Soldiers of the 4th Platton, F Company, 85th Regiment of the 10th Mountain Infantry Division around the end of Feburary, 1945
F Company of the 85th Regiment usually consisted of approximately 200 soldiers at any one time. All together over 500 men seem to have served with F-85 at one time or another.
During my research I could not obtain information on all of those men. However, I did learn a fair amount about some of the soldiers who served with F-85 during the last months of the war.
The roster of platoons and squads kept changing as men were promoted, killed, or wounded. However the following is a reasonably complete list of the members of the 4th Platoon when John Koski joined them near the end of February 1945.
F-85 Officers
Captain Charles King from Longview, TX
First Sergeant William Ballek from Macon, GA
4th Platoon Lieutenant and Platton Sergeant
2nd Lieutenant Wayne Jinkins from Dolton, IL
T/SGT James Orwig from Berea, KY
1st Mortar Squad of the 4th Platoon
S/SGT Bernard Carney
SGT James Messier from Nattleboro, MA
SGT George Legassey
PFC Edward Smieska from Lansing, MI
SGT James Winterbottom from Canton, NY
PFC Robert Kraft
PFC Adolph Klopfer form Alton, IL
PVT John Koski from Ishpeming, MI
2nd Mortar Squad of the 4th Platton
SGT Oliver Eyer from Belvidere, NJ
PFC Amos Good
PFC George Armstrong from Canajoharie, NY
PFC Lawrence Boyajian from Bay Shore, NY
PFC Alvin Babcock from Seneca Falls, NY
McDaniel
3rd Mortar Squad
SGT John Demsey from Sulphur Springs, MT
PFC Richard Burkhardt from Chicago, IL
PFC Frank Hart from Englewood, NJ (?)
? Mentzer
PFC Claire Blasius from Diamondale, MI
PFC Ned Hall (or PFC Morgan Hall)
1st Machine Gun Squad
S/SGT George Norton from Rapid River, MI
SGT Robert Ellis from San Francisco, CA
PFC Wallace Krusell from Fort Pierce, FL
PFC Joseph Moffard
PFC Leroy Manse
PFC Warren Carlson from Sun City, AZ (?)
PVT Mancle Kintner
2nd Machine Gun Squad
SGT Tustin Ellison from Applegate, OR
PFC George Cantin
PFC Turman Oldham
PVT George Kovach
? Miller
? Cooke
Additional members of the 4th Platoon
PFC Charles O'Brien from Buffalo, WY
? Nelson
PFC Ray Canham from Chicago, IL
Copyright 2007 by Dan Oja