Sgt. Albert A. Moretti

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY

Photo credit: Images from the book, "The Sauquoit Valley" by Evelyn R. Edwards - 2000

History of 7th Armored Division WW II - Through January 1945

The division was activated on 1 March 1942, in Camp Polk, Louisiana, out of "surplus" elements of the reorganized 3rd and 5th Armored Divisions, and itself reorganized on 20 September 1943. The 7th Armored Division trained at Camp Coxcomb in California. The 7th Armored Division arrived in England in June 1944. Throughout most of its existence the 7th Armored Division was commanded by Major General Lindsay McDonald Silvester, an infantryman who had distinguished himself in World War I

Action in France

The 7th Armored Division landed on Omaha and Utah Beaches, 13–14 August 1944, and was assigned to U.S. Third Army, commanded by Lieutenant General George S. Patton. The division drove through Nogent-le-Rotrou in an attack on Chartres. The city fell on 18 August. From Chartres, the division advanced to liberate Dreux and then Melun, where they crossed the Seine River, 24 August. The division then pushed on to bypass Reims and liberate Château-Thierry and then Verdun, 31 August.

The 7th Armored halted briefly for refueling and then on 6 September drove on toward the Moselle and made a crossing near Dornot. This crossing had to be withdrawn in the face of the heavy fortifications around Metz. The 7th Armored then made attempts to cross the Moselle northwest of Metz but the deep river valley was not suitable terrain for an armored attack. Elements of the division assisted the 5th Infantry Division in expanding a bridgehead east of Arnaville, south of Metz, and on 15 September, the main part of the division crossed the Moselle there. The 7th Armored Division was repulsed in its attacks across the Seille River at and near Sillegny, part of an attack in conjunction with the 5th Infantry division that was also repulsed further north.

Support of Operation Market Garden

On 25 September 1944, the 7th Armored Division was transferred to the U.S. Ninth Army, under Lieutenant General William Hood Simpson, and began the march to the Netherlands where they were needed to protect the right (east) flank of the corridor opened by Operation Market Garden. They were to operate in the southeast Netherlands, so that British and Canadian forces and the 104th Infantry Division could clear the Germans from the Scheldt Estuary in the southwest Netherlands and open the shipping lanes to the critical port of Antwerp, to allow Allied ships to bring supplies from Britain.

On 30 September, the 7th Armored Division launched an attack from the north on the town of Overloon, against significant German defenses. The attacks progressed slowly and finally settled into a series of counter-attacks reminiscent of trench warfare of World War I. On 8 October, the division was relieved from the attack on Overloon by the British 11th Armoured Division and moved south of Overloon to the Deurne–Weert area.

Here they were attached to the British Second Army, under Lieutenant General Sir Miles C. Dempsey, and ordered to make demonstration attacks to the east, in order to divert enemy forces from the Overloon and Venlo areas, where British troops pressed the attack. This plan succeeded, and the British were finally able to liberate Overloon.

On 27 October 1944, the main part of the 7th Armored Division was in essentially defensive positions along the line Nederweert (and south) to Meijel to Liesel, with the demonstration force still in the attack across the Deurne canal to the east. The Germans launched a two-division offensive centered on Meijel, catching the thinly stretched 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron of the 7th Armored Division by surprise. However, the response by the 7th Armored and by British Lieutenant General Sir Richard O’Connor’s British VIII Corps, to which the division was attached, stopped the German attack on the third day and then from 31 October to 8 November gradually drove the enemy out of the terrain that they had taken. During this operation, at midnight on the night of 31 October–1 November Major General Lindsay Silvester, who had led the division since its activation, was relieved[3] as commander of the division and replaced by Major General Robert W. Hasbrouck.

Refit and Retraining

On 8 November 1944, the 7th Armored was again transferred to the Ninth Army and moved south to rest areas at and east of Maastricht. Following an inflow of many replacements, they began extensive training and reorganization, since so many original men had been lost in France and the Netherlands that a significant part of the division was now men who had never trained together. At the end of November, the division straddled the Dutch-German border with one combat command in Germany (in the area of Ubach, north of Aachen) and two in the Netherlands.

Elements of the division were attached to the 84th Infantry Division for operations in early December in the area of Linnich, Germany, on the banks of the Rur (Roer). The 7th was preparing to drive into Germany when the Ardennes offensive began on 16 December 1944.

Battle of the Bulge

The division was transferred to the U.S. First Army, under Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges, and ordered to St. Vith, Belgium, a critical road and rail center needed by the Germans to supply their offensive. Over the course of almost a week, the 7th Armored (along with elements of the 106th, the 28th Infantry Division and 9th Armored Divisions) absorbed much of the weight of the German drive, throwing the German time table into great disarray, before being forced to withdraw west of the Salm River on 23 December. The division moved to the area of Manhay, Belgium, and by the end of December had cleared the town of the enemy. They were then relieved by the 75th Infantry Division. After a brief rest in January 1945, the division returned to positions near St. Vith, attacked, and re-captured the town on 23 January 1945.

Air Mail

Transcript of letter received by Albert’s wife, Rose Koury Moretti informing her of her husband’s death - Date unknown.

“It is with the greatest personal sorrow that I write to express our sense of loss in the death of your husband and our comrade Sgt. Albert Moretti 32253186.

He was killed in action on 30 November 1944 while we were engaged in a particularly hazardous undertaking in the region of Western Germany. During the course of the engagement enemy resistance was encountered and the lives of our soldiers endangered.  Sgt. Moretti, by his heroic actions on that occasion contributed materially to the success of our mission and in so doing lost his life.

Those of us who knew your husband always respected him and admired him for his courage and devotion to duty. Your sorrow and ours on his loss is something beyond writing or speech.  We can say only this:  we are proud to have known him and we will always remember him with affection. He died for his country.

You will, I am sure, be glad to know that the rites of his religion were extended him by an Army chaplain before he entered battle.  He was buried with a service of his church in our Army cemetery in Holland.”

Very sincerely yours,

Malcolm O. Allen, Jr. 
(Captain Infantry Commanding)
 A Company, 40th Tank Battalion, 7th Armored Division    

TODAY, ON THIS MEMORIAL DAY, AS WE GATHER TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US, I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU THE MOST SIGNIFICANT MEMORIAL DAY IN MY LIFE AND THE LIFE OF MY WIFE, ESTHER. IT CAME LAST AUGUST. 

IT WAS A SPECIAL MEMORIAL DAY IN OUR FAMILY BECAUSE AFTER WAITING FOR 34 YEARS, WE HAD OVERCOME ALL THE OBSTACLES AND FINALLY WERE ABLE TO TRAVEL 4,000 MILES TO DEMONSTRATE PERSONALLY THAT THE MEMORY OF THIS LOVED ONE HAD REMAINED WITH US.

WILL YOU WALK WITH US THOSE LAST FEW HUNDRED YARDS?

WALK UP PAST THE BIG WHITE MONUMENT AND ONTO THE IMMENSE GREEN FIELD WITH THE PERFECT PATTERN OF CROSSES IN SWEEPING ARCS THAT GROW SMALL INTO THE HORIZON.

THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF THEM --- THOSE CROSSES. THEY ARE ALL THE SAME. EVEN IN DEATH, THERE IS STANDARD ISSUE.

WALK AMONG THE CROSSES AND THE OCCASIONAL STAR OF DAVID. THIRTY-FOUR YEARS AGO, THEY WERE WOODEN. THEY ARE MARBLE NOW, PERMANENT MARKERS FOR PERMANENT RESTING PLACES, EACH INSCRIBED WITH A NAME, A RANK AND A STATE.

AS WE WALK, YOU CAN READ THE NAMES? THERE ARE POLISH NAMES AND FRENCH NAMES --- ENGLISH AND WELSH, GERMAN AND ITALIAN, JEWISH AND SPANISH. BUT EVERYONE IS AN AMERICAN NAME.

HERE  ARE THE SAME SURNAMES, SIDE BY SIDE. THEY ARE BROTHERS. THERE ARE 40 PAIRS OF BROTHERS REPOSING HERE. LOOK OVER THERE AT A HEADSTONE FOR TWO UNKNOWNS.

IF WE WALK LONG ENOUGH, WE WILL SEE ALL OF OUR STATES. THERE’S ARIZONA, CONNECTICUT, MONTANA, GEORGIA AND OREGON, MISSOURI AND VIRGINIA. AND THERE’S NEW YORK. THERE ARE SEVERAL FROM NEW YORK, BUT WE HAVE NOT REACHED THE ONE WE ARE SEARCHING FOR.

WE ARE NEARING OUR DESTINATION AND THE APPREHENSION IS GROWING. WE PAUSE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE OUR DIRECTIONS AND ARE NOT LOST AMONG THE ROWS OF THE DEAD.

THERE IS A SUDDEN REALIZATION. WE ARE ALONE.

LOOK AROUND WITH US AT THE SYMMETRY ETCHED INTO THE GREEN EARTH BY THE WHITE CROSSES. THERE ARE 8,300 CROSSES AND 8,300 DEAD AMERICANS BENEATH THEM AND NO  ONE  IS THERE, EXCEPT US.

OFF IN THE DISTANCE, THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HANGS LIMP IN THE SUMMER HEAT. THERE IS A STILLNESS. THE SOUNDS OF WAR THAT ACCOMPANIED EACH OF THESE FALLEN AMERICANS TO THIS RESTING PLACE IN DUTCH SOIL --- THESE SOUNDS ARE 34 YEARS GONE.

THE STILLNESS CONTINUES AND WE LOOK FOR SOMETHING, FOR SOMEONE TO DISRUPT IT, FOR WE HAVE BECOME PERVADED WITH EMBARRASSMENT.

THEY HAVE NO VISITORS --- THESE 8,300 AND ANOTHER 1,700 WHOSE REMAINS WERE NEVER FOUND AND WHO ARE REMEMBERED ONLY THROUGH INSCRIPTIONS IN THE MONUMENT AT THE ENTRANCE.

THEY CAME 3,000 MILES TO DIE UNDER THE FLAG THAT NOW HANGS LIMP ON A SULTRY DUTCH AFTERNOON, AND THEY HAVE NO VISITORS. THEY CAME 4,000 MILES TO DEFEND OUR FREEDOMS, TO GIVE EACH OF US THE CONTINUED RIGHT TO PURSUE OUR INDIVIDUAL HAPPINESSES, AND THEY REST ALONE.

THEY DID NOT GO HOME 34 YEARS AGO AND THEY WILL  NOT  BE  GOING  HOME, WE WANT TO SHOUT, ON BEHALF OF THEIR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS AND COUNTRYMEN, “WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN. WE KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. WE KNOW THAT YOUR LIVES WERE SACRIFICED SO THAT WE COULD REMAIN FREE. AND SO WE WALK ON, LOOKING FOR THE CROSS THAT IS THE OBJECT OF OUR TRIP ACROSS THE ATLANTIC AND CONTEMPLATING WHETHER  THESE  THOUSANDS  OF FALLEN AMERICAN HEROES SOMEWHERE CAN HEAR OUR SORROWFUL APOLOGY FOR THOSE DEAR ONES WHO MAY NEVER VISIT THEIR FINAL RESTING PLACE.

NOW, WE ARE THERE. WE ARE AT PLOT A, ROW 21, GRAVE 6. WE READ THE INSCRIPTION:

SGT. ALBERT A. MORETTI OF  CHADWICKS, NEW YORK. HE WAS ESTHER’S ONLY BROTHER. AND HE WAS ONE OF THE BOYS FROM CHADWICKS WHO GAVE US THE GIFTS OF THEIR LIVES SO THAT WE CAN STAND HERE TODAY IN FREEDOM.

HE RESTS IN THE NETHERLANDS CEMETERY AT MARGRATEN, HOLLAND. AND WE ARE FINALLY THERE.

THE SIGHT OF HIS NAME ON THE MARBLE CROSS BRINGS A RUSH OF IMAGES: OF A YOUNG MAN GOING TO WAR WITH MANY OTHER YOUNG MEN SO ANXIOUS TO PRESERVE OUR LIBERTIES, DARING TO STAND UP TO THE STEEL FIRED FROM ENEMY GUNS AND LOST FOREVER BECAUSE OF THAT DARING: OF A YOUNG MAN LOYAL TO HIS GOD, HIS FAMILY AND HIS COUNTRY: OF A YOUNG MAN LIVING AND DYING IN ANOTHER AGE.

WE REMEMBER HIS IDEALS AND THE IDEALS OF THE OTHER YOUNG MEN FROM CHADWICKS WHO MARCHED OFF IN ALL OUR WARS AND PLACED THEIR LIVES BEHIND THOSE IDEALS.

AND SO, ALONG WITH 8,300 AMERICAN HEROES INTERRED IN HOLLAND FOREVER, WE FIND OURSELVES APOLOGIZING AGAIN --- THIS TIME BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THE IDEALS OF ALBERT MORETTI AND THE OTHER YOUNG MEN OF CHADWICKS WHO FELL WITH HIM IN EUROPE AND THE PACIFIC, THOSE IDEALS HAVE  NOT BEEN HONORED.

TO THEM, WE SAY, “WE ARE TRYING. WE KNOW THAT YOU DID NOT LEAVE A LAND OF VIOLENCE AND IMMORALITY, OF PERMISSIVENESS AND DRUGS. WE KNOW THAT YOU DID NOT LEAVE A DETERIORATING NATION WHERE FAMILY LIFE IS DISHONORED REGULARLY. BUT WE WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WE ARE DOING OUR BEST TO PRESERVE THE IDEALS FOR WHICH YOU PERISHED”.

WE SAID THAT AT MARGRATEN AND WE SAY IT ON THIS MEMORIAL DAY. AT MARGRATEN AND TODAY AT CHADWICKS, WE REMEMBER THESE YOUNG MEN FOR THEIR LOYALTY AND THEIR PATRIOTISM AND WE REMEMBER THAT LOYALTY AND PATRIOTISM ARE AMERICAN VIRTUES, WHICH, WITH THE COURAGE DEMONSTRATED BY THESE YOUNG MEN, HAVE PRESERVED OUR DEMOCRACY.

TO THOSE FIGHTING MEN AT MARGRATEN, TO THOSE 200,000 MEN WHO LIE ON OTHER FOREIGN SOILS, TO THOSE MEN WHO REST ETERNALLY IN THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEANS, AND TO THOSE WHO REPOSE NEARBY, WE COMMEMORATE THIS DAY.

TO THEM, WE SAY, WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN YOU. WE ARE CONTINUALLY GRATEFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. WE KNOW WHY YOU DIED, AND WE WILL TRY OUR BEST TO CONTINUE IN YOUR CAUSE.

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