1923-2026

Hampton, NJ

116th AAA Gun Battalion

D-Day Utah Beach, Battle of the Bulge

Robert was born on September 4, 1923 in Hampton, New Jersey. He attended basic training at Camp Davis, North Carolina and was assigned to the 116th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, Battery ‘A’. He boarded the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth in October, 1943 to Great Britain. In England they trained to perform the duties of an AAA gun battalion.There he learned to be a M4 High-Speed tractor driver.

On June 6, 1944, Bob and his unit, attached to the 1st Army, made their way to Utah Beach landing in the second wave. He saw dead American soldiers floating face down in the water and tried his hardest to avoid driving over the bodies on the beach. They landed after the assault troops but still faced much danger. Two men of his unit were killed by artillery in their Jeep.

Bob drove the M4 tractor with 90mm AA guns engaging the enemy day and night. He continued to serve through Normandy, France. In the Battle of the Bulge their mission was to use the guns against tanks and armored vehicles instead of planes. They continued on into Germany and across the Rhine river and Battery A was there when Germany surrendered in May 1945.