Walter K. Tuzeneu

Walter Tuzeneu was born in Asbury Park, New Jersey, but later moved to a farm just outside of Farmingdale, New Jersey with his parents and siblings. His father was an electrical contractor, and his mother a teacher. He was cutting firewood when he learned about the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and recalled how shocked he was to hear the news.

After high school, Tuzeneu served in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) for nine months. The CCC was created as an agency of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Great Depression fighting New Deal. Starting in southern New Jersey, Tuzeneu eventually ended up in Utah, where part of his job was controlling the population of prairie dogs that were ruining the grasslands.

Upon returning home, Tuzeneu was drafted at the age of 18 in 1942, then sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina to begin basic training. He said that transitioning from civilian to soldier life was not hard for him, because of the time he spent in the CCC. Tuzeneu already knew what it was like to have a regimented routine and reside in barracks. He was able to settle into army life quite easily.

Tuzeneu was recommended for Officer Candidate School, but because there were already three classes and 400 ROTC graduates ahead of him, he was sent back to his training unit, where a recruiter from the 82nd Airborne Division was looking for artillerymen. Tuzeneu decided to sign up and was assigned to the 320^th Glider Artillery Battalion. The battalion was organized into two firing batteries of six 75-mm Pack Howitzer M1A1s each. However, prior to entering combat, the 320th was issued the 105mm Howitzer M3. The latter gun was more powerful.

In July 1943, after completing his stateside training, Tuzeneu and his unit were sent to North Africa. They traveled in a forty-five-ship convoy that took eleven days to sail from New York to Casablanca. From Casablanca, they traveled overland to Tunisia, where Tuzeneu completed his glider flight training. He recalled that the glider, a plane without a motor which was towed by a bigger plane and then released, could land a lot of supplies, ammunition, and troops to reinforce the actual paratroopers, and did not need a formal landing strip. Tuzeneu, by this time a “Gun Chief,” recalled that he and his fellow artillerymen did not consider themselves to be airborne soldiers at this time, but an assigned artillery unit.

After completing flight training, the 82nd went to Sicily, where the glider field artillery battalion stayed in reserve. Upon landing, Tuzeneu recalled that three navy ships were strafed by two German fighter planes. Then, the ship crews mistook incoming C-47 American aircraft for Germans and shot them down. Unfortunately, quite a few men drowned because they were loaded down with equipment and could not swim. The navy shot down so many C-47’s that there were not enough to go back to Africa to tow the gliders. Tuzeneu stated that this catastrophe was all due to inexperience of the navy personnel.

Tuzeneu fired his first artillery shots of World War II in October 1944, near the Volturno River, where his unit was supporting the 3rd Infantry Division. He recalled that there was a ridge held by the Germans, from which they could observe the activity of the Allied forces. Tuzeneu’s forward observer team was assigned to direct accurate fire on the German held position. This instance proved just how accurate their guns were. The Germans abandoned the position, and the Americans were able to take the ridge. Tuzeneu then returned to Naples for a period of rest, and he went on to England to prepare for the D-Day Invasion.

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Tuzeneu’s battalion arrived in Normandy by glider and parachute. He described the landing in Normandy to be like a checkerboard. Paratroopers landed first, and the Germans began gathering to attack them. The gliders flying overhead proved to be a distraction for the Germans, and thus aided the paratroopers already on the ground. Unfortunately, the gliders became badly scattered for miles along the drop zone. Out of the twenty gliders that were assigned to the 320^th, only two landed safely, and Tuzeneu’s was one of them. After Normandy, the glider men of the 82nd were considered fully-fledged airborne troops. Tuzeneu’s unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for Operation Overlord. 

In September 1944, Tuzeneu’s battalion took part in Operation Market Garden in Holland. The battalion helped to clear the area of German forces and assist the British advance. Tuzeneu recalled how they had run out of rations, because the supplies were not able to get through. A few nuns from a local convent, however, were kind enough to give them something to eat. They would then go on to successfully establish the first bridgehead across the Waal River at Nijmegen, and the unit was awarded the Military Order of William, the highest military honor of the Netherlands. The 82nd was then ordered back to France near Reims. There the troops were able to rest and regain strength. They would stay there until the Battle of the Bulge, and the Ardennes Offensive. 

Tuzeneu recalled that the entire 82nd Airborne Division convoyed to the northern section of the Battle of the Bulge, while the 101st Airborne Division deployed on the southern end, because they did not receive their supplies as quickly. Tuzeneu recounted how bitter cold it was, and that the snow was piled high on the men’s helmets and shoulders. It was coldest winter of the century.

The 82nd moved to Werbomont, Belgium to hold key terrain points, and to counterattack to stem the breakthrough by German armored and infantry forces. Tuzeneu recalled how good the German tanks were. They were incredibly accurate, fast, and an “effective element of the German army.” In the end, the battalion was part of a successful effort to halt the German thrust. 

On April 1, 1945, the 82nd did a final sweep through Germany across the Rhine River near Cologne.  Tuzeneu recalled that he encountered a concentration camp in northern Germany. Upon opening the gate to the compound, he was overwhelmed. Tuzeneu had heard about places like this and read about them in the Army Times. He said that he and his comrades were glad they had not known how bad the camps were, as had they known they “would have never captured any German soldiers.”  Shortly afterward, a group of German and Yugoslavian refugees surrendered to the Americans. 

After completing his last mission, Tuzeneu became one of the earliest men to be discharged, and as such he did not participate in the division’s occupation duties. He was discharged August 15, 1945.

After returning home, Tuzeneu used the G.I. Bill to attended Rutgers University. He went on to work at Fort Monmouth in a few departments before working in electronic warfare. Tuzeneu wrote two books, Living Before TV, and The Knot Will Hold, the latter about his time in the 82nd Airborne. He also gave talks about his time in the service, spreading the message to “never let yourself hate.”

Walter K. Tuzeneu died on September 20, 2015 at home in West Long Branch, New Jersey.