Vincent C. Gorman

Rank: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army

Serial: O-1011145

Unit: Company B, 42nd Tank Battalion, 11th Armored Division

Entered service from: New Jersey

Died: March 29, 1945

Awards: Purple Heart

First Lieutenant Vincent C. Gorman was born in Pennsylvania in 1915. His family moved to Haddonfield, New Jersey. His father passed away prior to the census taken on April 7, 1930. At that time he was living with his mother Anna and younger brother Edward at 435 Lakeview Avenue in Haddonfield. Anna Gorman had come to America at the age of 13 from Ireland; then 43, she supported the family doing housework.

Vincent Gorman enlisted in the New Jersey National Guard. He reenlisted at Camden, New Jersey on September 16, 1940. He was selected to attend Officer Candidate School. He was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, trained in tanks, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. By March of 1945 he had been promoted to First Lieutenant. His brother Edward also served, and was wounded in July of 1944. Lieutenant Gorman was killed in action near Lougenselbald, Germany on March 29, 1945.

During the latter part of March 1945 Company B 42nd Tank Battalion was down to 9 tanks and 36 crewmen. There had been a slow, steady drain of lost tanks and men for some time. Captain John Meggesin, the Company Commander, was granted a short leave to Paris with the promise that his Company would not be put into action while he was gone. The Gods of War decided otherwise.

On March 29, 1945 the 42nd Tank Battalion was driving eastward with Company B at the end of the column. The lead element of the Battalion came to a river and found that the bridge had been blown. The only other way to continue the advance was to take a different road which had already been passed. It just so happened that Company B was at that road junction. Rather than turn the entire column around and bring the lead element into the front, Company B was ordered to take the lead with the rest of the 42nd to follow. 2nd Lt. Fermanian was in the lead tank with one other behind and then my tank with the remaining 6 tanks of Company B following. The road we were traveling along curved to the left around some small hills. Lt. Fermanian’s tank disappeared around a small hill. Suddenly, the second tank stopped, backed up rapidly, ran into a ditch and then burst into flames. Somehow all of the crewmen got out. They came back to my tank and told us that Lt. Fermanian’s tank had been hit. Turning around, I saw that the tank behind me was alright but behind it were 3 burning tanks. The Germans had 2 antitank guns. One started at the head of the column and the other in the middle. The surviving tanks had been protected by the hills. Lt. Fermanian and one other man with him were killed. 1st Lt. Gorman, acting Company Commander, and 2 other men were also killed in the tanks behind me. There were 5 other men wounded who had to be evacuated. In a matter of seconds our Company had been reduced from 9 tanks and 36 crewmen to 4 tanks and 26 crewmen. I spent the rest of the day watching the tank in front of me burn. When the shells inside the tank exploded, they made perfect smoke rings that rose high into the sky. Infantry later came up and took out the two German guns.

The History of the 11th Armored Division makes no mention of this action on March 29, 1945. Instead, on page 105, it mentions Task Force Ahee losing 5 tanks to anti-tank fire in an unsuccessful attack on Themar sometime around April 7, 1945. This date does not coincide with the Morning Reports of Company B which has the men being killed on March 29, 1945. These Morning Reports were obtained by John Weeks whose father joined Company B in early April.

The Morning Reports of Company B of April 2, 1945 lists the following men as killed in action:

Gorman, Vincent C. — 1st Lt. — KIA 29 March 1945, Germany
Fermanian, Alfred — 2nd Lt. — KIA 29 March 1945, Germany
Lindsey, Cecil M. — Sgt. — KIA 29 March 1945, Germany
Weymer, Walter P. — Cpl. — KIA 29 March 1945, Germany
De Prisco, Ralph J. — Pfc. — KIA 29 March 1945, Germany

The Company Report of March 30, 1945 lists the following men as being evacuated to unknown Army hospitals:

Pileggi, Frank — Tec. 4 — LWA, Germany
Simmons, Joseph — Tec. 4 — SWA, Germany
Stover, Ernest J. — Cpl. — SWA, Germany
Wagner, Harvey M. — Cpl. — SWA, Germany
Alkvardo, Marion — Pfc. — LWA, Germany

Captain John Meggesin, upon his return from leave, was devastated to learn what happened to his Company. I don’t think he ever really forgave his superiors.

I joined Company B in early or middle January, 1945. I was originally assigned to Lt. Fermanian’s tank but he wanted someone with experience instead of a green replacement so he traded me to a Sgt. The man who took my place was killed along with Lt. Fermanian during the action described above. I cannot recall his name but I think he was a young Italian fellow from New York. The only enlisted man killed that day that seems to fit this description is Pfc. Ralph De Prisco. I was 19 at the time. Today I am 77. Whoever that young man was that died that day instead of me, I owe him 58 years.

—William Glenn Culver

This history is dedicated to the following 42nd men who died in Europe, so we could live freely in America. Their sacrifice was not in vain.

HQ Company: Arden Evans • Glenn Flesvig • Clifford Page

A Company: Justino Diaz • Howard Forrey • Charles Fulkerson • August Gebhardt • William Hackney • Edward Hallman • John Helsten • Walter Hoffman • William Kizis • Herman Lendl • David Peirce • Glen Shellhouse • Joseph Shernigo • Murry Winchester

B Company: Vance Byler • John Coyne • Arden Evans • Alfred Fermanian • Vincent Gorman • Alexander Horowitz • Alfred Jiricek • Homer Koenegstein • Lee Leonard • Cecil Lindsey • Kenneth McWilliams • Harold Oliver • Albert Sanderson • Joseph Sardeson • Virgil Shaw • Joseph Shull • Walter Weymer

The 42nd Tank Battalion was led with honor and distinction in combat by the following officers:

Commander — Lt. Col. Joe Ahee
Executive Officer — Major George B. Pickett, Jr.
S-3 — Major Richard C. Walker
S-2 — Captain Joseph L. Grodeck
Communications & S-3 Air — Captain William D. Killen
S-4 — Captain Marshall R. Thigpen
S-1 — First Lt. Peter S. Carpou
Liaison — First Lt. James E. Bloom

Headquarters Company: Commander — Captain Joseph I. Moock • Maintenance Officer — First Lt. Robert S. Cadigan • Recon Platoon — Second Lt. Stoddard L. Ogg • Mortar Platoon — Second Lt. Francis J. Buchser • Assault Gun Platoon — Second Lt. Raymond F. Martin

Company A: Commander — Capt. Michael J. Glynn • Maintenance Officer — Second Lt. John F. O’Brien • Tank Platoon — Second Lt. Oliver W. Squier • Tank Platoon — First Lt. William P. Hackney • Tank Platoon — First Lt. Wayne L. Stalcup

Company B: Commander — Captain John Meggesin • Maintenance Officer — Second Lt. John P. Knight • Tank Platoon — First Lt. Vance K. Blyler • Tank Platoon — First Lt. Addison W. Lee • Tank Platoon — Second Lt. Alfred L. Talcott

The 42nd Armored Regiment was activated August 15, 1942 at Camp Polk, Louisiana. The original cadre for the regiment was received in bulk from the 8th Armored Division with a few coming from the 3rd and 7th Armored Divisions. The regiment participated in Louisiana maneuvers from June 20, 1943 to August 28, 1943. On termination of maneuvers it returned to Camp Polk, then moved to Camp Barkeley, Texas as a unit of the 11th Armored Division in September 1943, closing in Camp Barkeley on September 4, 1943.

The battalion moved to Camp Ibis, California in October 1943 for desert training. Following desert training, the battalion prepared for overseas movement, departing for England. The 42nd Tank Battalion participated in the liberation of Europe with the 11th Armored Division, serving in the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944–January 1945) and the drive across Germany in 1945. The battalion’s combat operations during December 1944 included action near Remagne, Tillet, Flamierge, and Rechrival, Belgium. Operations in January and February 1945 continued across Belgium and into Germany, crossing the Siegfried Line in March 1945 and driving toward the Rhine River. Task Force Ahee, built around the 42nd Tank Battalion, crossed the Rhine in the vicinity of Oppenheim and advanced toward Fulda, clearing enemy resistance town by town. The battalion was in action near Lougenselbald, Germany on March 29, 1945, the day First Lieutenant Vincent C. Gorman was killed.

Coat of Arms — Shield: Vert, an elephant salient proper (buff) armed argent, languid gules, richly comparisoned of the field, fimbriated of the fourth, and trimmed of the second.

Motto: “Never To The Rear.” The charging elephant, equipped with the trappings of war, is symbolical of the tanks, as it filled the same position in the armies of ancient days. The motto is expressive of the determination of the personnel of the organization, never to retreat.