Infantry

Re-enactors of Company C of the 53rd Pennsylvania Infantry encamp at Gettysburg.During the battle in 1863, the original 53rd, under Lt. Col. Richards McMichael, was part of the 4th Brigade, 1st Division, 2nd Corps. The regiment reported 80 men killed, wounded or missing in the fighting to support the exposed 3rd Corps salient on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg.Pub Date: 07/01/99

I have zero problem with Sgt. Jennifer Hunt's request to be in the infantry - or that of any woman for that matter ("Women in U.S. military fight for right to serve in combat," Jan. 5). It should be required. This is the era of equal rights. I served in the infantry. It was taxing on the mind and body. Living in the brush for a month and seeing first hand the horrors of war isn't easy. I always wondered, when it came time for promotions, why a man who was on the front line would have to come back and answer to anyone (man or woman)

The last time an infantry company of the Maryland Army National Guard was mobilized for combat duty was 60 years ago for the D-Day invasion. Now, about 130 members of the 1st Battalion, 115th Infantry Regiment's Bravo Company have been called up for duty in Iraq - a move that reflects the military's desperate need for combat soldiers. "It's obvious that the Army is too small," said Jack Tilly, who retired in June as the sergeant major of the Army, or its most senior enlisted solider. "Right now you're having people going over as many as three times."

Col. Wendell W. Wichmann, a highly decorated career Army officer who fought in three wars, died May 22 of renal failure at Lorien Mays Chapel Health Center in Timonium. He was 96. Wendell Willard Wichmann, the son of farmers, was born and raised in Leonard, N.D., where he graduated in 1934 from Minot High School. After earning a bachelor's degree in 1939 from what is now North Dakota State University, he taught math for three years in Waubun, Minn. Because he had attended reserve officers training during his college days and held a reserve officer's commission, he was called to active duty in mid-1941 and sent to Camp Claiborne, La., where he was assigned to Company D, 164th Infantry Regiment.

Thousands of Civil War re-enactors are converging on Gettysburg, Pa., next week, much as the original armies converged there in 1863.By mid-June of that year, the Northern and Southern armies were arriving at positions that would make a clash in southern Pennsylvania likely.Brig. Gen. Albert G. Jenkins had crossed the Potomac River on June 15 with his gray cavalry brigade, and Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes' infantry division had followed the next day. The infantry corps of Lt. Gen. James Longstreet and Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill crossed the Potomac on June 24 and 25. On June 25 Longstreet and Hill united their columns at Hagerstown.

Respondents to an informal telephone survey are almost evenly split on the issue of whether women should be restricted from combat duty. There is a similar feeling about whether women should be allowed to fight in the infantry or fly military aircraft in combat.Of 329 callers to SUNDIAL, The Evening Sun's telephone poll, 171 (51 percent) think that women should be restricted from combat duty, and 158 (48 percent) think that women should not be restricted from combat duty.Of 328 callers, 162 (49 percent)

More than 60 World War II veterans and their wives are expected at the BWI Days Inn this weekend for a reunion of Company D, 303rd Infantry Regiment, 97th Infantry Division.The company fought in Germany and Czechoslovakia during the Second World War. Its successor, the 97th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM), has been based at Fort George G. Meade for the last 10 years.The veterans, many coming from as far away as California, are scheduled to tour Washington, Fort McHenry and Annapolis during their three-day stay.

On November 17, 2006, GEORGE L. HOLMES, U.S., Army Retd. Mstr. Sergeant, member of 199 Infantry Brigade, 45th Infantry Division and the Old Guard, member of B. F. W., veteran of foreign wars, American Legion Hall and friend to many. Beloved husband of Susan, loving father of Gloria Phillips, cherished grandfather of James, Leland, and Amber Phillips, respected father-in-law of Tom Phillips and brother of Judy, trusted friend, uncle and devoted leader of his troops. Funeral service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery, December 12, 2006, at 2:30 P.M. Memorial contributions, may be made to the American Cancer Association or the Spinal Bifida Foundation.

On November 5, 2005, ROBERT B. MILLER, a retired Bethlehem Steel employee of 40 years in the Hot Strip Department. Mr. Miller also served in WWII with the 69 Infantry Division and was a lifetime member of the VFW Post 6506. Mr. Miller is survived by his beloved wife Judy (nee Blum); devoted son Brian Miller; loving nephew, Will, of Easton, PA; brother, Wilbur Miller, of Ashville, NC; sister, Carol Krapf. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Funeral Services will be held at the Connelly Funeral Home of Essex, 300 Mace Avenue, on Thursday 1 P.M. Interment Gardens of Faith Memorial Gardens.

Tommaso Buscetta, 71, a top Mafia turncoat who helped convict hundreds of mobsters in Italy and testified in the "pizza connection" trial in the United States, died Sunday in Rome of cancer. In 1984, Mr. Buscetta turned Italian state witness after he was arrested in Brazil on murder charges and extradited to Italy. Over 45 consecutive days, he revealed the Mafia's darkest secrets, including its alleged relationship with Italy's political class. Mr. Buscetta later moved to the United States, where he was given a new identity under the U.S. witness protection program.

Even Revolutionary War action figures need spring training to get their spit-and-polish act together. The men of the Fourth Legionary Corps got back into character for the long re-enacting season with a weekend at Fort Frederick just south of Hagerstown. They didn't shave, fended off the evening chill by gathering around the barracks fireplace and practiced the tactics of 18th century warfare. "It's clearing away the cobwebs and seeing that we have everything we need before we go out," said Mike Nigh of Annapolis, who has been a corps member since 2007.

Willie Henry Greene, a retired Westinghouse employee and decorated World War II combat veteran, died of heart disease Nov. 26 at St. Agnes Hospital. The Mount Winans resident was 85. The son of a blacksmith, he was born in Faber, Va. "He grew up on a self-sustaining, family-owned land with nine siblings," said his daughter, Aleta T. Greene of Baltimore. "He would tell how, at 15 years old, he learned to make mattresses at a factory. He made mattresses for the iron beds they shared, but to also bring in extra money to the household."

Willie Henry Greene, a retired Westinghouse employee and decorated World War II combat veteran, died of heart disease Nov. 26 at St. Agnes Hospital. The Mount Winans resident was 85. The son of a blacksmith, he was born in Faber, Va. "He grew up on a self-sustaining, family-owned land with nine siblings," said his daughter, Aleta T. Greene of Baltimore. "He would tell how, at 15 years old, he learned to make mattresses at a factory. He made mattresses for the iron beds they shared, but to also bring in extra money to the household."

WASHINGTON - -U.S. officials are planning to add up to 14,000 combat troops to the American force in Afghanistan by sending home support staff and underutilized soldiers and replacing them with infantry units, Pentagon officials said. The plan represents a key step in a drive to beef up U.S.-led forces as the Obama administration presses to counter Taliban gains and demonstrate progress in Afghanistan amid crumbling American public support for the war effort. Forces that could be swapped out include units assigned to noncombat roles, such as guards or lookouts or those on clerical and support duty.

Army Pvt. Michael R. Dinterman of Littlestown, Pa., was killed Sept. 6 while on foot patrol in Afghanistan's Kunar province. He was 18. Private Dinterman was born in Baltimore and raised in Littlestown. He was a 2006 graduate of Bowling Brook Preparatory School in Carroll County, where he played football, baseball and basketball. He enlisted in the Army in January and received his basic infantry training at Fort Benning, Ga. Private Dinterman was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, which is based at Fort Hood, Texas.

There are 30 living Medal of Honor recipients from World War II, and Paul J. Wiedorfer from Parkville is one of them. "In fact, I'm the only living Maryland Congressional Medal of Honor winner," Wiedorfer, 87, said in an interview from his home the other day. Three days before V-E Day, May 8, 1945, Wiedorfer was recuperating at the 137th United States Army General Hospital in England, from wounds he received in a mortar attack while crossing the Saar...

THE LIGHTS of Cherbourg, France, were only five miles away when a torpedo fired by a German U-boat ripped into the side of the Leopoldville, a ship filled with American soldiers. The date was Dec. 24, 1944. The time was 6:10 p.m. The place was the English Channel.The Leopoldville was a former Belgian passengership that had been converted for military use and was staffed by a Belgian crew. On that fateful evening 50 years ago, I was among the 2,235 U.S. Army officers and men of the 262nd and 264th Infantry Regiments of the 66th Infantry Division aboard the Leopoldville.

Army Pvt. Michael R. Dinterman of Littlestown, Pa., was killed Sept. 6 while on foot patrol in Afghanistan's Kunar province. He was 18. Private Dinterman was born in Baltimore and raised in Littlestown. He was a 2006 graduate of Bowling Brook Preparatory School in Carroll County, where he played football, baseball and basketball. He enlisted in the Army in January and received his basic infantry training at Fort Benning, Ga. Private Dinterman was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, which is based at Fort Hood, Texas.

BAGHDAD -- In Maryland, she's a state trooper. In the National Guard nine years, she's also a trained Army medic. But in the center of a war zone, Spc. Marta Koock has become a tour guide. And it isn't what she expected to be doing in Iraq. Koock's largely administrative job assignment overseeing morale, welfare and recreation at the largest American base in Iraq illustrates the challenge of her Maryland National Guard's 58th Infantry Brigade Combat Team headquarters company, which arrived here two months ago. "I'm a field rat," Koock said back at her office after directing a recent weekly group through two of Saddam Hussein's former lakefront palaces, which had been pummeled by American missiles.

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait -- As the Humvee began to flip over, no one was holding Maryland National Guard Army Cpl. Joseph Giles the right way. So the gunner's 5-foot, 5-inch frame, weighed down by a Kevlar helmet and armor-plated vest, began to slip out of the arms of the four other soldiers and inch toward the open hole on the top of the military jeep simulator. Eventually, the crew from the 1st Battalion, 175th Infantry Regiment corrected, but the lesson wasn't lost on the war-bound soldiers.