Evening star., 1942-12-01
First AEF Casualties
Al Walter Reed Tell
Of Africa Warfare
Vivid Stories of Bottles
Related by Eleven,
Here for Treatment

With recollectionS of the North
African fighting fresh in their minds
II of the lis officers and enlisted
men now recovering from their
wounds at Walter Reed Hospital
gave War Department interviewers
yesterday vivid accounts of strange
and ordinary battle experiences.
They told stories of curious Arabs
who stood around the battlefields
watching the action with complete
disregard of gunfre,' the news
release eXplained-"o enemy planes
straflng troops on beaches and roads.
of Frenchmen who opened their
hearts after fighting like tigers, Of
long marches and of blazing action
Because these first wounded to be
brought back from the North African
campaign are under medical care.
the War Department would not per-
nit neWSpapermen on the scene and
sent its own interviewers to the
hospital. The interviews were con-
fined to a few of the men whose
wounds were less serious and whose
stories, 1t was said, were typical OF
those of the entire group.
Shot by Sniper.
The men interviewed were:
Second 1t. Leslie Ward Dooley of
Athens, Tenn, an infantry officer
assigned to an anti-tank unit, who
received bullet wounds in his left
arm
Pvt. Robert McNutt of ST. Louis.
Mo. member of the first party TO
land near CaSablanca. Shot in the
chest by sniper after helping to
knock out some machine guns
Pvt. Nicholas Lastekein of Fred
ericksburg, Ohio hit in the leg by
shrapnel and eager to know when
he can get back into action again.
Pvt. Robert l.. Bethel of Aums-
vile. Greg. wounds in the arm by
shrapnel when his doughboy outfit
was fighting near Casablanca. They
were pressing against Nazi snipers
when artillery opened fire on them.
They got" the snipers.
Pvt. Fred Dean of Ashland. XIV,
wounded in the leg by a machine
gun bullet. 1t happened at Casa
blanca. too. "As far as the French
are concerned. I'm willing to forget
it," he grinned.
Pvt. First Class Thomas r.
Wileynski of Benton Harbor, Mich.
was rueful over the fact that his
injured arm was the result of an
accident. His jeep was sideswiped
by a truck between Fedala and
Casablanca.
Corpl. Herven La Rochelle of
Hartford. Conn, French Cana
dian by birth, was machine -gunned
"Safi was our objective" he said
We were told to take a beach and
hold it. We did,
Buddy Killed.
Pvt. First Class Russell Schemik
of Chicago got a bullet through his
right shoulder. He was with a party
that landed outside Casablanca.
Pvt. Leonard G. Middlebrook.
from Venice. Calf, related how his
buddy was killed and he was wound
ed by shrapnel as they huddled be-
hind cement road guards under an
enemy baTage. Arabs, for a few
cigarettes, helped him and others
across wire fences.
Pvt. Frank Rosenella of Scranton,
Pa, member of an anti-aircraft
unit, was strafed by French planes.
He was more amazed by the cool
behavior of Arabs than worried
about the planes. He was wounded
while getting out of his half-track
vehicle. Prior to that he had helped
storm fortification.
Corpl Sylvester Ifford of Delhi.
Mimi, told of seeing an American
cruiser destroy gun emplacement
near Fedala as his detachment
landed. Next day, near Casablanca.
he suffered two shrapnel wounds in
the left thigh, a sprained back and
knee during hot fighting.