Brookline War Memorial
Robert C. Ketters

Cpl. Robert C. Ketters
United States Army (1942-1945)

Robert C. Ketters

United States Army (1775-present)

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.

14th Division during Operation Nordwind    14th Division during Operation Nordwind
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.

14th Division crosses the Moder River    14th Division in Hesselbach
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

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.

Robert C. Ketters

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

The Brookline Veteran's 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
 

United States Army (1775-present)  United States Army Air Services (1917-1947)  United States Navy (1775-present)  United States Marine Corps (1775-present)
United States Coast Guards (1790-present)  United States Air Force (1947-present)  United States Merchant Marine (1775-present)

World War I (1917-1919)

Percy Digby

Digby, David P.
Mayville Avenue
Army

Details

Raymond P. Cronin

Cronin, Raymond P.
Berkshire Avenue
USMC

Details

Charles Luppe

Luppe, Charles
Ferncliffe Avenue
Army

Details

WW1 Memorial - Washington D.C.
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


WW2 Memorial - Washington D.C.
The World War II Memorial - Washington D.C.

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Korean War (1950-1953)

Patrick Gallagher

Gallagher, Patrick J.
Bodkin Street
Army

Details

James Gormley

Gormley, James W.
Brookline Boulevard
Army

Details

Gerald Hilliard

Hilliard, Gerald G.
Edgebrook Avenue
Army

Details

James McKenna

McKenna, James E.
Bellaire Place
Army

Details

Korean War Memorial - Washington D.C.
Korean War Memorial - Washington D.C.

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Vietnam War (1965-1973)

James Robert Bodish

Bodish, James R.
Plainview Avenue
Army

Virtual Wall
Additional Details

James Gilbert Collins

Collins, James G.
Dunster Street
Army

Virtual Wall
Additional Details

James Charles Wonn

Wonn, James C.
Mayville Avenue
Navy

Virtual Wall
Additional Details

Vietnam War Memorial - Washington D.C.
Vietnam War Memorial - Washington D.C.




The Brookline Monument - The Cannon

Brookline Veteran's Park - April 26, 2014.

<Brookline War Memorial> <> <Brookline History>