Bill Toomey,
3rd Infantry Division,
WWII Veteran.

Father of Fox Company member Denis Toomey.

A Combat Photographer, he took many of the photos seen on the Fox Company website as well as at  http://www.dogfacesoldiers.org/
            65th Anniversary
Anzio Beachhead Veterans Reunion
Roanoke, Virginia     April 29-May 2, 2009
T-5 Donald Drackert,
744th Railway Operating Battalion,
WWII Veteran.

Grandfather of Fox Company member Steve Drackert, he operated "Toot Sweet", the railroad version of the "Red Ball Express". The 744th hauled more vital war supplies than any other unit in Europe!

Sadly, this native of St. Paul, Mn. recently passed away.
Miss you, Grandpa!    -Steve
Fox Company member Bill Gallo speaks with Anzio Beachhead Veterans Association President Mr. Clyde Easter, who served with the 3d ID during WWII.
Mr. Easter will be in Anzio for a wreath-laying ceremony on the 65th anniversary of the beachhead breakout. His dedication and passion is the driving force behind the Anzio Beachhead Veterans Association!
Mr. Edsel Beaty served with the 4th Armoured Division during WWII.

He is from Knoxville, Tennessee and as a boy, WWI hero Sgt. Alvin York came to his school and spoke to his class. Little did he know that he would fight the Huns on those same battlefields a few years later!


Mr. Bob Dodge of Saginaw, Michigan served with the 3d ID during WWII. This proud Anzio Veteran can belt out "Dogface Soldier" with the best! Here he shares his scrapbook with a few grateful Fox Company members.
The unsung heroes....the wives, girlfriends and families who stayed behind while their loved ones served overseas.
Mr. Ed Hess, from Philly, served with the 34th ID in North Africa and Italy. He had to lug a BAR throughout the war. When asked what he thought of it, he said,
"I wanted to kill the son of a bitch who invented that heavy thing!"
Ed came to the reunion with his two sons.
Nelson Snyder was setting up pins at a bowling alley in Perkasie, Pennsylvania when someone ran in yelling,
"The Japs just bombed Pearl Harbor!"
Nelson thought to himself,
"What's that got to do with me?" He said he, "sure as heck found out" when he received his draft notice!
Nelson served with the 3d ID during WWII.
His father fought in WWI, and as a boy his father talked of fighting the Germans in the trenches of Dijon, France. When Nelson and the rest of the "Blue and White Devils" marched into Dijon 25 years later, Nelson mailed a postcard home. He simply wrote,
"Dad... I'm right where you left off!"
Mr. Morris Snyder is from the Dutch Country of Pennsylvania. He was serving with the 3d ID in France when he was shot in both legs. He was later found by a German patrol, and they were so impressed that this Yank spoke German, they fed him grapes from a nearby vineyard and carried him to a German field hospital. Mr. Snyder would go on to spend the next 228 days as a POW! He was imprisoned at Stalag 13D and Nuremburg 2A near the Baltic Sea before being liberated by the Red Army. When he returned home, he wed his sweetheart Dorothy and they were married for 61 years!
Mr. Joe Hildebrand served with the 3d ID during the Battle for Anzio.

He and his lovely wife drove all the way from their home in TEXAS, over 1,000 miles, to attend this years Anzio Beachhead Veterans Association reunion!


Mr. John Eshia also served with the 3d ID during WWII.
He and Fox Company member Sgt. Joe Collins had a tremendous amount of mutual respect for one another, as they are both Combat Veterans!
Fox Company member Denis Toomey's father served with the 3d ID during WWII as a combat photographer. Here several 3d ID veterans look through his father's photograph collection.
The Anzio Veterans Beachhead Association is not comprised only of U.S. Army Veterans. The U.S. Navy and U.S. Merchant Marines also served proudly!Here, Mr. Bill Walker regails Fox Company member Bill Grose with tales of serving aboard the U.S.S. Biscayne off of the coast of the Anzio Beachhead. He also shared some other, more "salty" Navy stories!
Seated in the center in the maroon shirt is 34th ID Veteran John Ray of Arkansas. While sailing to North Africa during WWII, his transport ship sunk and he was shipwrecked! He eventually landed at Casablanca, fought in North Africa, Salerno and spent 55 days on the Anzio Beachhead. He was in Rome when the Germans surrendered, but he wasn't done serving his country yet! He went on to fight in Korea, and he retired as an Officer.
Fox Company was lucky enough to meet several members of the
Tuskeegee Airmen at the Newport News War Museum
Fox Company was VERY honored to have been invited to attend the Anzio Beachhead Veterans Association 65th Anniversary Reunion in Roanoke, Virginia! It was a great opportunity to meet some truly amazing Americans! To a grateful country, they are all heroes! When they heard us say that, to a man, they all said that they are not heroes, they just served their country because it was the right thing to do. They said the real heroes are the ones who did not come home. God bless you, as you are ALL heroes to us! Thank you for your generosity, kindness, and service to our great country!
Fox Company met this WWII Veteran at a Living History event at Ike's Farm. When he saw a group of German reenactors, he asked for an M1 Garand and said,
"Let me at them bastards!"
Jake served with the 40th ID in Korea. He fought at Pork Chop Hill and Heartbreak Ridge. Today, this CIB recipient works for the Newport News Police Department.
Fox Company member Jim Abels, a Petty Officer 2nd Class in the U.S. Coast Guard, was recently awarded the
American Legion Spirit of Service Award.
One of the most fascinating guys you will EVER meet is 101st AB WWII Veteran Jake McNeice! Growing up during the Great Depression in the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma, he became one of the TOUGHEST soldiers in the U.S. Army!
Jake was a member of the famous "Filthy 13", and he made four combat jumps, including jumps into Normandy, Bastogne, and Operation Market Garden. Jake cared more about fighting MP's and killing Germans than saluting Officers or being spit and polish. Jake is a "Private for life"!


Read more about
Jake and his
comrades in
Fox Company
member
Rich Killblane's book
The Filthy Thirteen.
We can NEVER forget the bravery, service and sacrifices
made by America's brave WOMEN.
Major Don Watt Sr. USAAC/USAF
WWII and Korean War Veteran.
The father of Fox Company member Don Watt.
Don Watt Sr. was born and raised in Thomasville, GA. He missed his high school graduation so he could attend U.S. Army Air Corps training! At 19, he flew A-20 Havocs against the Japanese in the Pacific.
After the war had ended this experienced pilot turned in his bomber and transitioned to fighters, eventually ending up in the hottest jet of its day the F-86 Sabre. While training in Texas his F-86 experienced engine failure, forcing him to bail out. He steered his crippled aircraft far away from a populated area before bailing out. He severely damaged his knee when he parachuted into a tree, but he still managed to walk to a farmhouse for help.
Once his wounds healed, he was shipped to Korea to fight in the much feared Mig Alley, where he earned the nickname "Kilo-Watt".
Over Korea his flight was jumped by a pack of Migs, and he was forced to turn his plane so hard that due to the G forces, the ejection seat malfunctioned and jettisoned his canopy. The blast of wind ripped his goggles and helmet off, so he had to hunker down behind the windscreen in front of him to see the rest of the way home.  His wingman stayed with him all the way back to base.
    (That never happened to John Wayne in any of his movies!)
"Kilo-Watt" retired as a major and he now resides in Hampton, VA with his wife of 45 years! 
Sgt. Thomas W. Jones,
412th MASH, Marianas Islands
WWII Veteran.

Grandfather of Fox Company member Jeremy Jones, Tom worked hard saving lives of wounded airmen returning from missions in the B-29 over Japan!

Telegram to her fiance, telling him that
she was sailing for home.
Jeremy Jones
Don Watt Jr.
Steve Drackert
Denis Toomey
1st Lt. Dorothy Jones,
412th MASH
Marianas Islands/Japanese Occupation
WWII Veteran.

Grandmother of Fox Company member Jeremy Jones, guilty of fraternizing with enlisted men and the rest is family history...

Regrettably, the dynamic duo passed in 2005. They could not live without each other....
Fox Company members Joe Collins and Rich Killblane...in the sandbox!
Darrell "Shifty" Powers was born and raised in the mountains of western Virginia. During WWII "Shifty" volunteered to be a paratrooper, and he served in the 506th PIR of the 101st Airborne Division. He fought in Normandy, during Market Garden, and in Bastogne. He earned the reputation as being one of the best marksman in the regiment, and a quiet, admirable man.
Rest in peace, Shifty!
1923-2009
Fox Company was lucky enough to get to meet Mr. Ed Shames (center) at the 2009 Williamsburg Military History Weekend. Mr. Shames served with the 101st Airborne Division from Tocoa all the way to Berchtesgaden. He's pictured here with a member of Fox Company and an Osprey-books author. If you want to read a good book, look for
Tonight We Die As Men. To hear a GREAT story, ask Mr. Shames what he did to Hitler's car...
WWII Veteran from Hampton, Va.
God bless the Blue and White Devils of the 3rd ID!
John "Jack" Agnew was a member of the 506th PIR during WWII. He was also an original member of what became known as "The Filthy Thirteen", a small band of soldiers known for their bravery, and toughness! "We were a rough-and-tumble group of guys, and we had some run-ins with the MPs." The reason the men got away with their behavior was because of their combat skills, according to Richard Killbane, co-author of a book on the unit. "These weren’t model soldiers," he said. "But they were guys who could get jobs done."

The group became famous after a picture appeared in Stars and Stripes shortly before D-Day; the men sported mohawks and put on warpaint as they prepared for a mission. Rumors about the unit began circulating as the newspaper and video of the men began making the rounds: They were all Indians, they were all convicts, they never bathed before battle. The rumors became the basis for the movie, "The Dirty Dozen". Sadly, Jack passed away April 8, 2010. You'll be missed, Jack!
   1922-2010       R.I.P.
Fox Company was lucky enough to have been invited to the 83rd Infantry Division Association reunion in Williamsburg, Va. It was a great opportunity to meet some GREAT American patriots, and to hear some fascinating stories!
John Helms (left) and
Massie Ellsworth (right)
are two of the Veterans we met.
They told us an amazing story about a small town in Germany, a bank, and about 40 lbs. of TNT...
picture "Kelly's Heroes"...
but this one is a TRUE story!

While most of the original 83rd ID Vets were from north of the
Mason-Dixon line, John Helms
is from Hickory, NC. He told us how much fun he had,
"Teaching all the Yankees how to fight!"
83rd ID Veteran Arthur Loukas talks with Fox Company member
Rich Killblane. They swapped some great war-stories!

Chuck Abdinoor of Dracut, MA proudly holds up a picture of the greatest war-souvenier EVER brought home by a G.I.!  While serving with the 83rd near the Arno River, Chuck found a stray German Shepard puppy, which he promptly named "Arno". He carried Arno with him in his scout car throughout the remainder of the war. When he finally earned enough points to go home, he "sedated" Arno with sea-sickness pills, hid him in his duffle bag, then smuggled him aboard a troop ship. Chuck and Arno sailed home together, and Arno loved America! Chuck still carries Arno's picture...65 years later!
R.I.P. Major "Dick" Winters      Jan. 21, 1918-Jan. 2, 2011