When Peter Gossic was drafted to serve in Europe, he and his wife, Eugenie, already had two children. He turned 30 on D-day before being shipped out to join Gen.George S. Patton's 3rd Army. The New Port Richey retiree, who was also wounded in Germany in 1945, turns 90 today.
[Times photo:Janel Schroeder-Norton]
Gossic holds a piece of shrapnel attached to his dog tags that he keeps as a souvenir. It was removed from his chest after a battle in Germany on Feb. 19, 1945, his last day in combat.
This photo was taken while Gossic was a saff sergeant serving in Europe. He was awarded a Bronze Star for valor on Nov. 22, 1944.
[Special to the Times]
Sixty years ago today, Peter Gossic was celebrating his 30th birthday and listening to the news on the radio. Allied troops were landing in France, and Gossic knew he would be following soon.
Months earlier, he had been drafted, an event that caught him by surprise. Most draftees were younger than he, and he was married. He had two little sons, and his wife was "in a family way."
Another surprise soon followed. The Army didn't give him some desk job. He was headed for the front line.
Gossic was less than enthusiastic, but what could he say? "If I gotta go, I gotta go," he thought.
Gossic's first night on the front line was Sept. 15, 1944.
He and about a dozen other replacements sat in moonlit woods. They were excited, jumpy and noisy. A sergeant hushed them, but minutes later someone told a joke and got them laughing again.
The sergeant returned angry. He took Gossic and others to the wood line and pointed to a hill in the distance.
"See up there. See those guys walking back and forth up there," he said. "That's the Germans."
They were quiet after that.
Huddled in his foxhole that night, Gossic listened to German artillery exploding nearby. He found himself shivering. Not from cold, but fear.
A member of the 80th Infantry of Gen. George S. Patton's 3rd Army, Gossic said he did his job as best he could amid the suffering around him.
The bonds you make with your buddies during war, Gossic said, are like no other in life. Your buddy was closer to you than your mother and father, your sister and brother. "Your buddy was just like you. You didn't know if you would live another five minutes."
As others were killed, Gossic was made squad leader.
Leading 11 men, Gossic listed their names in a note pad. When one of them was killed, he would cross the man's name out and write in the name of his replacement.
Gossic doesn't remember how many names he crossed out, but he remembers, more than once, crossing out four and five names at a time.
He remembers one time lying in a field, pinned down by German fire, when a tank shell landed at his feet. It was a dud.
He remembers fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.
He remembers being in Germany on Feb. 19, 1945, his last day in combat. By this time, he had been promoted to staff sergeant. Shrapnel caught him and penetrated his lung. He remembers the sucking noise from the hole in his chest and the pain each time his ambulance hit a bump.
"Oh, I'll tell you, there's a lot, but I can't remember it all."
In 1949, Gossic learned he had been awarded a Bronze Star. It was for valor on Nov. 22, 1944. He said he doesn't remember what happened that day. "I didn't do anything different than anybody else."
As he turns 90 today, the 60th anniversary of D-day, Gossic has only begun to share his memories. After the war was over, he became a civilian aircraft electrician for the Navy. He retired and moved to New Port Richey in 1973.
All these years, Gossic hasn't spoken of the war to his five children (two are now dead), his 15 grandchildren or his 25 great-grandchildren. That is, until last week, when he went with his wife, Eugenie, to the dedication of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
"The dedication brought it out of me," Gossic said. "It got me. So many veterans. I said to myself, "Here it is 60 years later and how many of them were on the front lines?' That sort of broke me up. Twenty-five years ago, all those guys were living. They would like to see it."
This photo was taken while Gossic was a saff sergeant serving in Europe. He was awarded a Bronze Star for valor on Nov. 22, 1944.