I have been working to create two pages here on Karen’s Chatt for my dad’s WWII letters. I posted his letters in a series of about 30 blog posts a couple years ago, but information can be hard to find looking through 30+ posts. Putting the letters and photos in chronological order on their own permanent pages will make the information easier to find.
The two pages are under Military on the Home Page of this website. The Basic Training page of letters is pretty much finished but the page with letters sent during the war in Europe and during the Occupation is not quite complete. It is still a work in progress.
My dad arrived in England in December 1944 and was assigned to Company L, 333rd Regiment, 84th Infantry Division. The 84th was known as the Railsplitters. He entered the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium in late December 1944.
While working on this project, I again noticed a specific incident my dad noted in one of his books. A hand-written note he made on a photo.
In the book, The 84th Infantry Division in the Battle of Germany, by Lt. Theodore Draper, Viking Press, 1946, there is a photo of a snow-plowed crossroad near the town of Laroche. The photo has the caption: “The capture of this innocent-looking crossroads was probably the turning point of the entire action. It deprived the enemy of the only two first-rate roads to the east, the Laroche Road and the Houffalize Road.”
84th in Battle of Germany, Draper, 1946
On that photo my dad wrote: “Sgt. David Uherka, Lakewood, Ohio, my squad leader was killed about ¼ mile from this crossroad.”
When I came across his notation a couple years ago, the writing was difficult to read and I was unsure of the soldier’s last name. This time I did some research and learned who my dad’s squad leader was.
His squad leader was Sgt. David Uherka, of Lakewood, Ohio. According to his military grave marker, Uherka was in the 84th Division, not in the 82nd as his newspaper obituary reported.
Sgt. David Uherka was killed 16 Jan 1945 (age 35) at Arrondissement de Verviers, Liège, Belgium. Sgt. David Uherka, Find a Grave Memorial no. 55273528.
Sgt. David F Uherka (1910-1945), Find a Grave photo.
His obituary:
Body Of Soldier To Arrive In Elyria Tomorrow
The body of Sgt. David F. Uherka will arrive in Elyria Saturday afternoon for burial in Ridge Hill Memorial Park, it was announced today.
Sgt. Uherka, a resident of Lakewood, served with the 333rd Infantry, 82nd [sic] Division, and was killed in Belgium on January 16, 1945. He was born at Prince George, Virginia, on January 10, 1910, and was 25 [sic] years old at the time of his death. He was a member of the Slovak Calvinist church of Lakewood, and was church organist there for 17 years. His father, the Rev. Frank Uherka, retired, was pastor of the church.
Sgt. Uherka’s body is scheduled to arrive in Elyria at 1:15 p.m. Saturday and to be taken to the Sudrn-Curtis Funeral home. It will be taken then to the Ridge Hill Memorial Park, where private services will be held at the grave at 4 p.m. Saturday, with the Rev. D. W. Dodris, pastor of the Lakewood United Presbyterian church, officiating.
Sgt. Uherka is survived by his father; a daughter, Donna Uherka; and three sisters, Mrs. Robert Hunter, of North Olmsted; Mrs. Lester Price, of Detroit, and Mrs. Clarence Foss, of Elyria. [1] His parents were both immigrants from Czechia.
A squad consisted of about 12 men, so my dad probably knew Sgt. Uherka very well. My dad had been in Belgium a little over 2 weeks when his Sergeant was killed. I am not sure when Sgt. Uherka entered the war, but he enlisted in Cleveland on 29 October 1943. [2]
The Battle of the Bulge, aka the Ardennes Offensive, lasted for over a month, from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945. By 25 January 1945, the Allies had restored their line to its previous position. The Bulge was the largest land battle ever fought by the U.S. Army and was the last major German offensive campaign in the West before the end of the war.
Losses of both Allied and German soldiers were high. Nearly 20,000 American service members were killed during the battle, accounting for about 10 percent of all American combat casualties during WWII.
In addition, January 1945 was one of the worst winters ever in Belgium. Temperatures were below zero, the snow was knee deep and the winds were blizzard-like. The winter clothing the soldiers had been issued was not adequate for the bitter cold they experienced.
That was eighty years ago. January 1945. The war in Europe would end in less than four months, on 8 May 1945.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII.
Thank you to these young men who bravely fought in WWII and to all U.S. Veterans.
[1] Sgt. David Francis Uherka, Obituary, Find a Grave Memorial no.55273528, Ridge Hill Memorial Park, Amherst, Lorain County, Ohio; Find a Grave.com.
[2] Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946, Record Group 64, Box 10125, Reel 74, NARA; Ancestry.com.
1 comment
God bless you Karen