November 19, 2025 • 34 mins
Sydney Levit was 17 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Like most kids his age, he was eager to serve. In 1943, Levit was drafted into the U.S. Army and he soon had the opportunity to join the airborne, training as a paratrooper and also with gliders. He became part of the 17th Airborne Division.
In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Levit describes the rigorous training he went through as part of the airborne, including his first jump out of an airplane and learning how gliders work. He then explains how his unit spent months training in England, waiting to enter the fight. Their first action was at Malmedy and was both vicious and chaotic.
Levit details the logistical fight against the Germans at the Bulge and the separate struggle against the brutal and unrelenting cold that was also a daily fight to stay alive.
Then, Levit takes us into Operation Varsity, the massive airborne campaign designed to help the Allies cross the Rhine River. Yet, very few Americans are even aware of it.
Levit also shares memorable moments away from the fighting, including his interactions with prisoners, being stunned by the death of President Roosevelt, and being surprised when a Hollywood star just popped into his tent.
In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Levit describes the rigorous training he went through as part of the airborne, including his first jump out of an airplane and learning how gliders work. He then explains how his unit spent months training in England, waiting to enter the fight. Their first action was at Malmedy and was both vicious and chaotic.
Levit details the logistical fight against the Germans at the Bulge and the separate struggle against the brutal and unrelenting cold that was also a daily fight to stay alive.
Then, Levit takes us into Operation Varsity, the massive airborne campaign designed to help the Allies cross the Rhine River. Yet, very few Americans are even aware of it.
Levit also shares memorable moments away from the fighting, including his interactions with prisoners, being stunned by the death of President Roosevelt, and being surprised when a Hollywood star just popped into his tent.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
this edition is Sydney Levitt. He is a US Army
airborne veteran of World War Two. He saw action at
the Battle of the Bulge and was part of Operation Varsity,
the massive airborne operation that helped the Allies cross the
Rhine River late in the war. Sid Levitt was born
(00:32):
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in July of nineteen twenty four. He
was seventeen years old in December nineteen forty one when
the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I was still in Philadelphia, still living with my parents.
When I heard the news. It was a shock, needless
to say, and everybody, regardless of the age, was ready
to enlist. I was too young, waited Mike till I
turned at eighteen, receiving my draft papers and was assigned
(01:04):
to the Army.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
And even though he wasn't quite old enough to join
the Army at that point, Lefett was itching to join
the fight just like everyone else.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
He knew, yes, yes, indeed, you got to remember one thing.
World War two was a popular war. Everybody won the
go everybody with no exceptions.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Levitt was drafted into the US Army in nineteen forty three.
Soon he was on a train to North Carolina, where
trucks met them to drive the new soldiers to training
in Georgia.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I got on the terrain from Philadelpha thirty Street station,
and it took us three days and three nights to
go to North Carolina. At that time, we debarked it
half in North Carolina, which was a little freight station.
We were signed the trucks. We had no idea where
(01:57):
we were going. It was pitch black and I and
when we arrived at camp was a brand new camp,
Camp McCall and that was near Fort Benning. When we
arrived at the camp, there were no windows and no
doors in the cabins that we were assigned to. So
(02:18):
our assignment lasted two weeks. We hammered, we hammered, and
we had stole windows and doors, and then we were
sent out and we started training. We trained for roughly
I would say half a year, and then we were
assigned to Camp Forest in Tennessee, Colahoma, Tennessee, and then
(02:42):
we went there for maneuvers. Once we finished our maneuvers,
we were assigned to Boston. We left Boston Harbor and
we landed in Liverpool, England.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
After basic training, it was on to airborne training, and
for sid Levitt, he had the option of training to
be a paratrooper, but he was ordered to serve with
the gliders.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Airborne training consisted of paratrooper was voluntarily glider infantry training.
I was assigning initially to gladier infantry training. If you've
never seen the glier is made of pipe, canvas and
(03:32):
wood floor. Gladiilot and a co pilot and thirteen of
US infantry. Our initial training for paratroops, as I said,
you had a volunteer. Volunteering consisted of several weeks and
then you had to go five jumps, four during the
(03:56):
daylight and one at midnight. And that was quite strenuous.
And paratroop training was very, very very strenuous. But we
were young. You're eighteen years old. It was like fun.
Love it.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Volunteered for paratrooper training, which meant he had to jump
out of airplanes. He vividly remembers just how anxious he
was for that very first jump.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
I was terrified, I's gonna say, if this thing doesn't work,
I'm in big trouble. My first jump consisted of a
C forty seven airplane that was prepared to carry the paratroopers.
We hooked up on the cable inside the plane, and
(04:43):
once you jumped out of the plane in order and
mat we pulled your chute open. However, you carried another
chute under your chest. If the main choot didn't work,
you cugged on the reserve. Fortunately for me, I was
able to work my parachute correctly and I landed all
(05:09):
the time safely. The equivalent of landing is equally you're
jumping off a car going sixty miles an hour, young
and dumb.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And then there were the gliders. And like most people
when they first hear about the gliders, Levitt and his
fellow trainees had a very simple question about how it worked.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
The first day we went out the glider training in
Fort Benning, we all walked around and then we said,
there's no motor, how does the thing fly? So the
sergeant laughed and she showed us. You were attached to
a C forty seven airplane now re course of the army,
(05:50):
and you attached to two ropes, one for us and
one for the glider who was pulled out at the
same time. One rope was lower than the other, so
you wouldn't collide, and as a result, the training was
quite successful. And then we learned how to load a
(06:10):
glider it with a truck or I'm sorry, jeep or
a small cannon. When they did that, there was only
two men allowed other than the pilot and the co pilot,
because there wasn't enough room for the troops. So that
became a problem, but they solved it and worked that fine.
(06:34):
And I might add the glider was constructive as a canvas,
steel piping and wood flooring. They were in the stand.
They were made about two hundred and twenty five thousand dollars.
At the end of the war they had thousands of
them still in crates and they were being bought seventy
(06:58):
five dollars. The reason for that they were buying them
for the wood. I gotters were constructed to fit into
a wood frame, and so as a result, that's how
they ended up selling seventy five dollars for the wood.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
In nineteen forty four, Levitt and the rest of the
seventeenth their Born Division embarked for the war in Europe.
They arrived too late to be part of the D
Day landings, so while they waited for the moment us
commanders would put them into action. The men of the
seventeenth Division spent their days in intense training in England.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Prior to that, our training program was quite intense. We
would do twenty five mile hikes, we would do climbing fences,
We'd crawl on their bob wire, we would crawl on
their billies, and I shot actory line and ammunition over
our heads. And then training consisted of constant moving, moving, moving.
(08:00):
Of course we were young. We had maybe one or
two foes who were thirty two years old. They couldn't
keep up with us, so they disappeared. They were probably
transferred to some other unit.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
The seventeenth Airborn was planning to be part of Operation
Market Garden, the ambitious plant to seize a series of
roads and bridges in the Netherlands and ultimately crossing the
Rhyan River at Arnhem, But just before the operation began,
the seventeenth was scratched. They had to wait again to
join the fight. Levitt thinks holding the seventeenth Airborn out
of Market Garden was the right call, but three months
(08:34):
later they would be needed in a hurry.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Well, once you entered the Battle of the boats. You
weren't told what to do because they were shooting a
lot of stuff with us, and we were shooting back
a lot of stuff with them. The following day things
quieted down, so we went into intact and when we
got to the other side of the gully, the Germans
(08:59):
had disappeared. They retreated, and as a result, we kept moving.
We never knew where we were going, never never knew.
The officers in charge would point north or south or
easter with were whatever we would do, we would go
in that duration as directed. The seventeenth the airborne lost
(09:20):
a lot of men. My Regick at one hundred ninety
third lost so many men, and one hundred and ninety
fourth Regiment lost so many men that they combined us.
We were then known as one one ninety fourth.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Levitt says. Says unit was first thrown into action near
the bulge at Malmedy. He says the fighting was intense,
but was followed by an unusual and brief piece.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
The generals felt we were not ready and that's why
we didn't go into that action. However, there was so
much problems in the Battle of the Bulge. They flew
us over to France. We went by trucks to Malmedy.
Malmedy was very interesting. Why interesting out to him? We
(10:09):
were assigned to a ridge. There was a gully between
us and the Germans. The fighting was very very very
very heavy heavy. You were not allowed to light fires.
It was pitch black, bitter cold, bitter cold. All of
a sudden the Germans started to light a fire. We
(10:35):
followed suit. They were as cold as we were. We
had maybe two fires on our side and they had
too far. And everything got extremely quiet. It was the
night before Christmas. The Germans starred to sing carols. We
(10:57):
followed suit Christmas. So in an hour the lights went out,
the shooting started and my one buddy went oh, and
we thought he got hit. He is, Oh my god,
it's my birthday today. I forgot.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
That's Sydney Levitt. He's a US Army airborne veteran of
World War Two, serving with the seventeenth Airborne Division still
to come, pursuing the Germans after the Bulge, the huge
airborne campaign known as Operation Varsity late in the war
that almost no one talks about today, and the gut
punch American forces suffered just weeks before the end of
(11:36):
the war. I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Sixty seconds of Service.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Army veteran David Colan found a home after years of
homelessness through NYC's Jericho Project, which offers housing, counseling, and
job support. Recently awarded three hundred and forty thousand dollars
to expand in services. The initiative transforms lives while building
a cycle of mentorship among veteran and Colin now helps newcomers,
proving that community and stability can restore dignity and hope
(12:06):
to those who serve. For more great veteran stories, just
go to National Defense Network dot com.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
this edition is Sidney Levitt. He's a US Army veteran
of World War Two and the Battle of the Bulge. Earlier,
Levitt described his first experience in combat at Malmede. He says,
the men of the seventeenth Airborn Division were thrown into
battle with no instructions whatsoever.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Well, the reason that first time, it's very confusion because
you have no experience as to the situation around you
and all the troops that were around me were in
the same position. None of us had any experience as
very actual combat. To canoe and live, you had to
learn how to flop in your stomach. I can tell
(12:55):
you that. Now take one from experience, I can assure you.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Addition to the confusion, the setting for their first combat
was also a challenge. Levitt offered more detail of what
they were dealing with at a place called dead Man's Ridge,
and sadly the name proved to be accurate.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
That means it was a hill. The bottom of the
hill was a goalie, and on the other side of
the hill was the Germans. And when we went into
the attack, that was the time I had mentioned that
we didn't find them on the opposite hill because they retreated. Meanwhile,
(13:37):
our losses were pretty heavy, and as I said, one
ninety fourth suffered the same way we did. We then
ended up going to the Best Stone to help the
other airborne outfits that were there fighting. They were certainly
(13:57):
not equipped correctly, and as result we were actually the seventies.
The Airborne was actually a bastard outfit. We fought on
their patent, we fought on their Montgomery, we fought under
so as they needed more troops, they shipped us. They
shipped us, and as a result, we helped the other
(14:21):
airborne one airbornes to alleviate their problems.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Love It also elaborated on the heavy combat. He says
the Germans started with a huge advantage simply because the
Wehrmacht was ready for the weather conditions and the Americans
were not.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
The man it was very heavy. The German troops were
very well trained and were very well clothed. They had
the right boots, they had the right overcoat, they had
the right uniforms, which we did not have. We had
summer weight because the general and of procuring clothes said,
(15:01):
oh no, no, no, the war is going to be
over by April. As you well know, it went much
much further than that, and it was that was the problem.
We created, all the problems that we all had with
our feet in hands. I was taken back to the
hospital in Paris. How do you treat frozen hands? And
(15:23):
if you don't, they actually laid in the bed for
maybe three days with my hands and my feet explosive
and it went to the air and at that time
then they shipped me back to my outfit.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So just how brutal was the cold at the bulge,
Well Levitt says, it was a battle itself just to
stay alive in those conditions.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
It was bitter, constantly bitter. We were told it was
the coldest winner they ever had in the forty years.
It was so cold and you couldn't light fires, and
if you went to sleep, you slept with the guy
you were assigned to, and the guy you were assigned
(16:05):
to was a replacement. And when they came up to us,
the sergeant said to them, the man you're standing in
front of, if he moves to the left, you better
move to the left. If he moves to the right,
you better move to the right. Otherwise you'll never last
a day. And I had a fella. They tied me
(16:27):
up with a fellow I remember his name, Tony Guinty
from Chicago, a father of three. When I heard he
had three children, I said, you got to go to
the doctor and get out of the captain, and you
got to get out of here. He refused to go.
He lasted the whole time. He was a good, good guy,
good guy to be with you. And he was a
(16:48):
short tang guy, so he was nice and warm in
the foxhole if you could do a big one.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
More than eighty years later, Levitt says he still feels
the effects from those weeks around bas Stone.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Well, I'm still suffered today with frozen hands and frozen feet.
I have difficulty with wearing a shoe, so I don't
wear them if I can walk around the house without them.
And I have been to many doctors and they all
says the nerves and your feet in your hands are
more or less dead. There's no replacement and there's no recovery.
(17:24):
So I do the best I can. I feel falling.
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Other veterans of the Bulge have mentioned how the cold
compromise their weapons, whether rifles or even artillery. Levitt says
he did not sense much of an impact on his weapon,
but there was a much greater danger to his rifle
than the temperature.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Well, your job was to keep it clean. By keeping
it clean, it operated in the cold weather. If you
got water in the barrel, or you got straw or dirt,
whatever it is, you were in trouble. So we were
constantly cleaning the weapon.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
That's Sid Levitt. He's a US Army airborne veteran of
World War II, serving with the serving with the seventeenth
Airborne Division still to come, pursuing the Germans after the
Bulge and the huge airborne campaign known as Operation Varsity.
I'm Greg Corumbus, and this is Veterans Chronicles. This is
(18:20):
Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this addition
is Sidney Levitt. He's a US Army veteran of World
War Two serving in the seventeenth Airborne Division. After the
US successfully repelled the German offensive at the Battle of
the Bulge, although at tremendous cost, the pursuit of the
retreating German army entered Germany, but curiously, some of the
(18:42):
first prisoners they captured were from a different enemy army.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
No, we pursued them. Oh, this is very curious. So
where some point? Of course, as I said earlier, we
never knew where we were, so they decided there do
We stopped for a couple of days, and we were
liking to go someplace in Germany, and all of a
sudden we look up. There's five men in uniform waving, waving,
(19:12):
and we don't know what they're doing. We don't know
who they are, we don't recognize them. Wonder the fellas
in raff was Italian, and he says, I think they're
Italian soldiers. They says, can't be. We're not even close
to Italy. And they keep coming down, big smile, waving
their hands so happy, you know, and they're giving up.
(19:33):
They didn't want to fall into Russian hands. So now
what happens? I always when I speak to churches or
synagogues or whatever, I always there's the audience, what would
you do with five Italians? And I get all kind
of answers. What do you think we did with five Italians?
(19:58):
You make them cooks. They could take a can of
tomato and make a dinner out of it, and the
next day they were shipped back to Regimen. I guess
they needed some cooks.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Getting across the Rhine was still a major challenge, so
Allied leaders devised the largest single day airborne mission in history,
Operation Varsity. It involved sixteen thousand personnel, including Sid Levitt.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
The sad part about it, the Varsity campaign, nobody knows
about it. I've spoken. The last group was about seventy people,
and I said to them, be honest when I asked
you one question, because nobody has ever been there, and
Aye Will answered, how many of you heard of the
(20:44):
Varsity campaign deadly silence? Nobody. The Varsity basically lasted four hours.
It was sixteen thousand, half of British sixth Army and
the seventy dearborn I offered. I went into combat and glider.
(21:05):
I was very lucky that pilot found a good spot
to land because the Germans knew we were coming. They
installed poles, wiring, barbed wire, holes, steaks, so you had
to be pretty lucky to land in the safe spot.
(21:26):
And I was very lucky.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
After being blessed with a safe landing, Levitt and the
other Airborne members quickly leapt into action to gain the
upper hand.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
We ran into the woods. We created a pretty formidable bunch,
and then we chased the Germans. And then what we
happened is I think this might be very very interesting.
It was pouring of rain. It rained, and it rained
and rained. The raincoats of issues were never any good
(21:57):
because you sweat inside them. It was in front of
us a huge, huge, prison, black black, surrounded by bob wiring.
The gates to the prison were open. The Germans knew
we were coming. The Germans killed only the Russians. They
didn't bother the French, they didn't bother the English, and
(22:21):
they didn't bother them if they were American. We went
into the building, pitch black, pitch black, and we all
of a sudden we see a little flickering light. So
one of I forget which one of us, it's not
important at a flashlight. So we're walking down this huge
(22:41):
hole and we come to this room where this flickering
flame is. We walk into the room, no picture this.
These are prisoners. They're emaciated. They're all in striped uniform
so to speak. And all of a sudden, this group
of and us walk into this room. They don't know
(23:03):
who we are. They had no idea who we were.
They didn't know their uniforms, they didn't know nothing. And
what impressed me the most their eyes. You looked at
their eyes, it was like, WHOA what we did? We
made a turble mistake. They were emaciated until we gave
(23:24):
him whatever we had in our pockets, chocolate, whatever it was.
See racis k rations. The worst thing you could do
to give out food on people who haven't had no food.
Now we hear hammering, hammering, So a couple of us
go down the hallway and we flash the light in
(23:46):
and there's a little man with a hammer and he's
smashing his machine. We find out he's Greek. He had
been attached to his machine over two years making his shoes,
and he swore, if he ever lives and can get
(24:10):
away from that machine, he will wreck it. And that's
what happened. He got away from the machine and he wrecked.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Levett believes Operation Varsity was a huge reason for the
Allied success in finally getting across the Rhine.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Well, we went into the attack, we quite were successful
because the Germans were kind of close to losing, and
I think they realized it, and we had prepared very well.
When we had across the Rhine, we had the cannons
lined up wheel to wheel and there wasn't five or ten,
(24:46):
must have been hundreds. Must have been hundreds. We got
across the river and we moved pretty darn good towards
the Wessel. We ruined Wessel and when I went two
years ago, it's completely rebuilt. You would never know there
was a day that that town was not knocked down.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
From that point on, the Germans were really on their
heels and the number of surrendering enemy soldiers rose considerably.
Taking those soldiers into custody was usually uneventful, but not
always for sid Levitt.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Oh, you'll get a kick on my situation with a
German prisoner. We came in and all of a sudden
we see there were three huge German tanks that were captured.
My affort didn't capture another outphint. And what was so
strange about the tank? They were staffed by German women,
(25:44):
huge arms, huge bust, big women, and they were tough.
As we walked past, and they spit at you. Well,
one of the guys took offence. He took the bunt
of his rifle on smashed her in the right in
the face. She didn't spit again. I can assure you that.
So it was quite different. Now when we get to
(26:09):
a village, I think you're like this humor. We're in
this small village, our captain, which are terrific. On McKinley,
he sent a couple of the guys. Every town had
a brewery. Every time, no matter how big or small,
he ordered a keg of beer. They made him keke
(26:29):
of beer. But German beer is much stronger than American,
so I ran into his aid and he says, hey,
they never called you by your first name. They always
called me Levitt. And he says, hey, Levit, do you
see what's going on with McKinley. No, he's drong, I said,
McKinley doesn't drink. He says, I'm telling you he's strong.
(26:53):
What had happened that day? We got our first mail
in weeks? If you recall, in those days, Life magazine
was the prime magazine. They gave him his mail, his magazines.
He read the cover of Life magazine and started drinking.
(27:14):
He never drinks. He started drinking. Why did he start drinking?
Very easy? He looked at Life magazine. He took a
look at the cover. His fiance was getting married to
a cadet from the army. With the stores over their heads.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
The Allies were rolling and they could sniff the end
of the war. But in mid April nineteen forty five,
the American troops suffered a huge loss, not from enemy action,
but from news that came from back home.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
We're all dead, tired, and we're moving someplace. I guess
it was Germany. And the guy pulls up. It's midnight
and we're exhausted, We're all sleeping, and the guy pulls
up next to us in a motorcycle and he yells
at us, says, hey, did you hear the news? No,
(28:08):
howd we hear the news? You know Roosevelt died? Well,
you took the air right out of us, right out
of us. We said, Oh, who's the president? He says,
a guy by named Truman. Nobody ever heard of Truman?
And when now we were talking among ourselves and were
(28:29):
what are we going to do? Who's Truman?
Speaker 1 (28:31):
But there were pleasant surprises too. Left recalls every detail
from the time one of the most famous women in
America just popped into his tent.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
I'll tell you a cute story. They gave us three
days or from the front wherever we were. They took
us to a camp. It was in They put us
in a tent with cots now where they air were
chatting with each other and the flap opens up, and
who was walking again? You may not know who I'm
(29:03):
talking about. Marlena Dietrich, she was a beautiful actress. And
Mickey Rooney, who was a very very short actor. I
had a friend by maybe Eugene Easterday from Missouri, and
I'm watching them. He's sitting over here and I'm sitting here.
(29:24):
He never takes his eyes off of Marlena Dietrich. Never
I said what's he doing? Then I realized she's smoking.
And in those days, when a woman smoked, the butt
had their lipstick on it. Right she finished up smoking,
(29:45):
she flips it on the ground Eugene had. Meanwhile, I
noticed he emptied his matches from the box, and I said,
what is he doing? He dives if I if I
had that, but today I could prove it. I don't
know what I could sell it for anyway, I don't know.
(30:07):
He probably carried that matchbox with her butt, and she says, this,
are you coming to my show? Said, oh yes.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Just a couple of weeks after Roosevelt died, Adolf Hitler
killed himself in a Berlin bunker. A week after that,
the war in Europe was over.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
It was a cheering and happiness noise. The guys were
shooting their guns off into the air. You know, we knew,
we felt it was getting close to being over. So
as a result, once the war was announced as being over,
we were delighted. And that's when they started putting us
(30:55):
on board ships to go back to the States to
train for Japan.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Looking back, Levitt says there are many reasons why the
Allies won the war, but he says we had one
massive advantage that the Germans simply couldn't match.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
Well, I will tell you this is only my opinion
as to why we were successful against the Germans. The
reason I quote this is because they moved to some
place into the countryside and there was only two roads,
one north and south, one east and west. We were
(31:34):
supposed to be at that road for one day. We
were there for four days. The tanks, the trucks, the
troops never stopped going east to west, north to south.
If I were a German soldier and sitting on top
of it, I give up. It was massive. I'm not
(31:55):
saying that we were better troops. I wouldn't say that,
but the German couldn't replace what we took or what
we destroyed. So my mind that we won the war
for one word production.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
While they was still crossing the Atlantic Ocean. On his
way back to the US, Levitt heard even better news.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
When the war in New York was over. I was
assigned to a ship that was coming back to the
United States, and then we were being trained to attack
Japan in the middle of the ocean. Where I heard
this a huge amount of happiness. The announcement came over
(32:35):
the ship announcing that Japan had resigned from the war. Happiness,
six thousand men on the ship. You can imagine the noise.
As we approached the New York Harbor. The ship leaned
to the side. Everybody wanted to see the Statue of Liberty.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
As he reflects upon his service in a war that
ended more than eighty years ago, Levitt knows exactly what
he's most proud of from his time in uniform.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
I'm most proud of the men. Know what I was
tied up with. They were from Missouri, they were from Arkansas,
they were from California, of state Pennsylvania, upstate New York,
and they were great and we became very friendly. I
usually get maybe twelve chriss Or scars every year. Now none,
(33:29):
they're all gone.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Sydney Levitt is a US Army veteran of World War Two.
He served in the seventeenth Airborne Division and saw action
at the Battle of the Bulge and an Operation Varsity.
I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles Hi, this
(33:56):
is Greg Corumbus and thanks for listening to Veterans Chronicles,
a presentation of the American Veterans Center. For more information,
please visit American Veteranscenter dot org. You can also follow
the American Veterans Center on Facebook and on Twitter. We're
at AVC update. Subscribe to the American Veterans Center YouTube
(34:17):
channel for full oral histories and special features, and of
course please subscribe to the Veterans Chronicles podcast wherever you
get your podcasts. Thanks again for listening, and please join
us next time for Veterans Chronicles
Welcome to Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
this edition is Sydney Levitt. He is a US Army
airborne veteran of World War Two. He saw action at
the Battle of the Bulge and was part of Operation Varsity,
the massive airborne operation that helped the Allies cross the
Rhine River late in the war. Sid Levitt was born
(00:32):
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in July of nineteen twenty four. He
was seventeen years old in December nineteen forty one when
the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I was still in Philadelphia, still living with my parents.
When I heard the news. It was a shock, needless
to say, and everybody, regardless of the age, was ready
to enlist. I was too young, waited Mike till I
turned at eighteen, receiving my draft papers and was assigned
(01:04):
to the Army.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
And even though he wasn't quite old enough to join
the Army at that point, Lefett was itching to join
the fight just like everyone else.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
He knew, yes, yes, indeed, you got to remember one thing.
World War two was a popular war. Everybody won the
go everybody with no exceptions.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Levitt was drafted into the US Army in nineteen forty three.
Soon he was on a train to North Carolina, where
trucks met them to drive the new soldiers to training
in Georgia.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I got on the terrain from Philadelpha thirty Street station,
and it took us three days and three nights to
go to North Carolina. At that time, we debarked it
half in North Carolina, which was a little freight station.
We were signed the trucks. We had no idea where
(01:57):
we were going. It was pitch black and I and
when we arrived at camp was a brand new camp,
Camp McCall and that was near Fort Benning. When we
arrived at the camp, there were no windows and no
doors in the cabins that we were assigned to. So
(02:18):
our assignment lasted two weeks. We hammered, we hammered, and
we had stole windows and doors, and then we were
sent out and we started training. We trained for roughly
I would say half a year, and then we were
assigned to Camp Forest in Tennessee, Colahoma, Tennessee, and then
(02:42):
we went there for maneuvers. Once we finished our maneuvers,
we were assigned to Boston. We left Boston Harbor and
we landed in Liverpool, England.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
After basic training, it was on to airborne training, and
for sid Levitt, he had the option of training to
be a paratrooper, but he was ordered to serve with
the gliders.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Airborne training consisted of paratrooper was voluntarily glider infantry training.
I was assigning initially to gladier infantry training. If you've
never seen the glier is made of pipe, canvas and
(03:32):
wood floor. Gladiilot and a co pilot and thirteen of
US infantry. Our initial training for paratroops, as I said,
you had a volunteer. Volunteering consisted of several weeks and
then you had to go five jumps, four during the
(03:56):
daylight and one at midnight. And that was quite strenuous.
And paratroop training was very, very very strenuous. But we
were young. You're eighteen years old. It was like fun.
Love it.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Volunteered for paratrooper training, which meant he had to jump
out of airplanes. He vividly remembers just how anxious he
was for that very first jump.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
I was terrified, I's gonna say, if this thing doesn't work,
I'm in big trouble. My first jump consisted of a
C forty seven airplane that was prepared to carry the paratroopers.
We hooked up on the cable inside the plane, and
(04:43):
once you jumped out of the plane in order and
mat we pulled your chute open. However, you carried another
chute under your chest. If the main choot didn't work,
you cugged on the reserve. Fortunately for me, I was
able to work my parachute correctly and I landed all
(05:09):
the time safely. The equivalent of landing is equally you're
jumping off a car going sixty miles an hour, young
and dumb.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And then there were the gliders. And like most people
when they first hear about the gliders, Levitt and his
fellow trainees had a very simple question about how it worked.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
The first day we went out the glider training in
Fort Benning, we all walked around and then we said,
there's no motor, how does the thing fly? So the
sergeant laughed and she showed us. You were attached to
a C forty seven airplane now re course of the army,
(05:50):
and you attached to two ropes, one for us and
one for the glider who was pulled out at the
same time. One rope was lower than the other, so
you wouldn't collide, and as a result, the training was
quite successful. And then we learned how to load a
(06:10):
glider it with a truck or I'm sorry, jeep or
a small cannon. When they did that, there was only
two men allowed other than the pilot and the co pilot,
because there wasn't enough room for the troops. So that
became a problem, but they solved it and worked that fine.
(06:34):
And I might add the glider was constructive as a canvas,
steel piping and wood flooring. They were in the stand.
They were made about two hundred and twenty five thousand dollars.
At the end of the war they had thousands of
them still in crates and they were being bought seventy
(06:58):
five dollars. The reason for that they were buying them
for the wood. I gotters were constructed to fit into
a wood frame, and so as a result, that's how
they ended up selling seventy five dollars for the wood.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
In nineteen forty four, Levitt and the rest of the
seventeenth their Born Division embarked for the war in Europe.
They arrived too late to be part of the D
Day landings, so while they waited for the moment us
commanders would put them into action. The men of the
seventeenth Division spent their days in intense training in England.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Prior to that, our training program was quite intense. We
would do twenty five mile hikes, we would do climbing fences,
We'd crawl on their bob wire, we would crawl on
their billies, and I shot actory line and ammunition over
our heads. And then training consisted of constant moving, moving, moving.
(08:00):
Of course we were young. We had maybe one or
two foes who were thirty two years old. They couldn't
keep up with us, so they disappeared. They were probably
transferred to some other unit.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
The seventeenth Airborn was planning to be part of Operation
Market Garden, the ambitious plant to seize a series of
roads and bridges in the Netherlands and ultimately crossing the
Rhyan River at Arnhem, But just before the operation began,
the seventeenth was scratched. They had to wait again to
join the fight. Levitt thinks holding the seventeenth Airborn out
of Market Garden was the right call, but three months
(08:34):
later they would be needed in a hurry.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Well, once you entered the Battle of the boats. You
weren't told what to do because they were shooting a
lot of stuff with us, and we were shooting back
a lot of stuff with them. The following day things
quieted down, so we went into intact and when we
got to the other side of the gully, the Germans
(08:59):
had disappeared. They retreated, and as a result, we kept moving.
We never knew where we were going, never never knew.
The officers in charge would point north or south or
easter with were whatever we would do, we would go
in that duration as directed. The seventeenth the airborne lost
(09:20):
a lot of men. My Regick at one hundred ninety
third lost so many men, and one hundred and ninety
fourth Regiment lost so many men that they combined us.
We were then known as one one ninety fourth.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Levitt says. Says unit was first thrown into action near
the bulge at Malmedy. He says the fighting was intense,
but was followed by an unusual and brief piece.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
The generals felt we were not ready and that's why
we didn't go into that action. However, there was so
much problems in the Battle of the Bulge. They flew
us over to France. We went by trucks to Malmedy.
Malmedy was very interesting. Why interesting out to him? We
(10:09):
were assigned to a ridge. There was a gully between
us and the Germans. The fighting was very very very
very heavy heavy. You were not allowed to light fires.
It was pitch black, bitter cold, bitter cold. All of
a sudden the Germans started to light a fire. We
(10:35):
followed suit. They were as cold as we were. We
had maybe two fires on our side and they had
too far. And everything got extremely quiet. It was the
night before Christmas. The Germans starred to sing carols. We
(10:57):
followed suit Christmas. So in an hour the lights went out,
the shooting started and my one buddy went oh, and
we thought he got hit. He is, Oh my god,
it's my birthday today. I forgot.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
That's Sydney Levitt. He's a US Army airborne veteran of
World War Two, serving with the seventeenth Airborne Division still
to come, pursuing the Germans after the Bulge, the huge
airborne campaign known as Operation Varsity late in the war
that almost no one talks about today, and the gut
punch American forces suffered just weeks before the end of
(11:36):
the war. I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Sixty seconds of Service.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Army veteran David Colan found a home after years of
homelessness through NYC's Jericho Project, which offers housing, counseling, and
job support. Recently awarded three hundred and forty thousand dollars
to expand in services. The initiative transforms lives while building
a cycle of mentorship among veteran and Colin now helps newcomers,
proving that community and stability can restore dignity and hope
(12:06):
to those who serve. For more great veteran stories, just
go to National Defense Network dot com.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
this edition is Sidney Levitt. He's a US Army veteran
of World War Two and the Battle of the Bulge. Earlier,
Levitt described his first experience in combat at Malmede. He says,
the men of the seventeenth Airborn Division were thrown into
battle with no instructions whatsoever.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Well, the reason that first time, it's very confusion because
you have no experience as to the situation around you
and all the troops that were around me were in
the same position. None of us had any experience as
very actual combat. To canoe and live, you had to
learn how to flop in your stomach. I can tell
(12:55):
you that. Now take one from experience, I can assure you.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Addition to the confusion, the setting for their first combat
was also a challenge. Levitt offered more detail of what
they were dealing with at a place called dead Man's Ridge,
and sadly the name proved to be accurate.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
That means it was a hill. The bottom of the
hill was a goalie, and on the other side of
the hill was the Germans. And when we went into
the attack, that was the time I had mentioned that
we didn't find them on the opposite hill because they retreated. Meanwhile,
(13:37):
our losses were pretty heavy, and as I said, one
ninety fourth suffered the same way we did. We then
ended up going to the Best Stone to help the
other airborne outfits that were there fighting. They were certainly
(13:57):
not equipped correctly, and as result we were actually the seventies.
The Airborne was actually a bastard outfit. We fought on
their patent, we fought on their Montgomery, we fought under
so as they needed more troops, they shipped us. They
shipped us, and as a result, we helped the other
(14:21):
airborne one airbornes to alleviate their problems.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Love It also elaborated on the heavy combat. He says
the Germans started with a huge advantage simply because the
Wehrmacht was ready for the weather conditions and the Americans
were not.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
The man it was very heavy. The German troops were
very well trained and were very well clothed. They had
the right boots, they had the right overcoat, they had
the right uniforms, which we did not have. We had
summer weight because the general and of procuring clothes said,
(15:01):
oh no, no, no, the war is going to be
over by April. As you well know, it went much
much further than that, and it was that was the problem.
We created, all the problems that we all had with
our feet in hands. I was taken back to the
hospital in Paris. How do you treat frozen hands? And
(15:23):
if you don't, they actually laid in the bed for
maybe three days with my hands and my feet explosive
and it went to the air and at that time
then they shipped me back to my outfit.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So just how brutal was the cold at the bulge,
Well Levitt says, it was a battle itself just to
stay alive in those conditions.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
It was bitter, constantly bitter. We were told it was
the coldest winner they ever had in the forty years.
It was so cold and you couldn't light fires, and
if you went to sleep, you slept with the guy
you were assigned to, and the guy you were assigned
(16:05):
to was a replacement. And when they came up to us,
the sergeant said to them, the man you're standing in
front of, if he moves to the left, you better
move to the left. If he moves to the right,
you better move to the right. Otherwise you'll never last
a day. And I had a fella. They tied me
(16:27):
up with a fellow I remember his name, Tony Guinty
from Chicago, a father of three. When I heard he
had three children, I said, you got to go to
the doctor and get out of the captain, and you
got to get out of here. He refused to go.
He lasted the whole time. He was a good, good guy,
good guy to be with you. And he was a
(16:48):
short tang guy, so he was nice and warm in
the foxhole if you could do a big one.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
More than eighty years later, Levitt says he still feels
the effects from those weeks around bas Stone.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Well, I'm still suffered today with frozen hands and frozen feet.
I have difficulty with wearing a shoe, so I don't
wear them if I can walk around the house without them.
And I have been to many doctors and they all
says the nerves and your feet in your hands are
more or less dead. There's no replacement and there's no recovery.
(17:24):
So I do the best I can. I feel falling.
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Other veterans of the Bulge have mentioned how the cold
compromise their weapons, whether rifles or even artillery. Levitt says
he did not sense much of an impact on his weapon,
but there was a much greater danger to his rifle
than the temperature.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Well, your job was to keep it clean. By keeping
it clean, it operated in the cold weather. If you
got water in the barrel, or you got straw or dirt,
whatever it is, you were in trouble. So we were
constantly cleaning the weapon.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
That's Sid Levitt. He's a US Army airborne veteran of
World War II, serving with the serving with the seventeenth
Airborne Division still to come, pursuing the Germans after the
Bulge and the huge airborne campaign known as Operation Varsity.
I'm Greg Corumbus, and this is Veterans Chronicles. This is
(18:20):
Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this addition
is Sidney Levitt. He's a US Army veteran of World
War Two serving in the seventeenth Airborne Division. After the
US successfully repelled the German offensive at the Battle of
the Bulge, although at tremendous cost, the pursuit of the
retreating German army entered Germany, but curiously, some of the
(18:42):
first prisoners they captured were from a different enemy army.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
No, we pursued them. Oh, this is very curious. So
where some point? Of course, as I said earlier, we
never knew where we were, so they decided there do
We stopped for a couple of days, and we were
liking to go someplace in Germany, and all of a
sudden we look up. There's five men in uniform waving, waving,
(19:12):
and we don't know what they're doing. We don't know
who they are, we don't recognize them. Wonder the fellas
in raff was Italian, and he says, I think they're
Italian soldiers. They says, can't be. We're not even close
to Italy. And they keep coming down, big smile, waving
their hands so happy, you know, and they're giving up.
(19:33):
They didn't want to fall into Russian hands. So now
what happens? I always when I speak to churches or
synagogues or whatever, I always there's the audience, what would
you do with five Italians? And I get all kind
of answers. What do you think we did with five Italians?
(19:58):
You make them cooks. They could take a can of
tomato and make a dinner out of it, and the
next day they were shipped back to Regimen. I guess
they needed some cooks.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Getting across the Rhine was still a major challenge, so
Allied leaders devised the largest single day airborne mission in history,
Operation Varsity. It involved sixteen thousand personnel, including Sid Levitt.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
The sad part about it, the Varsity campaign, nobody knows
about it. I've spoken. The last group was about seventy people,
and I said to them, be honest when I asked
you one question, because nobody has ever been there, and
Aye Will answered, how many of you heard of the
(20:44):
Varsity campaign deadly silence? Nobody. The Varsity basically lasted four hours.
It was sixteen thousand, half of British sixth Army and
the seventy dearborn I offered. I went into combat and glider.
(21:05):
I was very lucky that pilot found a good spot
to land because the Germans knew we were coming. They
installed poles, wiring, barbed wire, holes, steaks, so you had
to be pretty lucky to land in the safe spot.
(21:26):
And I was very lucky.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
After being blessed with a safe landing, Levitt and the
other Airborne members quickly leapt into action to gain the
upper hand.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
We ran into the woods. We created a pretty formidable bunch,
and then we chased the Germans. And then what we
happened is I think this might be very very interesting.
It was pouring of rain. It rained, and it rained
and rained. The raincoats of issues were never any good
(21:57):
because you sweat inside them. It was in front of
us a huge, huge, prison, black black, surrounded by bob wiring.
The gates to the prison were open. The Germans knew
we were coming. The Germans killed only the Russians. They
didn't bother the French, they didn't bother the English, and
(22:21):
they didn't bother them if they were American. We went
into the building, pitch black, pitch black, and we all
of a sudden we see a little flickering light. So
one of I forget which one of us, it's not
important at a flashlight. So we're walking down this huge
(22:41):
hole and we come to this room where this flickering
flame is. We walk into the room, no picture this.
These are prisoners. They're emaciated. They're all in striped uniform
so to speak. And all of a sudden, this group
of and us walk into this room. They don't know
(23:03):
who we are. They had no idea who we were.
They didn't know their uniforms, they didn't know nothing. And
what impressed me the most their eyes. You looked at
their eyes, it was like, WHOA what we did? We
made a turble mistake. They were emaciated until we gave
(23:24):
him whatever we had in our pockets, chocolate, whatever it was.
See racis k rations. The worst thing you could do
to give out food on people who haven't had no food.
Now we hear hammering, hammering, So a couple of us
go down the hallway and we flash the light in
(23:46):
and there's a little man with a hammer and he's
smashing his machine. We find out he's Greek. He had
been attached to his machine over two years making his shoes,
and he swore, if he ever lives and can get
(24:10):
away from that machine, he will wreck it. And that's
what happened. He got away from the machine and he wrecked.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Levett believes Operation Varsity was a huge reason for the
Allied success in finally getting across the Rhine.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Well, we went into the attack, we quite were successful
because the Germans were kind of close to losing, and
I think they realized it, and we had prepared very well.
When we had across the Rhine, we had the cannons
lined up wheel to wheel and there wasn't five or ten,
(24:46):
must have been hundreds. Must have been hundreds. We got
across the river and we moved pretty darn good towards
the Wessel. We ruined Wessel and when I went two
years ago, it's completely rebuilt. You would never know there
was a day that that town was not knocked down.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
From that point on, the Germans were really on their
heels and the number of surrendering enemy soldiers rose considerably.
Taking those soldiers into custody was usually uneventful, but not
always for sid Levitt.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Oh, you'll get a kick on my situation with a
German prisoner. We came in and all of a sudden
we see there were three huge German tanks that were captured.
My affort didn't capture another outphint. And what was so
strange about the tank? They were staffed by German women,
(25:44):
huge arms, huge bust, big women, and they were tough.
As we walked past, and they spit at you. Well,
one of the guys took offence. He took the bunt
of his rifle on smashed her in the right in
the face. She didn't spit again. I can assure you that.
So it was quite different. Now when we get to
(26:09):
a village, I think you're like this humor. We're in
this small village, our captain, which are terrific. On McKinley,
he sent a couple of the guys. Every town had
a brewery. Every time, no matter how big or small,
he ordered a keg of beer. They made him keke
(26:29):
of beer. But German beer is much stronger than American,
so I ran into his aid and he says, hey,
they never called you by your first name. They always
called me Levitt. And he says, hey, Levit, do you
see what's going on with McKinley. No, he's drong, I said,
McKinley doesn't drink. He says, I'm telling you he's strong.
(26:53):
What had happened that day? We got our first mail
in weeks? If you recall, in those days, Life magazine
was the prime magazine. They gave him his mail, his magazines.
He read the cover of Life magazine and started drinking.
(27:14):
He never drinks. He started drinking. Why did he start drinking?
Very easy? He looked at Life magazine. He took a
look at the cover. His fiance was getting married to
a cadet from the army. With the stores over their heads.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
The Allies were rolling and they could sniff the end
of the war. But in mid April nineteen forty five,
the American troops suffered a huge loss, not from enemy action,
but from news that came from back home.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
We're all dead, tired, and we're moving someplace. I guess
it was Germany. And the guy pulls up. It's midnight
and we're exhausted, We're all sleeping, and the guy pulls
up next to us in a motorcycle and he yells
at us, says, hey, did you hear the news? No,
(28:08):
howd we hear the news? You know Roosevelt died? Well,
you took the air right out of us, right out
of us. We said, Oh, who's the president? He says,
a guy by named Truman. Nobody ever heard of Truman?
And when now we were talking among ourselves and were
(28:29):
what are we going to do? Who's Truman?
Speaker 1 (28:31):
But there were pleasant surprises too. Left recalls every detail
from the time one of the most famous women in
America just popped into his tent.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
I'll tell you a cute story. They gave us three
days or from the front wherever we were. They took
us to a camp. It was in They put us
in a tent with cots now where they air were
chatting with each other and the flap opens up, and
who was walking again? You may not know who I'm
(29:03):
talking about. Marlena Dietrich, she was a beautiful actress. And
Mickey Rooney, who was a very very short actor. I
had a friend by maybe Eugene Easterday from Missouri, and
I'm watching them. He's sitting over here and I'm sitting here.
(29:24):
He never takes his eyes off of Marlena Dietrich. Never
I said what's he doing? Then I realized she's smoking.
And in those days, when a woman smoked, the butt
had their lipstick on it. Right she finished up smoking,
(29:45):
she flips it on the ground Eugene had. Meanwhile, I
noticed he emptied his matches from the box, and I said,
what is he doing? He dives if I if I
had that, but today I could prove it. I don't
know what I could sell it for anyway, I don't know.
(30:07):
He probably carried that matchbox with her butt, and she says, this,
are you coming to my show? Said, oh yes.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Just a couple of weeks after Roosevelt died, Adolf Hitler
killed himself in a Berlin bunker. A week after that,
the war in Europe was over.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
It was a cheering and happiness noise. The guys were
shooting their guns off into the air. You know, we knew,
we felt it was getting close to being over. So
as a result, once the war was announced as being over,
we were delighted. And that's when they started putting us
(30:55):
on board ships to go back to the States to
train for Japan.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Looking back, Levitt says there are many reasons why the
Allies won the war, but he says we had one
massive advantage that the Germans simply couldn't match.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
Well, I will tell you this is only my opinion
as to why we were successful against the Germans. The
reason I quote this is because they moved to some
place into the countryside and there was only two roads,
one north and south, one east and west. We were
(31:34):
supposed to be at that road for one day. We
were there for four days. The tanks, the trucks, the
troops never stopped going east to west, north to south.
If I were a German soldier and sitting on top
of it, I give up. It was massive. I'm not
(31:55):
saying that we were better troops. I wouldn't say that,
but the German couldn't replace what we took or what
we destroyed. So my mind that we won the war
for one word production.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
While they was still crossing the Atlantic Ocean. On his
way back to the US, Levitt heard even better news.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
When the war in New York was over. I was
assigned to a ship that was coming back to the
United States, and then we were being trained to attack
Japan in the middle of the ocean. Where I heard
this a huge amount of happiness. The announcement came over
(32:35):
the ship announcing that Japan had resigned from the war. Happiness,
six thousand men on the ship. You can imagine the noise.
As we approached the New York Harbor. The ship leaned
to the side. Everybody wanted to see the Statue of Liberty.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
As he reflects upon his service in a war that
ended more than eighty years ago, Levitt knows exactly what
he's most proud of from his time in uniform.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
I'm most proud of the men. Know what I was
tied up with. They were from Missouri, they were from Arkansas,
they were from California, of state Pennsylvania, upstate New York,
and they were great and we became very friendly. I
usually get maybe twelve chriss Or scars every year. Now none,
(33:29):
they're all gone.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Sydney Levitt is a US Army veteran of World War Two.
He served in the seventeenth Airborne Division and saw action
at the Battle of the Bulge and an Operation Varsity.
I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles Hi, this
(33:56):
is Greg Corumbus and thanks for listening to Veterans Chronicles,
a presentation of the American Veterans Center. For more information,
please visit American Veteranscenter dot org. You can also follow
the American Veterans Center on Facebook and on Twitter. We're
at AVC update. Subscribe to the American Veterans Center YouTube
(34:17):
channel for full oral histories and special features, and of
course please subscribe to the Veterans Chronicles podcast wherever you
get your podcasts. Thanks again for listening, and please join
us next time for Veterans Chronicles
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.