Cpl. Robert C. Ketters
United States Army (1942-1945)
Robert C. Ketters was born on July 6,
1922, the son of Agnes Ketters of 1329 Berkshire Avenue. The Ketters' were
members of Resurrection Parish, where Robert went to Elementary School. He
graduated from South Hills High School in 1940 and took a job working for
the Pittsburgh Screw and Bolt Company. Robert enlisted in the U.S. Army on
December 3, 1942.
After completing boot camp Robert was
assigned to the 14th Armored Division as an Ordinance Specialist. The Division
was then located at Camp Chafee, Arkansas. From November 17, 1943 through January
10, 1944, the Division participated in the Second Army Tennessee Maneuvers. At
the conclusion of the exercise the Division was assigned to its new post at Camp
Campbell, Kentucky on January 25, 1944 and continued its operational
training.
The 14th Armored Division was sent to
Camp Shanks, New Jersey to prepare for overseas deployment. On October 13 the
Division boarded transport ships to make the journey to France. Private Ketters
and the rest of the 14th Armored arrived in Marseille in southern France on
October 29, 1944, as part of the U.S. 7th Army.
SOUTHERN FRANCE AND OPERATION NORDWIND
The Division moved north quickly and helped
the Seventh Army in its drive through the Vosges Mountains, reaching the Alsatian
Plain in early December. By December 11 advance elements of the Division began
moving across the Moder River into the Haguenau woods in preparation for an
offensive to clear Alsace of German forces.
The Division attacked on December 13 and
reached the German border along the Lauter River two days later. The 14th Division
then crossed the river into Germany in the area of Wissembourg. On December 17 they
began to attack the Siegfried Line in force. Despite making good progress in
breaching the German defensive line, the Division was ordered to withdraw into
Alsace on December 19 due to the major German offensive in the
Ardennes.
On New Years Day, 1945, the Germans launched
their final offensive in the west, Operation Nordwind, in Alsace. Major fighting
occured in the Vosges Mountains for eight days without an enemy breakthrough. The
fighting shifted south to Hagenau, where the Germans forced a penetration of the
Seventh Army lines on January 9 and threatened to break out.
The 14th Armored Division was instrumental
in halting the German drive during Operation Nordwind.
The 14th Armored Division was involved
in bitter fighting, making an eleven-day stand near the towns of Hatten and
Rittershoffen which broke the back of the German Drive. General Jacob L. Devers,
Commander, 6th Army Group later commented that the Battle of Hatten-Rittershoffen
"was one of the greatest defensive battles of the war."
After the defensive struggle, the 14th
Armored was taken off the line for rest and rehabilitation. Two Presidential
Unit Citations were awarded for the Division's actions during the fighting in
Alsace.
The division returned to the offensive on
March 15 1945. Now a Technician Five, Corporal Robert Ketters moved across the
Moder River, through the Siegfried Line and by the end of the month, had
participated in the capture of Germersheim on the Rhine River.
Units of the 14th Armored Division crossing
the Moder River (left) and advancing in Hesselbach.
SOUVENIR HUNTING AND A CAPTURED GENERAL
On March 30, Corporal Ketters and Private
First Class Vernon Wikston decided to take a leisurely sightseeing stroll along
the Rhine River. They met a liberated Russian laborer, who told them that there
were German officers hiding out in a nearby pillbox.
Ketters and Wikston slowly approached the
pillbox with weapons at the ready and called on the occupants to come out. A
German sergeant emerged with a white flag to surrender. The soldier was told to
go back in and get the officers. He returned a second time with Lieutenant Colonel
Hermann Miltzow.
Something did not seem right and the GIs
warned them, demanding to know who else was inside the pillbox. This time the
colonel went back in and returned with Brigadier General Heinz Gaede, commander
of the 719th Volksgrenadier Division. Ketters and Wikston returned to their unit
with the prize prisoners in tow.
News of Ketters' exploit reached the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette just four days later, when it reported the story on
April 3, 1945. The newspaper interviews his mother, Agnes, who said she was
"so dumbfounded I'm shaking, because Bob was always such a quiet boy."
Mrs. Ketters said that her son was so shy that she though someone was playing
an April Fool joke when she heard what he had done.
Mrs. Ketters also showed the reporter a
package that Robert had recently sent home which contained a German officer's cap,
German coins and forks from mess kits that the retreating soldiers had left lying
along the roads. Another box full of souvenirs was on the way.
THE LIBERATORS
On Easter Sunday, April 1, the 14th Armored
moved across the Rhine near Worms, protecting the long left flank of the Seventh
Army, and advanced against moderate to heavy opposition through Lohr, Gemunden,
Neustadt, and Hammelburg. On April 6, it liberated Stalag XIII-C and Oflag XIII-B,
freeing large contingents of Serbian, Australian, British and American officers
and enlisted men. The division would later go on to liberate several more POW camps
before the war ended, thus earning its nickname "The Liberators."
The 14th Division then participated in the
Battle of Nuremburg, beginning on April 16. Capture of the old city, the heart of
the Nazi regime, was not easy. American troops encountered fierce resistance from
die-hard German fanatics. The five day struggle ended on April 20, which ironically
was Adolf Hitler's 56th birthday.
DNB - DIED NON-BATTLE
On that same day, April 20, 1945, Corporal
Robert C. Ketters suffered an accidental non-battle death in Altdorf, Germany,
twenty-five kilometers east of Nuremberg. News of his passing reached his mother
in early-April, shortly after Robert's second package of war booty arrived. The
Pittsburgh Press reported his fate on May 11, four days after the German surrender
ended the War in Europe. On August 15, Mrs. Agnes Ketters was presented with a Bronze
Star posthumously awarded to her son for his actions on March 30.
T5 Corporal Robert C. Ketters ' body was
returned to the United States on August 23, 1948. He arrived home in Brookline on
September 9, 1948. Friends and relatives were received at the Ketters home at 1329
Berkshire Avenue for two days, then on September 11 Blessing Services were held at
Resurrection Church. The Brookline American Legion Post #540 and
the Catholic Veterans of Resurrection Church Post #1482 conducted Military Rites
at Robert Ketters' burial site at St. George's Cemetery in Carrick.
* Written by Clint Burton:
May 14, 2018 *
The Brookline
War Memorial
Listed below are
many of the sons of Brookline who gave their
lives to preserve freedom and contain aggression during
World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died.
Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.”
General George S. Patton
World War I
(1917-1919)
The World War I Memorial -
Washington D.C.
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World War II
(1941-1945)
Alm, William H.
Pioneer Avenue
Army
Details |
Arensberg, Roy T.
Fernhill Avenue
Army
Details |
Bracey, Bruce H.
Plainview Avenue
Army
Details |
Brickley, Edward G.
Woodward Avenue
Army
Details |
Capogreca, James J.
Merrick Avenue
Navy
Details |
Copeland, Clarence R.
Creedmoor Avenue
Navy
Details |
Cullison, Thomas J.
Birtley Avenue
Army
Details |
Dempsey, Howard F.
Berkshire Avenue
Army
Details |
Dempsey, Walter F.
Milan Avenue
Navy
Details |
Diegelman, Edward R. Jr
Norwich Avenue
Army
Details |
Dornetto, Frank P.
Jacob Street
Navy
Details |
Doyle, John F Jr.
Eben Street
Navy
Details |
Fagan, Gerald B.
Woodbourne Avenue
Army
Details |
Falk, Harold E.
Pioneer Avenue
Army
Details |
Fehring, Robert M.
Fernhill Avenue
Army
Details |
Gmuca, Joseph J.
Brookline Boulevard
Army
Details |
Heil, Robert F.
Bayridge Avenue
Army
Details |
Hynes, Richard E.
Waddington Avenue
Army
Details |
Kestler, Paul C.
Creedmoor Avenue
Navy
Details |
Ketters, Robert C.
Berkshire Avenue
Army
Details |
Mahoney, Michael J.
Oakridge Street
Army
Details |
Majestic, Arthur B.
Starkamp Avenue
Army
Details |
Mayberry, Alexander G.
Breining Street
Army
Details |
Mazza, John
Alwyn Street
Army
Details |
McCann, Robert F.
Edgebrook Avenue
Navy
Details |
McFarland, Hugh R.
McNeilly Road
Army
Details |
Meisner, Walter F.
Berwin Avenue
Merchant Marine
Details |
Miller, William J.
Norwich Avenue
Army
Details |
Napier, Edward J.
Brookline Boulevard
Army
Details |
Nicholson, John D.
Woodbourne Avenue
Army
Details |
O'Day, John R.
Creedmoor Avenue
Navy
Details |
Orient, Andrew D.
Fordham Avenue
Army
Details |
Pisiecki, Raymond A.
Wolford Avenue
Army
Details |
Reeves, Alfred M.
Brookline Boulevard
Army
Details |
Reitmeyer, John P.
Bellaire Avenue
Navy
Details |
Rhing, Vern M.
Norwich Avenue
Army
Details |
Ruane, Roy J.
Berkshire Avenue
USMC
Details |
Shannon, Harry C.
Midland Street
Army
Details |
Shannon, Jack E.
Midland Street
USMC
Details |
Simpson, James D.
Woodbourne Avenue
Army
Details |
Spack, Harry
Linial Avenue
Army
Details |
Tobin, Paul M.
Woodbourne Avenue
Army
Details |
Vierling, Howard F.
Fordham Avenue
Army
Details |
Wagner, Ralph G.
Shawhan Avenue
Army
Details |
Wentz, Walter L. Jr
Woodbourne Avenue
Army
Details |
Zeiler, Harold V.
West Liberty Avenue
Army
Details |
The World War II Memorial -
Washington D.C.
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Korean War
(1950-1953)
Korean War Memorial -
Washington D.C.
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Vietnam War
(1965-1973)
Vietnam War Memorial -
Washington D.C.
The Brookline
Monument - The Cannon
<Brookline
War Memorial> <> <Brookline
History> |