My great uncle, Norbert O’Neill was born in 1917 in Cleveland, Ohio. His brother, 2 years younger, born in 1919 is my grandfather, Elmer O’Neill. They grew up during the Depression and lived pretty poor lives. They had no toys or nice clothes. They ate a lot of dandelion and bean soup. They even had to pick the dandelions. For fun, they would go fishing and play ball.

Norbert was a pretty good student. After high school he worked for a couple of years and then enlisted in the army in 1941. After he was through with basic training, he did get to come home for a short break. He became a drill instructor at several camps including one in Texas. He even received special certificates for being an excellent Drill Instructor. My Grandfather enlisted in the Marines.

After several years of being a Drill Instructor, he volunteered to go oversees - to Europe to fight. He joined the 104th Timberwolves Division, 415th Infantry Unit, Company E. This Division had been re-activated in September 1942. In December of 1944, the Division was assigned to an area on the northern flank of the Bulge (in the Battle of the Bulge). They were to provide an active defense of the allied flank. When the Allies regained the territory and their line against the Germans, the 104th, along with several other Divisions were sent to prepare for crossing the Roer River. This river, in western Germany was the first it was to cross and then it was going to cross the Rhine and meet up with the Russians who were already closing in on Berlin. (The 104th Division was to have been sent back to the west coast of the U.S. to prepare for the invasion of Japan - which - was never to happen because of the dropping of the Atomic Bomb. )

My great uncle had fought valiantly, we are told, while helping defend the Allied flank of the Bulge. After 6 weeks of fighting, with no warm food, he and his Infantry Unit, the 415th, had been relieved for 3 days at Christmas. After those three days, the 415th along with the other units, continued fighting and taking towns, clearing the west bank area of the Roer as they positioned themselves to rehearse for the crossing of the Roer.

The Germans has destroyed the dam in order to flood the Roer valley. This caused the river to rise substantially and created a very fast moving river. The Germans knew the Allies were heading east in the German heartland while the Russians were closing in heading west to Berlin. The crossing had been delayed several days but rather than wait for the river to recede, the Allies wanted to surprise the Germans by crossing a day sooner than they were expecting. It was a fierce battle, many soldiers were gunned down by the Germans who occupied ‘pill boxes’ on the east bank of the river. My great uncle managed to destroy a pill box that had killed over 30 American soldiers throughout the night of February 22nd and into the early morning of February 23rd. My great uncle had been shot up pretty bad as he was throwing the hand grenades. About a day and a half later, medics made it to him to take him back for medical care. He was shipped to a hospital in Spa, Belgium where he died about 1 week later.

We know about the details of this battle because of a letter that had been written in 1947 by someone who had been with Norbert when he had been mortally wounded. My great grandmother had worked for 2 years to find out who was with her son when he was shot. This letter, by Joseph Capone, wanted to share the story with my great grandmother. I also have the original telegram that had been sent to my great grandmother informing her about her son’s death and I also have letters from the chaplain and various officers under whose command Norbert had served. He was buried in Belgium. Several years later, his body was shipped to Arlington Cemetery where he, along with others, received a military ceremony and proper burial. My grandfather and grandmother also shared pictures of the Arlington Cemetery ceremony for his brother. They told me about the ceremony - it was short, sad and sweet. My great uncle had earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

The Depression and World War II were incredibly difficult times for everyone. My family was pretty average in how they struggled, how they were fairly poor and how they all were glad to serve and work for their country. You can read more about those times in an interview I did with my grandfather.

For more information about the Timberwolves (The 104th infantry division):

The official Army website that has information about each of it’s Divisions

The National Timberwolf Association A website that chronicles the activities of the 104th including personal stories. Another URL for the same website (which may have some differences) is: http://members.aol.com/twdiv2/grenade.htm

A website that chronicles the history of WWII: http://motlc.wiesenthal.org/pages/ww.html

The National WWII memorial website