Corporal Pete Snoich
In the late 1800s, Peter's parents, Stephen and Anna Olesnovich, emigrated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Pennsylvania. Recruited by the burgeoning US coal industry. Stephen's daughter and their first son, Stephen came with them. They spoke Rusyn, an ancient tongue tied to the geography of the Carpathian Mountains. A border land between East and West.
They owned a home in Hauto, Pennsylvania in the heart of coal country astride the world's Mammoth Vein of coal. Pete was their 8th and last child born on September 11th in 1906. While Anna was pregnant with Pete, his father was tragically killed in an accident where he broke his neck. Somehow Anna and her tribe of 8 children survived on their own for 7 years. The oldest teenage son worked in the coal mines. Anna could sew and make quilts for money. Their saving grace was the young widow owned their house, so taking in boarders and doing laundry could create cash too.
In 1913, when Pete was 7 years old, Anna married the next door neighbor. A Swedish immigrant cabinetmaker and widower, John Peter Swenson. When Anna was 40 and Swenson was in his 60's they gave birth to a son, John Oscar Swenson. Pete's little half-brother melded two immigrant families from very different countries together. So Pete and his siblings grew up in a trilingual family: English, Rusyn and Swedish.
To start their newly combined life, the family moved up the steep mountain slope to 138 W. Ridge Street in the town of Coaldale. The two towns were directly connected by a train tunnel for coal. There was a switchback road to transport people that was a longer way around the mountain.
At some point the children Americanized their last name from Olesnovich to Snoich. There, Pete and his siblings all grew up and graduated from Coaldale High School. Like his many brothers, Pete was a standout football player. After graduation, Pete worked in the local coal mines for a few years to save up money for college. At one point he was the bottom man. Dangerous work where the miners were forging new shafts and framing out supports .
In 1929, he enrolled in the newly minted Kutztown State Teachers College, where he kept working to pay his own way through. He played some football and graduated with a teaching degree in 1933. There is a family story that he fell in love with a coed, but there was family disapproval of religious differences. We now wonder who the girl was?
During the Great Depression, Pete and six of his siblings moved 100 miles South for work in the oil rigs and shipyards along the Delaware River. They were still very close, living with each other to help share expenses. Pete held various jobs at the oil and shipyard companies. The brothers continued their sportsmanship at the local Athletic Club. Per uncovered records, Pete went to San Francisco briefly looking for work as a teacher, staying near an Aunt. Also he had a brief stint as a Math teacher at Nether Providence High School in Pennsylvania.
In 1943, 36 year old Pete was drafted into the United States Army for "The War to End All Wars". After receiving training at Ft. Knox, Pete was one of about 2,000 men in the 66th Armored Regiment, "Iron Knights" of the 2nd Armored Division "Hell on Wheels." He wrote letters home describing how he learned to drive a tank and enjoyed the camaraderie with his fellow soldiers. By the time the Division sailed for North Africa, he was first assigned to the Headquarters of the Regiment, supporting the officers.
Then he was transferred into the Reconnaissance Company of about 170 men strong. The Company's role was fraught with danger, as they were the spear entering the enemy's territory, often first to engage in combat, enemy observation and interrogation.
We now know, one of his good friends was Private Don Evans, who also hailed from a nearby Pennsylvania town. The experiences of Pete's Reconnaissance Company are well documented in Evans' memoir: Odyssey of an Iron Knight. Evans' recall of vivid detail is reflected in Brad Pitt's WW2 tank movie, The Fury. A film in which Evans served as an advisor.
Despite the Company's significant amount of human loss, Pete survived for over 2 years. After the North African campaign they crossed the Mediterranean to Sicily for further success in Operation Husky. Subsequently, they arrived on the Salisbury Plain of England where they joined the Allied forces at Tidworth to prepare for Operation Overlord come to be known today as D Day.
The Infantry landed on Normandy's Beaches June 6th, while Pete's entire regiment hunkered down in their Landing Ship Transports waiting for the signal to disembark their Heavy Armored weapons of war. During those few days, one of the regiment's many LSTs in their caravan hit a mine killing hundreds of men on board as well as destroying all their weaponry.
On June 9th, DDay+3, the beaches were sufficiently clear for the 2nd Armored to unload onto the beaches their miles of tanks and other instruments of war. Pete would never leave Europe. Pete's Recon Company moved across Normandy, France participating in brutal battles like St. Lo. Then through Belgium, Holland and finally Germany. They slept in dirt trenches they dug each night wrapping themselves in blankets to ward off the bleak dampness. A few weeks before his death he had a few precious days leave where he experienced the beauty of a liberated Paris.Then, he celebrated a cold last Thanksgiving with his comrades.
A few days later on November 28, 1944, they were near Flosdorf, in the never ending mud of the German plain of the Roer River. A random mortar shell randomly taking his life.
He had just finished a discussion with Don Evans, his fellow soldier. They were both setting up their machine guns for a perimeter defense for another long night watch. They wanted to make sure they were not in each other's lines of fire.
Pete and his crew left Evans' station to set up his own machine gun, when the fateful mortar flew in. When it exploded it knocked down Pete and two of his men. Don ran to Pete and was by his side finding the fatal wounds to the back of Pete's head. Pete died from these wounds, while his two comrades survived.
Eventually, Pete's body was interred at the American Cemetery of Margraten Holland, a few miles from where he was killed. Along with close to 12,000 American soldiers. The city of Margraten embraced the cemetery, first by donating some of their premier farmland. Then volunteering to help the US Army dig the graves for the bodies being transported from many points along the warfront. Even children helped dig the graves, as it was becoming a matter of hygiene. One such child became one of the thousands of Dutch Adopters of American soldiers' graves. A lifetime voluntary commitment.
Pete's body remains in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. His grave is carefully tended by his Adoptor, Martin. Plot F, Row 11, Grace 23. There is a memorial stone at his parents' graveside in Pennsylvania.
Fallen Never Forgotten. Rest In Peace.
This bio was written by Pete's Great Niece, Erica Swenson Elliott. It is based on her research for a book she is writing about his life. This included primary sources from Private Don Evans' family archive and contacts as well as his memoir. You can find more information about Pete on her webpage https://www.ericaswensonelliott.com/honorwall
.
In the late 1800s, Peter's parents, Stephen and Anna Olesnovich, emigrated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Pennsylvania. Recruited by the burgeoning US coal industry. Stephen's daughter and their first son, Stephen came with them. They spoke Rusyn, an ancient tongue tied to the geography of the Carpathian Mountains. A border land between East and West.
They owned a home in Hauto, Pennsylvania in the heart of coal country astride the world's Mammoth Vein of coal. Pete was their 8th and last child born on September 11th in 1906. While Anna was pregnant with Pete, his father was tragically killed in an accident where he broke his neck. Somehow Anna and her tribe of 8 children survived on their own for 7 years. The oldest teenage son worked in the coal mines. Anna could sew and make quilts for money. Their saving grace was the young widow owned their house, so taking in boarders and doing laundry could create cash too.
In 1913, when Pete was 7 years old, Anna married the next door neighbor. A Swedish immigrant cabinetmaker and widower, John Peter Swenson. When Anna was 40 and Swenson was in his 60's they gave birth to a son, John Oscar Swenson. Pete's little half-brother melded two immigrant families from very different countries together. So Pete and his siblings grew up in a trilingual family: English, Rusyn and Swedish.
To start their newly combined life, the family moved up the steep mountain slope to 138 W. Ridge Street in the town of Coaldale. The two towns were directly connected by a train tunnel for coal. There was a switchback road to transport people that was a longer way around the mountain.
At some point the children Americanized their last name from Olesnovich to Snoich. There, Pete and his siblings all grew up and graduated from Coaldale High School. Like his many brothers, Pete was a standout football player. After graduation, Pete worked in the local coal mines for a few years to save up money for college. At one point he was the bottom man. Dangerous work where the miners were forging new shafts and framing out supports .
In 1929, he enrolled in the newly minted Kutztown State Teachers College, where he kept working to pay his own way through. He played some football and graduated with a teaching degree in 1933. There is a family story that he fell in love with a coed, but there was family disapproval of religious differences. We now wonder who the girl was?
During the Great Depression, Pete and six of his siblings moved 100 miles South for work in the oil rigs and shipyards along the Delaware River. They were still very close, living with each other to help share expenses. Pete held various jobs at the oil and shipyard companies. The brothers continued their sportsmanship at the local Athletic Club. Per uncovered records, Pete went to San Francisco briefly looking for work as a teacher, staying near an Aunt. Also he had a brief stint as a Math teacher at Nether Providence High School in Pennsylvania.
In 1943, 36 year old Pete was drafted into the United States Army for "The War to End All Wars". After receiving training at Ft. Knox, Pete was one of about 2,000 men in the 66th Armored Regiment, "Iron Knights" of the 2nd Armored Division "Hell on Wheels." He wrote letters home describing how he learned to drive a tank and enjoyed the camaraderie with his fellow soldiers. By the time the Division sailed for North Africa, he was first assigned to the Headquarters of the Regiment, supporting the officers.
Then he was transferred into the Reconnaissance Company of about 170 men strong. The Company's role was fraught with danger, as they were the spear entering the enemy's territory, often first to engage in combat, enemy observation and interrogation.
We now know, one of his good friends was Private Don Evans, who also hailed from a nearby Pennsylvania town. The experiences of Pete's Reconnaissance Company are well documented in Evans' memoir: Odyssey of an Iron Knight. Evans' recall of vivid detail is reflected in Brad Pitt's WW2 tank movie, The Fury. A film in which Evans served as an advisor.
Despite the Company's significant amount of human loss, Pete survived for over 2 years. After the North African campaign they crossed the Mediterranean to Sicily for further success in Operation Husky. Subsequently, they arrived on the Salisbury Plain of England where they joined the Allied forces at Tidworth to prepare for Operation Overlord come to be known today as D Day.
The Infantry landed on Normandy's Beaches June 6th, while Pete's entire regiment hunkered down in their Landing Ship Transports waiting for the signal to disembark their Heavy Armored weapons of war. During those few days, one of the regiment's many LSTs in their caravan hit a mine killing hundreds of men on board as well as destroying all their weaponry.
On June 9th, DDay+3, the beaches were sufficiently clear for the 2nd Armored to unload onto the beaches their miles of tanks and other instruments of war. Pete would never leave Europe. Pete's Recon Company moved across Normandy, France participating in brutal battles like St. Lo. Then through Belgium, Holland and finally Germany. They slept in dirt trenches they dug each night wrapping themselves in blankets to ward off the bleak dampness. A few weeks before his death he had a few precious days leave where he experienced the beauty of a liberated Paris.Then, he celebrated a cold last Thanksgiving with his comrades.
A few days later on November 28, 1944, they were near Flosdorf, in the never ending mud of the German plain of the Roer River. A random mortar shell randomly taking his life.
He had just finished a discussion with Don Evans, his fellow soldier. They were both setting up their machine guns for a perimeter defense for another long night watch. They wanted to make sure they were not in each other's lines of fire.
Pete and his crew left Evans' station to set up his own machine gun, when the fateful mortar flew in. When it exploded it knocked down Pete and two of his men. Don ran to Pete and was by his side finding the fatal wounds to the back of Pete's head. Pete died from these wounds, while his two comrades survived.
Eventually, Pete's body was interred at the American Cemetery of Margraten Holland, a few miles from where he was killed. Along with close to 12,000 American soldiers. The city of Margraten embraced the cemetery, first by donating some of their premier farmland. Then volunteering to help the US Army dig the graves for the bodies being transported from many points along the warfront. Even children helped dig the graves, as it was becoming a matter of hygiene. One such child became one of the thousands of Dutch Adopters of American soldiers' graves. A lifetime voluntary commitment.
Pete's body remains in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. His grave is carefully tended by his Adoptor, Martin. Plot F, Row 11, Grace 23. There is a memorial stone at his parents' graveside in Pennsylvania.
Fallen Never Forgotten. Rest In Peace.
This bio was written by Pete's Great Niece, Erica Swenson Elliott. It is based on her research for a book she is writing about his life. This included primary sources from Private Don Evans' family archive and contacts as well as his memoir. You can find more information about Pete on her webpage https://www.ericaswensonelliott.com/honorwall
.
Corporal Pete Snoich
In the late 1800s, Peter's parents, Stephen and Anna Olesnovich, emigrated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Pennsylvania. Recruited by the burgeoning US coal industry. Stephen's daughter and their first son, Stephen came with them. They spoke Rusyn, an ancient tongue tied to the geography of the Carpathian Mountains. A border land between East and West.
They owned a home in Hauto, Pennsylvania in the heart of coal country astride the world's Mammoth Vein of coal. Pete was their 8th and last child born on September 11th in 1906. While Anna was pregnant with Pete, his father was tragically killed in an accident where he broke his neck. Somehow Anna and her tribe of 8 children survived on their own for 7 years. The oldest teenage son worked in the coal mines. Anna could sew and make quilts for money. Their saving grace was the young widow owned their house, so taking in boarders and doing laundry could create cash too.
In 1913, when Pete was 7 years old, Anna married the next door neighbor. A Swedish immigrant cabinetmaker and widower, John Peter Swenson. When Anna was 40 and Swenson was in his 60's they gave birth to a son, John Oscar Swenson. Pete's little half-brother melded two immigrant families from very different countries together. So Pete and his siblings grew up in a trilingual family: English, Rusyn and Swedish.
To start their newly combined life, the family moved up the steep mountain slope to 138 W. Ridge Street in the town of Coaldale. The two towns were directly connected by a train tunnel for coal. There was a switchback road to transport people that was a longer way around the mountain.
At some point the children Americanized their last name from Olesnovich to Snoich. There, Pete and his siblings all grew up and graduated from Coaldale High School. Like his many brothers, Pete was a standout football player. After graduation, Pete worked in the local coal mines for a few years to save up money for college. At one point he was the bottom man. Dangerous work where the miners were forging new shafts and framing out supports .
In 1929, he enrolled in the newly minted Kutztown State Teachers College, where he kept working to pay his own way through. He played some football and graduated with a teaching degree in 1933. There is a family story that he fell in love with a coed, but there was family disapproval of religious differences. We now wonder who the girl was?
During the Great Depression, Pete and six of his siblings moved 100 miles South for work in the oil rigs and shipyards along the Delaware River. They were still very close, living with each other to help share expenses. Pete held various jobs at the oil and shipyard companies. The brothers continued their sportsmanship at the local Athletic Club. Per uncovered records, Pete went to San Francisco briefly looking for work as a teacher, staying near an Aunt. Also he had a brief stint as a Math teacher at Nether Providence High School in Pennsylvania.
In 1943, 36 year old Pete was drafted into the United States Army for "The War to End All Wars". After receiving training at Ft. Knox, Pete was one of about 2,000 men in the 66th Armored Regiment, "Iron Knights" of the 2nd Armored Division "Hell on Wheels." He wrote letters home describing how he learned to drive a tank and enjoyed the camaraderie with his fellow soldiers. By the time the Division sailed for North Africa, he was first assigned to the Headquarters of the Regiment, supporting the officers.
Then he was transferred into the Reconnaissance Company of about 170 men strong. The Company's role was fraught with danger, as they were the spear entering the enemy's territory, often first to engage in combat, enemy observation and interrogation.
We now know, one of his good friends was Private Don Evans, who also hailed from a nearby Pennsylvania town. The experiences of Pete's Reconnaissance Company are well documented in Evans' memoir: Odyssey of an Iron Knight. Evans' recall of vivid detail is reflected in Brad Pitt's WW2 tank movie, The Fury. A film in which Evans served as an advisor.
Despite the Company's significant amount of human loss, Pete survived for over 2 years. After the North African campaign they crossed the Mediterranean to Sicily for further success in Operation Husky. Subsequently, they arrived on the Salisbury Plain of England where they joined the Allied forces at Tidworth to prepare for Operation Overlord come to be known today as D Day.
The Infantry landed on Normandy's Beaches June 6th, while Pete's entire regiment hunkered down in their Landing Ship Transports waiting for the signal to disembark their Heavy Armored weapons of war. During those few days, one of the regiment's many LSTs in their caravan hit a mine killing hundreds of men on board as well as destroying all their weaponry.
On June 9th, DDay+3, the beaches were sufficiently clear for the 2nd Armored to unload onto the beaches their miles of tanks and other instruments of war. Pete would never leave Europe. Pete's Recon Company moved across Normandy, France participating in brutal battles like St. Lo. Then through Belgium, Holland and finally Germany. They slept in dirt trenches they dug each night wrapping themselves in blankets to ward off the bleak dampness. A few weeks before his death he had a few precious days leave where he experienced the beauty of a liberated Paris.Then, he celebrated a cold last Thanksgiving with his comrades.
A few days later on November 28, 1944, they were near Flosdorf, in the never ending mud of the German plain of the Roer River. A random mortar shell randomly taking his life.
He had just finished a discussion with Don Evans, his fellow soldier. They were both setting up their machine guns for a perimeter defense for another long night watch. They wanted to make sure they were not in each other's lines of fire.
Pete and his crew left Evans' station to set up his own machine gun, when the fateful mortar flew in. When it exploded it knocked down Pete and two of his men. Don ran to Pete and was by his side finding the fatal wounds to the back of Pete's head. Pete died from these wounds, while his two comrades survived.
Eventually, Pete's body was interred at the American Cemetery of Margraten Holland, a few miles from where he was killed. Along with close to 12,000 American soldiers. The city of Margraten embraced the cemetery, first by donating some of their premier farmland. Then volunteering to help the US Army dig the graves for the bodies being transported from many points along the warfront. Even children helped dig the graves, as it was becoming a matter of hygiene. One such child became one of the thousands of Dutch Adopters of American soldiers' graves. A lifetime voluntary commitment.
Pete's body remains in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. His grave is carefully tended by his Adoptor, Martin. Plot F, Row 11, Grace 23. There is a memorial stone at his parents' graveside in Pennsylvania.
Fallen Never Forgotten. Rest In Peace.
This bio was written by Pete's Great Niece, Erica Swenson Elliott. It is based on her research for a book she is writing about his life. This included primary sources from Private Don Evans' family archive and contacts as well as his memoir. You can find more information about Pete on her webpage https://www.ericaswensonelliott.com/honorwall
.
In the late 1800s, Peter's parents, Stephen and Anna Olesnovich, emigrated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Pennsylvania. Recruited by the burgeoning US coal industry. Stephen's daughter and their first son, Stephen came with them. They spoke Rusyn, an ancient tongue tied to the geography of the Carpathian Mountains. A border land between East and West.
They owned a home in Hauto, Pennsylvania in the heart of coal country astride the world's Mammoth Vein of coal. Pete was their 8th and last child born on September 11th in 1906. While Anna was pregnant with Pete, his father was tragically killed in an accident where he broke his neck. Somehow Anna and her tribe of 8 children survived on their own for 7 years. The oldest teenage son worked in the coal mines. Anna could sew and make quilts for money. Their saving grace was the young widow owned their house, so taking in boarders and doing laundry could create cash too.
In 1913, when Pete was 7 years old, Anna married the next door neighbor. A Swedish immigrant cabinetmaker and widower, John Peter Swenson. When Anna was 40 and Swenson was in his 60's they gave birth to a son, John Oscar Swenson. Pete's little half-brother melded two immigrant families from very different countries together. So Pete and his siblings grew up in a trilingual family: English, Rusyn and Swedish.
To start their newly combined life, the family moved up the steep mountain slope to 138 W. Ridge Street in the town of Coaldale. The two towns were directly connected by a train tunnel for coal. There was a switchback road to transport people that was a longer way around the mountain.
At some point the children Americanized their last name from Olesnovich to Snoich. There, Pete and his siblings all grew up and graduated from Coaldale High School. Like his many brothers, Pete was a standout football player. After graduation, Pete worked in the local coal mines for a few years to save up money for college. At one point he was the bottom man. Dangerous work where the miners were forging new shafts and framing out supports .
In 1929, he enrolled in the newly minted Kutztown State Teachers College, where he kept working to pay his own way through. He played some football and graduated with a teaching degree in 1933. There is a family story that he fell in love with a coed, but there was family disapproval of religious differences. We now wonder who the girl was?
During the Great Depression, Pete and six of his siblings moved 100 miles South for work in the oil rigs and shipyards along the Delaware River. They were still very close, living with each other to help share expenses. Pete held various jobs at the oil and shipyard companies. The brothers continued their sportsmanship at the local Athletic Club. Per uncovered records, Pete went to San Francisco briefly looking for work as a teacher, staying near an Aunt. Also he had a brief stint as a Math teacher at Nether Providence High School in Pennsylvania.
In 1943, 36 year old Pete was drafted into the United States Army for "The War to End All Wars". After receiving training at Ft. Knox, Pete was one of about 2,000 men in the 66th Armored Regiment, "Iron Knights" of the 2nd Armored Division "Hell on Wheels." He wrote letters home describing how he learned to drive a tank and enjoyed the camaraderie with his fellow soldiers. By the time the Division sailed for North Africa, he was first assigned to the Headquarters of the Regiment, supporting the officers.
Then he was transferred into the Reconnaissance Company of about 170 men strong. The Company's role was fraught with danger, as they were the spear entering the enemy's territory, often first to engage in combat, enemy observation and interrogation.
We now know, one of his good friends was Private Don Evans, who also hailed from a nearby Pennsylvania town. The experiences of Pete's Reconnaissance Company are well documented in Evans' memoir: Odyssey of an Iron Knight. Evans' recall of vivid detail is reflected in Brad Pitt's WW2 tank movie, The Fury. A film in which Evans served as an advisor.
Despite the Company's significant amount of human loss, Pete survived for over 2 years. After the North African campaign they crossed the Mediterranean to Sicily for further success in Operation Husky. Subsequently, they arrived on the Salisbury Plain of England where they joined the Allied forces at Tidworth to prepare for Operation Overlord come to be known today as D Day.
The Infantry landed on Normandy's Beaches June 6th, while Pete's entire regiment hunkered down in their Landing Ship Transports waiting for the signal to disembark their Heavy Armored weapons of war. During those few days, one of the regiment's many LSTs in their caravan hit a mine killing hundreds of men on board as well as destroying all their weaponry.
On June 9th, DDay+3, the beaches were sufficiently clear for the 2nd Armored to unload onto the beaches their miles of tanks and other instruments of war. Pete would never leave Europe. Pete's Recon Company moved across Normandy, France participating in brutal battles like St. Lo. Then through Belgium, Holland and finally Germany. They slept in dirt trenches they dug each night wrapping themselves in blankets to ward off the bleak dampness. A few weeks before his death he had a few precious days leave where he experienced the beauty of a liberated Paris.Then, he celebrated a cold last Thanksgiving with his comrades.
A few days later on November 28, 1944, they were near Flosdorf, in the never ending mud of the German plain of the Roer River. A random mortar shell randomly taking his life.
He had just finished a discussion with Don Evans, his fellow soldier. They were both setting up their machine guns for a perimeter defense for another long night watch. They wanted to make sure they were not in each other's lines of fire.
Pete and his crew left Evans' station to set up his own machine gun, when the fateful mortar flew in. When it exploded it knocked down Pete and two of his men. Don ran to Pete and was by his side finding the fatal wounds to the back of Pete's head. Pete died from these wounds, while his two comrades survived.
Eventually, Pete's body was interred at the American Cemetery of Margraten Holland, a few miles from where he was killed. Along with close to 12,000 American soldiers. The city of Margraten embraced the cemetery, first by donating some of their premier farmland. Then volunteering to help the US Army dig the graves for the bodies being transported from many points along the warfront. Even children helped dig the graves, as it was becoming a matter of hygiene. One such child became one of the thousands of Dutch Adopters of American soldiers' graves. A lifetime voluntary commitment.
Pete's body remains in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. His grave is carefully tended by his Adoptor, Martin. Plot F, Row 11, Grace 23. There is a memorial stone at his parents' graveside in Pennsylvania.
Fallen Never Forgotten. Rest In Peace.
This bio was written by Pete's Great Niece, Erica Swenson Elliott. It is based on her research for a book she is writing about his life. This included primary sources from Private Don Evans' family archive and contacts as well as his memoir. You can find more information about Pete on her webpage https://www.ericaswensonelliott.com/honorwall
.
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Pennsylvania.
