Memories of World War II in the 14th Cavalry Group (**)
I enlisted in the Army in Brooklyn, New York in 1944, I was 17 years old.
I took Basic Training at Fort Bliss, Texas as an operator of the 90mm anti-aircraft gun. In the middle of that training, I was sent to (sorry I forgot the name of the camp) to train with a tank crew on a Sherman tank. It had a 75mm main gun cannon. I was the gunner on the crew.
After that we went to California for maneuver training and then to Camp Polk, Louisiana for war game maneuvers.
In early August 1944 we boarded a troop ship at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and spent two weeks crossing the Atlantic. En-route we picked up many survivors from a Norwegian commercial ship that had been torpedoed. We landed in Liverpool, England. We trained until late August when we crossed the English Channel and landed at Normandy, France on Omaha Beach.
I was in the 14th Tank Battalion of the 9th Armored Division.
We fought initially from Normandy to St. Vith where the Germans counterattacked us with their heavy tanks. We were hardly a match for them. The Germans announced that the 9th Division was “kaput” and called us the “Phantom Division.” But we recovered.
We next fought through the Hurtgen Forest and in the Battle of the Bulge. By March 7, 1945 we captured the last bridge remaining over the Rhine River, the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen. We kept it open 10 days giving Army engineers time to span the river with pontoon bridges, and allowing thousands of troop and equipment to cross the Rhine into central Germany, including us.
Our tanks rolled into the Dachau Concentration Camp that we had heard about but did not believe until we saw what had been done to Jews, which I am, and other people. It was a horrible sight for a kid like me. I will never forget the scenes there; they still bring me nightmares.
I had one tank blown out from under me. My sergeant pulled me out and got shot by a sniper who also threw a grenade at us. Fragments cut my face and neck. I was rescued by a combat medic and sent to a field hospital. After a day I was sent back to my unit.
I thank God I’m still alive at age 87 and so is my wife. Both of us now use guide dogs to get around. My computer has a voice program; as I talk it typed this memory of my time in the 14th Cavalry.
Seymour “Sy” Lederman, Technical Sergeant 5th Class
Teletype (TTY) Operator and Tank Gunner
Headquarters and Headquarters Company
14th Cavalry Group
1944-1948
(**) Precursor to 14th Constabulary Regiment, 1946 & the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 1948
Edited from letter by Lederman dated August 13, 2014