![](3D"167thEngineeringCombatBattalion-Winter2008NewsletterRev2_files/image=)
Winter 2008 Newsletter for the 167th
Engineering Combat Batt=
alion
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year =
to
the 167th Engineering Combat Battalion, family and friends!
Christmas and Hanukkah give a sense of hope and home to American GIs immers=
ed
in the vast horrors of the war. I find myself wondering if any of the membe=
rs
of the 167th have any Christmas or Hanukkah memories that you would like to
share on the 167th website at http://16=
7thengineercombatbattalion.com
?
Here is a little Christmas story th=
at
John Otto of the 82nd Airborne shared about how he tried to chee=
r up
the guys under his command. T=
he
ingenuity of these men, who managed to bake some Christmas pie in the middl=
e of
a battlefield made me realize just how wonderful Christmas time can be R=
11;
no matter where you are or what has happened.
=
Despite
the hardships, or perhaps because of them, the desire of soldiers to celebr=
ate Christmas
became stronger. John Otto, 84, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was serving the =
82nd
Airborne in December 1944, when the Germans launched their last big offensi=
ve,
later known as the Battle
of the Bulge. As Christmas loomed, Otto, a company executive officer, says =
he
wanted to get something special together for the guys under his command.
"My guys didn’t have enough of anything, shoes, clothes, etc.,&q=
uot;
he says.
=
"We
had a medical guy," he continues. "Every morning he would run fro=
m a
house we were in to a small barn, where there was a goat." He would mi=
lk
the goat into his helmet and then run back to the house. The Germans would
shoot at him, but they never hit him. Our radio man was a baker and knew wh=
ere
to find some flour. Another fellow found some apples. I said I’d get the sugar. At =
the
time, we were getting C rations. So, when the rations were being broken dow=
n at
company headquarters, I took all the sugar from the rations. The guys squaw=
ked,
but I blamed it all on battalion headquarters.
=
"The
baker got everything together and made apple pies. When they were ready, we
took them out to all the strong points, to the machine gun crews, that sort=
of
thing. It was their Christmas present. It worked real nice. I told them,
‘Here’s the damned sugar you were bitching about!’"<=
o:p>
<=
/o:p>
We have two more stories for the website –=
sent
in from George Easterhouse. I’ve included these two short stories in =
our
newsletter:
Company B at the Blaise<=
/st1:PlaceName>
River in France =
by George Easterhouse
As I write this over 60 years later, some of the detai=
ls
have been lost with time, but many remain vivid. Our mission was to build a
floating footbridge across the river for the infantry. The Germans had
excellent observation of the site from their high ground location across the
river and proved it with the accuracy of their mortar fire.
The problem with building a floating bridge is that the
current can be rapid and strong. It became obvious to us that we needed a c=
able
strung from one bank to the other. From this cable we could then tie ropes =
to
the footbridge to secure it against the current.
Lieutenant John Lusti, platoon commander of the first
platoon of Company B, was a real gutsy guy and a born leader. John asked a
member of the platoon, whose name I can’t remember, and me, George
Easterhouse, to install the cable. This assignment was not “a walk in=
the
park” and I remember very, very well that I was one of the two men wi=
th
Lt. Lusti.
We somehow secured one end of the cable on our side of=
the
shore with cable clamps. Then John wrapped the other end of the cable around
his waist and started across the river. I honestly don’t remember just
how we got there, whether we waded or swam. But, I do remember getting ther=
e. I
have vivid recollections of the three of us huddling around a post working a
come along to tighten the cable and then installing cable camps to secure i=
t.
With ties from this cable to the bridge, at last it was secure. Thankfully,=
we
took no casualties and our mission was completed.
Beans with a Bang &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; =
&nb=
sp;
by George Easterhouse
Just as it turned dark one cold winter day in 1944, our
platoon, Company B, arrived at a small village. It was decided we would stay
there for the night. As was customary, when possible we looked for shelter
indoors. As I recall, there were five or six of us in the group I was with.=
The
house we stayed in had not been vacated much before we arrived because the
woodstove still had some burning embers in it. We added fuel to the fire and
soon the large room we were in began to feel almost comfortable. We heated =
up
our C rations on the stove. Later, we climbed in our sleeping bags for some
much- needed sleep.
Much later, sometime in the middle of the night, there=
was a
huge explosion and we all assumed that a hand grenade had been thrown into =
the
room. Hearts pounding, we soon found out that out buddy, Dan Hackstrader, h=
ad
put a can of beans on the stove without opening it. We were speckled from h=
ead
to toe with beans, not shrapnel, and needless to say, we did not let poor D=
an
forget this incident for a long time. I hasten to add that Dan was one fine=
guy
and a good soldier.
Thank you George for the wonderful story additions! We need=
ed
the chuckles from your bean story right about now!
Dean Graves sent several informative articles in response to the sl=
ide
show from France.
I include some quote from the articles on the following page:
Re: tetrahedrons, concrete dragon’s teeth, Belgian gates stil=
l at
Utah Beach
“Rommel’s most important innovation was hi=
s use
of offshore obstacles placed between the high and low-tide marks as artific=
ial
reefs to destroy incoming landing craft. Rommel installed 517,000 obstacles,
equipping 31,000 with mines or shells.” =
&nb=
sp; &=
nbsp;
Re: Saint-Lo
in ruins
“To be bombarded by the Allies, it was as if my own
father had brought, to me, the terror and death.”
(quote from one of the French survivors at St. Lo)
=
Coming Soon - NEW ADDITIONS TO THE WEBSITE WILL BE:
=
&nb=
sp;
=
George
Easterhouse
=
&nb=
sp;
=
Charles
Schrock
=
&nb=
sp; =
Memorial
Colonel Howard A. MacCord
=
In
Memory of our beloved Colonel Howard A. MacCord
=
&nb=
sp; =
Oct.
23, 1915 – Nov. 3, 2008
&=
nbsp;
Colonel Howard MacCor=
d at the
2008
Reunion of the 167th Combat Engineering Batt=
alion
MacCORD, Howard =
Arthur
Sr., 93, of Brandermill Woods Retirement Community, =
Midlothian,
died November 3, 2008, after a brief hospitalization. He was born in Irvington, New
Jersey on October 23, 1915. He is survived by his
wife, Betsy Fleshman MacCord of Midlothian; daughters, Helen DeWell Winn and
her husband, Jack, of Richmond, and Virginia Matthews and her husband, Harr=
y,
of Mouth of Wilson, Virginia; and son, Howard A. MacCord Jr. and his wife,
Alison, of Greensboro, N.C.; grandchildren, Sean DeWell and his wife, Carol=
ina,
of Richmond, David DeWell of Ft. Worth, Texas, Lesley Winn, and John Winn a=
nd
his wife, Susanna, of Richmond; great-grandchildren, Jacob DeWell of Ft. Wo=
rth,
Texas, and Killian and Raif Winn of Richmond. Survivors also include sister=
s,
Evelyn Hildebrand of Chambersburg, Pa., Jeanne Carter of Pocomok=
e City,
Md., and Elnora Terry and her husband, E=
d, of Las Cruces, N.M.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Elsie B. MacCord, in 1972. Mr.
MacCord retired from the U.S. Army as a Colonel, after 30 years of service.=
He
joined the National Guard in 1930, when he was only 15, and went into the A=
rmy
in February of 1941. His World War II service took him to France and Germany. He served in post-wa=
r Japan a=
nd later
in the Korean conflict. His lifelong interest in archeology started in the
1930s, helping excavate prehistoric sites around his boyhood hometown of Washington, D.C.
While in the Army, he excavated in Japan and Korea during his tours of dut=
y.
Following his retirement from the military in 1962, he turned his lifelong
avocation into a new career as an archeologist with the Virginia State Libr=
ary
(now the Library of Virginia), from which he retired in 1976. He worked as a
consulting archeologist until 1983. He worked closely with the Archeological
Society of Virginia during all those years, reaching out to educate the pub=
lic.
His interest in archeology did not abate with retirement; he continued his =
work
and contributed to the advancement of that field until his death. His
contributions to Virginia
archeology were extensive. They include excavations, or testing, at over 160
sites all over Virginia.
His published works include over 127 articles, including his first publicat=
ion
in 1943 and his most recent in 2007. His remains rest at Bliley's-Central, =
3801 Augusta Ave., Richmond, where the family will recei=
ve
friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, November 6. A memorial service will be h=
eld
2 p.m. Saturday, November 22, 2008 at Brandermil=
l
Church, M=
idlothian.
Burial in Arlington
National Cemetery
at 3 p.m. Tuesday, December 9. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to=
ASV/Kittiewan,
P.O. Box 70395, Richmond, Va. 23255.
Betsy
MacCord our hearts go out to you this Christmas. We lift you up in prayer a=
nd
send you love and warm wishes for this holiday season.
------=_NextPart_01C96288.FFF59A50
Content-Location: file:///C:/267AA2F2/167thEngineeringCombatBattalion-Winter2008NewsletterRev2_files/themedata.thmx
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Type: application/vnd.ms-officetheme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------=_NextPart_01C96288.FFF59A50
Content-Location: file:///C:/267AA2F2/167thEngineeringCombatBattalion-Winter2008NewsletterRev2_files/colorschememapping.xml
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/xml