COLUMN
Queens soldiers who helped defeat Nazi Germany
In conjunction with the
Greater Astoria Historical
Society, the TimesLedger
newspaper presents noteworthy
events in the borough’s history
Welcome to April 1945!
Red Army shock troops
burst into the heart of Berlin.
They thrust a spearhead
into the Potsdamer Platz
barricades, 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 big-wigs 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
one way. The Yanks take to
their feet and run off in the
other direction.
Gloria DiCicco’s divorces
Pat at Reno. Gloria Vanderbilt
DiCicco wins a divorce in Reno
Nevada from Pasquale DiCicco,
Astoria boy who makes
good in Hollywood. She cites
‘extreme cruelty.’ The actor’s
agent marries the heiress,
whose fortune is estimated
at $4.5 million, on December
28, 1941. She announces their
separation January 26th.
DiCicco, the “Astoria
Broccoli King’s” son, is
planning to become a
motion picture producer.
His former wife contemplats
marriage to Leopold
Stokowski, the 63-year-old
orchestra conductor.
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 sign of
surrender. Reeg, who has
now determined to take the
town before his birthday is
over, summons his tanks into
position for an attack. The
town is ignited in a withering
blast of shell fire at point blank
range. Return fire is weak and
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 grad
was a two-year state wrestling
champion and was inducted
into the Army in May 1941, six
months after he was appointed
to the police force. Appointed a
Second Lieutenant in 1942, he
went overseas in 1944.
Two surprised Flushing
brothers meet face to face on
a Philippine battle field. They
are sons of Mr. and Mrs. Philip
Abatelli of 42-19 209th Street in
Bayside, 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 brother
Private Rudolph Abatelli,
21. Although flabbergasted
by the unexpected meeting,
they postpone amenities until
later because of the business
at hand.
During a lull in the
battle not long afterward,
they get together for some
solid handshaking and
backslapping. Then they go
back into battle.
For further info, call 718-278-
0700 or visit astorialic.org.
ON THE WEB
LAST WEEK’S TOP STORY:
Ridgewood stands in for 1960s New Jersey in ‘Sopranos’ prequel
‘The Many Saints of Newark’
SUMMARY: Filming for the “Sopranos” prequel
detailing the early life of fi ctional crime boss Tony Sopranos took place in
Ridgewood last week, using the area as a stand-in for Newark, N.J.
VISIT US ONLINE AT QNS.COM
CHECK OUT OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES:
www.facebook.com/timesledger
www.twitter.com/TimesLedger
www.instagram.com/qnsgram
LETTERS POLICY
Letters should be typed or neatly handwritten, and those longer than 300
words may be edited for brevity and clarity. All letters must include the
writer’s name and phone number for verification. Names may be withheld
from publication if requested, but anonymously sent letters will not be
printed. Letters must be received by Thursday noon to appear in the next
week’s paper. All letters become the property of Schneps Media and may be
republished in any format.
TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM BT APR. 26-MAY 2, 2019 17
/QNS.COM
/TimesLedger
/qnsgram
/astorialic.org
/timesledger
/timesledger
/TimesLedger
/qnsgram
/TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM
