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WWII 32nd Station Hospital | WWII Africa to Caserta Italy
| Willard O. Havemeier WWII
THE PALACE IN CASSERTA
INTERIOR
ROOM IN PALACE
The Royal Palace of
Caserta, Italy, which was a beehive of activity
while it served as headquarters for the U.S. Fifth Army
under the Command of Lt. General Mark Clark. Clark did
not actually have his office inside this Palace building
electing to house himself in a lavishly appointed mobile
home which was parked outside the Palace; so was it written
by some historians after the war.
Willis Truhlica now lives
in Harlingen, Texas. He worked in personnel section
at headquarters. He was a wise money saver; when he became
a civilian after the war he acquired several farms and
to this day is busy managing them.. He and his wife,
Shirley, had several children and have been blessed with
many grand children. Willis was a solid partner on our
staff and had many friends in the unit. We still are in
contact with each other to this day.
The above two shots of the Royal
Palace at Caserta, Italy, were taken in 1945. The lower
picture shows Sgt. Willis Truhlicha who worked in
our personnel office. When we arrived here to set up our
32nd Station Hospital in December, 1943, there was very
little local civilian law inforcement; most able bodied
men were in the Italian army. U.S. Army military
police kept things in order and almost all U.S. military
members " had the run of this place". I recall going
through this large palace building, room to room, from
top to bottom. When I visited this complex in 1998,
the Palace was a tourist attraction, and only the first
floor was available for sight seeing. .
- Some typical Italian wartime
kids. They seemed happy in spite of their dress.
This was near Naples. I was there and could see
that the Italian children took a "terrible beating":
lack of food and clothing, a warm place to live, many
in broken homes. We were not allowed to give any
food to these people, but we tried our best to help
them Even if civilians at this time had
some money, there was nothing in the stores for them
to buy. Some small towns were completely destroyed
by military activities. I know of one town, San Pedro,
near Cassino, that was completely wiped off the map.
Almost all Italian males had been taken into the Italian
military, and when Italy capitulated in September, 1943,
the German military authorities took most of the Italian
soldiers as prisoners. Many were murdered or shipped
to other countries; many were sent to concentration
camps in Germany; a great many were sent to the Russian
Front. Very few returned to their families. I
noticed when we were there in 1998 that there was a
dearth of men of my age in the towns.
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