Jeff Badger's War Buddies from WWII
You might think it strange for a 32-year-old guy to have war buddies --
especially from the big one, WWII. But I do have them, all members of the 978th
Engineer Maintenance Company, part of the XIXth Corps of the 9th Army.
Here's my story.
It's not short but please
read on. I think you'll find it interesting…………
Background
When I was a child, my maternal grandfather, Leo Kavanaugh of Chicago,
was something of a hero to my brothers and me. We grew up hearing Mom tell
wonderful stories about him and he became a legend in the Badger family.
Unfortunately he died when
I was only 2 months old; I never got a chance to meet him.
I remember sitting in the
attic looking through some photos of him and his buddies from the war. I had
three favorites: one of him and my mom taken on the day he returned, the first
day they met; another with the caption "Me and Ski in Marseille France,
1945" and one of him and another GI standing by a table -- no caption.
I used to stare at them for
hours, absorbing every detail, wondering all sorts of things: where were they
taken, who were his buddies, what were they thinking, where did they fight….
As I grew up, I asked my mom
more and more questions about the photos. Especially "who was
"Ski?" 
and "why did they call him that?"
But
all mom could remember was the he was called "Ski" because he was
Polish. She also remembered "somebody from Detroit" and my
grandfather getting choked up about the war: the "horrific river
crossing", "the cold", "the fear" and "the bodies
in the water". Other than that, she said that she was just too young to
appreciate these things and ask him more questions before he died.
It was up to me to find
out.
My Quest
My search for info on my
grandfather's company began simply enough: an internet search for the name of
his unit, the 978th Engineer Maintenance Company. I came up with a single hit:
a fellow named Theron Snell, whose father
was in the 978th, had written his Ph.D. on the company. I emailed Theron and he
sent me a copy of a short history of the 978th written after the war by one of
its officers. It described their trip through England, France, Belgium,
Holland, Germany, the Philippines and finally Japan.
At the back of the history
was a roster every man who had served in the 300-strong company.
I looked through the
roster, wondering who these guys were, and paid special attention to guys with
Polish surnames. I looked on the Switchboard
internet white pages and started punching in the names of guys with rare names
hoping to find a possible match. A few hits came up.
So, I thought to myself: What
the heck, I'll see if I can find some of these guys. Maybe they remember my
grandfather, maybe they don't. In any case, maybe they can tell me a little bit
about the 978th.
I wrote up a short letter
introducing myself and asking if they could tell me about their time in the
978th: memories, anecdotes, anything at all. I knew some of the addresses had
to be incorrect -- other people with the same name -- but that some of them
might be matches. I also knew that these guys had to be at least in their 70s,
probably in their 80s or even 90s by now.
I just hoped I wasn't too
late.
Responses
I was a bit apprehensive at
first. Would these guys think I was crazy? It's been 55 years since the end of
the war. And it couldn't have been a pleasant time for them, to say the least.
But I figured if I'm going to do this, it's got to be now. I can't wait thirty
years. By then it'll be too late.
A few weeks after I sent of
my letters, I started to receive replies.
The response was
overwhelming.
The first few replies were
from men in the 978th who didn't know my grandfather, but they appreciated my
interest. Often their own family had never asked much about their time in the
war and didn't express much of an interest. The men sent letters describing
their experiences, photos of themselves in Europe during the war, photos of
their girlfriends in Holland. Through their letters and photographs I grew to
learn so much about what the 978th did during the war -- and how important and
defining a time it was in their lives. Even after 55 years, the memories were
still strong: pride, pain, bitterness, fond memories of buddies or painful
memories of fear -- they all had stories to tell.
The 978th was a maintenance
company, going to the front to repair damaged vehicles, equipment and tanks --
often under fire -- or dragging them back behind the lines to repair them and
send them back to the front. As one GI said: "We didn't have it as bad as
the infantry, but we weren't on no picnic either."
One Jewish GI spoke
bitterly about the relentless anti-Semitic sneers he received -- not from the
Germans, but from his fellow GIs. Another spoke of the bitter cold, the fear of
driving at night on dark country roads with their lights off to avoid German
planes, the lack of sleep, and being shot at by snipers. They all spoke very
fondly of a small village in the south of Holland called Spekholzerheide where
they were stationed for about a month shortly after it was liberated. The Dutch
people from "Spek" welcomed the 978th with open arms and treated them
like family. I received many photos of 978thers with Dutch families and
girlfriends from Spek.
After five or six responses
I found somebody who knew my grandfather, George Patrias from Detroit Michigan.
We spoke on the phone several times and he had some stories to tell -- not
about the battlefields, but about "roaming the French countryside, lit up
on that French wine". He told me "Yeah, Leo saved my life
twice." When I asked him how he told not of battlefield heroics -- but of
a barroom brawl in Marseille and being attacked by drunken knife-wielding
Filipinos in Manila -- and other details I haven't been able to tell my mother.
Later I received another
response from a GI named Marvin Mangham of Waco Texas: "It was quite a
surprise to receive your letter", he wrote, "and I remember your
grandfather, Leo, very well. At one time, we shared the same pup-tent."
And, "Oh, by the way, that's me with Leo in the photo you sent with us
standing at the table".
During my last visit home to Texas I stopped by Mr. Mangham's house for
a visit. We talked about my grandfather, about the war. He recalled in horror
the time at the Roer River crossing at Jülich Germany when he and my
grandfather were sent to repair a crane - the dead driver still inside - while
German planes and artillery attempted to thwart their efforts.
On the right is a photo of
Mr. Mangham and me during my visit.
During my free time I
continued to find more address and send off letters. And I continued to receive
letters and photos from GI's and visit with them. During one visit, a friend of
my grandfather became so choked up talking about the war he broke down and
couldn't continue. His daughter later told me that, in the 55 years since the
war, this was the first time he has spoken about it.
That really hit home. I
learned to appreciate the intensity of the emotions and how painful were the
memories that never left them -- even after 55 years.
I also received some
responses that weren't so encouraging: Chester Lenseski--no longer at this
address; Joseph Jablonnski--decease; Edward Jankowski--deceased. It appeared
that I was too late to find the infamous Ski.
I exchanged several letters
with Austin Jack Cable of Florida. After three or four letters, I received one
from him saying that he appreciated my interest and was sending me a rifle he
obtained in Germany during the war. He said that took the rifle of a dead
German at the Mariagrube Coal Mine near Aachen. During the long journey to the
Pacific he had everybody in the company sign it.
It arrived at my parents'
house a week later.
It is one of my most
cherished possessions.
Eventually, time wore on,
my correspondence dwindled, and it appeared that it was time to wrap up my
search.
Then one evening, while at
home at my apartment in Ireland, I received a phone call.
"Hello, is this Jeff
Badger?" asked the slow and steady voice on the other side. "This is
John Powasnik calling from New Jersey. But you might know me better as Ski
!"
I finally found the
infamous GI in the photo with my grandfather. No "Ski" attached to
his surname but with the Polish nickname nevertheless.
During my last visit home I
was fortunate enough to have a connection in Newark, New Jersey. I arranged for
a long layover so I could visit the legendary Ski.
I arrived at his house and
Mr. Powasnik and I had a few beers at his kitchen table. We talked about my
grandfather and the war – 
and about more escapades that I can't tell my mom about.
In the
photo is John "Ski" Powasnik and me in his living room in New Jersey.
Mr. Powasnik had photos of
his own that he gave me: one of him and my
grandfather in Marseille after the war; one of the Dutch girls that washed his
and my grandfather's laundry when they were stationed in Spek; and one of a ten
year-old Dutch girl from Spek, Maria Merx, who befriended Ski and my
grandfather while they were stationed at the home of her family. She gave Ski
the photo of herself when the 978th left for Germany.
I never expected at the beginning
to go this far or to get the response that I did. So far I have corresponded
with over 35 men in my grandfather's company. I have accumulated over 300
photos from the 978th, not to mention the rifle. But most of all I appreciate
the letters and the stories. No matter how hard one tries, a person can never
know what it's like to be there. But now I have at least some idea of what they
went through and a great appreciation for what they did.
I am extremely grateful to
every one of them for sharing their experiences with me.
Current
There's so much more to the
story that I haven't told here: my trip to Germany where I visited the places
the 978th was stationed; my visit to Margraten
cemetery in Holland where PFC Thomas E Kulick, a buddy of Ski and my
grandfather who died on VE day, is buried; my trip to Spek where I hooked up
with a local and found just about everybody from all the photos in Spek; my
visit to the house of Maria Merx, the young girl who befriended Ski, where I
had afternoon tea with her and her family; and so much more.
But since but since web
pages are best kept short to best keep peoples' attention, I'll leave it at
that.
I'd love to hear from you.
Lastly, I am currently
writing a book on my search for my grandfather's war buddies and hope to get it
published soon. The book is in two parts: the first telling my story and the
responses I have received, the second giving instructions on how others can use
the internet to find a family member's war story and war buddies. If you have
been successful in doing something similar to what I have done, I would love to
hear which methods you used. Feel free to email me. Thanks.
b a d g e r j e f f r e y @ h o t m a i l . c
o m
or sign my guest book:
[ Sign my GuestBook ] - [
Read my GuestBook
]
I hope you enjoyed the
story.
Jeff
Links:
Dad's War: THE site for help in advice in finding veterans. If you are looking to do the same thing I did, this is the place to start. This guy knows his stuff.
Theron Snell's email: this guy was very helpful to me in my search. He still likes to learn more, and is particularly keen on finding information on ships and WWII troop crossing in The Atlantic and The Pacific. Email him.
WAE Message Boards: For posting queries
about GIs. Good for finding veterans.
