Veterans Voice: John R. Booth
John was born in Marshfield, Mo. The family moved from Marshfield and purchased land near Gilman City (MO).
John joined the U.S. Army in May of 1944 and was sent to Camp Roberts in California for basic training, where he earned a sharpshooter badge. He then took training at Fort Chaffee, AR, then Camp Swift in Texas.
He shipped out of New York on January 4th, of 1945. landing in Naples, Italy. They were replacement troops, sent where needed. John was sent to the 85th Mountain Regiment, 10thMountaineer Division, 5th Army. They were issued skis, something totally unfamiliar to John. They trained for mountain warfare, but never used their skis.
In their unit was a soldier, Ralph Hulbert, who was legendary with both a bow and arrow, and with the .45 pistol. He would sneak to the German lines at night, silently using the bow and arrow to kill German sentries. It was learned that the Germans thought it was American Indians (Native Americans) and were frightened of stories they had heard and especially of losing their scalps!
The Army brought in 6000 mules to pull artillery in the mountains, passenger pigeons for communications, and the new M-29 Weasel ( a forerunner of the Sno Cat). The 10th Mountaineers were the last new unit to enter WW2. They fought from January 8, 1945 to the war’s conclusion. John himself spent 90 straight days in combat.
By the end of December, before the 10th Mountaineers entered the way, Allied troops had pushed the Germans out of southern Italy, north into the Apennines and the Po Valley. They were now hidden in extremely difficult, mountainous terrain.
The Apennines were 840 miles in length, and up to 9000 feet in altitude, although most mountains were in the 5-6000 foot range. The 10th Mountaineers never did use their skis, eventually piling them up and burning them. Lt. Bob Dole joked that “Kansans never did ski much”. They did, however, engage in a lot of tough mountain climbing.
At this point the Division stood at 13,000 men, many of whom had never received mountain training. Now they had to engage in mountain-to-mountain fighting in bitterly cold weather. In one skirmish a German grenade landed very close to John. An officer yelled “get down” and John flattened himself against the ground. When the grenade exploded John felt the impact of shrapnel, but thankfully it only struck his billfold in his back pack.
A heavy concentration of German troops were imbedded on Mount Belvedere, and enjoyed a strong vantage point in every direction. The 5th Army had tried to dislodge them twice but had failed. The mountain was littered with destroyed tanks and other battle debris.
The only point higher than Mt. Belvedere was a pinnacle of stone called Riva Ridge. A night assault was of Riva Ridge was ordered. It meant climbing hundreds of feet in total darkness, carrying 90lb rucksacks, rifles, munitions, etc., while maintaining silence.
They did surprise the Germans, but securing Riva Ridge was a three-day battle in which 200 Americans were killed and 500 wounded. Nevertheless they were successful and began the assault of Mt. Belvedere, and equally bloody but successful battle.
The next hill was Mount della Torraceia. Again they made their assault in the darkness, having to deal with strings of barbed wire and land mines. The Germans were dug-in and waiting. The hillside was littered with bodies and the smell of blood was everywhere. The battalion was nearly decimated, the attack requiring tremendous physical and emotional strength. John saw many of his buddies covered in shrouds.
But their great sacrifice helped the Allies break the German Gothic Line (the German’s last line of defense in Italy) and drive them from Italy.
There was still fighting however. The next target of the 10th Mountaineers was Hill Number 913. German soldiers had been told that the 10th Mountaineers “took no prisoners”, which increased the ferocity of the German soldiers. The 10th was pinned down in mud and cold under a rain of German bullets.
When their platoon leader was killed, Lt. Bob Dole assumed command. He and John removed many wounded from the battlefield. Later that day John was firing at the enemy from behind a rock. Only his foot was exposed and it was struck by a German sniper. His boot was full of blood and he had to be evacuated, ending up in a military hospital in Pistora, Italy. A little later Lt. Dole was also wounded while he was going to the aid of another soldier. He ended up in the same hospital, but with more devastating wounds.
John and Bob Dole spent a lot of time visiting in the hospital. Dole was partially paralyzed, and asked John to write to his family. John received a nice “thank you” letter from Dole’s sister.
John notes that doctors considered Dole to be a “hopeless case”. He received many surgeries and his will power overcame many of his injuries, although he never recovered the use of his right arm. Nonetheless, he entered politics and served 26 years in the United States Congress, evening running for President.
The 10th Mountaineers captured thousands of German prisoners. British Field Marshall Alexander spoke of the 10th: “The trouble with the 10th Mountain Division was that what they were doing was couldn’t be done, and showing too much intestinal fortitude to quit. The result was accomplishing the impossible”!
Many American soldiers were assigned to local Italian families and all were very nice to the Americans, keeping them well-fed. When John was shipped home he was assigned to state-side duty for 8 months. Afterwards he finished high school and took vocational training in working on farm machinery. At the time, tractors were considered “new-fangled machines”.
John married Dorothy Lollar and they had 5 children. He spent the remainder of his working life farming, and after retirement spent time at Toot-Toot’s Restaurant, drinking coffee with his buddies.
NOTE: This story was rewritten from “World War 2 Heroes of Harrison County”, compiled by Jane Smith
