PFC. RAYMOND H. WOYICK

PFC. RAYMOND H. WOYICK Battery A. 125th Field Artillery Battalion, 34th Division of the United States Army

53 years later,
as told by Corporal Kenneth Hasler,
to Judith Manley, on 8 January 1997

In 1943, the 125th F.A. Battalion spent some time in Ireland. When the war broke out in Africa, they were sent there and then on to Italy after that. The 125th F.A. was a Battalion of artillery. On November 27, 1944, the Battalion was in the front lines fighting. The next day, on November 28, 1944 in the area of Scapoli, Italy, the Captain along with Pfc. Raymond Woyick, who was the Captains driver, Cpl. Kenneth Hasler and others went up the hill to scout for a new position. The Captain sent Pfc. Woyick and Cpl. Hasler back down the hill to lead the Battalion up with all the artillery. On the was back up, with Pfc. Woyick driving the jeep, with Cpl. Hasler riding as the passenger, and the rest of the Battalion following, the Battalion came under German 88 gun fire. (The German 88 was a gun that was well know to the troops as a dreadful machine). The Battalion stopped and took cover until the shelling seemed to stop. Pfc. Woyick and Cpl. Hasler then continued the job of moving the Battalion and artillery, when a shell exploded very close to their jeep. Pfc. Raymond Woyick was killed instantly and Cpl. Kenneth Hasler sustained about 25 shrapnel hits. Although Cpl. Hasler went on to a hospital to recuperate for three months, he was told that the next day on the 29th of November, 1944, fifteen more men from his Battalion were lost.

Pfc. Woyick was identified by Cpl. Hasler, according to the records, due to the identification tags not found with his body. Although his body was identifiable, his head and body were hit by shrapnel. Pfc. Woyick was first buried across the road from the burned jeep at approximately 05.7 - 34.2 Map Isernia, Italy, then moved to the American Cemetery at Capriati, Italy at Plot B, Row 7, Grave 225. On 8 December, 1944 he was moved from Capriati and taken to the U.S. Cemetery in Carano, Italy, where he was buried in another temporary grave at Plot L, Row 31, Grave 1521, on, 8 December 1944 at 1600 hours, and marked with a Wood Cross. A sealed GRS bottle with identifying form QMC #1 GRS was buried one foot below the grave marker. Here he remained for three and one half years.

On 15 July 1948, Raymond Woyick was taken from his burial in Carano to the Naples Port Morgue, where he arrived on the 19 July 1948. His remains were prepared, placed in a casket and sealed on 21 July 1948. On 15 January 1949, he began his journey home. two days before what would have been his thirtyith birthday. He first left the Naples Port Morgue in a truck to various places before arriving in New York. On Wednesday, 23 February, 1949, accompanied by a Sargent in the the Army, he was placed on Train Number 107 of the Pennsylvania Railroad at 1:15 am EST to Douglas, West Virginia the same day. His remains were picked up by the Mott-Spiggle Funeral Home and brought to Davis, West Virginia. His final resting place is the Davis Cemetery.

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