Bob Goss 36th Inf. Div. Italy and France

Bob Goss was drafted into the Army in March of 1943.  He was trained as a Infantry Scout.  He trained on and fought with the Thompson Sub-Machine Gun (Tommy Gun), 1903 Springfield bolt action 30/06 rifle, M-I Garand 30/06 semi automatic rifle, BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) as well as the Bazooka.  Bob started combat in October 1943 in the Salarno Italy area.  Bob’s 36 Inf. Div.  fought next to the 3rd Inf. Division which was the outfit that Audie Murphy did all of his fighting in both Italy and France. They also fought in conjunction  with the 442 Inf. Regiment which was made up of Japanese American’s who earned more medals for bravery for the size of the outfit than any other outfit in WW II.   The 36th Inf. Div. fought in many areas of Italy.  He fought for about two weeks in Anzio (which is the battle that James Arness, Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke was wounded)  Bob is a twice combat wounded Purple Heart recipient.  The first time was in Jan. 1944 in Southern Italy which was a tree burst.  Many of the Infantrymen that I interviewed have told me that tree bursts were the worst things that they faced.

Bob also saw what was called 40 and 8 train cars filled with bodies in striped uniforms from a concentration camp, although he does not know the location since at the time he was on the move so much.

Bob was cited on Jan. 1945 for bravery (he has the citation) while under intense small arms fire, and tank fire.  Some of his worst memories are of what the American’s call the German Screaming Mimi’s (the sound alone was terrifying.  He also went on two or three man “Contact Patrols”  usually in bad weather to contact the enemy.  If you plan on attending please invite a friend, this history needs to be heard while we still have these fighting men with us to tell about what they did for all of us.

Bob will be at the program to tell of these and many more of his WW II experiences as a Combat Infantryman.  He also brings a lot of memorabilia including a German Luger and much more.  Come to the program and meet a man who did much more than his share to give all of us the Freedom’s that we now enjoy and many of us take for granted.  

Where: 1st United Methodist Church

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