Mediterranean Algiers Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 31, 1943, Algiers, Algiers                                Page the stars and stripes weekly saturday july 31, 1943  the from front a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a when Johnny came Back from Jersey City to visit his Sicily Home they slapped him into the army and treated him like a poor relation giving him All the dirty work. Came the americans and the whole outfit got captured. Now Johnny is a sergeant major in charge of his old outfit and he works the pants off them. 4h Ltd a a sgt. Anthony Franco of new Rochelle n y., passed by the prisoner of War Cape one Day and one of the italian in toners yelled out a Hiya  and sure enough it was. They had t seen each other for five years. A a a it Isnit unusual up at the front to see a colonel and a Corporal sweating out the same Chow line. But the further Back to the rear you get the More Peculiar things get. One outfit Frh from the states has the noncom separated from the privates with the ruling that sergeants not Only have to sleep in different parts of the Camp than the privates but the privates can t talk to them except in line of duty. Strangest ruling of All is this noncom can crash a private a Chow line anytime they want to. A a a reaction to Mussolini a resignation among the italian prisoners has been loud and favourable. A common statement is this. A Dat Mussolini a Bigga bum a Bigga liar. He Promise us every my and give us not ing. Good for  a a speaking of Mussolini reminded one English speaking italian of the Story of Caltagirone. Mussolini never wanted to go there because his Arch enemy Don Sturzo. Clerical Leader was born there. So the sicilian fascists decided to build another town across the Road and Call it Mussolini and gradually everybody in Caltagirone would move there. It was a very solemn ceremony when Mussolini Laid the Cornerstone for this new City named in his Honor. To this Day the Only thing standing in Mussolini is the original Cornerstone. A a a paratrooper put. James Franklin of Lee Summit mo., and sgt. Samuel Dower of St. Louis willingly paid the Price of Good living. They were Riding in a horse drawn cart to which was tied a pig. The pig finally Laid Down in the Road he could not or would not walk any further. So the pig was hoisted into the cart and Franklin and Dower took turns at hiking. Later the Porky paid for his ride. A a a Lisa the Glamor girl Mascot of one heavy bombardment Squadron has a boundless enthusiasm and Grace that no movie pin up Gal can match. Lisa is a Gazelle and was purchased from the arabs by a sgt. Milton l. Schroder who insists she is unique among air corps mascots. Her favorite diet consists of Candy chewing gum life savers dates figs an it Sci Gareth a. Captured american hand grenades Are being turned into the newest German Booby traps frontline veterans say. The Jerries leave them lying on the ground the pin pulled almost All the Way out and tied to a stake. The unknowing ones pick them up the slight tug pulling the pin completely out. The result is a deadly explosion. A a the height of army efficiency is illustrated by pfc Tom Dalton of Philadelphia pa., who is a communications Man with a fighter outfit at an advanced air base in civilian life his Job was Interior decorating Here he a been drafted to hang up pin up girls artistically in Pup tents a a a a they put me in a Turret and handed me a .50 Cal gun and told me i was a  that How a sgt. Keith f. Colitis. Bangor Maine got his Start As a Tail gunner on a b-26 marauder the first thing be did a to get a Short freckle faced kid named s sgt. Abraham Simonowitz. Brooklyn. N. Y. Who knows All there is to know about guns to teach him the tricks of shooting. Abie. Colitis explains Quot rigged up a practice Erin in Back of the armament shop and bawled hell out of me if i did something wrong it helped to one Day when we were lumped by some jerrys. I got mine and also got a second Oak Leaf Cluster for the air  this week. Colitis got his second me-109 Over Sicily but he saw his buddy and teacher Abie Simonowitz sustain a broken Hack. So i be got a double Job to do  he says. A a mine and  meets Cran pop continued from Page i relation for whom blood ties and common racial understanding were stronger than propaganda and the sword. This was one of Many reported such meetings Between the offspring and the for bearers of the melting pot. I had heard of others but never could i track them Down until i ran across Tony can Ato toil a. �?�1 knew my Mother s people lived in Sicily. They used to write to dad you see my Mother is dead before the War started. I know because i saved the Stamps for my collection. And then my dad wrote to me in North Africa and the d me if i Ever cot to Siev to look them up in Palermo. A a Well when we did act to Palermo i was too tired to think about anything until there he was at the Cate on the Way to his Pace i asked hip How in hell hell found me i did no to say it in those words of  Grandfather Flo Ini it seems had reasoned with the simple Ness of tile innocent that there were yanks in town and who  one of them be his grandson. I will know7 him when i see him after All is lie not my grandson9 flip old Man reasoned. His next deduct Ion was Clever he sat himself Down in the Shade of a tree on the main Convoy route through town and proceeded to Nick himself a grandson from the flu to Virny american Faess. Convoys moved slow through to in and hot had plenty of time. Of course or did no to guess right the first time mixed leaders meet Allied commanders take time out from a staff meeting to pose for the photographers on the Steps of one of the Headquarters buildings. Supreme Confidence to be 1.�thf front Row Gen. Dwight d. Eisenhower Allied commander a chief air chief marshal sir Arthur w. Tedder chief of the Mediterranean air comm and Gen. Sir Harold r. L. G. Al cml de sep y commander in chief Admiral sir Andrew Browne Cunningham. Second Row. Harold Mcmillen British resident minister at Afaq maj. Gen. W. B. Smith Gen Eisenhower % chief of staff an unidentified naval officer and sir Arthur coning a in commander of the tactical air Force. I hitch hiker s Saga continued from Page 1/ the had and in nor the second and the mistake Ned yanks must have called him a crazy Man. Shouting at them in the worst kind of language like that. But eventual Lye Grandfather of Login never would say How Long a he did pick out an american who could at least speak italian. That he Ped Esfi scially since the fellow did know a Tony Caln to. Is. But he is in another company somewhere in town. Is company of the regiment. Grandfather Fol Ogini with Aid of a sicilian Friend who spent some time in America could therefore sneak better dish eventual v found his grandson a and the one in a million i Chance had paid off Quot we did t have any trouble  to each other a though i certainly did no to inherit the sicilian  said Calato he asked All about dad. Of course and i to a him he was working on a fishing boat out of Monterey then j he began talking about the War and i did no to know what to say after All. American bomber ivus wrecked the building in which he lived. But he Wasny to very sore at the americans Anil he was Verv glad that it was a1 Over he kept saving fume la Guerra. Finite ii Bomba Rda men  Stimson in Africa Washington a Secretary of War Henry l. Stimson has been in North Africa on a tour of inspection. The War department announced Liis week. Ahead of us All Over the sicilian Grapevine a the amen Cani Are winning this War. Be Good to the amen Cani and they will be Good to  f All along the streets they lined up to cheer us. To hand us apples and pears and melons and almonds instead of sullen suspicion peering from balconies it which we got during the first few Days the people waved Home made crudely drawn american hags. In one town. Vita they even threw italian chocolate bars at us. It was probably ransacked from come italian Barracks and most of it was tasteless stuff. But the important thing was Tor the first time since we hit this part of the world people were giving us Candy. Tile first War sign we saw was the Railroad station at Enrice a Pola several Miles tins Side of Trapani. Railroad cars and tracks were All twisted up into pieces of j scrap. In the Center of the mass of wreckage near a huge gaping Hole two Tram cars filled with Oil i were still burning. On a half dozen Flatcar in the foreground there were eight carefully tied Down German planes waiting to go somewhere. One of the cars had been hit and parts of the planes i were splattered All Over the near by Hill. A a that s the Way i Hie i see those Jerry planes a said pie Alf Walsberg Bakersfield. Calif. Our bombers had done a thorough Job that morning. The boys were setting up a up when we arrived. In a wide Gully at the Edge of a clump of Trees a Small sergeant was talking Over the radio to the Crews of 12 different 155 howitzers positioned All around us. This battalion of big Cuns commanded by i t. Col William Westmoreland Pavlot Mills. S. C. Was attached to this operation. The troopers acting As infantry had swept through most of the Western Section of the Island meeting very Little resistance. Aru they weren t expecting much trouble Here still a recon patrol of three armoured jeeps was sent up ahead to find out inst what was waiting for us if anything meanwhile the troopers were already jumping off the trucks lining up alongside the Road veil spaced. As soon As the recon patrol sent Back the word these toys were alls it t to March into town and Takt Over. But then. Things rounding a curve the Iran into some heavy and Road blocks and a Dell the target of happened recon patrol barbed wire then found conc cot Small Arm fire. Their Job done the three jeeps raced bark to re Jikit. Five minutes later the italian artillery started booming. Most of it came from the lower ridges of i the Hill on our right flank. As we discovered later they had a Bailiere of big guns and a whole flock of mortars 77 s and pillboxes shells were soon flying All Over the place quite a few dropping in the Field just behind our up. One 77 my. Shell landed several Hundred feet away from the up Center. A few minutes later we answered Back. The Small sergeant lying on his Back in the Gully spoke Over the Telephone quietly Quot batteries fire for  the effect was terrific. Then after two hours of this. The third battalion got ready for another Job. Commanded by maj. Edward Krause Green Bay wis this was the outfit that used guns to Stop a German tank attack outside of Vittoria. On d plus one. Their Job was to Knock out the gun positions on the Ridge. 11 boys did t do any position Hanking they just charged. With men own artillery shells singing out i their Heads the troopers got to within 400 Yards of the gun positions and then let Loose with Volley of Small arms fire. It was t Long after the first bursts that the italians stopped shooting started surrendering. Italian speaking pvt. Harry Bifone Steubenville. Ohio found two italian soldiers to Start with those two led him to another Hole were there were 30 More. And right behind the 30 was another 50. Bitone started Down the Hill with 80 prisoners and by the time he reached the Bottom he had More than 200. All the germans had up led out the Day before. All except one. Who tried to make a run for it but platoon set. Raymond Hart. Syracuse n. A. Knows How to it shoot very straight. Is Xiii Atter tile Peytie artillery surrendered the town command i drove up with a White Flag he was an italian Admiral All Iii Essen up in a go ii by aided cot suit. Quite ready to surrender tin town on our unconditional terms. But that Nicht. Except for a few Loving patrol. Trapani was Declai i i Quot off  it was getting late and i was hungry is i sat Down mar the Road and started to open some c rations within a few minutes i was surrounded by smiling people j who lived in th5 nearby farmhouses they started handing in things shy  Like Little children one woman gave me five Toma toes. A girl gave me a Little Salt land a Small freshly made italian Brown bread St i i warm. Nethol j woman gave me a Ripe Watermelon in Exchange i emptied my pockets of All the Candy and cigarettes i had. As i was eating an old Farmer pushed his Way through the crowd. Sticking out his Chest in a loud voice he said a Gooda morning. I gotta two sons in America. I gotta one son Ilia a Youm Ted states army and i gotta son who gotta a Best Barber shop Ina a  he stopped for breath and i stopped eating. We had a Long talk after that Over a Bott e of Chianti. The old Man had been to the states himself for a few years and was going Back again Atter the War. When he found out that i was going to sleep in a foxhole that night he said a a you gotta come sleep in my House. It Willa Maka me Vera Happy. Like my son come  so i went with him. It was a crumbling Little farmhouse maybe too years old. Probably More. It was As Remote from the War and the world As a Small swimming Hole in the midd e of a big Woods. Two families lived in the House i Don t know How it when i came in. They ail lined up to shake hands with me and then they kept staring until i Felt Uke both halves of the siamese twins. That night i slept in the Only bed of the Only bedroom. I slept with my clothes on. With my 45 next to me. Al night Long i was div bombed and strafed by several million flies and mosquitoes. Long before morning i began to envy the boys who were sleeping soundly in their Nice dirty Foxholes. For breakfast i had walnuts and wine. No Side dishes. And then i went to Trapani. I passed by the Airport Whf had been All busted up by our bombers and big guns. Nothing was left but a mess of litter and parts of planes and holes where hangars used to be. Lra Nain itself had been he hard almost As hard As Tome Section of pm Zerta Whoie blocks had been plastered with the rubble a a till in the streets. The Only stores open were the Barber shops. There were no correspondents there they we re All in Palermo. Peop e still Hadnot come Back to town yet but there were lots of italian soldiers walking Down the streets. Whenever they saw us. They stopped saluted smartly and then said Quot Bon  a few of them had guards most of them did no to. All of thrill were heading for the prison stockade to give them be yes in. One my told me of italian soldiers coming into town in their own trucks. With thir own Drivers with no guards Hunting for somebody to surrender to. At the end of the Day. We had taken 5.000 prisoners. Trapani had Bein a god in a. But tomorrow i am definitely go me to  l Ino