Douglas Frank 24 Hoboken

Doany, Ramzi A. 35 Bayonne

Dollard, Neil M. 28 Hobooken

Echtermann, Margaret Ruth 33 Hboken

Eckna, Paul Robert 28 West New York

Egan, Samantha 24 Jersey City

Etzold, Barbara G. 43 Jersey City

Evans, Eric Brian 31 Weehawken

Ewart, Meredith Emily June 29 Hoboken

Farley, Nancy Carole 45 Jersey City

Feidelberg, Peter 34 Hoboken

Ferreira, Anne Marie Sallerin 29 Jersey City

Fernandez, Judy Hazel 27, Parlin, formerly of Jersey City Jersey City

Fisher, John Roger 46 Bayonne

Fisher, Thomas J. 36 Union formerly of Jersey City

Folger, Jane C. 73, Bayonne United Flight 93

Gamboa, Ronald 33 Los Angeles Formally of Jersey City. with his partner: Daniel Brandhorst, 42, and their adopted 3 year old son David. United Flight 175, crashed into the south tower of the World Tade Center

Gardner, Jeffrey Brian 36, Hoboken

Gatton, Boyd A. 38 Jersey City

Gonzalez, Rosa Julia 32 Jersey City

Gorman, Thomas 41 Port Authority Police Officer formerly of Bayonne

Gould, Michael Edward 29 Hoboken

Gray, Christopher Stewart 32 Weehawkeh

Grehan, Pedro 35 Hoboken

Hannaford, Kevin James 32 Hoboken

Hazelcorn, Scott29 Hoboken

Hobson III, Robert Wayne 37 Hoboken

Horning, Matthew D. 26 Hoboken

Ianelli, Joseph Anthony 28 Hoboken

Keohane, John Richard 41 Jersey City

Sei, Lai Khoo 38 Jersey City

Klein, Peter A. 35 Weehawken

Knox, Thomas Patrick 31 Hoboken

Koborie, Rebecca Lee 48, Guttenberg

LaCorte, Andrew 61 Jersey City

Laszczcynski, Paul 49 Wayne Port Authority Police Officer, formerly of Jersey City

Laverty, Anna A. 52 Middletown formerly of Bayonne

Lebor, Leon 51 Jersey City

LeMagne, David Prudencio 27, North Bergen Port Authority Police Officer

Leon, Jorge Luis 43 Union City

Liangthanasarn, Orasri 26 Bayonne

Lin, Wei Rong 31 Jersey City

Linton Jr., Alan 26 Jersey City

Lohez, Jerome Robert 30 Jersey City

Lopez, Manuel L. 54 Jersey City

Lovero, Joseph 60 Jersey City

Malone, Gregory James 42 Hoboken

Martinez Rivera, Waleska 37 Jersey City United Flight 93

McDay, Tonyell 25 Colonia, Formally of Jersey City

McGarry- Noack, Katherine “Katie” 30 Hoboken

McLaughlin Jr., George Patrick 36, Hoboken

McMahon, Gavin35 Bayonne

McNeil, Walter 52 East Stroudsburg,Pa. Port Authority Police Officer assigned to the Jersey City side of the Holland Tunnel and who volunteered with Hope House in Jersey City

Melendez, Mary P. 44, Stroudsburg, PA formerly of Jersey City

Mendoza, Lizette 33 North Bergen

Monahan, John Gerard 47 Ocean Township, formerly of Jersey City

Morello, Steven P. 52, Bayonne

Motroni Sr., Marco “Mark” 57, Fort Lee formerly of North Bergen

Mullin, Michael Joseph 27 Hoboken

Murolo, Marc A. 28 Hoboken

Murray, John Joseph 32 Hoboken

Nazario, Francis J. 28 Jersey City

Nierderer, Martin 23 Hoboken

Nimbley, Paul R. 42 Middletown formerly of Jersey City

Novotny, Brian 3 Hoboken

O’Connor, Keith K. 28 Hoboken

Pandolfo, Dominique 27 Hoboken

Parks Jr., Robert Emmett 47 Middletown Jersey City native

Perconti, Jon A. 32 Hoboken

Perez, Alejo 66 Union City

Perez Jr., Angel 43 Jersey City

Perez, Nancy E. 36 Union City

Pick, Joseph O. 40 Hoboken

Pietronico, Bernard T. 39 Old Bridge formerly of Jersey City

Pollio, Susan 45, Long Beach formerly of Jersey City

Quigley, Beth Ann 25 Hoboken

Ramos, Harry 41 Newark formerly of Jersey City

Reese, Judith A. 56 Kearny

Robotham, Michell Lee 32 Kearny

Rocha, Raymond J. 29 Hoboken

Rohner, Scott 22 Hoboken

Rosario, Aida 42 Jersey City

Rosenblum, Joshua M. 28 Hoboken

Rowe, Nick 29 Hoboken

Ruben, Ronald J. 36 Hoboken

Salinardi, Richard L. 32 Hoboken

Samuel Jr., James Kenneth 29 Hoboken

Schlissel, Jon S. 51 Jersey City

Schroeder, John T. 31 Hoboken

Simon, Kenneth Alan 34 Secaucus

Soto, Fabian 31 Harrison

Steinman, Alexander Robbins 32 Hoboken

Straine Jr., James J. 36 Oceanport formerly of Hoboken

Strauch Jr., George 53 Avon-by-the-Sea Formally of Kearny

Strobert, Steven F. 33 Ridgewood formerly of Secaucus

Sullivan, Thomas 38 Kearny

Swift, Thomas F. 30 Jersey City

Tanner, Michael Anthony 44 Secaucus

Tarantino, Kenneth Joseph 39 Bayonne

Thomas O’Keefe, Lesley 40 , Hoboken

Tieri Jr., Sal 40 Shrewsbury formerly of North Bergen

Tiesi, Mary Ellen 38, Jersey City

Tsoy, Zhanetta 32 Jersey City

Vanacore, Edward Raymond 29 Jersey City

Vicario, Robert 40 Weehawken

Vincent, Melissa 28 Hoboken

Webb, Nathaniel 56 Jersey City Police Authority Police Officer

Whalen, Meredith L. 23 Hoboken

White, James Patrick 34 Hoboken

Willett, John C. 29 Jersey City

Williams, Deborah Lynn 35 Hoboken

Wittenstein, Michael R. 34 Hoboken

Wong, Siu Cheung 34 Jersey City

Yarnell, Matthew David 26 Jersey City

Zampieri, Robert “Robbie” 30, Saddle River formerly of Jersey City

National Poppy Day

Friday May 24, 2019

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. Over two dozen cities and towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day.

Regardless of the exact date or location of its origins, one thing is clear – Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and a desire to honor our dead. It was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.

On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.

The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).

It is now observed in almost every state on the last Monday in May with Congressional passage of the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363). This helped ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays, though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19th in Texas; April 26th in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10th in South Carolina; and June 3rd (Jefferson Davis’ birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

Red Poppies

In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms. Michael. When she returned to France she made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children’s League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help.

Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans’ organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their “Buddy” Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans.

In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms. Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.

After World War I, the poppy flourished in Europe. Scientists attributed the growth to soils in France and Belgium becoming enriched with lime from the rubble left by the war. From the dirt and mud grew a beautiful red poppy. The red poppy came to symbolize the blood shed during battle following the publication of the wartime poem “In Flanders Fields.” The poem was written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, M.D. while serving on the front lines.

On September 27, 1920, the poppy became the official flower of The American Legion family to memorialize the soldiers who fought and died during the war. In 1924, the distribution of poppies became a national program of The American Legion

Led by the American Legion Auxiliary, each year members of The American Legion Family distribute poppies with a request that the person receiving the flower make a donation to support the future of veterans, active-duty military personnel and their families with medical and financial needs.

Poppy Day is celebrated in countries around the world. The American Legion brought National Poppy Day^® to the United States by asking Congress to designate the Friday before Memorial Day, as National Poppy Day.

On May 24, wear a red poppy to honor the fallen and support the living who have worn our nation’s uniform

Reproduced with permission:

American Legion Family, History of National Poppy Day https://www.legion.org/poppyday/history
U.S. Memorial Day Web site: https://www.usmemorialday.org/?page_id=2

Twas the Night Before Christmas – Genealogy Style

Source: The antiquesalmanac.com – by Bob Brooke

Source: toonpool.com – by – Ellis Nadler May 11, 2008

‘Twas the night before Christmas
When all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even my spouse.

The dining room table with clutter was spread
With pedigree charts and with letters which said…
“Too bad about the data for which you wrote;
Sank in a storm on an ill-fated boat.

“Stacks of old copies of wills and such
Were proof that my work had become too much.
Our children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.

And I at my table was ready to drop
From work on my album with photos to crop.
Christmas was here, and such was my lot
That presents and goodies and toys I’d forgot.

Had I not been busy with grandparents’ wills,
I’d not have forgotten to shop for such thrills,
While others bought gifts to bring Christmas cheers,
I’d spent time researching those birth dates and years.

While I was thus musing about my sad plight,
A strange noise on the lawn gave me such a great fright.
Away to the window I flew in a flash,
ore open the drapes and yanked up the sash.

When what with my wondering eyes should appear,
But an overstuffed sleigh and eight small reindeer.
Up to the house top the reindeer they flew,
With a sleigh full of toys and ‘ole Santa Claus, too.

And then in a twinkle, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of thirty-two hoofs.
As I drew in my head, and bumped it on the sash,
Down the cold chimney fell Santa–KER-RASH!

“Dear” Santa had come from the roof in a wreck,
And tracked soot on the carpet, (I could wring his short neck!)
Spotting my face, good ‘ole Santa could see
I had no Christmas spirit you’d have to agree.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work
And filled all the stockings, (I felt like a jerk).
Here was Santa, who’d brought us such gladness and joy:
When I’d been too busy for even one toy.

He spied my research on the table all spread”
A genealogist!” He cried! (My face was all red!)
“Tonight I’ve met many like you,” Santa grinned,
As he pulled from his sack a large book he had penned.

I gazed with amusement–the cover it read
Genealogy Lines for Which You Have Plead.
“I know what it’s like as a genealogy bug.
“He said as he gave me a great Santa hug.

“While the elves make the sleighful of toys I now carry,
I do some research in the North Pole Library!
A special treat I am thus able to bring,
To genealogy folk who can’t find a thing.”

“Now off you go to your bed for a rest,
I’ll clean up the house from this genealogy mess.
“As I climbed up the stairs full of gladness and glee,
I looked back at Santa who’d brought much to me.

While settling in bed, I heard Santa’s clear whistle,
To his team, which then rose like the down of a thistle.
And I heard him exclaim as he flew out of sight,
“Family history is Fun! Merry Christmas! Goodnight!”
* Originally posted to HCG&HS web site by HCGHS Webmaster Joe on December 24, 2010–

Author Unknown– The earliest attribution found for this particular poem is for Gibbs Publishing House of Toledo, Ohio, which published it as a Christmas Card. Some Web sites attribute the poem to Dora Mills c. 2001, but it has been around since at least 1988. Dora Mills does appear to have written at least one poem based on Clement Moore’s poem, titled A Christmas Incident which appeared in the Ash Tree Echoin January 1983.

Far from Hoboken: A Not-So-Silent Night Before Christmas Eve

By Joseph W. Mann Jr.

Lt. Vincent James Mann, native son of Hoboken, New Jersey. It’s difficult to tell if his rank insignia is 2nd Lt (1 gold bar) or 1st Lieutenant (1 silver bar) in this photo. He held both ranks during the war.

“There is nothing to report.” That was the summary of the daily situation report for the U.S. VIII Corps on the 15^th of December 1944 speaking of the Ardennes region of eastern Belgium. It was in the center of General Omar Bradley’s sector of responsibility and spitting distance from the border with Germany but it had been quiet since mid-September, so the 12^th Army Group thought of the area as a “nursery and old folk’s home” where green units waited for something to do and battle-worn regiments were sent to recuperate.

But the long period of quiet coupled with bad weather that grounded Allied reconnaissance flights made the troops unaware that Hitler was even then preparing to launch his last great offensive — Operation Watch on the Rhine — across the thinly defended sector, attempting to split Allied supply lines and encircle and destroy a third of Allied ground forces in a drive to the key port of Antwerp. The German Sixth Panzer Army secretly massed beyond the “Siegfried Line” under radio silence and its more than 400,000 men would be Hitler’s instrument to achieve victory, if he could.

Facing this grave and as yet unknown threat was 25 year-old 1^st Lieutenant Vincent James Mann, a son of immigrant parents and native of Hoboken, New Jersey taking some much needed rest with his compatriots in the 39^th Infantry Regiment. As part of the U.S. 9^th Infantry Division, the 39th had suffered greatly with the division during the early fall battles in the Huertgen Forest and had taken up rest positions north and west of Elsenborn — barely 5 miles from the German border — but also a comfortable 5 miles behind the most forward U.S. lines.

After three long years of war from North Africa, to Sicily, to Utah Beach, to the hedgerows of Normandy, Lt. Mann might have felt like he was catching a breather, but as a liaison officer he never really had down time like a regular infantryman. Instead, whether the bullets were flying or not, he often found himself bouncing along poorly maintained roads or cross-country in a jeep with his driver and ferrying news between command posts. For someone who spent most of his prewar youth rarely navigating farther than his mile-square hometown or taking a trip to his parent’s summer house at Rockaway Beach, Queens, these mud clogged, nearly frozen-but-not-quite “roads” of eastern Belgium were as much of a hindrance as help to reaching his destination. He was frequently lost and near-disastrous scrapes with unexpectedly positioned enemy units were common.

Elsenborn, Belgium. Roadwork during winter demonstrating the muddy, nearly impassible mess the semi-frozen roads had become. December 1944. World War II photo by Vincent James Mann.

So on the evening of December 15, I don’t know if Vinnie Mann was tucked into quarters at Camp Elsenborn quietly penning a letter home to Mom and Pop in Hoboken or to brother Frank serving in Gulfport, Mississippi. Or whether he was trying to stay warm in an open top jeep and doing his best to locate whichever American command post he was tasked with bringing orders.

If he had bunked down in camp, Lt. Mann would have been rudely awakened at 5:30 am on the morning of the 16^th to the opening salvos of artillery from the Sixth Panzer Army’s guns. These guns pounded the positions east of Vinnie’s area and by the time the preparatory bombardment ended about 7am, the American phone lines between units were so badly wrecked that regular communication was impossible. Commanders had no way of knowing what was happening and that meant only one thing for Vinnie — he’d be spending a lot of time dodging artillery shells to ferry news from the forward posts back to divisional command so an effective response could be coordinated.

“German 6th Army progress during the Battle of the Bulge” (Detail centered on the Elsenborn Ridge area). Scanned from map insert in ”US Army in World War II – The Ardennes: The Battle of the Bulge” License: US Government document. Printed by the Government printing office. Public Domain. Original image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_the_Bulge_6th.jpg

Some telephone lines had been restored by 8:55am alerting commanders that a large German force was battering the 3^rd battalion of the 393^rd Regiment a few miles east of Elsenborn. It had advanced almost three-quarters of a mile west past American lines, driving along the main road toward the twin towns of Rocherath and Krinkelt, their primary objective. Taking Krinkelt-Rocherath and then assaulting the entrenched American defenders on Elsenborn Ridge to remove their overwatching artillery from the equation was crucial to the success of Hitler’s plan. This concerted effort by the Germans was not merely limited to the Elsenborn-Krinkelt-Rocherath area — it spread along a broad 60-mile front involving many surprised Allied units — but Lt. Mann was most concerned about this own immediate neighborhood where the action was getting too close for comfort. To his relief, Vinnie was first tasked with heading west to the area of Malmedy¹ where the 120^th Regiment was holding the town, but he soon found his orders taking him back east to Krinkelt — right into the onslaught of German infantry and Panzers making for the town.

Vinnie did his job, made it into Krinkelt and back out to Elsenborn before things got desperate. And they were quickly heading that way: By the end of the 16^th, it was clear to him that things were not going well at all. Surprised and scattered units were falling back as best they could to regroup near Krinkelt but the town would not hold against the German offensive and already plans were made to begin a tactical fallback to the strongly defended ridge overlooking the town. By nightfall on December 18, the U.S. 2^ndDivision still held Krinkelt-Rocherath. The next day, at dawn and through thick fog, the Germans again made a push for Krinkelt. Throughout the day and aware of their untenable position, the 2^nd Division planned to withdraw to Elsenborn, which they did at 5:30pm. By the 20^th of December, U.S. forces had consolidated on Elsenborn Ridge where the large assortment of American artillery was ready to cause the Germans trouble once they occupied the towns below.

Even amidst the constant firing of these big guns, Vinnie still had time (or perhaps was ordered) to escort journalists around the dug-in positions. He seemed to have a fondness for the reporters anyway, perhaps born of his own shutterbug tendencies: wherever Vinnie Mann went he was likely to be carrying his camera and snapping many in-the-moment views of what he saw. At one point he even got to meet famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle.²

“US Army troops operate anti-tank gun setup near Bulge (battle of).” Lt Vincent James Mann was escorting a reporter to get a view of the position here while troops were actively firing at enemy positions. Around December 16, 1944. Battle of the Bulge/Ardennes Offensive. Photo by Vincent James Mann.

Showers of the 39th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division, nicknamed “AAA-0” (Anything, Anytime, Anywhere, bar Nothing) by their former commander, Col. Harry “Paddy” Flint. Near Elsenborn, Belgium, mid-December 1944. Photo by Vincent James Mann.

By the afternoon of the 22^nd, the bulk of Vinnie’s 39^th RCT was northeast of Elsenborn near Kalterherberg and were getting some trouble from a Volksgrenadier division while artillery shelling continued into the night. Fighting would still be strong in the Elsenborn region well into the New Year but the stubborn American resistance here caused crucial delays in the Nazi plan and within the first few days German commanders knew the push could no longer succeed.

Lt. Mann may have been with his unit near Kalterherberg that day or might have been on one of his “delivery runs,” but the next evening, on December23^rd, Vinnie found some time to sit and write a letter home to his brother Frank. In Vinnie’s typical understated and sanguine way he began: “Here it is the night before Christmas eve and it is not quiet and we have no house for the mice to not be stirring…”

1^stLieutenant Vincent James Mann survived this and many other scrapes along with the 9^th Infantry Division, battling across the Rhine, deep into Germany and even to link up with Red Army units at the end of the fighting in Europe and occupation in Austria. He returned home, got married, raised three children and lived to share his tales and wartime images with this grateful author, his grand nephew. He passed away in 2010.

Sources & Notes:

On December 17, 1944 Malmedy, Belgium was the site of a war crime in which 84 American prisoners of war were killed by their German captors at Baugnez crossroads by members of Kampfgruppe Peiper (part of the 1st SS Panzer Division), a German combat unit, during the Battle of the Bulge. Most of those killed were elements of B Battery of the American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion.
Vinnie did not specify if he met Pyle during the Battle of the Bulge or at some other point in the European Theater.

Cirillo, Roger (2006). “Ardennes-Alsace: The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II.” U.S. Army Center of Military History. U.S. Government Printing Office. CMH Pub 72-76. Page 3, 7
Weber, J.J. (1945). “Mission Accomplished: The Story of the Campaigns of the VII Corps of the United States Army in the War Against Germany 1944-1945.” Leipzig, Germany. Page 43-49
Cole, Hugh (1982). The Ardennes: The Battle of the Bulge. Konecky & Konecky. Pages 96, 102-103,117,133
MacDonald, Charles B. (1985). A Time for Trumpets, The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge. William Morrow and Company, Inc. ISBN0-688-03923-5. Pages 409, 416–22, 478–9, 478–87, 404–411
Astor, Gerald (1992). A Blood Dimmed Tide, The Battle of the Bulge by the Men Who Fought It. Donald I. Fine, Inc. ISBN 1-55611-281-5. Page 323
Map Credit: “German 6th Army progress during the Battle of the Bulge” Source: Scanned from map insert in ”US Army in World War II – The Ardennes: The Battle of the Bulge” License: US Government document. Printed by the Government printing office. Public Domain.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_the_Bulge_6th.jpg

Tying Up loose Ends

As 2018 starts winding down we will be publishing items that will expand on subjects mentioned in previous editions . We’ll start with Find-A-Grave, specifically its Virtual Cemetery feature. What is it? Why should I use it? How Can It Help Me? We’ll try to satisfactorily answer these questions and maybe others.

But first, in case you haven’t used Find-A-Grave or haven’t used it since it was revised last year, and with special thanks to Ted Bainbridge, we’ll review some of its more important features.

Navigating the Re-vamped Find A Grave

Contributed by Guest Author Ted Bainbridge Ph.D.

Find-A- Grave (https://www.Find A Grave.com) is a web site that collects individuals’ cemetery and other information, whether a grave marker is present or not. The site’s database includes over 165 million people’s memorials, and adds about 1 ½ million per month. It contains information from almost half a million cemeteries around the world. This free site can be searched in several ways, and its information is easy to download onto a home computer. The site is menu-driven and intuitively easy to use. Registration, which is optional and free, gives the visitor access to features that are not otherwise available. Everybody should explore the tutorials.

Think of the home page as being organized into four areas:

the main menu, near the top of the page and filling its entire width
the search panel for individuals’ graves, which dominates the background photograph•
the link to Find A Grave tutorials, a blue oval button near the bottom right of the page
other less-frequently used items, occupying the rest of the screen below the background image

Hunting A Person
By far, the most common use of Find A Grave is hunting individuals. The simplest search is done as follows:

Enter a first name in the box provided near the center of the background photo. (This is optional, but if you don’t do it you will get an enormous hit list for all but the most unusual surnames.) I recommend leaving the box for middle name blank, because grave markers usually don’t show middle names. Put a surname in the appropriate box. (This is required.) There is no option for “similar spelling” or “similar sound”, so do separate searches for each variant spelling of the first name and surname.).
Click the search button and a hit list appears, showing records that match your request and headed with the count of how many records are on the list. Search the hit list for the person you want, and then click that person’s name.You will see that person’s information page. (If a picture of the grave stone exists, look at it in detail. Sometimes this will show that the typed information on the page contains an error.) To save the information on that page, you can command a “print” from your computer’s operating system. Alternatively, you can scroll to the top of the page, click “save to”, click “copy to clipboard”, open the program you will use to save the information, paste the clipboard’s content into that program, and save within that program. To save the source citation scroll to the bottom of the person’s page, click “source citation”, copy the text of the cite, paste that text wherever you want it to be, and save that destination’s content within the appropriate program. The person’s page might include links to Find A Grave pages for relatives. Click those links to see their information.

Typing only the first and last name probably will produce a hit list that is too long to read. If that happens, search for that name again but narrow the search by using the pull-down menus next to the “year born” and “year died” boxes below the name boxes you used. In addition to or instead of those restrictions, you can use the location box next to those date boxes. As you type a place into that box, an auto-fill list appears. When you see the appropriate place, select it from the list. (Typing the name and clicking the “search” button instead won’t give good results.) If you use all three restrictions and the new search doesn’t find the person you want, remove one of those restrictions and search again. If that search fails, replace that restriction and remove another one. If you fail again, repeat. If all those searches fail, use only one restriction at a time and do all three restricted searches. Repeat this process until you are successful. (But remember that not everyone is in Find A Grave, so all your searches might fail. In that case, try again later, remembering that Find A Grave adds about 1 ½ million records per month.)

Next to the “search” button you can see “more search options”. Clicking that makes the following available:

“Famous” separates a famous person from others who have the same name. (Asking for Marilyn Monroe creates a hit list of 29 people. Going to the top of the list, clicking “refine search”, pulling down “more search options”, clicking “famous”, and then clicking “search” shows only the movie star we all know.)
“Sponsored” shows only pages that have no advertisements because somebody paid to remove them.
“Nickname” must be checked if you ask for somebody by nickname instead of given name.
“Maiden name” must be checked if you ask for somebody by maiden name instead of married name.
“Partial last name search” lets you search by putting only the first letters of a first or last name in the appropriate boxes. (Requesting “wana” shows Wana, Wanamaker, Wanabaker, and other surnames that begin with those four letters; but it doesn’t list Wannamaker.)
“No grave photo” gives only people who have no grave photo on their information page.
“Grave photo” gives only people who have a grave photo on their information page.
“Flowers” gives only people who have virtual flowers attached to their page. (Asking for Clarence Bainbridge without this option clicked gets five names, but clicking this option reduces the list to two.)

Hunting A Cemetery
The next most common use of Find A Grave is hunting cemeteries. There are three ways to find a cemetery:

On the main menu click “cemeteries” and type a name in the box provided. (This is an auto-fill box. Use it as above.) Click “search”. A hit list appears. Click the name of the cemetery you want. That cemetery’s page of information appears.
On the main menu click “cemeteries” and type a place in the other box. (This also is auto-fill.) Click “search”. A hit list appears. Click the name of the cemetery you want. That cemetery’s page appears.
On the main menu click “cemeteries” and type a place in the appropriate box. (This is an auto-fill box. Use it as above.) Don’t click “search” or press the “return/enter” button. Instead, look at the map. If the map doesn’t show any location markers, click the ‘+’ button near its lower right corner. Zoom in or out and pan in any direction until you see the area you want. Click any marker to see the name of that cemetery, then click the name to see its information page.

Other Features

Favorite Cemeteries –If you registered as a member, you can create a list of your favorite cemeteries. Go to the information page of the cemetery you want to put on your list. Near the top right corner of that page, click “add favorite” and proceed.
Virtual Cemeteries – You can create virtual cemeteries by linking interesting individuals to a collection that you create. (For examples, you might link all of your Blankenship relatives’ information pages to a group called “My-Blankenships”, or you could gather all your relatives who served in the Civil War.) Go to the page of a person you want to add to a virtual cemetery. Near the top right corner of that page, click “save to”, click “virtual cemetery”, and then proceed. At this location you can create a new “virtual cemetery”. or add this person to an existing one.
Tutorials – As mentioned previously the Home Page includes the link to Find A Grave Tutorials, a blue oval button near the bottom right of the page. Use this link to explore any of the *29 video tutorials.
Other Features
The main menu across the top of Find A Grave’s home page includes an item called “Famous”, which allows a search for a famous person, as was described above. That menu also has an item called “Contribute”, which people use to add information to Find A Grave’s database.
Between the home page’s background photograph and the bottom of the page are links that lead to almost thirty items. Most people probably can ignore most or all of those items, but feel free to explore and experiment as you like.

About the Author: Ted Bainbridge has been a genealogical researcher, teacher, speaker, and writer since 1969. He has served as president of the Longmont [Colorado] Genealogical Society and as a staff member in two LDS Family History Centers. His genealogical and historical articles have been published throughout the United States and in several foreign countries. Ted frequently speaks to organizations in Colorado, and spoke to Pennsylvania societies five times in August 2017.

*Available Tutorials

VIDEO TUTORIALS
Tutorial No.	Title	Run Time Hrs/Mins	Tutorial No.	Title	Run Time Hrs/Mins
1	The Source Citation is Already Written For You	0:18	16	Creating A New Cemetery Page	1:14
2	Saving a Find A Grave Page to Ancestry	0:34	17	Adding A Photo To A Memorial	0:47
3	How To Easily Capture the Information You Found	0:23	18	Creating A Memorial From The Cemetery Page On Find A Grave	1:08
4	Updating Your Bio on Your Find A Grave Profile Page	0:42	19	How To Create A List Of Cemeteries In A Specific Location	0:38
5	Searching By Maiden Names and Nick Names on Find A Grave	0:40	20	What Is On The Cemetery Page?	0:51
6	When Basic Search is Not Enough	0:35	21	Creating A Favorite Cemetery List	0:40
7	How to Add A Profile Picture to Your Account	0:44	22	Finding Cemeteries On A Map	0:57
8	How to Search For a Memorial From the Home Page	0:40	23	Site Preferences: Adjusting The Header Color	0:18
9	Registing for a Find A Grave Account	1:01	24	Leaving Virtual Flowers For People In Your Past	1:03
10	Using Location Type Ahead on Find A Grave	0:48	25	Random Acts Of Genealogical Kindness: Become a Photo Volunteer	0:40
11	Adding Parents To A Memorial Page	0:47	26	What If There Isn't A Photo of the Hedstone?	0:25
12	Where Do I Find My Suggested Edits?	0:27	27	Make Sure You Are Being Notified	0:25
13	Hoe Do I Suggest An Edit To A Memorial Page?	0:48	28	Changing Your Password	0:51
14	Adding A Memorial From The Home Page	1:20	29	How To Start A Virtual Cemetery	0:29
15	Linking Memorials On Find A Grave	0:44

Find-A-Grave Virtual Cemeteries

A virtual cemetery is essentially a collection of Find-a-Grave memorials that you group together into a single list. It can be a list of individual relatives, ancestors and/or descendants, buried in different cemeteries anywhere in the world so long as a memorial has been set up for that person in Find-A-Grave by you or anyone else. It can be any grouping you want; by surname; paternal or maternal line of ascendancy or descendency. It can be confined to burials in one cemetery or in multiple cemeteries, or to one geographic area; basically any category you want. All you need to get started is to register as a member (called a contributor) to the Find-a-Grave community. Registration is free.

To set up a new virtual cemetery once you’ve logged on to the Find-A-Grave site you can start from the Home Page by ‘clicking’ your name in the upper right hand corner of the screen to display your account information. Then ‘click’ on Profile to display that page of your account.

Scroll down to My Virtual Cemeteries and click the: “+Add button” to add a new cemetery which will bring you to a new screen from which you will set up your new Virtual Cemetery.

Type in a name for the virtual cemetery and a brief description of what information it will contain and ‘click’ Save. You’ve now created a Virtual Cemetery.
To add memorials to the Virtual Cemetery go to the Information Page of the memorial you want to add and ‘click on’ the Save To button at the bottom of the page

and the following screen will appear

Click on Virtual Cemetery and you’ll see a page similar to this:

Select “James Joseph… ” and click on the Save button. To confirm the memorial has been added to the Virtual Cemetery, select “Profile, Virtual Cemeteries, and James… ” and the following screen should appear.
Once a Virtual Cemetery has been created you can add memorials to it directly from the Information Page by selecting “Save to” and “Virtual Cemetery”.

Ragamuffins: Thanksgiving used to be Halloween

Authored by Tom Deignan @IrishCentral Oct 21, 2018

I like to joke with my mother about how rough I had it growing up. The joke is that I know I had it a whole lot easier than she did growing up in Brooklyn and New Jersey, where sometimes her parents and their five children lived in one or two-bedroom apartments. But even I was taken aback when my mom once told me her brothers and sister used to go begging door-to-door — and it wasn’t even on Halloween!

But it turns out the begging my mother was talking about had nothing to do with poverty. Though it’s not widely remembered these days, there once was a time when Halloween was not the primary day for dressing up and knocking on doors seeking tricks or treats. Throughout history, Ragamuffin Day saw children dress up and beg door to door

In the first half of the 20th century, particularly in heavily Irish neighborhoods, the best day for begging — not to mention often violent and dangerous behavior — was actually Thanksgiving morning. Ragamuffin activities gave kids a chance to, shall we say, try on different identities. This was the day they would dress up in sloppy clothes and transform themselves into little Ragamuffins. They would knock on doors and shout “Anything for Thanksgiving!” The hope was that the kindly homeowner would offer up tasty treats — just as millions of kids hope for the same every Halloween.

Jack O’Leary, for example, was an Irish-American mover and shaker in the New York State Conservative Party but in his memoir “Playing It Well”, O’Leary wrote lovingly of wearing his “mother’s face powder, lipstick and rouge” on Ragamuffin Day. Indeed, it was very common for young boys to wear makeup or dress up in girls’ clothing on Ragamuffin Day. .

Meanwhile, in 1995, a New York Times letter writer named Jim Tierney recalled a particularly Irish spin on Ragamuffin Day.

“On Thanksgiving we dressed as Ragamuffins — three Irish-American kids — and went from backyard to backyard, pub to pub, looking for handouts. But with a difference. We played Irish traditional music on the fiddle and flute and sang and danced to it. We sometimes earned $45 for the day. The best money was made playing ‘The Stack of Barley’ and singing ‘A Nation Once Again.’”

What could New Yorkers a century ago expect to see on this Halloween that was not really Halloween?

The streets might be filled with bizarrely dressed boys and girls not-so-gently requesting money or gifts, “amateur beggars” deemed “a plague” by The New York Times as far back as 1907. At night, children as young as five prowled their neighborhoods dressed as American Indians with makeup, greasepaint or burnt cork on their faces.

They also lit huge bonfires, which led to a fair share of tragedies. In 1913, a six-year-old Bronx boy (wearing his sister’s dress) was badly burned as he danced around a bonfire.

Gunfire and gang fights broke out in Brooklyn as packs of Ragamuffins crossed each other’s paths in 1906 and 1907. Even less explicitly violent behavior created tension.

In the classic novel “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” Betty Smith writes, “Most children brought up in Brooklyn before the First World War remember Thanksgiving Day … children went around ‘Ragamuffin’ or ‘slamming gates’ wearing costumes topped off by a penny mask.”

Smith’s main character Francie Nolan buys a “yellow Chinaman [mask] with a sleazy rope mandarin mustache.” Her brother Neely wears one of his mother’s old dresses with “stuffed wadded newspapers in the front to make an enormous bust.”

The streets are “jammed with masked and costumed children making a deafening din with their penny tin horns.” Some storekeepers lock their doors to keep the noisy panhandlers out while others unleash “profane lectures on the evils of begging.”

Police and school officials regularly cracked down on Ragamuffins and begging. The ascension of Halloween and calls for more orderly Thanksgiving celebrations seemed to hasten the demise of the Ragamuffin traditions.

But the tradition has not completely vanished. Every October, community organizers in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, host a Ragamuffin parade.

Have you ever been to a Ragamuffin parade?

Photo Credits:

Some Thanksgiving Ragamuffins on Ragamuffin Day, photographed circa 1910 to 1915.
Not so different to our Halloween. Image: Library of Congress
The Madison Square Ragamuffins, New York. Public Library
A still from the movie adaption of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn where Ragamuffin Day is mentioned
. Image: Public Domain/WikiCommons.

Editor’s Notes:
1. Begging for Thanksgiving was a common custom in the Greenville section of Jersey City when I was growing up, 1940’s and 50’s. My sisters and I usually called on all our relatives in the neighborhood, there were many of them! Nuts, fruit and the occasional penny or two. I always thought it was a way to get us out of the house so Thanksgiving meal could be prepared without us underfoot. We always ended up at Duffy’s Tavern, the local watering hole, where we’d sign a little Danny Boy and Greenfields for the early raisers and be handsomely rewarded with change from the bar. Then it was off to Roosevelt Stadium with gramps and dad for the traditional Prep/Dickinson game.”

A Google search for “Ragamuffin Parade” returns numerous ‘hits’ for celebrations nationwide. So while Brooklyn may lay claim to the original parade, the tradition has been adopted by many communities.

Hudson Roots

The Newsletter of The Hudson County Genealogical & Historical Society