My friend Milt Nitzberg, who provided me with a bed, finally located my new 904th Eng. The unit was stationed in the heart of the city, in a partly damaged building. We were able to walk to it. And I shlepped my duffel bag. The area appeared to be classy Upper East Side. Our building was a Condo style apartment house, empty of tenants due to war damage. Parts were usable to house our special unit and the equipment we needed to do our intelligence work. ………………….Milt dropped me off and I was brought to my room to share with another GI, I believe his name was Johnson. Our room was overlooking the street, with a small balcony., However, one window was broken and when I entered the room, a pigeon was perched on the window ledge, pecking away and looking me over. It’s a scene that I will always remember. A look that said “What is this guy doing in my apartment?”…………………I ignored the bird and concentrated on unpacking my duffel bag and hanging up my clothing. I had one closet for myself aand was putting some stuff on the upper shelf. As I reached up and checked a corner of the shelf for clearance, I felt an object in the back corner. I grabbed a wooden handle and retrieved a parchment scroll. It was about 8 or 10 inches long, shaped liks a torah. When I opened it there was Hebrew writing on the scroll and I recognized it to be the Megillah of Queen Esther, the Purim story. What a surprise. I was awestruck. It seemed to me like a simman, (a sign) that God was looking out for me. I sent this scroll home and my sister Reggie wrote a letter describing how happy my father was to receive the Meggilah, that he showed it to all of his customers, who shopped in his store. I wonder what happened to it.
Archive for September, 2008
Tunis, Sept, 1943
I get a strange feeling of disbelief writing about my journey. I’m seeing this young, innocent person wandering around a strange country, looking for his air force unit. It is at this present time, Sept. 1943, one year after leaving his home in Brooklyn, to serve in the war. Because a madman stirred up a Nazi nation and decided to take over Europe, he forced a complete change in the world’s own plans of government. The entire world was at war, which of course affected everyone’s goals and activities. In our family of six children, 4 boys and 2 girls, 3 of us, Bill, Irv and Nat were in the Army. Bill in the Pacific, fought in Tarawa, Nat in England and me in No. Africa. One’s destiny can be affected by actions that occur in parts of the world that we are not aware of. However, I can’t complain because fate had been kind to me. She (fate) produced my meeting with the officer of the 904th Eng.that brought me to Tunis.. ………………….
Oran to Tunis
With the defeat of the axis forces in No. Africa, a change in our operations occurred. It was more of work towards making the cities livable for returning citizen. Cleaning up the streets and getting the public leaders and social services functioning. Our work as aviation engineers was to build airstrips for our airforce and to construct living quarters for incoming troops. I went on special assignments with a small contingent of soldiers and did all sorts of jobs. Pick and shovel, carpentry and surveying were some of my duties. And it was during the time that I was working with a surveyor holding a stick up while he peered thru a surveying instrument that I got lucky.
It was at this particular moment that my officer in charge called me in to accompany the officer in his jeep, to get some papers from him and return to the office. This officer was a Captain, whose Bn. did special work for the top Brass, maps and special plans. Top secret. While riding in his jeep, he drove, we talked and he asked me about my background and work experience. When he heard that I was a photographer and I complained that I had no camera equipment or darkroom facilities in my present Bn., He asked me if I would like to transfer into his special unit. ” Of course”, I said.
I heard nothing from him for several weeks, until a notice came through the office that I was being transferred to the 904th Eng AF Hq Co. without delay. I was demoted to Pvt. and registered in the new unit as a Pvt. This entire change occurred on August 5, 1943. I was happy to get into this special unit and I was told that the 904th was on its way to Sicily. I had to arrange my own transportation and was fortunate to be in the Air Force. I spoke to the Pilots for a lift to Sicily and was able to get one. This was my first flight and I was very excited. The flight was short and smooth.
When I landed and made inquiries for the 904th, I was told that their orders were changed and that they were quartered in Tunis. So, a few days later, I flew there. I was on my own. A lost soldier in a strange city looking for my new assignment. I could have gone AWOL and no one would miss me. I spent a few days inquiring at the Red Cross, and other army service bureaus. No help. So, I spent the days, 2 or 3 going to USO shows and seeing the city when I saw a familiar face, a GI who had lived in Boro Park. We recognized each other. His name was Milt. (I forgot his family name) He invited me to stay at his camp which was within walking distance of the city and he would make inquiries through his Bn. office for the 904th campsite or building. It took about a week for me to finally check into my new unit.
Nazis surrender in No. Africa
May 12, 1943, Gen. Rommel departs from Africa.
WWII, We enter Oran
When the Allies defeated the Nazis and Italian armies in Oran area, we moved by rail and trucks into the city of Oran. This was a major victory and the population returned to a damaged city, but were overjoyed. While we were setting up our camp, a few miles outside of the city, Arabs, French and other citizens cheered us and of course traded with us. It causes me to compare the welcome the U.S. Army received then and the present situation, where the U.S Army is being harassed by the Iraqui citizenry. Then, we were freeing the citizens from oppression. Now, we are considered conquerors, not freedom fighters. We set up camp, pitched our tents and awaited further orders. There was a period of joy and a time for celebration. We had a visit from the U.S. of a USO show and to our surprise we had Bob Hope plus Lily Pons entertain us. Several few days later, after the citizens returned to their normal activities, our battalion received a notice that an ice cream factory re-opened and wished to show their appreciation by offering ice cream to our troops. Well, that created a stir. Free Ice Cream is one way to stop a war. Our officer needed a truck and a detail of 3 or 4 G Is , so who does he select? Me, of course. “Roth, pick 3 men and a driver and get a truck and drive over to this factory. It’s up the road about a mile or two from us and get ice cream for our entire battalion.” “Aye,aye Sir”. And off we went. It did not take long to get to the factory. But when we arrived, we found a traffic jam of army trucks parked all around the area. I said to my crew, “This looks like a lengthy detail. We’ll probably be stuck here for many hours. So settle down and don’t get antsy” I asked one GI to come with me . We approached the ice cream factory, which took up a square block and was a white stucco building, two stories high. When we approached the building, we saw a line had formed that stretched from the entrance around the corner and up to the rear and around to the back. We got on line and more GIs were arriving. It reminded me of the line at the Paramount Theatre, when Danny Kaye or Fred Sinatra performed. Anyhow, I was settled in line for a long wait to move to the front. There was quite a hubbub of excitement. Not long after we settle on line, I notice an elderly man walking on the street observing the activity and looking on the people in line. He was dressed in business attire. As he approached parallel to my spot on the line, he walked towards me and whispered “Kenst du redden mama lushen”. Surprised,I said, “Take, ich ken”. He says “Cum mit mir”. With that, I followed him and so did my comrade. The man marched us to the front entrance and said to the person in charge, who was allowing in one person at a time, “Er is a Yid, Gib em alles er vill haben” (He is a Jew, give him all that he wishes). With that, I dispatched my comrade and told him to get the truck here quickly. We loaded the truck with enough ice cream to satisfy a few hundred GIs. When we were returning to the camp, the driver turns to me and asks “How did you manage to get such special treatment. I replied, “You have to be an MOT, a member of the tribe”.
