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124th Infantry Regiment |
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 124th Infantry Regiment Medical Detactment Camp Stoneman, California, December 1945 After return from Philippines (click on image for large view) |
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The 2nd, 3rd and Medical
Battalions of the 124th received Battle
Honors which were later designated Presidential Unit Citations.
Streamers of which are now in the museum in Orlando,
Florida.
The battle honors are listed in
the Division History book but the Presidential Unit Citations
are dated after the Division was inactivated.
(Information courtesy of Marion Hess) |
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124th Infantry Regiment Members
Hess,
Fredrick W., Jr.
Hess,
Fredrick W., Jr. In 1944 I was seventeen years old. In February I married Fred who was also seventeen soon to be eighteen in April. We knew that he would be called up for the draft soon after that birthday. He entered the Army in July. In the few months we had together I learned that he loved canned pineapple tidbits which brings me to the point of this story After he left to go to war, I returned home to live with my parents in a row house on a narrow street in Philadelphia, PA. Everyone lived with the wartime restrictions and the precious ration books issued to all. There were coupons for everything, gas, shoes, food, etc. Our daily menus depended on how many coupons one had in addition to the price of the food and hereby hangs this tale. The neighborhood was close knit. There were many servicemen flags hanging in the windows, a blue star denoting someone serving or a gold star for someone killed in action. We were all in the same boat, sharing experiences and news and helping when needed. It was a tense but wonderful camaraderie. All of us "grass widows" spent a lot of time writing to our men, some in Europe, mine in the South Pacific and one in Burma. The highlight of the day was the arrival of the mailman. As mentioned above, I knew my soldier loved pineapple and since canned fruit or anything with sugar in it was high priced , not everyone used those coupons. So at the beginning of each month when my allotment check arrived , I would canvas my friends and collect their unused coupons and buy canned pineapple tidbits. I sent Fred a box every month containing numerous items that I knew he could use and the precious pineapple. These care packages were a labor of love. It made me happy that I could send him something I knew he would enjoy and remind him of home and better times. The mail we received from them were heavily censored and could contain no references to where they were or what they were doing but as the war wound down they were able to write more details . Then one day the anxiously awaited mailman brought me a letter which informed me that they were camped on the huge Del Monte pineapple plantation on Mindanao in the Philippine Islands. So my crusade ended. No more canned pineapple got sent since there is no comparison between canned fruit and that’s pulled ripe and sweet from the warm earth. In the 45 years following those times, we had many a good laugh at my sending my " Coals to Newcastle". |
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Page last revised
11/29/2012