ZIMLINGHAUS, CHARLES

Charles Zimlinghaus

Army

Coram

Picture of Company E, 413th Infantry. Charles Zimlinghaus is listed as being in the photo.

Charles Zimlinghaus was born in 1920 in Long Island City, New York. Before the war he was employed as an Industrial Engineer, He enlisted in New York City on December 18, 1942. As a private, he served with Company E of the 413th Infantry. Zimlinghaus was awarded a Marksman Badge with Rifle, a Combat Infantryman Badge, a Bronze Star Medal, A Purple Heart, the European African Middle Eastern Medal with 3 Bronze Service Stars, a World War II Lapel Service Button, a World War II Victory Medal and an American Campaign Medal. Zimlinghaus was discharged from the service on October 14, 1945 at Camp San Luis, California.

The 413th Infantry was part of the 104th Infantry division, which was nick named the "Timberwolves" The division was activated in 1942, and was landed in France in September of 1944. In October the division had advanced into Belgium taking part in the battles at Aachen, and Colonge. They advanced into central Germany and met up with Soviet forces in late April 1945.

The 104th overran Nordhausen and the Dora-Mittlebau concentration camp on April 11, 1945 where they discovered 3,000 corpses lying around the camp and some 750 emaciated, starving, and ill prisoners who had been left behind when the SS evacuated the inmates on death marches.

The 104th Infantry Division suffered over 6000 casualties in the European theater of operations

Written by,

Erica Kannry

Longwood JHS

January, 2006