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17th Airborne, 139th Airborne Engineer Battalion HELP!


17thairborne
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I realize it may be a long shot... but if anyone has access to any photographs of members of the 139th AEB I would sure appreciate some help trying to capture some photos of a few troopers who rode in a glider used in Operation VARSITY. Glider 47 of Serial A17 carried members of Sgt John Petrell's squad into combat. So far I have identified by photos from my collection all but 4 of the 12 squad members. Does anyone have either a photo of the following, or a perhaps a roster with names from the 139th AEB tied to one of the unit's group photos from the 17th Airborne Yearbook published at Mackall in 1944? I've enclosed a collage of photos if the identified troopers from a copy of the original glider manifest carried by Sgt Petrell. Here are the names for which I am missing photos:

 

SSgt Robert H. Bentzien

PFC Mark A. McCarty

PVT Salvadore A. Ramirez

T/5 Hanson J. Cuneo

 

Of interest I recently located Cpl Warren Skenadore and was fortunate to interview him for my book. He is doing great and has a sharp mind and a great sense of humor. He was recently awarded the French Croix de Guerre for his actions in the Ardennes (Silver Star Winner).

 

2848698580103484309S600x600Q85.jpg

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I realize it may be a long shot... but if anyone has access to any photographs of members of the 139th AEB I would sure appreciate some help trying to capture some photos of a few troopers who rode in a glider used in Operation VARSITY. Glider 47 of Serial A17...

Ask the NWWIIGPA. They have searchable electronic data base of all USAAF glider pilots and they know who is alive, where he lives etc. The images you are looking for may be in the glider pilots' homes.

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Camopara,

 

Thanks for providing. I used the same report in the thesis to build LZ maps for the locations where all of the gliders landed/crashed. it was more of an estimate since the dots and the oval for the LZ are somewhat general in nature it makes pinpointing the exact location difficult. I suspect they overlaid aerial photos that were taken after the landings on top of a map and placed a dot where the gliders were in the photo. The image shown is for the first 45 gliders in Serial A16. Glider 47 was in Serial A17 as you have shown in the Varsity AAR. Here is my work as far as that goes:

 

2763491950103484309S600x600Q85.jpg

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  • 1 year later...

I finally got around to updating the glider map for the 139th gliders that landed on LZ N on 24 mar 45 as part of Operation VARSITY. There are a couple of gliders missing...I'm still looking for data. I welcome any constructive comments.

gliderfacing.jpg

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  • 8 months later...

A friend of mine is Vicki Bentzien, daughter of SSgt Robert H. Bentzien, who sadly passed away a few years ago as a widely loved and respected gentelman in his home town in WI.

 

Send me an IM and I will get you in touch with Vicki, whom i am sure will be happy to share any information that you may be looking for, or that you can share with her about her Father's service.

 

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Our father SSgt Robert H. Bentzien was in the 17th Airborne, 139th AEB. He told a few stories such as parachuting into Germany-Operation Varsity, under enemy fire, and his weapon jamming after firing one round. He said he was part of Cpt Ray MacMullen's Raiders who captured the city of Essen in April 1945. He also spoke of bullets coming through the floor, only to find that it was a trooper shooting flies off the ceiling from the floor below. He also did some training in Puerto Rico. I am in the process of getting some pictures together to send.

Vicki and Don Bentzien; (Shirley Bentzien, wife of Robert)

 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 years later...

Oz, At long last! Sorry that it is too late for your book! SGT Frank Cassidy

 

Maybe someone will recognize similar photos and find that lost photo of Dad with an MP43?

 

Pat

post-163617-0-56602100-1474383085_thumb.jpg

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What an awesome image and a rare one at that. It would have gotten great billing in the book. I am guessing it was taken in Essen in Apr 45 like many others with similar backgrounds and buildings.

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  • 7 years later...

I had the photo of my dad restored,  he talked about a photo of him in full gear with the wall behind him,  He said that he had an MP43 in the photo.  This photo has been missing since before I was born.  I suspect that the photo above was taken around the same time.  Maybe the photographer at the time printed out duplicates?   Perhaps someone recognizes the location. 

17E804AA-8047-401A-BEB3-FD0091AC2DD7.jpeg

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