Everything Is Fine with Me... a "Big Red" Soldier Chronicles His Survival in WWII

By Trinda Hirschey Bishop and Steve Marsh

In the end, after 36 months of unrelenting battle on the front lines,
the reader sees a true hero emerge from the tormenting nightmare
of war as he begins his process of healing.
So, it was for Ralph Hirschey, who would be among the miraculous
few of the Big Red One to make it home, to return to his mother
Rose, his siblings and the little family farm in upstate New York.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796068184

Book preview

Everything

is fine

with me …

A Big Red Soldier Chronicles

his Survival in WWII

Trinda Hirschey Bishop

with Steve Marsh

Copyright © 2019 by Trinda Hirschey Bishop.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2019917266

ISBN:                    Hardcover                     978-1-7960-6807-8

                             Softcover                      978-1-7960-6808-5

                              eBook                          978-1-7960-6818-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 11/20/2019

Xlibris

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Ralph V. Hirschey

b. April 27, 1918 d. March 18, 1995

Medals Awarded

Ralph received a Silver Star, Bronze Star, The Presidential Citation, E.T.O. (European Theatre of Operations) ribbon with eight battle stars, each star commemorating the eight major campaigns of the war. Ralph was there, in each and every one. Additionally, he received three Combat Infantryman Badges (CIB), American Defense, Good Conduct and the WWII, U.S.A. 1941-1945 medals.

With grateful appreciation to my husband Tom who was continually available to lend a hand and offer encouragement throughout the process of writing this book.

Getting this book to completion could not have been possible without the guidance and encouragement of Stephanie Ursini who made my dream a reality.

CONTENTS

Introduction Everything Is Fine With Me …

Chapter 1 Boot Camp And Beyond

Chapter 2 Looming Departure…Training At Sea

Chapter 3 Shipping Out

Chapter 4 Ralph’s War Begins

Chapter 5 On To Tunis

Chapter 6 A First-Hand Account From The Line Of Fire

Chapter 7 The Battle Of Sicily

Chapter 8 England Before The Storm

Chapter 9 Departure-Day Aka D-Day

Chapter 10 Somewhere In France

Chapter 11 Somewhere In Hell

Chapter 12 The End In Sight

Chapter 13 V-Day… It’s Over

Chapter 14 Last Words…

Trinda’s Tribute To Her Father Ralph

Famous Quotes On War

About The Authors

INTRODUCTION

Everything is fine with me …

No it isn’t. Can we imagine everything being fine with bullets whining overhead and artillery pummeling the shattered landscape? That was the scene surrounding a cold, muddy foxhole Pvt. Ralph Hirschey called home on Christmas Day, 1944, somewhere in Germany, a.k.a. The Battle of the Bulge. Yet, the following collection of letters, from the dark, depths of World War II hold fast to the same, basic mantra: everything is fine with me.

Among some selected 250 pieces of correspondence, this enduring phrase reveals the undying optimism of Ralph Hirschey under fire, showing his extraordinary courage and the ability to keep his emotions in check when others would cry for help at every turn. No, everything was not fine, as you will soon discover. But his letters tell a story-unsaid between the lines, as letter writer Ralph Hirschey and thousands of his fellow soldiers set sail with quiet resolve for an unknown destiny.

From the first words of the first letter in this heart-wrenching, very personal collection of correspondence, we are transported back in time, living in the moment of a young man about to enter the explosive maelstrom of the first horrific battle, of the most significant war for freedom that humankind has ever known…World War II. Here, in his letters, a life-from-the-trenches comes alive…the life of one, newly minted soldier, member of the famous U.S. Army’s First Infantry Division, 26th Regiment.

His name is Pvt. Ralph Vernon Hirschey, one of thousands upon thousands of ordinary-men-turned-hero - one of the fortunate few who survived that horrifying sojourn into sheer, bloody chaos.

As Allied forces faced the massive German army, probably the most ferocious fighting force this planet has ever known, the Germans proved not quite as courageous, steadfast, iron-willed and, yes, ferocious, as Private-turned-Sergeant Ralph V. Hirschey and his fellow soldiers of The First, also famously known as the Big Red One. The well-deserved Big Red moniker came from the renowned shoulder patch on their uniforms: a shield containing the big numeral 1 that quickly and permanently, became soaked with the red blood of the enemy and their own blood as well.

After leaving the home farm for the first time to board the refitted Queen Mary troop transport, little did Ralph and his fellow soldiers know that he would be one of the few to engage the enemy - boots on the ground – and survive every, major, bloody confrontation of The Great War…from El Alamein and Sicily through the Battle of the Bulge and onward, always onward, to the last bitter conflagration, deep in the Harz mountains of Germany. The struggle of the Big Red One would continue to the very last moment of the war, when The First received that famous, final order: Cease Firing.

Ralph Hirschey was there from beginning to end. He would survive by the miraculous grace of God, after thousands upon thousands of his fellows had fallen away in mortal combat. He was one of the few, and at one point toward the end, one of the last of The First left standing.

In the end, and under direction of the President of the United States, Ralph would be awarded the coveted Silver Star for gallantry under fire in the vicinity of Butgenback, Belgium, December 2, 1944. That was the day the Big Red One led Allied assaults on German forces - for weeks of heavy fighting amidst howling, bitter cold and blinding blizzards, during the infamous Battle of the Bulge. During the long, grueling march to victory, battle was often fought hand-to-hand, house-to-house, and yard-by-yard as opposed to miles.

Along that bitter path, Ralph received a Silver Star, Bronze Star, The Presidential Citation, E.T.O. (European Theatre of Operations) ribbon with eight battle stars, each star commemorating the eight major campaigns of the war. Ralph was there, in each and every one. Additionally, he received three Combat Infantryman Badges (CIB), American Defense, Good Conduct and the WWII, U.S.A. 1941-1945 medals.

Yet, after he finally returned alive to the family farm in Upstate New York, he rarely talked about the war. (By this time, his mother, Rose, had moved from the farm to a home in nearby Castorland, NY, which was just a few miles from the farm that brother Leland was operating). We could learn of his deeds only by reading between the lines of his letters and tracing his actions through the pages of First Division histories including The First! A Brief History of the First Infantry Division, World War II, and the more comprehensive official Division history titled, Danger Forward, The Story of the First Division in World War II. Without these cherished historic archives, the literal step-by-step progress of The First would have been lost forever, along with some of the close-up chronicles included in this book.

After the war, like thousands upon thousands of surviving American troops, Ralph humbly returned to work, met and married his sweetheart, Pearl Helene Lehman, youngest daughter of an Amish Mennonite minister, on June 1, 1946. He would eventually open a Ford dealership and – eventually – a family diner, while helping to build a town bowling alley and senior citizen housing. Yet, his first love since childhood had always been music, singing and dancing. He had an amazing voice, enjoyed singing with various choirs and groups such as The Hardly Able Boys, cut a record with his brother Ray, and returned from the war to become elder chorister of the First Mennonite Church of New Bremen, New York. Ralph began taking private voice lessons in his mid-50’s and eventually sang occasional solos in local weddings.

Then, like so many former veterans who survive the living hell of war, he had a difficult battle with depression after returning from WWII He committed himself to a local mental health facility on a couple of occasions and many years later spent a few months at Brooklane Farms in Maryland for longer-term treatment. Unlike so many, Ralph once again survived, left the facility and went home to Pearl and children Trinda, Susie and Jeff.

Things to Come

Through the following letters and historic timeline, we live the little moments between the mayhem. We feel the war first-hand, through the eyes and feelings of Pvt. Ralph Hirschey.

Little did anyone know what was to come as Ralph, his sisters Beatrice and Mae, and his brothers Wilbur, Ray and Leland grew up on pastoral farmland dutifully raised by their father John, a master farmer who passed away unexpectedly in his late 50’s, leaving his wife Rose Kohler Hirschey to raise their six children and the responsibility of managing the family farm. She would one day watch two of her offspring head off to war against Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Party and a German Army estimated to number 1 million strong.

Through that immortal struggle, Ralph’s war-time letters seemingly cling to sunny days on the farm and simple doings of family left behind, those mundane yet vital little matters that keep us rooted in the reality of home. In the midst of a surreal nightmare surrounding Ralph Hirschey, as he crouched behind rocks and hunkered down in foxholes, he would retreat within himself to write subtly revealing letters.

One might ask how the human mind survives the fiery holocaust of war, but as we read his letters, written with jittery pencil skittering across a scrap of paper, we begin to better understand. Somewhere in the darkness of an impending battle, Ralph would retreat into a secret place of better times and even better things to come. After reading through bits of correspondence, we discover one important element of Ralph’s emotional survival: Ralph was an optimist who loved to dance and sing. It defined who he was before, during, and after the war.

That’s the essential take-away after reading his letters, as they take us from our present to put us squarely into the past. In these letters, the sounds and inspirations of another time come together with yet another thing: the aromas of bygone places and cuisine, the sounds and simple joys of a world that seems, somehow, gentler and a bit more dignified.

Now it’s time for you to see for yourself and get to further know Ralph Hirschey.

This is his story.

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Ralph’s Dear Mother Rose Kohler Hirschey

CHAPTER ONE

Boot Camp and Beyond

Hitler invaded Poland without warning on Sept. 1, 1939. To honor their treaty agreements, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany three days later. World War II had begun.

The United States entered the war on December 11, 1941, four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. For the next four years, the U.S. would accordingly be committed to a two-front strategy: first to defeat the Germans in Europe, and then go after the Japanese in Asia.Ralph Hirschey was about to enter the European theater as part of the legendary First Infantry Division of the United States Army, the Big Red One so often the inspiration for cinematic heroes and Hollywood films depicting the most notable war for freedom ever known.These were the gritty, unshaven soldiers who went in first, either from the sea into massive battles, or first through winding, hostile streets, bristling with waiting guns, machine gun nests, snipers on every rooftop and brutal hand-to-hand combat waiting inside bomb-shattered buildings. The heroes of The First received the highest honors America could bestow upon a soldier, reminding one – when reading of their incredible exploits in battle – of cinematic legends like Sgt. Rock, Rambo and all the other characterizations of courage in the face of incredible odds.They would find themselves in the thick of major operations with names like Torch, for the assault on Oran. The name Overlord marked the D-Day invasion of Normandy – with Neptune being the subtitle for the actual beach landing itself. It would be there for the world to see in newsreels of the day, as warriors with the American 1st Infantry Division struggling onto the German-occupied French coast.

The Germans held a strong line of defense around the Bay of the Seine River…but not for long. The Americans were coming, along with their brave Allied counterparts from England, Scotland, Ireland, and nearly every other free nation on earth.Private Ralph Hirschey was there, likely trembling like the others in a jam-packed landing craft, waiting to die or to live and fight on. The men of The First were like that. They were there. They had a job to do. They knew life was short, so they made the best of it. Ralph Hirschey was like that, too, which is why he and his fellow soldiers were chosen to lead invasions throughout the war – because they were the very best. For his Mother Rose it must have seemed like an eternity before the following letter appeared in the battered old mailbox, out on the farm on good old Ridge Road. We might try to imagine her first thoughts as she opened the brown, military-issue envelope and read the following words, written far from home. But she would soon realize that the first letter, below, would be only the beginning of a long flow of correspondence, during a seemingly unending battle for the very survival of democracy. While Ralph hadn’t even left New York State, for Rose the letter came from another world. This one was written to his sister Beatrice, nickname Beat, who appears many times for the duration of the war.

****

March 21, 1941

Mineral Wells, Texas

Hello Beat,

Well I just got to my room, cleaning my gun and shining my shoes. This week Friday we got all of our clothes that we are going to get. Each person has got $85 of clothing. The clothes we got were, over coat, blouse, raincoat, two pair winter underwear. Six pair socks, three dress pair, four pair summer underwear, four neckties, two drill pants and shirt, one pair dress pants, one pair wool pants, two dress wool shirts, two pair shoes. When we finish we can take one of each home.

Just a word to show you what our meals are like: For dinner yesterday I had four big pork chops, mash potatoes, beans, milk on cobbler and all the bread and butter we want, three pieces of lemon pie, cabbage and tomatoes. For breakfast I had French toast, fried sausage, fresh meal, pint of milk, bread-and-butter, plenty of each. Our Sunday dinner was boiled ham, mashed potatoes, bread, butter, coffee, salad, ice cream and pie.

I bought me a RCA Radio yesterday, 5 tube, $11.95. It works good. I just heard the song You Are My Sunshine, so I put the harmony in it. The music is good down here. Last night I got the Hit Parade. Lots of cowboy music down here.

Last night it thundered and lightnined and rained hard down here. Le Roy Dicof and John, finally, who came with me, are going to sign up for three years in the Army next week. Everything is quite wet here now since the rain.

I signed up for Coast artillery which will start after our first three months of training when we get moved. Tonight I think I will go to the show here. Strike up the Band. Are you still having dancing club? Also do Reeds still play at Castorland and how is the crowd? The sun is shining here now, temp about 75 degrees F.

Write and tell me the news.

Private Hirschey

****

[Strike up the Band was a popular 1940 American musical-film starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland; one of the tunes had the following lyrics: There is work to be done, to be done, there’s a war to be won, to be won, we will need everyone, everyone, take your stand. In this letter, Ralph also reveals a bit of homesickness through his mention of a dance club in Castorland, NY. Ralph loved to dance, was considered a great dancer, and a well-known singer in his hometown church.]

****

April 20, 1941

Mineral Wells, Texas

Hello everybody,

Got Beatrice’s letter yesterday morning and was glad to hear from her. By the way it sounds Bernard had quite a horning. I would like to have been there.

[A horning defines loud noises made by members of a wedding party, i.e., horns blowing, cans on the car scraping along the pavement - any noises that bring attention to the bride and groom.]

Today is very nice here. The air is a little cool. The sun has been shining all day. Last night we had a bad electric storm here. It seems to be thunder and lightning almost all night. It also rained hard. This morning there was lots of water standing around the barracks.

We had our regular Saturday a.m. locker and gun inspection. We all passed today and we got dismissed at 10:30 AM for the rest of the weekend. This afternoon I slept a while and then I got up and washed my clothes out and then went back to bed and slept until supper time. So now being after supper I am writing this letter.

I saw in the paper where the Lewis County draft board is taking 32 men on April 29 to May 1. That is quite a few for our area. I imagine these fellows from the Climax will be going then. You probably saw the pictures of the men in barracks at Pine Camp. By the way it looks the barracks there are just like ours down here. They all are built from the same plans. By the way, you ought to visit Pine Camp some time just to see what an army camp looks like.

Have you got high water yet? By the way, the paper says she will have an early spring up there. When Beat sends a picture of the Flats, have her send a good picture of the house and farm that she took about a year ago. I want to show some of the fellows here.

I don’t know if I will continue to do what I am doing or I might take the job of cook in the kitchen. Leroy Dicof who came with us is now cooking. He doesn’t have any training whatsoever. When we get moved he will stay here. A cook gets $52 a month when we get $31 but the head cook gets much more than that and the cook doesn’t have to work very hard. He works 24 hours and then has 24 hours off. I am going to wait until I see where we are going and then I will decide one way or the other. Woodard is also going to try it with me. I will let you know more about this later.

Ralph

P.S. I sent my income tax in air mail after you sent it to me. I think it will be okay. I haven’t heard anything from it yet.

[A word about the frequently mentioned Climax: Like every G.I. sent into the life-consuming buzz-saw of World War II, Ralph had previously led an ordinary, peaceful life, happily working at the Climax Manufacturing Company in Castorland, New York. In the 40’s, the company – oft referred to as the mill - made boxes for high end department stores including Macey’s in NYC. Ralph lost the tip of a finger in a machine at the Climax and his sister Beatrice/Beat worked there as well. At this point, the war was a distant image and expected to end sooner than later, once the Americans entered the fray.]

****

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Basic Training Barracks. Ralph’s comments were written on the back of this photo: Taken at night. Ask Beat if she don’t think is a good picture for inside. The door on the end (left) the corporals sleep and I sleep on the right.

****

Camp West Texas

Sunday, PM

May 5, 1941

Co D

Camp Wolters, Texas

Sunday, P.M.

Dear Beatrice,

Well how is Beat and her better half? The reason I wrote this letter is principally to give you a few words of advice. The situation between you and Clint sounds rather bad. About the only words of advice I can give you is to think it over good before you make the step. You can’t go far wrong though. Now take this little advice for me but not too serious. Use your own judgment.

Today we had chicken dinner - had a good breakfast, French toast, bacon, cereal - went to church this morning. Next Sunday they will have a big service outdoors. Since it is Mother’s Day it will be broadcast from a station here in Texas. They are expecting a large crowd.

On May Day here we had a little service. By that I mean our battalions all dressed in DA uniforms and marched over where the band was. There we all stood in line at attention while the officer went through general routine which is done each May and it’s very nice to watch. They had us all present arms when they were finished with their part and stand at attention. Then the band played the Star-Spangled Banner. It was rather a sad affair. Then the captains give us forward march and we all marched while the band played. It didn’t last very long, the whole thing. It sure must be nice when about 10,000 go through