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RAYMOND HENRY WOYICK
Battery A. 125th Field Artillery Battalion, 34th Division of
the United States Army
53 years later,
as told by Corporal Kenneth Hasler,
to Judith Manley, on 8 January 1997
In 1943, the 125th F.A. Battalion spent some time in Ireland.
When the war broke out in Africa, they were sent there
and
then on to Italy after that. The 125th F.A. was a Battalion of
artillery. On November 27, 1944, the Battalion
was in the
front lines fighting. The next day, on November 28, 1944 in
the area of Scapoli, Italy, the Captain along
with Pfc.
Raymond Woyick, who was the Captains driver, Cpl.
Kenneth Hasler and others went up the hill to scout
for a new
position. The Captain sent Pfc. Woyick and Cpl. Hasler
back down the hill to lead the Battalion up with
all the
artillery. On the was back up, with Pfc. Woyick driving the
jeep, with Cpl. Hasler riding as the passenger,
and the rest of
the Battalion following, the Battalion came under German 88
gun fire. (The German 88 was a gun that
was well know to
the troops as a dreadful machine). The Battalion stopped and
took cover until the shelling seemed
to stop. Pfc. Woyick
and Cpl. Hasler then continued the job of moving the
Battalion and artillery, when a shell
exploded very close to
their jeep. Pfc. Raymond Woyick was killed instantly and
Cpl. Kenneth Hasler sustained about
25 shrapnel hits.
Although Cpl. Hasler went on to a hospital to recuperate for
three months, he was told that the
next day on the 29th of
November, 1944, fifteen more men from his Battalion were
lost.
Pfc. Woyick was
identified by Cpl. Hasler, according to the
records, due to the identification tags not found with his
body. Although
his body was identifiable, his head and body
were hit by shrapnel. Pfc. Woyick was first buried across the
road
from the burned jeep at approximately 05.7 - 34.2
Map Isernia, Italy, then moved to the American Cemetery at
Capriati,
Italy at Plot B, Row 7, Grave 225. On 8
December, 1944 he was moved from Capriati and taken to
the U.S. Cemetery
in Carano, Italy, where he was buried in
another temporary grave at Plot L, Row 31, Grave 1521,
on, 8 December 1944
at 1600 hours, and marked with a
Wood Cross. A sealed GRS bottle with identifying form
QMC #1 GRS was buried one
foot below the grave marker.
Here he remained for three and one half years.
On 15 July 1948, Raymond Woyick
was taken from his
burial in Carano to the Naples Port Morgue, where he
arrived on the 19 July 1948. His remains
were prepared,
placed in a casket and sealed on 21 July 1948. On 15
January 1949, he began his journey home. two
days before
what would have been his thirtyith birthday. He first left the
Naples Port Morgue in a truck to various
places before
arriving in New York. On Wednesday, 23 February, 1949,
accompanied by a Sargent in the the Army, he
was placed
on Train Number 107 of the Pennsylvania Railroad at 1:15
am EST to Douglas, West Virginia the same day.
His
remains were picked up by the Mott-Spiggle Funeral Home
and brought to Davis, West Virginia. His final resting
place is the Davis Cemetery.
Copyright 1997. All Rights Reserved
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