Today I want to respond to my readers with some pictures of my service during World War II. Up until today, I had no knowledge of how to post these photos. You will all be happy to know that today that episode has been completed successfully.
Signed,
Finnegan
Forced to smile under the gun. Howard Portnoy and I with two guitars we purchased with cigarettes from a lady in Ghent.
Lady in Ghent, Belgium and Ozone Park, L.I. Comedian, Polachski...
Who is that good looking soldier on the left side of the picture.
Who is that good looking soldier on the left side of the picture.
Polachski and I in Ghent, Belgium, June, 1945.
Cadre of the 301st port Company at Indiantown Gap, P.A. The only one I remember is the guy on the left, in the back row.
The Infamous Company Clerk on Utah Beach. The Seahorse insignia on the monument is no longer in use. Originally issued to Combat Engineers and Beach Masters, it was worn on Class A uniforms and attached to the left front pocket of an Eisenhower Jacket.
I got a choice of a Court Martial or Company Punishment in this outfit after I was AWOL and got the nickname Finnegan. I had chosen Company Punishment and later, I was transferred out to a Cook and Bakers unit, going overseas in one week.
The Cook and Bakers unit was reorganized as a Cadre for the 518 Port Battalion. I became a member of the 301st Cadre and the name of Finnegan fit me like a glove .
I waved goodbye to my old outfit, as they shipped out to the South Pacific when the 301st, was just, three weeks old.
They say, a picture is worth a thousand words but in this case I have more than another 1000
words to tell the story of this 496th Port Battalion, photo.
Me, on top of a Bunker on Utah Beach.
Bob Cary and Robert Marcott.
Two men from Oak Park, IL. ,
A Chicago suburb. They
slowly turn into the,
two wildest guys on Utah Beach.
