I got a great letter from my friend David Wagner who's story is on our site. https://ww2combatengineers.comDavidWagner.htm

He has been in contact with Luis and is thrilled about the diary too, however he nicely pointed out a few things that stand to be corrected and rightfully so. Thank you David for you clever and watchful eye. All of us pride ourselves on knowing our history, but when we make mistakes, we also appreciate corrections, for we all learn from each other. The excerpt below is from his letter.

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...I wrote a note to Luis Berrea, Jr. explaining what his

grandfather meant when he referred to crackers. He was

actually referring to craters in the road which were caused

either by bombs, shelling, very heavy traffic or incessant rains

or a combination of any or all of them. I read the stuff you have

on the site and it is really fantastic but I have to make two

comments. Where the grandfather refers to SST boat you

have a comment which corrected it to LST Landing Ship

Troops. In actuality it was known as Landing Ship Tanks. I

know because I helped build them when I worked for the U.S.

Navy before I was inducted.

Also, the Armored Force reference was corrected to read

Devil's Brigade. In actuality this was the first Special Service

Force and was only referred to by us as the SSF. The

Germans referred to them as the Black Devils. This was

because when they went out on patrol at night they smeared

black shoe polish on their faces. The Devil's Brigade came

about in 1968 when a movie was made from a novel which was

written about the SSF and entitled "Devil's Brigade." This was

really one great outfit. The 39th was attached to the SSF as

their nighttime reserve and we went on patrol with them...

Is there any possibility I could be put in touch with David Wagner, Marion. He landed at Gela and I would be interested in knowing where he went in Sicily next?

Colin.

Where the grandfather refers to SST boat you have a comment which corrected it to LST Landing Ship Troops.  In actuality it was known as Landing Ship Tanks.

I caught that mistake. But I didn't want to offend Steve by correcting his mistake and making him mad at me.

The troop carrier was called LSI.

Steve

Is there any possibility I could be put in touch with  David Wagner, Marion. He landed at Gela and I would be interested in knowing where he went in Sicily next?

 

Colin.

 

Yes, I will put you in touch with David. He is a very knowledgable and affable man. You will enjoy his letters. I will PM it to you later this evening.

Here is a Photo of my grandfather in his WWII uniform.

Florentino B. Pena

March 25, 1923-

Oct. 18, 1998

I also found these metals.

Excellent. We'll have to start a page for him sometime in the near future. Sound good?

He was a very handsome man.

I will have more on the 39th later tonight on Lester O'Neal's page. It should be done within the next hour or so. I will have a photo too taken in Sicily in August 1943.

Thanks Marion,

Here is another photo of my Grandfather with his friends. From reading his dairy, he was inducted into the Army in San Antonio, he then went to Fort Leonard Wood and then off to Northern Africa...So I assume that this photo was taken either in San Antonio or Fort Leonard.

I received a wonderful email from David Wagner, and he asked me what Company my grandfather was in. He was in Company D. If any one recognizes the men with my grandfather in this picture, please let me know. My grandfather is the tallest one, second from the right.

Thanks,

Luis

Sorry...my grandfather is second from the left. In the picture posted above, next to the man with the large B on his sweater.

David, maybe you played ball with my grandfather? I've summed up a few days where he mentions playing ball with your company (F) in 1944

Florentino Diary:

Wednesday, April 12, 1944

Stayed in Co. Area all day and after Supper went to

Play ball with F. Co. Score 19 – 11

Sunday April 23, 1944

After Supper went to play ball with F. Co. Score 5 – 4

in favor of us.

Wednesday, April 26, 1944

Morning went back to rock quarry till noon and came back in for shots on arm and short arm inspection. After that play ball, but quit early because a rifle grenade burst close to the diamond. It was from 3rd Division troops practicing for push.

Luis:

It would be great if David (for those of you who don't know, David Wagner -39th Eng) did remember. I'm sure we'll hear from him.

Oh Luis, I plan to ready a page for your grandfather next. Hopefully will have something later this week. We can keep adding as you provide more and more of his diary entries. Top-notch!

Cool photos.

After Supper went to play ball with F. Co. Score 5 – 4

in favor of us.

Wednesday, April 26, 1944

Morning. . . . After that play ball, but quit early because a rifle grenade burst close to the diamond. It was from 3rd Division troops practicing for push.

The 3rd Division arrived at Anzio on 22nd Jan 1944 and was there during the Spring Offense in May. Do you know if your Dad's unit was assigned to them? Or was he in the 3rd Division as his collar disk is Infantry---not Engineers??

I've heard a lot of stories about the ball games at Anzio. It does seem quite amazing that they risked their lives to play ball. In General Mark Clark's book, "Calculated Risk", he relates how they were watching a game and a runner slide into home. Then from across the enemy lines a German yelled out "He's safe!".

Steve: He was with the 39th Combat Engineers, D Co, not the 3rd Div. That's been well-established. Luis has already hooked up with other members of the 39th and their families too.

I wasn't sure if the 39th Combat Engineers were attached to the 3rd Infantry Division at that time. The photo of the Infantry collar device confused me.

Also, I tried to edit the photo of him wearing the 5th Army patch to see the disc on his hat. No luck. It looks like it might be the "US" insignia.

Steve

Luis, don't know if you saw the announcement under the What's New Section, because I haven't heard anything, but I started a page for your grandfather today on the main site.

Memories of Florentino B Pena

A great week for the 39th on our site. Luis Barrera, this one's for you.