167th Engineer Combat Battalion Association Fall Newsletter

The 167^th Engineer Combat Battalion Association

    Fall Newsletter

         September = 9, 2007

Good aft= ernoon ladies and gentlemen. Correspondent D. Ziegler reporting to you directly fr= om Michigan City, Indiana (also known as the “City of Singing Sand) where the 167^th reunion is being held. Located near the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore the city attracts summer tourists. Michigan City is the home of the Old Mi= chigan City Lighthouse, Lighthouse Outlet Mall, a riverboat casino and a zoo.

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Below is= a photo of the reptile house at the Washington Park Zoo located here in town. Can anyone guess what the stone building with the crenulated towers was modeled after? &nb= sp;            =

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September= 6, 2007 Arrival        Leaden skies did not affect= the exuberant welcome the 167^th received upon arrival at the Hampton= Inn. Bill and Mary Stefanu and their lovely daughter Elaine were on hand to meet= and greet travelers as they arrived. We owe the Stefanu and Mulcahy family a hu= ge thank you for making this reunion such an enormous success.

Several members of the 167<= sup>th Battalion visited the famous Mount Baldy. No, not the = famous ski resort of California’s San Gabriel Mountains or the Canadian pe= ak in Alberta. This in= trepid party of soldiers set out to conquer the tallest sand dune on the southern = shore of Lake Michigan, a 123 foot tall mou= nd of sand that moves 4 feet every year. <= /span>The sand is soft and off-white, kn= own as "singing sands" because of the squeaking noise made when one walks across it (caused by high quartz content).

Located off US Route 12 the “living dune” provides a view of Chicago’s skyline on a clear day,= if one is willing to hike the 0.7 miles to the top. Mr. Dean Graves braved the shifting= sands and reported that though the “wandering” dune was a sight to behold, he decided not to hike the full 1 ½ mile round trip. He has = seen Chicago= ’s skyline before. Furthermore, Dean made no mention of any singing sand.=

Sept 7, 2007 Orientati= on        &= nbsp; After a restful night liste= ning to rain go pitter-pat the 167^th enjoyed a hearty breakfast. Over scrambled eggs, coffee, and pastry the group caught up on the news and then herded into the conference room where Mr. Sam Brown presided an introductio= n to the area and coming events.

Sept 7, 2007 Business<= /span>        &= nbsp;         Chuck Brown, Sam’s so= n, introduced the group to the fabulous new website he created for the 167th Engineering Combat Battalion. Soon the room was abuzz with stories and Chuck was tape-recording everything. Chuck informed the group that they will be a= ble to click on the website and hear the familiar voices of old buddies going d= own memory lane. Make sure you check out this marvelous resource by going to:

               &= nbsp;        www.167thengineercomba= tbattalion.com

The Brown boys (Sam and Chu= ck) encourage all members of the 167^th Engineering Combat Battalion = to contribute to the website. Please email stories, comments, photos, memorabi= lia, and questions to:

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;   <= span style=3D'font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Franklin Gothic Medium","sans-serif"= '>

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= ;        A heartfelt thank you to the Br= own Boys. This website is a wonderful gift, not only to WWII vets but to future generations. Please make sure your stories are a part of this important pie= ce of history. Get those computer-savvy children and grandchildren involved to= o!

      = ;      Note: If you are not able to use em= ail, please send hand written or typed stories to:

      = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;     Sam Brown

      = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;     3341 Bedford Lane

      = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;     Germantown, Tennessee    38139

Sept 7, 2007 Afternoon     A last minute visitor, Richard D. Cornell, whose father Ira Cornell was with Company A in France, presented a short video of his visit to the training a= rea at Camp McCain, Mississippi. Though things have changed a lot in the last 60 years, there were some familiar sights in the video for the audience. =

Richard found out about the reunion= of the 167^th by surfing the internet. He was looking for information about his father, Ira Cornell, who was killed along with three other soldie= rs on August 21, 1944<= /st1:date>. Ira was killed in a deadly skirmish with the Germans when Company A of the = 167^th Engineering took a wrong fork in the road and accidentally ended up in the German occupied town of Belleg= arde in the Loire Valley. Mr. Cornell also shared de= tails of his trip to Franc= e where his father’s death has been commemorated with a beautiful memor= ial depicting an angel kneeling near the bodies of the three fallen Americans.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Richard told the men of the 167th , “Visiting your reunion and hearing some of your experiences is as c= lose as I’ll probably ever get to knowing what it was like for my father.”

Richard, you and your family are part of the 167^th now. We hope to be abl= e to see you at next year’s reunion!

Sept 7, 2007 The Jeep<= /span>         At 2:00 in the afternoon the excited members of the 167^thgathered in fr= ont of the Hampton Inn, where John Wernick and Co. (his brothers and friends) kindly provided a unique photo opportunity using his refurbished WWII Army = jeep as the prop. A few folks had photos taken with some WWII rifles too!

Hope we didn’t scare any Hoos= iers.

A big thank you goes out to the Wernick family for loading the jeep up and carting it all the way up to Michigan City from their home in Port Byron, Illinois. John Wernick is the nephew o= f Cpl Ronald Baker. No one will forget the sight of John at the wheel with O.T. Ziegler at his side in the passenger seat of the refurbished jeep, nor will= we forget the ultimate sacrifice Ron Baker made on August 12^th, 1944.

While on a reconnaissance r= un near the French village of Villaines-la-Juhl Crp Baker was shot and killed when German machine fire erupted from a hedgerow = that bordered the road. Lieutenant Ziegler was shot four times and he, Virgil Ne= wlin and Edward Nicholson were taken prisoner.

John Wernick’s story = about his uncle, entitled “The First to Fall”, is posted on the 167th website for all to enjoy.

When cameras ran out of fil= m and John said he needed to load the jeep, a question rippled through the crowd. Where was Bill Heim everyone wondered? Bill and two mysterious young women returned from a trip to a nearby casino. Who were the ladies? Bill’s daughters of course. From the smile on Bill’s face, I’d say, wi= n or lose, he enjoyed his riverboat antics.

Rumor has it that Curly’s wif= e, Artis Allen, who looks too angelic for gambling, not only visited the Blue = Chip Casino, but she WON! Go Artis= !

Sept 7, 2007 Pizza Par= ty   After jeep photos, the group gathered for pizza and beer. More WWII stories were swapped. Mr. Clayton Al= len regaled the crowd with a story of swiping booze from abandoned “maisons” and lighting it afire to be sure it hadn’t been poisoned. The group was curious about the efficacy of this “flame test”. This reporter found the following information at Wikipedia, wh= ich corroborates Clayton’s testing method.

A common "folk" qual= ity test for moonshine was to pour a small quantity of it into a metal spoon and set= it alight, the theory being that safe distillate burns with a blue flame, but tainted distillate burns with a yellow flame. Practitioners of this simple = test sometimes held that if a radiator coil had been used as a condenser there w= ould be lead in the alcohol, which would give a reddish flame. This led to the phrase: "Lead burns red and makes you dead." (note: this test does not detect the presence of methanol – which is also deadly)

Mr. Allen later sang a rous= ing rendition of a beer drinking song he’d learned while working a forest= ry detail in Bavaria= . All were impressed with his exuberant performance. This song will have to b= e a reunion tradition from now on! Curly can you write down the words?

Mr. Robert Schepis told a hilarious story involving a sharkskin suit and living on $20.00 a month aft= er the war. Bob had the crowd laughing so hard, he was asked to repeat the sto= ry on tape so that it could be posted on the website. We look forward to heari= ng it again when Chuck Brown gets it posted. In case, some younger readers don’t know what sharkskin is:

In most cases, sharkskin can be defined as a woven blend of smooth wool. More correctly, it is a smooth worsted fabric that often has a soft texture= and a two-toned shiny woven appearance to the worsted fabric, usually using both white and colored fibers. This creates a pattern where the colored threads running diagonal to the white fibers.

Bob, do you have any photos of the suit before it got covered in blood? (= This question should pique everyone’s curiosity, but you’ll have to = log on to the website to hear the end of the story.))=

Our host, Bill Stefanu, arr= ived at the story-telling table with a mysterious bottle in his hand. Shot glass= es were quickly procured and the toasting began. What was the mysterious drink= ?

Ouzo.

This reporter ventured to t= aste (only so she could accurately describe the flavor). One must make sacrifices for the job.

“Ah, ouzo – clear, aromatic, pot= ent. A complex drink that smelled like a walk though wild-growing anise or the licorice section of a British candy store. I see why it is called “Gr= eek white-lightening”.

My throat burned. I winced as I swa= llowed. A nice warm feeling coated my stomach and then my veins felt like they were tingling. I smiled widely and= held out my glass for more.”

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;

           &n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp;           Star Anise – a special ingredient in Ouzo

        &= nbsp;           &= nbsp;   But, I digress. Bill Stefan= u was now in a story-telling mood. His anecdote caused chills to go up and down my spine. Or was that the ouzo?

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At dusk, while marching int= o a small French village with other members of the 167^th,Bill looked up to see a woma= n in the 2^nd story window of one of the chateaus. At first glance he = was stuck by her uncanny resemblance to his aunt. He did a double take and poin= ted her out to his buddies. “Look up there. I think it’s my aunt.” He pointed at the woman in the window.

        &= nbsp;           &= nbsp;   “Soldat! Meene Meene – l’explosif – détonant !,” she called.
        &= nbsp;           &= nbsp;   “Mines, ahead in the road. Don’t you hear her? She’s warning us.” Bill cautioned the men.

            <= /span>        &= nbsp;   No one else could see or he= ar the woman. But, to be on the safe side they stopped to examine the road. Sure e= nough there were mines planted and were it not for Bill’s Aunt they would h= ave marched right into the minefield.

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;   After the story Curly mentioned he could remember German expressions better than French.

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;   Bill Heim pointed out that in France you only needed to remember one. ‘Voulez vous couchez avec moi ?’

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           &n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;           The Trivia Corner

           &n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp;           ***= *********************

The average male draftee du= ring WWII stood 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighed 144 pounds, had a 33 1/2-inch che= st, a 31-inch waist, and wore a size 9 1/2 D shoe.           &nbs= p;

Trivia Question<= /b> - What were the code names for the artificial harbors used by the Allies at Normand= y?         &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;     Answer: mulber= ries

      =

Can you imagine why the Army ended up with a surplus of this bar?

Utilization of the oversea stockpile of D r= ations was of concern to The Quartermaster General early in 1945 when he asked can= dy manufacturers for recommendations regarding such utilization and also queri= ed them on their ability to absorb some of the bars. Industry offered no suggestions and naturally was reluctant to take over the rations on hand. (Anyone remember these yummy nutritional bars?)

Gott mit uns, (in German means "God be with us"), the motto of the Prussian emperor, it was used as a morale slogan amongst soldiers in both World Wars. It was bastardized as "Got mittens" by American and British soldiers, and is usually used nowaday= s, because of the German defeat in both wars, derisively to mean that wars are= not won on religious grounds.

Nein — no

Raus — Out!

Jawohl a German term that connotes an empha= tic yes — "Yes, Indeed!" in English. It is often equated to "yes sir" in Anglo-American military films.

Schnell! — Quickly!



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Sept 8,2007 Morning Meeting=           After coffee and breakfast = Jesse Hicks, secretary/treasurer, made a report on the finances and announced dues were to remain the same. $20.00.

( Probably the only fee, dues,= or charge in the US that didn’t go up in the year 2007.)

Please make sure you send your dues to Mr. Hicks for the upcoming year.

            After some arm twisting the officers were persuaded to run for office again. Havi= ng the incumbent’s edge they were all promptly voted into office again. Thank you gentlemen for your tireless work to keep this wonderful group goi= ng!

Sam C. Brown, President  =             &nb= sp;            = Jesse Hicks, Secretary/Treasurer

Paul Long, Vice President        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;       Bill Stefanu, Historian

Bill Heim and his daug= hters kindly offered to host the 2008 Reunion = in beautiful Milwaukee, or as it is sometimes known, “Brew City”. Stay t= uned for more information in the next news letter.          =               &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;         &= nbsp;   Thank you to the Heim family!

= Did you know that AARP picked Milw= aukee as one of "5 Great Places to Live" in the U.S. in the September 2007 issue? We hope to see you = all in Brew City next year!=

Milwaukee viewed from Veteran's Park

After the new site for the reunion had been selected Deborah Ziegler, daughter of O.T. Ziegler, shared good news with the group. The book she has been writing about her father, entitled Have I Told You Lately, is finished. At the 2007 SDSU writer’s conference in S= an Diego, chapter one received and Editor’s Choice Award from Random House. The book includes chapters depicting Orpha’s childhood in the Depression = era oil fields of Seminole, Oklah= oma, his army training, voyage to France and Mr. Ziegler’s nine months of internment in German POW camps. The portion of the book pertaining to Orpha’s Army experiences will soon = be available on the 167^th website. Excerpts of the childhood years = were made available to those who were interested at the reunion.

Air Force Major David Ziegl= er, recently returned from his tour of duty in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, presented a DVD entitled, “How We Fight”. The film demonstrated some of the new battle strategies and techniques that are being used by the armed forces in= Iraq to= day.

Major Ziegler is now in Washington DC studying Russian in preparation for his next assignment at the American Emb= assy in Uzbekistan. David led a spirited discussion followed the presentation with members of t= he 167^th sharing very different opinions regarding US invo= lvement in the Middle East. It was interesting to hear the var= ious opinions of the group. Thank you Major Ziegler for the update and go= od luck on your assignment in Uzbekistan!

Sept= 8, 2007 afternoon =      A caravan of cars followed = Mr. Bill Stefanu. Winding through lush green Indiana countryside he led everyone to the charming lakeside home of his daughter a= nd her husband, Elaine and Mike Mulcahy. Guests watched swans glide silently by and rain dancing on the leaves outside the patio French doors. Some lucky f= olks even spotted a couple of deer while they were waited on hand and foot. Elai= ne had clearly worked for days to create a homemade Greek dinner to remember. = Two of the gourmet items are described for those who missed this wonderful meal= .

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;           (Dolmathakia me Kima) In Greek: ντολμαδάκι&= #945; με κιμ&= #940;, pronounced dohl-mah-THAHK= -yah meh kee-MAH. These small bundles of meat and rice wrapped in grape leaves a= re a favorite dish in Gre= ece. The name comes from the Turkish word "dolma" meaning "stuffed." They are time-and labor-intensive to make!

(Tyropitakia) In Greek: τ`= 5;ροπιτ&#= 940;κια (pronounced tee-ro-pee-TAH= K-yah).These tasty cheese-filled pastries are finger foods. There are many variations on this recipe using different types of cheeses and herbs.

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&n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp;              &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;           ̶= 0;Efcharisto”(Greek for “thank you”)

        =     The only word that can express the feelings of the group toward B= ill, Mary, Elaine, and Mike for this memorable dinner prepared by Elaine’s loving hands and served in the intimacy of her home. What a wonderful way to end the reunion.

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To:          = The Members of the 167^th Engineer Com= bat Battalion Association who were unable to join us in Michigan City

We really missed you and = your families! The reunion gets better and better each year. We hope you and you= rs will make every effort to join us in Milwaukie next year.

&nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =                  &= nbsp;

UNTIL THE= N - PLEASE REMEMBER TO SEND YOUR MEMORIES OF WWII IN FOR THE WEBSITE. YOU MADE HISTORY – WE NEED TO RECORD IT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS!!!!

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        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;   What medal hangs below this ribbon?=

(Answer in next newsletter.)        Bon jour or a= uf Wiedersehen! D. Z= iegler signing off for now.