Herbert S. Fruhmann

Herbert S. Fruhmann was born in Passaic, New Jersey in September of 1923 and lived there through his entire childhood and the Great Depression. When he was sixteen years old, he dropped out of high school and started work in the shipping department of a Bergen County wool factory. Fruhmann was drafted during World War II and served in the 34^th and 88^th Infantry Divisions in the United States Army.

Fruhmann was drafted In October 1943. He was initially sent to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, a staging area for troops in transit, and then to Camp Blanding in Florida for basic training, then to Fort Patrick Henry in Newport, Virginia before his departure for North Africa in April of 1944.

 Fruhmann traveled overseas in a convoy of around 100 ships to Casablanca, Morrocco, and then to Naples, Italy where he landed on May 18, 1944. He recalled the darkness of the Mediterranean Sea, and that many soldiers got seasick. Fruhmann was sleeping in a hammock-like bunk bed five people high on the ship. Thankfully, German torpedoes heading for his vessel failed to sink it due to big nets on the sides of the ship, which captured the torpedoes before they hit. Lookouts for enemy action wore red lights in case the ship sank, and they needed to be rescued. On arrival at Naples, the dock was in a shambles, after having been destroyed by the Germans.

Fruhmann’ s ship moved on to Anzio, scene of a recent big battle, where he was greeted with some horrific sights. After walking about 200 feet through water two feet deep to the shore, he witnessed thousands of bodies being buried by German prisoners of war. Fruhmann left Anzio in a convoy of trucks toward Rome, with about twenty people per vehicle. The Germans had mined the roads to blow up trucks, and the Americans responded by putting chains in the front of trucks to detonate a mine before it blew up the truck and its passengers.

Fruhmann ended up in Caserta, Italy, where he was assigned to the 34^th Infantry Division with people who had been serving together for several years. As a replacement for someone who was either killed, wounded, or captured, he was afraid for his future. Fruhmann was issued weapons, and then engaged in fighting around Rome. He recalled that he was running through an opening in a brick wall the first time he was shot at during the Rome Campaign. Fruhmann later came face to face with a German soldier, but the German was dead. The battle for Rome resulted in an American victory for the 5^th Army, commanded by General Mark Clark. 

After Rome fell, Fruhmann’s unit travelled to the mountains above Florence and into the Po Valley. In August of 1944, he began to fight in the mountains, alongside anti-German Italian Partisans. The struggle was never easy, and Fruhmann described the terrain as a “quagmire of mud” during the rainy season. He said that the Americans used mules to carry supplies up and down the mountains.

The winter of 1944-1945 was one of the coldest in European climate history. Fruhmann remembered going on patrols through snow in search of Germans, who were camouflaged in white uniforms. The Americans captured Germans, and some Americans were captured by Germans patrolling the mountains, as well. No smoking was allowed, and Fruhmann said things were kept very quiet, to remain undetected by the Germans. The Americans used searchlights on cloudy days, pointing them at the sky so the light reflected off the clouds to detect any Germans sneaking into their positions. The men in Fruhmann’s unit slept in foxholes they dug in the ground, and sometimes in buildings, in hay (even though it had bugs), or on the ground.

Fruhmann’s most graphically remembered patrol was just one of many close calls during the war. A half hour after he and his platoon left a barn, the Germans shot an artillery shell right through the building. During his time in the mountains, Fruhmann did not come into contact with any civilians, as most were hiding in caves. Even though Americans and Germans blew up buildings and towns, no Italian civilians were killed that he recalled.

Speaking of his emotions during the war, Fruhmann said he was extremely frightened at first, although eventually “you just get over it,” as he became used to the danger. It was helpful that the morale in his unit was relatively positive, and soldiers got along well, despite the occasional problems between replacements and veterans who had been fighting since the initial campaign in North Africa. The excellent artillery and Army Air Forces support also gave Fruhmann a feeling of safety while at war.

The Battle of Monte Piano provided Fruhmann with his worst memory of the war, and it was the only time he was almost captured. His company lined up in the mountains and ran down firing their weapons, in hopes of taking the village and routing the Germans. The Americans drove the enemy out of the town and up the Po Valley, but the enemy counterattacked and cut them off, with Germans on three sides and a mountainside on the fourth. As it was their only choice, the company commander had his men jump off the mountain into a gully and enter an abandoned village. Fruhmann took the opportunity to take some German literature with him as a souvenir.

Fruhmann was armed with a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and he also carried a “bazooka,” a slang term for a 2.5-inch Rocket launcher used for defense against tanks. The bazooka caused one of his near-death experiences. While digging a foxhole to sleep in, he put the loaded weapon on the ground where it was hit by a random shot, causing it to explode. Had Fruhmann been closer to it, he might have suffered horrible wounds or even death.

Fruhmann’s unit left the mountains and went into the city of Bologna, then traveled on Highway 9 to Milan, and then back to Rome. While he was staying in a farmhouse on May 2, 1945, World War II in Europe ended. Thousands of Germans approached American lines waving white handkerchiefs in surrender. They were taken to prison camps during the months of May and June.

At this point, Fruhmann’s job was to take the prisoners to camps. While in a truck with a German driver and prisoners in the back seat, a large knife fell on the floor and landed at his feet—his first thought was that it could have easily been used against him. Fruhmann picked up the knife, and, years later, gave it to his nephew.

Despite the end of the war, Fruhmann was not sent home. He needed 60 points (earned by time overseas, wounds, etc.), and his time in service did not satisfy the minimum requirements. When the rest of the 34^th Division went home, Fruhmann was sent to Tarvisio on the Yugoslavian border and reassigned to 351^st Regiment of the 88^th Division.

After spending some time in Tarvisio, Fruhmann went to Venice, where he was assigned to a company headquarters as a clerk and was promoted to technician 5^th grade (T-5). He was given an opportunity to reenlist and become a sergeant, but declined, as he was anxious to get home to his mother and girlfriend. Fruhmann journeyed from Udine, north of Tarvisio, and took a train to a troopship home. He was thrilled to be greeted with the sight of the Statue of Liberty as he landed in New Jersey.

After Fruhmann returned home, he reflected on his time in the war, where he gained respect for his fellow soldiers and learned to appreciate life much more than previously.  Among his service awards were the Combat Infantryman Badge, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Gothic Campaign Award, and the Gustav Campaign Medal.

Even though he did not take advantage of his GI benefits, Fruhmann became successfully reemployed by the woolen company he worked at before the war, and he was paid a $100 bond for every year he was in the service.

Herbert S. Fruhmann died on May 29, 2022 at the age of 98.