WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES OCTOBER 31, 2019 19
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
Glendale captain accepted a Nazi general’s surrender
in Germany, Staff Sergeant John J.
Martin of Ridgewood was awarded
the Bronze Star Medal here recently
for meritorious service in connection
with military operations against the
enemy in the European Theater of
Operations.
Sergeant Martin is a mess sergeant
of Company C, 39th Infantry
Regiment. He was inducted into the
Armed Forces Jan. 17, 1941, and joined
Company C on April 30, 1941.
During the present European campaign,
he has repeatedly showed himself
to be a competent and aggressive
combat soldier. Despite the adverse
combat conditions and a limited variety
of food, he successfully supervised
the preparation of hot nourishing
meals, insuring at all times that the
troops were well fed.
Time and again, he has exposed
himself to enemy artillery and small
arms fire to help carry these hot
meals to the men in forward combat
areas. This aggressive initiative and
devotion to duty has won him the
highest respect from the officers and
men of his company.
In addition to the Bronze Star
Medal, he also wears the European-
African-Middle East Campaign
Ribbon with five bronze battle stars,
Distinguished Unit Badge, Oak Leave
Cluster to the Distinguished Unit-
Badge, American Defense Service
Ribbon, Combat Infantryman’s Badge,
and the Good Conduct Medal.
Staff Sergeant Martin is the son
Troops marching at Aqueduct Racetrack in formation during a training exercise in 1942. Ridgewood Times archives
of Mr. and Mrs. John Martin, 6044
Catalpa Ave.
* * *
The front page of the May 4, 1945,
Ridgewood Times — published just
four days before Nazi Germany surrendered
unconditionally — featured
a story of how a captain from Glendale
accepted the white fl ag from a Nazi
general.
His many Glendale friends and
neighbors were thrilled by the news
that Capt. Henry J. Abbes, of 70-39 69th
Pl., had the distinction of having Lieutenant
General Kurt Dittmar, ranking
offi cer of the Nazi high command and
military spokesman for the Wehrmacht,
surrender to him.
The story was told in dispatches
from Ninth Army headquarters at
Magdeburg.
Dittmar, it was disclosed, rowed
across the Elbe River, a white fl ag of
truce fl uttering from the bow of the
boat which grounded at the feet of the
tall young American.
Captain Abbes, who returned to action
aft er having been wounded in December,
escorted his bemedaled visitor
to regimental headquarters.
Captain Abbes is commander of K
Company, 117th Regiment. He makes his
home in Glendale with his wife, Evelyn,
and his name appeared on an Army
casualty list of March 2 as wounded in
action.
His prisoner was accompanied by his
son, Bernhard, 16; an artillery major;
and two enlisted men.
Captain Abbes, who is 31, is a twicewounded
wearer of the Silver Star
who formerly was a member of the
71st Regiment of the National Guard,
Manhattan.
He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Herman
Abbes of the Bronx and went into active
service in September 1940, when his
National Guard outfi t was federalized.
He went overseas in February 1944.
An architectural draft sman before
the war, Captain Abbes has been married
for three years. He is the father of
a 17-month-old son, Kent. The captain
last saw his son when the boy was three
weeks old.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or
old photographs of “Our Neighborhood:
The Way It Was” that you would
like to share with our readers, please
write to the Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood
Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY
11361, or send an email to editorial@
ridgewoodtimes.com. Any print photographs
mailed to us will be carefully
returned to you upon request.
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