Film, Video WWII Reunion: Stories of Service 2

Transcript: TEXT

About this Item

Title

  • WWII Reunion: Stories of Service 2

Summary

  • As part of the National World War II Reunion held on Memorial Day weekend on the National Mall in Washington, the Library of Congress Veterans History Project sponsored several programs presenting compelling accounts of WWII history.

Event Date

  • May 29, 2004

Notes

  • -  After graduating from St. Peters College in 1939, Marty Higgins joined the 101st Cavalry Regiment, Squadron C, in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was sent to Ft. Devins, Mass. He received his Cavalry commission at Ft Riley, Kansas, in 1941, and was assigned to the 10th Cavalry Regiment in California in 1942. In 1944, he was sent to Africa, transferred to the 36th (Texas) Infantry Division, participated in the invasion of Southern France, and took command of A Company. He was captured at the end of that year, sent to Luckenwalde, Germany, and was liberated by the Russians in 1945. He returned to the United States following his release from service in August 1945, and worked in the playing card industry for 33 years. In his retirement, he has been a literacy advocate and teacher, and has been active in numerous community organizations.
  • -  In 1943, at age 18, Joseph De Luca Jr. entered Company C, 411th Regiment, 103rd Infantry Division. During his two-year European assignment, he saw combat in Belgium, Germany, Austria and Italy. With the army of occupation, he served as an MP in the Seventh Army in Heidelburg, Germany, and as part of the honor guard for General George S. Patton Jr. of the Third Army. In 1992, he joined other veterans at combat sites and military cemeteries in the Trail of the 103rd. Now retired and a member of the American Legion, De Luca does military duty at the National Cemetery in Redmond, Ohio, and serves on the firing squad for military funerals. A first-generation American, De Luca says it was an honor to serve his country as a way of saying thanks for the good life his family found in this country when they emigrated from Italy.
  • -  Robert Bloxsom's experience in the U.S. Merchant Marine began after he graduated from the Pennsylvania School Ship in 1941. During the war, his assignments took him to South Africa, England, and the Persian Gulf at the time when ships faced air raids and torpedo attacks. During these years, he advanced to the rank of Third Mate. at age 24, Bloxsom became Captain of the Liberty ship, Lillian Nordica, sailing his ship into Antwerp two weeks after it had been taken from the Germans. He left the Merchant Marine in 1948, and two years later joined the U.S. Coast Guard. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1974, following his last command on the Dallas. He has written an account of his life at sea during the war, "The Sailor," and continues to tell great sea stories.

Running Time

  • 46 minutes

Online Format

  • video
  • image
  • online text

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Credit Line: Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

WWII Reunion: Stories of Service 2. 2004. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-8191/.

APA citation style:

(2004) WWII Reunion: Stories of Service 2. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-8191/.

MLA citation style:

WWII Reunion: Stories of Service 2. 2004. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/webcast-8191/>.