FLUSHING BROTHERS MET FACE TO FACE ON
WORLD WAR II BATTLEFIELD IN APRIL 1945
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | APRIL 17-APRIL 23, 2020 13
In conjunction with the
Greater Astoria Historical
Society, TimesLedger Newspapers
presents noteworthy
events in the borough’s
history.
Welcome to April 1945!
World War II in Europe
was in its final weeks. The
Red Army shock troops burst
into the heart of Berlin and
thrust a spearhead into the
Potsdamer Platz,, not 400
yards from the place where
Adolf Hitler may be directing
the defense of his gutted
capital. Moscow dispatches
said the front lines had fallen
apart and become a chaotic
struggle swirling wildly
through the ruins of the
city. Soviet forces overrunning
Tempelhof Airport find
planes with engines running,
waiting to evacuate Nazi bigwigs
that will never come.
With the 87th (the Golden
Acorn) Infantry Division,
Tech Sergeant Joseph Schaetzl
of 25-50 31st Street in Long
Island City is resting in the
woods east of Limburg with
120 other American prisoners
under close watch by German
guards. The Yanks are
weary and starving. Some of
them had marched 150 miles
in the month since their capture;
they had covered over
ten miles that day. No one
pays much attention to the
rumble of tanks that seem
to be coming closer; they
thought it was more Jerry
tanks going to the rear.
The roar of exhaust comes
nearer, the clanking of the
bogeys can now be plainly
heard. Then the armor comes
into view. When the tanks begin
spraying the woods with
machine gun fire everyone
hits the ditch. Suddenly, one
of the doughboys mutters in a
choking voice, ‘there’s a star
on those babies.’ The reaction
is stunning. The Nazi guards
drop their rifles and start
running away. The Yanks
take to their feet and run off
in the other direction.
Lt. Edwin Reeg of Woodside
celebrates his 32nd
birthday in explosive style,
not with a cake and candles
and a party, but with flaming
tank cannons and machine
guns that bring about the
capture of a German town
and 175 Nazi prisoners.
The lieutenant, a former
NYC police officer, is the
leader of a Recon Unit of the
Second Armored Division. He
negotiates with the mayor of a
small town its surrender and
gives them 30 minutes to run
up the white flag. The allotted
time passes slowly. There are
no signs of a surrender. Reeg,
who has now determined
to take the town before his
birthday is over, summons
his tanks into position for an
attack. A withering blast of
shellfire at point blank range
sets the town ablaze. Return
fire is weak Reeg decides to
go in for the kill. In less than
an hour, 175 prisoners gave
up. The town is in shambles.
He writes to his wife that
his unit had recently freed
400 slave laborers in another
Nazi town they overran. The
Jamaica High School graduate,
a two year State Wrestling
Champion, volunteered
for the army in May 1941, six
months after he joined to the
police force. He received an
appointment as Second Lieutenant
in 1942, and went overseas
in 1944.
Two surprised Flushing
brothers meet face to face on
a Philippine battlefield. They
are sons of Mr. and Mrs.
Philip Abatelli of 42-19 209th
Street, formerly of Astoria.
It happens in Leyte, where
Private Mario Abatelli, 26,
was a member of an advance
reconnaissance group scouting
for a sign of the enemy.
A spearhead of the 77th Division
makes contact and the
two merge as the Japanese
open fire. Before he knows it,
Mario is fighting side by side
with his brother Private Rudolph
Abatelli, 21. Although
flabbergasted by the unexpected
meeting, they postpone
amenities until later
as they have some business
at hand that needs attention.
During a lull in the battle,
they get together for some
solid handshaking and backslapping.
Then they go back
into battle …
That is the way it was in
April 1945!
For further info, call the
Greater Astoria Historical
Society at 718-278-0700 or
www.astorialic.org.
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