My name is Roque J Riojas. I have been invited to join this site by j3rdinf.
I am an 83yr. old WWII vet. Lifetime member of the 34th Divn. Assoc.
It became an Assoc. when it was deactivated in '46. I was with the HQ. Co. 1st
Bn. 135th Inf. Regt. The 34th Divn went into combat Nov. '42. Nov. 7 at
Algiers No. Africa and attached to the Divn. was the 109 Combat Engineers.
And they stayed with the 34th thru N. Africa and part of Italy. They were also
used as combat inf.! Several battles, Algiers,Sened Station,KASSERINE PASS,
Fondouk,Hill 609, and after that theGermans were on the run.
It ended around April or May '43. Took anfib. training for the assault atSalerno, Italy Sept. 9,'43. Then it was hell all over again till May 1945! the 34th Divn.
amassed more than 600 days of combat in the two campaigns. Thru all of
this I thank God Almighty for bringing me back home.
I have a cronicle put out by the Army Archives that tells aboutthe 34th Divn.
It's quite long to write it but I could send a copy to Joe (3rdinf) maybe he can
paste it all I have is a laptop and a printer. Anyway this is a short summary
and if you noticed I never said I did this or that, it was WE the RED BULL
DIVN. that did this. Roque Riojas a proud WW II combat infantryman.
Welcome aboard Roque. Glad you finally go on. Joe
Roque: I am a ww2 vet that served in the 36th ID fora short time. June thru Sep 44. Having done that I can understand WHAT you and many others have gone thru in 1943-44. Many would say you deserve a medal.I.d say you all deserve MUCH more. I know you would tell me "We of the 34th ID did it" and We means a group of individuals!
Only one Diviison had the roughest time in Italy, the 34rh ID. Bless em all.
Paul HInkle
WW2 vet
LM VFW
vision impaired
Senior center Volunteer
Pa. coal cracker
Retired USCS
Welcome Roque!! Thank you for coming in and I hope you enjoy it here. We are lucky to have you, I'm looking forward to learning more about you.
Thank you for your service to our country 
Hugs,
Brooke
God bless those heroes who suffered and died, for plain folks, like you and me.
War is a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead.
Roque: I am a ww2 vet that served in the 36th ID fora short time. June thru Sep 44. Having done that I can understand WHAT you and many others have gone thru in 1943-44. Many would say you deserve a medal.I.d say you all deserve MUCH more. I know you would tell me "We of the 34th ID did it" and We means a group of individuals!
Only one Diviison had the roughest time in Italy, the 34rh ID. Bless em all.
PDHINKLE; You were in a good outfit. The roughest time the Texas Divn. was
when they reached the Rapido River. The Germans flooded that river to keep
from getting crossed. I salute the COMBAT ENGINEEERS, for they got across
under fireand strung cables so the inf. could cross. Anyway the Germans were
way up on high ground looking down and let almost a Regt. cross then they
opened fire. Quess what happened, We were in another sector but word got
to us that that evening a Lt. went across with a white flag so the germans came
down and he asked for permission to pick up his men. The Germans called
for their own medics to help and a truce of 6 hours was called to take care of
the wounded and kia's. This is what WE heard about the 36th Texas Divn!!!
I would love to go to Italy and visit some of the U.S.cementaries there.
Or talk to some one that has seen them. We had better luck crossing the
Volturno River three times. And yes we lost some.
Roque J.(Rocky) Riojas
Roque,
My uncle fought in Italy -- all the way up the Boot, he said. Would you believe he got nary a scratch.
You need to click here if you want to go back to Italy again. Scroll down the page till you come to "2006 RETURN TO ITALY TOUR." The 36th vets, family, et al who are interested return to Italy once a year to visit the old sites. They all seem to have a whale of good time. I've never been (yet) but it sure sounds like everyone enjoys himself!
Roque ,
Welcome to our forum .
I've been reading your stories.
They keep mazing me .
Welcome .
Roque ,
Welcome to our forum .
I've been reading your stories.
They keep mazing me .
Welcome .
Where can I find those stories??
Brooke
God bless those heroes who suffered and died, for plain folks, like you and me.
War is a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead.
LENNON;BROOKE, Thank you for those kind words. No harm intended but
those weren't stories like you would read in like Readers Digest. These
were experiences that WE (34th RED BULL Divn.) went thru. Along with the
3rd I.D., 36th I.D. 45th I.D. !st. Armoured Divn. 109 COMBAT ENGINEERS,
bless them THEY were truly combat. So you see it was not a story it was
an experience and by the Grace of GOD, I'M HERE AIN'T I!!!
Again thank you for having this old dogface here with you. Roque
Roque J.(Rocky) Riojas
Dear Rogue:
Forgive me for not welcoming you to my forum personally, but as you probably know by now, my mom passed away this week. As you can imagine I've been swamped with duties that only I can perform since I am an only child, and dad is no longer around either. Anyway...
I see that my dear partner (moderator) has kindly welcomed you, as have my dear friends who frequent this forum. I am happy that they made you feel at home and now it's my turn to say hello (I did manage to get a short email off to you the other day).
I am thrilled to have a Red Bull here and will have many questions regarding your tour of duty. My dad has a Red Bull patch amongst his keepsakes. My dad's unit was attached to the great Bull's during their time in the ETO. I would be honored to add your stories to the book I am writing since your unit, and several other units including the 3rd, 36th and 45th Inf Div's were there along side the VI Corps Engineers.
As things slow down for me and my routine begins to routine to normal, I will have more time to talk with you.
Welcome my friend and God bless you.
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter 'Monday' Poniedzialek
540th Combat Engineer - H&S Company
Walts Daughter; My most sencere condolences on the loss of your mother.
I know how painful that is. But the best thing is, she is at home now,next to
Our Lord in heaven. Today Sunday 22, I went to get interviewed again This
is the 3rd interview I have had and I hope it's the last. And it was videotaped.
They asked me if I belonged to any orgs. And did I hold any positions.
Wrong question! So I told him I was Sr. Vice Cmndr. Amer. Legion P609,
Chaplain V.F.W. P18, Service Off. Amer. G.I. Forum,(Hispanic Org.) and to
top it off I am Sr. Vice President of the 34th Divn. Assoc. and will become
President in Sept. 2006. But other than that I was just a home body.
Nuf said fer now. Again thank you for having this old dogface in this forum.
Roque Riojas. Bet you can't pronounce it.. (rokey reohaas), Spanish name....
Roque J.(Rocky) Riojas
Again thank you for having this old dogface in this forum.Roque Riojas. Bet you can't pronounce it.. (rokey reohaas), Spanish name....
Glad to meet you and have you stop by here. I've been studying the American units that served in the Italian Campaign for many years now. My dad served there, too. Also, speaking of Spanish names, I know a chap who created a website about the 88th Division and several men in his unit had Spanish names.
Do you know Patrick Skelly? He is a son of a veteran and is the webmaster for the 34th Division Association website and attends all of their reunions.
I'm in the process of reading "An Army at Dawn", which is a new book about the North Africa campaign.
Thanks for dropping in.
Steve
Enginears...Engeneres....Engineres----- I are one and I can't spell it.
Walts Daughter; My most sencere condolences on the loss of your mother.I know how painful that is. But the best thing is, she is at home now,next to
Our Lord in heaven. Today Sunday 22, I went to get interviewed again This
is the 3rd interview I have had and I hope it's the last. And it was videotaped.
They asked me if I belonged to any orgs. And did I hold any positions.
Wrong question! So I told him I was Sr. Vice Cmndr. Amer. Legion P609,
Chaplain V.F.W. P18, Service Off. Amer. G.I. Forum,(Hispanic Org.) and to
top it off I am Sr. Vice President of the 34th Divn. Assoc. and will become
President in Sept. 2006. But other than that I was just a home body.
Nuf said fer now. Again thank you for having this old dogface in this forum.
Roque Riojas. Bet you can't pronounce it.. (rokey reohaas), Spanish name....
Man, you are a busy boy! 
Was getting dizzy reading about all the organizations that you belong(ed) to. When I read about the 34th Div I though, this is the guy I have to talk to. Looks like I found a goldmine within you sir.
I am slowly creeping my way back into the forum. There are so many posts for me to read and reply to. Once again welcome. Oh and thank you for your words of consolation. 
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter 'Monday' Poniedzialek
540th Combat Engineer - H&S Company
Roque-
I noticed that you sent me some posts that I think you wanted to post here. They were sent to my Email Inbox. You address certain people in them including me, so I am taking the liberty of posting them here.
Custerman; Yes Anzio was not very big and NO we did not
look up at the airshow. We just tried to dig our foxholes a
little deeper and kept our heads and azzez down.
The combat engineers just before daylite they had a jeep
rigged up and they would go like a bat out nof hell with
a FOGGER rigged in the back and laid a smoke screen for
us. As a dogface I SALUTE THE COMBAT ENGINEERS!!!!
Roque
Talking about ANZIO, we wuz there. Anybody hear of
the 34th.I.D. The 1st. Ranger Bn. was there also. That
Bn. was started in Ireland with Cpt. Darby and 80% of the
men were from the 34th. Yes Anzio was hell.hole, just
like Monte Cassino. (the town and the abbey).Puro
MexoAmericano. Roque
Texas38; I salute the 36th Divn. And for what its worth
I was with the 34th Divn. Salerno to North of Bologna,
A little over 8oo miles. PLUS the 36th had a whole lot
of my countrymen! Remember the Alamo! joke.
Somewhere I saw that you recommended the book Dogfaces Who Smiled Through Tears. I too highly recommend that book. I read it during the summer of 2004 and it is listed on my Books Page on the main site.
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter 'Monday' Poniedzialek
540th Combat Engineer - H&S Company
From Roque to Joe:
j3rdinf, I forgot what was in the k rations, I know crackers
cheese, cigs, but what else. BTW, the meeting Sun. went
O.K. I'm even on video! It'd 8pm K.C. time and I just
got another e-mail from the State of Kansas Comndr. of
our hispanic org. A.G.I.F. He wants me to go to Topeka,
Kansas,(state capitol) to give a talk for the education of
children of emmigrant parents. I think Ks. Reps. will be
there. Hell, Joe I wonder if going to D.C. and give the
Senators a talking to. Just kidding. Sea ya buddy.Roque
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter 'Monday' Poniedzialek
540th Combat Engineer - H&S Company
