Ospel, Netherlands Monument to
U. S. 7th Armored Division Association Dead
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Last updated: September 30, 2013 - What's New?
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7th Armd Div Patch

NEWSeptember 25, 2013: The 53rd and 54th names have been definitely identified: Zack N. Foreman and Clyde F. Parks of A/87.
NEWAugust 27, 2012: The monument has been modified to included the 4 additional names. PDF file of photos by Johan Bloemers
NEWApril 4, 2011: A 52nd name has been definitely identified: Alphonse Parise of B/48.
NEWJuly 5, 2010: A 51st name has been definitely identified: Woodrow D. Andrus of B/23.
NEWAugust 25, 2008: A 50th name has been definitely identified: Kenneth Morrow of A/87.
NEWJune 18, 2007: A 49th name has been definitely identified: Mario Yammarino of HQ Co/40.

On May 26, 2007, a new monument was dedicated at Ospel, Netherlands, as a memorial to the many men of the U. S. 7th Armored Division who died in the immediate vicinity of this small town (population about 400). Most of those men died in the fighting following the German counter-attack on October 27, 1944, which lasted until the 7th Armored Division was relieved on November 8, 1944. (Click here for the web page on the dedication ceremonies.)

In May 2004, Niek Hendrix of Ospel began the long process that led to the dedication of the monument 3 years later. Niek's father, Harry Hendrix, was one of the few civilians who was in the area during the battle, and both father and son had long wanted to honor the Americans who died in the effort to bring peace back to the area. Niek contacted Wesley Johnston, the web master and historian of the 7th Armored Division to ask who the men were who died there, so that their names might be memorialized on the monument. (Wesley Johnston's father, Walter Johnston, joined 7th Armored Division (Co B, 38 AIB) on November 13, 1944 -- as a replacement for the men lost in the battle at Ospel.)

Finding the names of the men was a very difficult task, and even now -- with 50 names identified, 48 of whom were included on the monument at its dedication -- it is still likely that a few names have been missed. Many people are under the mis-understanding that the Army has all of this information neatly filed away. But the Army was in the business of fighting the war and not of history. So the reality is that there is no easy way to determine who all of the men were who died in any particular place. Wesley Johnston had to do extensive research of records in the National Archives, the National Personnel Records Center, and other sources to find the names of these men.

Wesley Johnston had located the families of some of these men, but Niek Hendrix did much more work on finding the families of the rest of them. Some of those families participated in the dedication of the monument.

Niek Hendrix also did extensive local research in the area of Ospel, interviewing people who had been there during the war, finding photographs, searching in local archives and British archives, and more. He also dealt with all of the physical realities of creating and installing the monument -- no small task.

The Names

Here are the names of the men who were memorialized on the monument at the time of the dedication in May 2007 or who were later found to belong on the monument. Further information about a man can be found by clicking on his name, which takes you to the web page listing his battalion's war deaths. They are listed alphabetically, but here are the counts by unit:

  • 26 - 38th Armored Infantry Battalion
  • 11 - 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron
  • 6 - 48th Armored Infantry Battalion
  • 4 - 40th Tank Battalion
  • 2 - 23rd Armored Infantry Battalion
  • 2 - 489th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
  • 1 - 33rd Armored Engineer Battalion
    1. Pvt Mitchell Amis (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 3 November 1944)
    2. Pvt Woodrow D. Andrus (Company "B", 23rd Armored Infantry Battalion - 10 November 1944, from wounds suffered 7 November 1944) [51st Name: Added to list July 2010]
    3. Pfc Clifford M. Armstrong (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 4 November 1944)
    4. Pvt Charles R. Boulware (Company "A", 48th Armored Infantry Battalion - 3 November 1944)
    5. Pvt Otis F. Brisendine (Company "A", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 7 November 1944)
    6. Tec 5 Michael E. Cahill (Battery "C", 489th Armored Field Artillery Battalion - 5 November 1944)
    7. Pvt Sam Cathey Troop "A", 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron - 22 October 1944)
    8. Pvt Claudius H. Chappell (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 9 November 1944, from wounds suffered 3 November 1944)
    9. 2nd Lt Norman L. Connard (Battery "C", 489th Armored Field Artillery Battalion - 5 November 1944)
    10. Pvt Harry R. Crans (Company "A", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 4 November 1944)
    11. S/Sgt Henry W. Dirks Troop "B", 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron - 5 November 1944)
    12. Sgt Walter J. Domkoski Company "D", 40th Tank Battalion - 2 November 1944)
    13. Cpl Toulman Y. Freeman (Company "A", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 4 November 1944)
    14. 2nd Lt Leslie O. Fulton (Company "A", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 3 November 1944)
    15. Sgt Harold W. Gess (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 7 November 1944)
    16. Pvt Perle C. Godby (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 7 November 1944)
    17. Pvt John J. Gonas (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 1 November 1944)
    18. Pfc Walter P. Good (Company "C", 48th Armored Infantry Battalion - 7 November 1944)
    19. Pvt Garry H. Graff Company "D", 40th Tank Battalion - 2 November 1944)
    20. Pvt Carmine Grasso (Company "A", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 6 November 1944)
    21. Cpl Lucian Harlow (Company "A", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 4 November 1944)
    22. 2nd Lt Marvin H. Hjalmarson (Company "A", 33rd Armored Engineer Battalion - 7 November 1944)
    23. Pvt Warren D. Howard (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 7 November 1944)
    24. Pfc Roman V. Janousek Headquarters Company, 40th Tank Battalion - 7 November 1944, from wounds suffered 4 November 1944)
    25. 2nd Lt Benjamin E. Jones Jr (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 3 December 1944, from wounds suffered 6 November 1944 [captured 6 November 1944 and died as a POW])
    26. Pvt Paul F. Kearns (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 3 November 1944)
    27. Pvt Fred Kohn (Company "A", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 8 November 1944)
    28. Pfc Edward A. Ladwig Troop "B", 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron - 6 November 1944)
    29. Pvt Arthur La Tour (Company "A", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 7 November 1944)
    30. Pvt Gordon D. Loomis (Company "A", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 5 November 1944)
    31. 2nd Lt William H. McMillan Troop "A", 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron - 27 October 1944)
    32. Pfc. Kenneth L. Morrow Troop "A", 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron - 23 October 1944) [50th Name: Added to list August 2008]
    33. Pvt Jacob Nevala (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 7 November 1944)
    34. Pvt Joseph A. Pait Company "F", 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron - 23 October 1944)
    35. Tec 5 Alphonse Parise Company "B", 48th Armored Infantry Battalion - 9 November 1944, from wounds suffered 5 November 1944)
    36. Tec 5 Grady P. Priest (Medical Detachment, 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 5 November 1944)
    37. Pvt Martin Rabinowitz (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 7 November 1944)
    38. 2nd Lt Earl L. Rainbow (Company "B", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 2 November 1944)
    39. Pvt Willis Ray (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 7 November 1944)
    40. Pvt Harry Q. Richards Troop "A", 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron - 4 November 1944)
    41. Pfc Edward L. Ritchie (Company "A", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 4 November 1944)
    42. Pvt Joseph Robertiello Troop "A", 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron - 22 October 1944)
    43. Pvt Frank Rubinetti Troop "A", 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron - 29 October 1944)
    44. Pfc Wesley L. Safford (Company "C", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 7 November 1944)
    45. Pvt James E. Slocum Troop "C", 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron - 6 November 1944)
    46. Pvt Joseph A. Surowiec (Company "A", 38th Armored Infantry Battalion - 9 November 1944, from wounds suffered 5 November 1944)
    47. Pvt James H. Wagstaff (Company "A", 48th Armored Infantry Battalion - 4 November 1944)
    48. Pvt Charles R.Wallace (Company "B", 23rd Armored Infantry Battalion - 7 November 1944)
    49. Pfc Gilbert H. Wells (Company "A", 48th Armored Infantry Battalion - 3 November 1944)
    50. Sgt James R. Williams Company "F", 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron - 23 October 1944)
    51. S/Sgt Mario J. Yammarino (Headquarters Company, 40th Tank Battalion - 4 November 1944, from wounds suffered 3 November 1944) [49th Name: Added to list June 2007]
    52. Pvt George Zalesky (Company "C", 48th Armored Infantry Battalion - 4 November 1944)
    NEW Additions to the Original 48 Names NEW

    It has taken years of dedicated work, starting in 2004, to find the 52 names that are now known. While these constitute the majority of the names that should be on the monument, it is very likely that a few more names will be found, as more records are searched. Research continues.

    49. Mario Yammarino: Added June 2007
    In April 2007, a highly-probable 49th name was identified: S/Sgt. Mario J. Yammarino. In April 2007, it was known that he was wounded in the immediate vicinity of Ospel and thus would geographically qualify to be on the monument. It was also known that he died of wounds. What was not known was whether he died of the wounds he suffered on 3 November 1944 or if he recovered from those wounds and returned to duty and was wounded at a different place and date and died of those later wounds. Thus, until his death information was established, he could only be listed as highly-probable -- but not certain -- that he belongs on the monument.

    In June 2007, his Individual Deceased Personnel File was received. It showed that he had indeed died (4 November 1944 at the 48th Field Hospital) of the wounds that he suffered in the immediate vicinity of Ospel. Thus he is now definitely identified as the 49th name to be included on the monument.

    50. Kenneth Morrow: Added August 2008
    Somehow, Wesley Johnston's initial research failed to identify Pfc. Kenneth Morrow as having been killed in the Ospel area. But in the process of the research for his new "Who Died Where and When?" 7AD web page in August 2008, he realized that Morrow of A/87 had been killed on the northern side of the Noordervaart, the east-west canal south of Ospel on the same day as Pait and Williams (both of whom were already on the monument) of F/87, which was attached to A/87.

    51. Woodrow D. Andrus: Added July 2010
    Charles Wallace, who is already on the monument, was killed the same day (7 Nov 1944) that Woodrow Andrus was wounded. Andrus was a known WWII death, but it was not known whether he recovered from these wounds and then was later killed or if he had died of the wounds suffered near Ospel. It is now known that he died 10 Nov 1944 of the wounds he suffered at Ospel and thus belongs on the monument.

    52. Alphonse Parise: Added April 2011
    There had been confusion of a Lt. Paris in A/48 who was seriously wounded 20 Sep 1944 in France and a T/5 Parise in B/48 who was seriously wounded 5 Nov 1944 in Holland. Thanks to definitive information from a member of the Parise family, this confusion is now cleared up. And Alphonse Parise thus belongs on the monument.

    53. Zack N. Foreman: Added September 2013
    54. Clyde F. Parks: Added September 2013
    Frank Rubinetti, who is already on the monument, was killed the same day (29 Oct 1944) that Zack N. Foreman was seriously wounded. Foreman was a known WWII death, but it was not known whether he recovered from these wounds and then was later killed or if he had died of the wounds suffered near Ospel. It is now known that he died of the wounds he suffered near Ospel. Clyde F. Parks was similarly recorded on 1 Nov 1944 as being seriously wounded 29 Oct 1944. He is now known to have died of those wounds. Both men, and others who survived, were hit by artillery fire at grid coordinates 645-030, which is just north of Horik. Lt. Lee Mestas had given his account of their deaths in 2006, but the location had not been known and had been thought to have been near Nederweert. But it is now known that they were hit just north of Horik. Thus both men belong on the monument.

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