Those Who Served: P

  • Paler Eli
    Paler Eli

    T/4 Sgt. Eli L. Paler
    Serial No. 36215818
    U. S. Army
    July 14, 1941 - March 3, 1945
    Pacific Theater

    I spent an enormous amount of time helping set up hospital tents and quarters for patients, officers and enlisted men. It was during that time that I saw an autopsy - quite an experience. We initiated Friday night services in a Presbyterian church near Cairns; attendance was usually 10-30 servicemen. I conducted services most of the time, and a Protestant chaplain gave short sermons for us. We planned a Seder for 120 people, but over 200 showed up from different Amy units in the area. In addition, the town's only two Jewish families attended together with 39 Australian soldiers. It was a huge success.

  • Paris Peter
    Paris Peter

    TBC 4 Peter Paris
    Serial No. 36829890
    U. S. Army
    1943 - 1946
    Stateside

    During my service, I had the privilege of doing oil portraits of General John Millikin, Brig. General D. P. Hardy and other officers. I was fortunate that my wife was able to join me at Fort Ord and at the Presidio in San Francisco. She worked in Post Ordinance and at the Post Exchange.

  • Pentler Harold
    Pentler Harold

    1st Lt. Harold E. Pentler
    U. S. Army Air Corps
    September 1942 - March 1946
    China-Burma-India Theater

    I was the commanding officer of an ATC (Air Transport Command) detachment at a base deep in Southwest China. It was the first airfield over the Hump (Himalayan Mountains) from India, just east of Burma. When the commanding Air Force general wished to break the record for the most tonnage to be flown over the Hump in one day, our field was the recipient of these flights made in a C-46. It arrived from Assam, India, at 5 AM, then returned to India for a second load which arrived at 3 PM that afternoon. I received a written commendation from the commanding general in Calcutta for these efforts.

  • Pentler Robert
    Pentler Robert

    Lt. Robert J. Pentler
    U. S. Army
    1943 - 1945
    European Theater
    Killed In Action

    Bob was drafted into the Infantry in 1943 at the age of 29. He was sent to join General Patton's division to fill the need for infantry officers early in February 1945, when the Battle of the Bulge was in the final days. He was in Europe at the age of 31, only one week, and was acting as a forward observer his first night in battle. He and an enlisted man were both killed when they were caught in a German barrage that night. The Germans surrendered shortly after. Bob gave his life for his country so we may live in comparative peace and security. He is buried in Spring Hill Cemetery in Milwaukee. Submitted by Harold Pentler (Brother)

  • Peterman William
    Peterman William

    Capt. William W. Peterman
    Serial No. 02044349
    U. S. Army Air Corps
    October 15, 1040 - March 17, 1946
    European Theater

    Bill enlisted in the 32nd division of the National Guard and transferred to the Air Force in 1941. He was sent to England and attended a F.A.F. Flying Control School. He supervised and directed operation of the control tower at Thurleigh Air Base, which housed B-17 bombers. He was involved in battles of Normandy, Northern France, Central Europe and the Air Offensive Europe. He received many medals and was promoted to the rank of captain. Submitted by Ruth Peterman, wife

  • Pittleman Maryl
    Pittleman Maryl

    F/O Maryl Pittleman
    Serial No. 16116349
    U. S. Army Air Corps
    Stateside

    I spent three years in the Army Air Corps as a navigator with a crew on a B-17 until the war ended in Europe. I then served with a crew on a B-29 until a B-29 brought an end to the war with Japan by dropping the A Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When people ask how I felt about the use of A Bombs, I must say it was joyous feeling - the war was ending and we were going home. It meant that our crew was not going to fly bombing missions over Japan. No one understood or cared about the long-term implications of atomic warfare. Shirley Elkind and I were married on July 2, 1943, three months after I entered military service. She schlepped with me to many bases. Since often the only time we could see each other was at Friday night services at the base chapel we became very observant.

  • Plotkin Ed
    Plotkin Ed

    Sgt. Edward D. Plotkin
    Serial No. 36815571
    U. S. Army Air Corps
    April 6, 1943 - February 28, 1946
    Pacific Theater

    While en route to Salt Lake City, we stopped opposite another troop train. Peering out of a window at me was my boyhood friend, Irv Greenberg. Three months later, we saw each other again at a PX at Hickam Field. A special non-Jewish pal imitated me when I asked for a first furlough to attend holiday services at home. He got the furlough, and we went home together.

  • Plotkin Sid
    Plotkin Sid

    M/Sgt. Sidney Plotkin
    U. S. Army
    1942 - 1946

  • Post Arthur
    Post Arthur

    Maj. Arthur L. Post
    U. S. Army Air corps

    The Post family had three sons who served and I happened to serve in the Korean War as well, but I would like to feature my brother, Arthur. I believe he is among the most decorated veterans from Milwaukee, having been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Air Medals and two Purple Hearts. In 1943, having volunteered for a photoreconnaissance mission, Arthur was shot in a dogfight with a Japanese fighter. The plane was unarmed, so he rammed his attacker with his burning plane before parachuting into the jungles of New Guinea where he was cared for and hidden by natives for 100 days before being rescued by a Navy ship. He wrote a manual on jungle survival. He was the first draftee to be taken for pilot training, was the top cadet officer in each of his Air Corps training schools, including Randolph Field, and he was the first pilot to successfully bail out of a crippled P-38 without getting killed by its twin tail boom. He was killed test-flying a P-38 before the war ended; at that time he was commanding Officer of a Photo Recon. Group which consisted of several squadrons, and he was awaiting his promotion to full Colonel at age 27 years. Submitted by Lawrence A. Post, MD

  • Pumpian Peter
    Pumpian Peter

    S/Sgt. Peter M. Pumpian
    Serial No. 116196
    U. S. Army Air Corps
    1942 - 1945
    European Theater

    Served in the States and over a year overseas for which he received the European Theatre Ribbon. He was a personnel specialist. Submitted by Ida Hersch