The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-12-27


 John T. Derwin, Jr., of 167 Chestnut avenue, assistant athletic instruc- tol; Private First Glass Albert M. OBrien of 482 West Main street r:fleman: Private First Glass Char les Haddad of 464 South Main street, rifleman; Staff Sergeant Alban Theriault of 33 Meadow street, squad leader;
 Private First Glass Peter F. Shee- han of 179 South Elm street, rifle. man: Private First Glass John J. PabilioniS of BIO Bank street, rifle n an; Private First Glass Clifford R.. Stewart of 27 Peach street, bug.er; Private First Glass Savino DelBian- co of 43 Meadow street, mortar gum ner; Corporal Armand Provancher of 157 Railroad Hill street, cook: Private First Glass John P. Nap- omiceno of 208 South Elm street, mortar gunner; Private First Glass Anthony A. Patio of 88 Avan av- enue, driver, and Corporal Eugene F. Donnelly of 972 West Main street, driver.
 Also, Private First Glass Floyd E. Magee, clerk; Sergeant Roger P. Pilot, communication sergeant, Ser geant Gerald J. LeMay, wire chief; and Private Butkevitch, driver; all of Watertown; Private First Glass Bernard s. Rynecki of Union City, mcrtar gunner; Corporal Thomas c. Sandersen, medical technician, and Private First Class George A. Wilson, ammo bearer, both of Thon1- aston; Corporal Edward s. Mattoon, clerk, and Staff Sergeant Konstan- ty Lecko, supply sergeant, both of Terryville; and Private First Class Henry J. Sankowski of Southington, rifleman.
 The release states:
 'The 350th, a unit of the 88th "Blue Devil' Division of Lieutenant General Mark w. Clark's Fifth Army, was ordered to occupy the mountain and reached its objective only a short time before German infantrymen apparently acted on similar orders. The 350th got there first and greeted the Germans with intense fire. It was the start of the weeklong feroeious battle. Clouds hugged the mountain top, conceal ing advancing Germans until they were within few yards of the de- lenders, and much of the fighting was done at range of 50 yards. Six Germans were killed within the castle that marks the peak of the mountain.
 Attacking two or three times daily, the Germans were supported by intense. accurate concentrations of artillery fire. In three morning and one evening attacks they used flamethrowers. One counterattack temporarily denied the crest to the 35Oth, but the doughboys regained the dominant ground and continued to hold it.
 "Brigadier General Paul W. Ken dall of Palo Alto, California, com manding general of the 88th Divis- ion, described the stand of the 350th as magnificent" and paid high tribute to the courage and aggres- siveness displayed by every man in the regiment.
 Tt rained continuously, and auto matic weapons were repeatedly choked with mud. These were cleaned with all manner of impro- vised devices, including the under shirt and dress scarf of the regi- mental commander, Colonel J. C.. Fry of Washington, D. C.. Later, as the dense artillery concentrations on the 350th's mule-borne supplies on the approaches became highly ef- fective, the defenders relied heavily on the weapons and ammunition of the fallen. There are many of them. When a heavy machinegun section dwindled to four men, not enough to carry the guns and am- intuition one of the survivors ran back 1000 yards to the rear, gath- cred 19 replacements and returned to form a new platoon.
 Heavy weapons companies fired light machineguns, rifle company weapons, from the crest to build up an impenetrable curtain of rapid small arms fire to fend off the swarming attackers.
 "One member of the 35oth, un- identified, stood up on the crest to get an extraordinary field of fire down the slope, killed A Germans with an automatic rifle and two others with hand grenades.
 Almost the entire siege was fought at range permitting use of hand grenades by both sides, the Germans throwing potato mashers uphill and receiving Augmentation grenades in exchange.
 Three direct hits on the castle were scored by German artillery in one morning alone.
 "Sixty-millimeter mortar fire of the 350th was directed on targets only 25 to 30 yards in advance of the doughboys to break one