Cpl DANIEL V. CHECCHIA - A Co.
"Seeing my first dead person, with a cigarette in his hand, like he was just resting. Seeing all the Jewish and Polish prisoners, killed by the gases."
My wartime nickname:
Chech
Medals and Special Honors I received while in the Army:
- Purple Heart
- Bronze Star
1. Some funny things I remember about the war:
a. The time O. J. Williams came back to our tank with a pig he had killed for us to eat.
b. We were being shelled. When it was over, Horace Anderson got angry. A piece of shrapnel went through his helmet-but that's not what he was angry at--he had found an old typewriter that he was learning to use and a piece of shrapnel broke it to pieces!
2. My memories of the way we lived in Europe:
Ireland-living in a Quonset hut with a belly stove to keep us warm. Finding mussels on the beach and cooking them at night. England-sleeping in tents with a mattress cover filled with hay. In combat-sleeping under the tank with the sky above me.
3. My most vivid memories from World War II:
Seeing my first dead person, with a cigarette in his hand, like he was just resting. Seeing all the Jewish and Polish prisoners, killed by the gases.
4. My memories about the conditions of the countries I was in during the war:
All the buildings and factories being destroyed. People were friendly in England, Ireland, and France. Also-the lack of good restaurants was very noticeable!
5. Something from the war that is difficult to talk about, but I'd like future American's to know:
I saw people whose freedom was taken away from them. It is important to love this country and stand up so others can have freedom.
6. In spite of the hardships of war, I'm proud to have served my country in World War II because:
It saved my family from seeing the disaster and hardships of war.
7. My message to my lifelong buddies in the 818th:
The greatest guys I ever knew in my life!
