From WWII photo collection of 1st. Lt. John A. Foley, Jr., MP Platoon, HQ Co., 28th Infantry Division, ETO
CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED from Jack Foley, 20 March 2019:
My father, Lt. John A. Foley, Jr., was part of the 28th ID MP Platoon HQ Co during WWII, in particular during Hurtgen, the Bulge, Colmar, etc. He landed at Normandy several weeks after D-Day and participated in the breakout, the Falasie campaign and on into Paris in August 1944 with the headquarters company. I noticed his name is listed among the Bronze Star recipients on your webpage -- thanks for including him. On the early morning of 12/19/44, accompanying Gen. Cota, dad and Maj. Fellman and a few others were in the two jeeps that left Wiltz, Luxembourg, as the Germans began shelling the town. Making their way though difficult territory with the enemy all around, they made their way first to Bastogne and from there to Sibret where the new CP was established before street fighting in that tiny town sent the remnants of the 28th HQ Co south to Neufchateau. It was in the latter city that dad and Cota and a handful of HQ personnel were able to gather the scattered remaining elements of the 28th and reconstitute the division so that it could later participate in the Colmar action. While in Neufchateau, the 28th headquarters building was bombed in what was the first use of a jet bomber in war. A few MPs, under Lt. Foley, and with Maj. Fellman there, set up a storefront shop as their office in Neufchateau to process 28th stragglers as they showed up. In 2014, a monument to the 28th was dedicated at the city hall in Neufchateau. The ceremony was attended by U.S. and Belgium diplomatic representatives. I attended the ceremony at the invitation of 28th ID Memory, a very dedicated Belgium group that keeps alive the memory of the 28th's soldiers. Also in attendance was Helen Patton, granddaughter of Gen. George Patton. It was in or near Neufchateau that my father met Patton as the Third Army made its way to Bastogne. We lost dad in 2000. I have other information and photos of some of the WWII 28th MPs, some of them mentioned but not pictured on your webpage. If I can help in any way to make your website more complete vis a vis the WWII MPs of the 28th, I am happy to help. Again, thanks for including the WWII MPs on your page, it was wonderful to see them and in particular my father's name. Best, John M. 'Jack' Foley |
The 28th Military Police in World War 2
LEFT - is one of Lt Foley's photos. It is marked as having been taken in 1944 in Percy, France. Neither the photographer nor any of the five GIs in the image is identified. In addition to the standing MP, who appears to be directing traffic, two GIs are in the tank turret, one manning the machine gun, and a head is popping out of the driver's hatch. A fifth GI is crouching against the building, his back to the camera, just above and behind the motorcycle seat. I can just make out what looks like a band around the bottom of his helmet, which would ID him as a MP. A second tracked vehicle can be seen just to the left of the motorcycle handlebars and moving ahead of the M4 Sherman tank. The bike is most likely a Harley or Indian. Both firms had army contracts with essentially the same specifications. My dad talked about the MP platoon's motorcycle troops - his experience with bikes made him very, very leery of motorcycles later in life and he swore he'd never get on one again. I don't think he ever did. (Still, he relented and when I was 17 he let me buy my first bike.) On a mission during the war, he also almost went down in a two-seater reconnaissance plane. He refused to fly again till he was in his 60s! I have a photo of him and the pilot after their emergency landing in a small clearing in the forest. Years later, he wrote a little tongue-in-cheek article about the incident. He titled it, Debris or not Debris? He had a good sense of humor. If the photo indeed shows the 28th's movement through Percy (at the time, the division had at least one tank battalion, the 744th), it probably was taken about a week after the 7/24 landing at Omaha Beach. From Omaha, they headed 37 miles inland to an assembly area just NE of St.-Lo, a town dad talked about. According to the division's Order of Battle entry (linked here: https://history.army.mil/documents/ETO-OB/28id-eto.htm), that assembly area appears to have been in Agneaux, just outside St.-Lo and about 15 miles north of Percy. It took five days to move the 37 miles from Omaha to Agneaux, reaching the latter on 8/29 and setting up their 2nd CP since leaving the beachhead. They did not stay long in Agneaux. By 7/31 they were a couple of miles south in La Denisiere. And by 8/3 they've were in Margueray, just south of Percy. Percy is not listed as one of the 28th's CPs, but Agneaux and Margueray are, so they were pushing fast through Percy when the photo was taken, headed for Paris. It's about 175 miles from Omaha Beach to Paris. Today, that's about a 3-hour drive. It took the 28th about 35 days to reach Paris. During that time, they set up 18 CPs, staying on average less than two days at each, except for one where they stayed for six days. Info provided by John M. 'Jack' Foley 
Huertgen 1944, 28th MPs - John Foley, Claude Hyde, James Shaugnesey, Eugene Shearer, Thomas Martin
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Some recollections from LT Foley's son, Jack...
My father, 1st Lt. John A. Foley, Jr., served in WWII as part of the HQ CO, from Normandy (landing, July 21, 1944) and the Falaise Pocket, Paris and into Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. He left Wiltz with Gen. Cota and 2 jeeps on the morning of Dec. 19, 44, as the Bulge intensified. They went first to Bastogne then onto Sibret and finally Neufchateau. My father was involved in the fighting in Sibret with Cota and helped regroup the division in Neufchateau before they were assigned to the Colmar Pocket action.
In the 2015 book about the Bulge, Snow and Steel, my father is referred to as having operated as sort of a bodyguard for Cota. My dad passed away in 2001.
In Sept of 2014, I was invited by a Belgian group called the 28ID Memory to participate in a ceremony honoring the 28th in Neufchateau. Also at the event was Helen Patton, the General's granddaughter, and representatives of the US government and military. Helen lives in France and is very active in honoring American vets. Her friend, Hans, owns and runs the 101st Airborne museum in Bastogne. It's called Le Mess and includes a significant display about the 28th ID. The museum in Wiltz, Luxembourg, is dedicated entirely to the 28th.
Patton was in Neufchateau with the 28th during the Bulge, on his way to Bastogne. The 28th MP Platoon assisted Patton.
While over there, and you probably know this, I learned that the 28th's Div HQ, including the MP Platoon's office, was destroyed in Neufchateau by Hitler's secret jet bombers. It was the first time jet bombers had been used in war.
One of the soldiers mentioned on your website from WWII is MP Sgt. George Marsden, who served under my dad, Lt. Ziggy Koziack and Maj. Fellman. I have a photo of the Sgt. and my dad during the war, along with other members of the platoon.
Thanks very much.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Best,
Jack Foley
Gilroy Calif.
Understandably, after the war he stayed in touch with almost no one from the 28th. Then, in his mid 70s, he started attending the annual reunions at Ft. Indiantown Gap PA. When he walked into his first reunion, he was approached by two or three vets of his generation, all of whom seemed astonished to see him. I am paraphrasing his recollection, but he said their comment to him was something along the lines, of: "Gee, Lt., all these years we thought you'd been killed in the Bulge!" They'd all served under him in the war.
Sometime after that, he received a letter from a woman who'd moved to the USA from Luxembourg after the war and settled in, I think, Ohio. She had gotten his contact information from the reunion group in PA. Well, after the Hurtgen, when the 28th HQ was in Wiltz, Luxembourg, dad has been put up in the home of a local family, which included a young teenage girl. And years later, it was that girl, now an adult, who had looked him up and found him and sent him a letter with some of her recollection of the time he'd spent with her family. She reminded him they'd had a rabbit dinner one night, and she recalled him saying it was the first time he'd eaten rabbit. Dad was thrilled to get the letter and happy to learn that while the family had been sent off to camps after the Bulge, all had survived the war. And the woman also had told dad that during the shelling on 12/19/44, on day 3 of the Bulge, the room he'd stayed in had taken a direct hit.
I am putting together some photos and hope to be able to send them to you soon. As I mentioned, several include IDs of other MPs in the HQ Co platoon, including Lt. Zigmont (Ziggy) Koziack, Dad's best friend in the unit. Like Dad, Ziggy was NYPD after the war. In fact, dad was a rookie NYPD officer when in Jan 1941 he became the first NYer to be drafted - his photo was in either the New York Times or the Daily News.
As a side note, I hope you don't mind if I share a story from my trip to the Bulge area in 2014.
In Neufchateau, I met all the Belgians who were in the 28th ID Memory reenactment group. They are the terrific men and women who had built and were erecting the monument to the 28th on the steps of city hall. One gave me his replica USArmy field jacket, with the bright red keystone on the sleeve.
The next day, in Wiltz, I wearing the field jacket when I met a couple of American service vets, both in their 30s, who had stayed on in Europe after their discharges. One was a WWII battlefield private tour guide. The other was an assistant curator at the 28th ID museum in Wiltz.
In that city, like so many others, men and teens who refused conscription into the German army after they were invaded were shot on the spot. Photos of all of those murdered residents hang in the museum. It's very moving.
The two vets and I went to an early dinner at a bar and grill on the main street in Wiltz. We must have spent two hours on the meal and having a couple of beers. When we asked for the bill, the waiter said it had been paid. We were astonished and asked by whom? One side of the establishment had a very long bar and it was empty except for one very elderly man sitting at the far end nursing a drink. The waiter pointed in that direction and identified the old man as the person who'd picked up our tab. We all went over to him and thanked him profusely. And I asked why he'd paid for our meals and drinks, as we were after all complete strangers. His eyes welled up with tears and he lifted an arm very slowly and pointed with a bent finger to the red keystone patch on my sleeve. And in a thick accent, choking back his emotions, he said, "I love the Americans."
I wish my dad and all of the 28th guys had been able to feel the profound admiration in which they are held to this day over there, it literally brought tears to my eyes -- and still does.
Best,
Jack
My father, 1st Lt. John A. Foley, Jr., served in WWII as part of the HQ CO, from Normandy (landing, July 21, 1944) and the Falaise Pocket, Paris and into Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. He left Wiltz with Gen. Cota and 2 jeeps on the morning of Dec. 19, 44, as the Bulge intensified. They went first to Bastogne then onto Sibret and finally Neufchateau. My father was involved in the fighting in Sibret with Cota and helped regroup the division in Neufchateau before they were assigned to the Colmar Pocket action.
In the 2015 book about the Bulge, Snow and Steel, my father is referred to as having operated as sort of a bodyguard for Cota. My dad passed away in 2001.
In Sept of 2014, I was invited by a Belgian group called the 28ID Memory to participate in a ceremony honoring the 28th in Neufchateau. Also at the event was Helen Patton, the General's granddaughter, and representatives of the US government and military. Helen lives in France and is very active in honoring American vets. Her friend, Hans, owns and runs the 101st Airborne museum in Bastogne. It's called Le Mess and includes a significant display about the 28th ID. The museum in Wiltz, Luxembourg, is dedicated entirely to the 28th.
Patton was in Neufchateau with the 28th during the Bulge, on his way to Bastogne. The 28th MP Platoon assisted Patton.
While over there, and you probably know this, I learned that the 28th's Div HQ, including the MP Platoon's office, was destroyed in Neufchateau by Hitler's secret jet bombers. It was the first time jet bombers had been used in war.
One of the soldiers mentioned on your website from WWII is MP Sgt. George Marsden, who served under my dad, Lt. Ziggy Koziack and Maj. Fellman. I have a photo of the Sgt. and my dad during the war, along with other members of the platoon.
Thanks very much.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Best,
Jack Foley
Gilroy Calif.
Understandably, after the war he stayed in touch with almost no one from the 28th. Then, in his mid 70s, he started attending the annual reunions at Ft. Indiantown Gap PA. When he walked into his first reunion, he was approached by two or three vets of his generation, all of whom seemed astonished to see him. I am paraphrasing his recollection, but he said their comment to him was something along the lines, of: "Gee, Lt., all these years we thought you'd been killed in the Bulge!" They'd all served under him in the war.
Sometime after that, he received a letter from a woman who'd moved to the USA from Luxembourg after the war and settled in, I think, Ohio. She had gotten his contact information from the reunion group in PA. Well, after the Hurtgen, when the 28th HQ was in Wiltz, Luxembourg, dad has been put up in the home of a local family, which included a young teenage girl. And years later, it was that girl, now an adult, who had looked him up and found him and sent him a letter with some of her recollection of the time he'd spent with her family. She reminded him they'd had a rabbit dinner one night, and she recalled him saying it was the first time he'd eaten rabbit. Dad was thrilled to get the letter and happy to learn that while the family had been sent off to camps after the Bulge, all had survived the war. And the woman also had told dad that during the shelling on 12/19/44, on day 3 of the Bulge, the room he'd stayed in had taken a direct hit.
I am putting together some photos and hope to be able to send them to you soon. As I mentioned, several include IDs of other MPs in the HQ Co platoon, including Lt. Zigmont (Ziggy) Koziack, Dad's best friend in the unit. Like Dad, Ziggy was NYPD after the war. In fact, dad was a rookie NYPD officer when in Jan 1941 he became the first NYer to be drafted - his photo was in either the New York Times or the Daily News.
As a side note, I hope you don't mind if I share a story from my trip to the Bulge area in 2014.
In Neufchateau, I met all the Belgians who were in the 28th ID Memory reenactment group. They are the terrific men and women who had built and were erecting the monument to the 28th on the steps of city hall. One gave me his replica USArmy field jacket, with the bright red keystone on the sleeve.
The next day, in Wiltz, I wearing the field jacket when I met a couple of American service vets, both in their 30s, who had stayed on in Europe after their discharges. One was a WWII battlefield private tour guide. The other was an assistant curator at the 28th ID museum in Wiltz.
In that city, like so many others, men and teens who refused conscription into the German army after they were invaded were shot on the spot. Photos of all of those murdered residents hang in the museum. It's very moving.
The two vets and I went to an early dinner at a bar and grill on the main street in Wiltz. We must have spent two hours on the meal and having a couple of beers. When we asked for the bill, the waiter said it had been paid. We were astonished and asked by whom? One side of the establishment had a very long bar and it was empty except for one very elderly man sitting at the far end nursing a drink. The waiter pointed in that direction and identified the old man as the person who'd picked up our tab. We all went over to him and thanked him profusely. And I asked why he'd paid for our meals and drinks, as we were after all complete strangers. His eyes welled up with tears and he lifted an arm very slowly and pointed with a bent finger to the red keystone patch on my sleeve. And in a thick accent, choking back his emotions, he said, "I love the Americans."
I wish my dad and all of the 28th guys had been able to feel the profound admiration in which they are held to this day over there, it literally brought tears to my eyes -- and still does.
Best,
Jack
Photo 1 March 1945Photo above: My father, Lt. John A. Foley Jr., is the MP in the background on the right side and facing the camera. I have to assume that the MP on the right is "Lt. Foley" since that's what dad put in the caption, but the photo isn't good enough for me to recognize him. A second MP, on the left with his back to the camera, is not identified. Nor are any of the German soldiers or the man identified as a "war criminal."
Photo 2 March 1945Photo above: Showing the same scene of the 'war criminal' digging a latrine, taken from a different angle.
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Photo 1 backWritten on back of photo:
Thur, Germany, Mar. '45. P.W. Cage. Background: German Soldiers, Lt. Foley. Foreground: War Criminal digging hole. 
Photo 2 backWritten on back of photo:
Thur, Germany, Mar. 1945 P.W. Cage. War Criminal digging deep hole for good purpose. |
