Item Description
Original Items: One-one-of-a-kind. One of the most amazing groupings we have ever offered, be sure to read about this incredible hero! First Lieutenant Perry Heidelberger Jr., army serial number 32012380, from New York City enlisted in the US Army on the 13th of March, 1941. He became a combat medic in the 94th Infantry Division, 376th Medical Detachment and fought under Patton at the Siegfried Line. He was awarded the Silver Star Medal for valor for actions that were recorded in the fabulous book PATTON'S PAWNS the 94th US Infantry Division at the Siegfried Line by Tony Lee Tissier.
The actions which earned him his Silver Star Medal found in Patton's Pawns page 110 reads in part:
[During the Second Battle of Sinz] There were so many injured soldiers coming back that battalion medical officer, Lt. Perry Heidelberger, took a jeep forward to Sinz and went forward on foot to within three hundred yards of the German tanks southeast of the woods waving his red cross-marked helmet to attract attention. A German tank commander came forward, who allowed Heidelberger to go ahead and treat the wounded as long as he agreed to treat both Germans and Americans. Heidelberger thus managed to save the lives of several men from both sides and was thanked by the German tank commander upon his return. However, his group of wounded hen came under fire for a while from a Hellcat trying to get at the German tanks, but eventually they got through to Sinz without sustaining further casualties. (Lieutenant Heidelberger was later awarded the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster).
Another passage in the same book recounts an even more incredible story involving Heidelberger on page 259 from the Taking Trier chapter. It reads as follows:
The battalion's big prize was bunker III. This was first attacked unsuccessfully by a platoon from F company, and when 1st Lt. Perry Heidelberger of the 376th Medical Detachment led a party of litter bearers forward to recover the wounded, they too were fired on at first, but then the firing stopped and some Germans appeared at the bunker entrance obviously wanting to talk. Lieutenant Heidelberger spoke with them and persuaded them to surrender, taking prisoner a major, two captains, two lieutenants, and fifty-four men from this one bunker alone, which proved to be vast. It was three stories deep and equipped with heating, showers, and an automatic mortar firing six-round clips that could put twenty-four rounds into the air at a time.
Furthermore, in the center of the book in the photo section there is a photo of Lieutenant Heidelberger in the field actually receiving his Silver Star Medal from his Division Commander! In the photo he is wearing what appears to be the very same IKE Jacket and medic arm band that are included with this grouping!
Included in this amazing grouping are the following items:
- Ike jacket size in very good condition (exactly as seen in the Silver Star Award photo) with 94th Infantry Division patch on the left shoulder, Lieutenant Bars, Medical Corps lapel pins, a whistle on a chain with hook and Medal ribbons that include: Silver Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, American Defense Medal, European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 2 Bronze Stars. WWII Victory Medal, and six overseas service bars on the left sleeve indicating 3+ years in overseas service. The inside of the jacket is clearly ink stamped HEIDELBERGER P.
- Original Medic Red Cross Arm Band with PH JR ink stamped on the underside.
- Original Silver Star Medal in Case.
- Original Officer Overseas Garrison Cap with Lieutenant Bar.
- Original M1 Helmet liner with Lieutenant Bar to front stamped PH JR on liner.
- Original Brass Trench cigarette lighter marked Neverfail
- Original Brass cigarette lighter marked Hahway Made in Bavaria
- Original excellent condition Gillette shaving razor with blades in brass case with mirror.
- Original flip up compass by AURAPOLE, still in working order.
- Original Tin Container of BELL'S WATERPROOF WAX VESTAS (matches) Made in Australia with strike patch on bottom, box is full of matches.
- Original bakelite whistle with cord.
- A hardcover copy of PATTON'S PAWNS the 94th US Infantry Division at the Siegfried Line by Tony Lee Tissier.
- Original incredible 29" x 19" three piece cotton construction NSDAP Party Flag signed individually (all different handwriting) by HEIDELBERGER and dozens of his men and fellow officers as follows:
Lt. Perry Heidelberger Jr., 3569 Broadway, New York
S/Sgt T.M. Scharf, Glen Burnie, Maryland
Cpl. Frank T Gondel, 230 N. Brooke St. Fond Du Lac, Wis.
P.F.C Hank Wayo, 775 University Ave, Rochester, N.Y.
P.F.C Arthur D. Mann, Kannapolis, N.C. R.F.D #3
S/Sgt. Andrew Rothrock, Burlington, N.C.
The Gal From Jersey, Martha Gisinghaus, "May god bless you and bring home soon"
Mr. Cameron Dace, 212 W. Indian River Rd, Berkley Norfolk, VA
4/5 OTT From As The Crow Calls, William H. OTT, Kawkawlin, Mich.
Bob Cooper, Colombus, Mississippi
Sgt. Pete "Cookie" Czarnecki, 69 Alfred Street Clifton, New Jersey
Joe "Frenchy" Morin, 14 Northern Ave, Augusta, Maine
S/Sgt. Harold M. Shofto (Hazel), 600 Grand Ave, Asbury Park, NJ
T/Sgt. James A. Smalley, Anderson, S.C.
P.F.C Curtis A. Metcalf, Fayette, Ohio
Sgt. Murray Fein, Deal, NJ
P.F.C Philip "Pots" Goldstein, Glen Cove, Long Island, New York
Vic "Donnie" Jaeger, 5279 Davison, St. Louis, MO
Pvt. John "Jake" Taylor, 10 Lander St, New Haven, Conn.
Sgt. O. "Fike" Fikejs, 5129 S. Honore St., Chicago, Ill.
T/3 Nat. B. Lang., NYC, New York "3 Delightful days in Belgium"
Cpl. Marshall G. Hussey (Velma), High Falls, N.C.
Lt. Fred Barkoo, 1216 Altgeld St., Chicago, Ill.
Lt. Ervol V. Carroll 23 North 11th Ave W, Duluth, Minn.
S/Sgt. Joseph Hodge, R.2. De.Soto, MO.
Frank Ornoski, 219 2nd St., Albany, NY.
Cpl. Johnnie J. Drott (Turk), 1025 Geneva St, Racine, Wisconsin
Sgt. Roller Robert, 760 Mt. Vernon Ave, Haddonfield, NJ
T/Sgt James A. Beattie, Claysville, Penna
1st. Sgt. Ace B. Marsteller, 3325 Ely Pl SE Apt. 2, Washington D.C.
T/g. Neil H. Graham (Knobby), 610 Main St., Sistersville, W.VA.
Truly one of the best WWII groupings we have ever offered with fantastic provenance from a Silver Star recipient who has documented action in the wonderful book PATTON'S PAWNS.
94th Infantry Division in WW2:
Following a brief stay in England, the 94th landed on Utah Beach, France on D-Day + 94, 8 September 1944, and moved into Brittany to relieve the 6th Armored Division and assume responsibility for containing some 60,000 German troops besieged in their garrisons at the Channel ports of Lorient and Saint-Nazaire. The 94th inflicted over 2,700 casualties on the enemy and took 566 prisoners before being relieved by the 66th Infantry Division on New Year's Day 1945.
As part of General George Patton's United States Third Army, the 94th Infantry Division ("94th ID") was known as "Patton's Golden Nugget". Moving east, the division relieved the 90th Infantry Division on 7 January 1945, taking positions in the Saar-Moselle Triangle south of Wasserbillig, facing the Siegfried Switch Line. Fresh for the fight, the 94th shifted to the offensive, 14 January, seizing Tettingen and Butzdorf that day. The following day, the Nennig-Berg-Wies area was wrested from the enemy, severe counterattacks followed and it was at Nennig that the Germans gave the division its nickname "Roosevelt's Butchers" for stacking the dead in houses and along roads and refusing prisoners lacking the means to guard and transport them. Butzdorf, Berg, and most of Nennig changed hands several times before being finally secured. On the 20th, an unsuccessful battalion attack against Orscholz, eastern terminus of the switch position, resulted in loss of most of two companies. In early February, the division took Campholz Woods and seized Sinz. On 19 February 1945, supported by heavy artillery and air support, the division launched a full-scale attack with all three regiments, storming the heights of Munzigen Ridge, to breach the Siegfried Line switch-line defenses and clear the Berg-Munzingen Highway.
S/Sgt. Ralph Lubow, New York City with the Counter Intelligence Corps, 94th Div., Fifteenth U.S. Army, interviews Dr. Peter Hagemaan of the Netherlands. Dr. Hagemaan was ordered to install an electrical alarm system in AH's mountain retreat in Berchtesgaden during March 1943, thereby detecting the presence of unwanted persons from a distance of 20 kilometers. Düsseldorf, Germany. 27 April 1945. Photo U.S. Army (scanned courtesy nkyphotos, Newport, KY.
Moving forward, the 94th Infantry Division and the 10th Armored Division secured the area from Orscholz and Saarburg to the confluence of the Saar and Moselle Rivers by 21 February 1945. At Ayl General Patton ordered to cross the Saar immediately, against the advice of many of his officers. Under command of Lieutenant Colonel William A. McNulty, the 94th's 3rd Battalion crossed the icy and swollen Saar on February 23, 1945.
Despite Lt. Col. McNulty's own preparatory reconnaissance in absence of other adequate intelligence and undertaken at considerable personal risk, many men and material were lost during the very ill-prepared Saar crossing. Two of the three crossings sites were eventually abandoned due to heavy and pinpoint German artillery and machinegun fire. After establishing a bridgehead at Serrig, the 376th Infantry Regiment was detached to assist the 10th Armored Division in the capture of Trier. By 2 March 1945, the division stretched over a 10-mile front, from Hocker Hill on the Saar through Zerf, and Lampaden to Ollmuth. A heavy German attack near Lampaden achieved penetrations, but the line was shortly restored, and on 13 March, spearheading XX Corps, the division broke out of the Ruwer River bridgehead by ford and bridge. Driving forward, the 94th reached the Rhine on 21 March, where it fought in the Battle for Ludwigshafen. Ludwigshafen was taken on 24 March, in conjunction with Combat Command A of the 12th Armored Division.
The division then moved by rail and motor to the vicinity of Krefeld, Germany, relieving the 102nd Infantry Division on 3 April and assuming responsibility for containing the western side of the Ruhr Pocket from positions along the Rhine. With the reduction of the pocket in mid-April, the division was assigned military government duties, first in the Krefeld and later in the Düsseldorf areas.
By mid-April, the division relieved the 101st Airborne Division and assumed military government duties, first in the Krefeld vicinity and later around Düsseldorf. It was in that status when hostilities were declared at an end on 7 May 1945. From mid-June until the end of November, the division served the military government in Czechoslovakia.
Casualties
Total battle casualties: 6,533
Killed in action: 1,009
Wounded in action: 4,789
Missing in action: 116
Prisoner of war: 619
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