Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
3:55 | Herman Goldman recalls the difficult mountain terrain of the N. Apennines Campaign in North Italy. His unit would have had no K-Rations or ammo without the locals and their mules.
Keywords : Herman Goldman Florence Italy Bologna N. Apennines Campaign Gen. Albert Kesselring
Recruit Herman Goldman got excited in Army basic training when he passed a test for the Air Corps. Instead he quickly shipped out as an infantry replacement. He watched the American shoreline fade away with no idea of his destination.
Entering the Rome-Arno Campaign as an infantry replacement, Herman Goldman heard for the first time the "noise of war." The artillery fire "gets into your brain." D-Day overshadowed this fierce battle against crack German troops.
Infantryman Herman Goldman knew the war must be over when he saw a general in a Packard Clipper drive forward past the lines. His duty became accepting the surrender of hundreds of Germans.
Herman Goldman became part of the post-war political situation when he was transferred to the 88th Blue Devils and posted near the Yugoslavian border. Their mission was to discourage any Russian or Yugoslavian moves on Italy.
Herman Goldman acknowledges the fallen American soldiers of the Italian campaigns still buried there and also recalls the pride of his first vote, marking his "X" at the front, and the misery of yellow jaundice in a foxhole.
