Master Sergeant Louis C. Graziano
HQ, Special Troops HQ, Command HQ, OISE Section Com Z HQ Company, 102nd Field Artillery Battalion
Service: Entered Active Service – 22nd of January 1943 at Fort Niagara New York Honorably Discharged – 3rd of January 1946 at Fort Dix New Jersey
Service Branch: U.S. Army – Master Sergeant – Headquarters, Special Troops Headquarters, Command Headquarters, OISE Section Com Z during wartime.
At discharge, Headquarters Company, 102nd Field Artillery Battalion
Military Awards: The Army Good Conduct Medal, The European African Middle East Campaign Medal with 2 Bronze Campaign Stars for Northern France and Rhineland and the World War II Victory Medal, and Qualified as a Rifle Sharpshooter. Louis also received a Certificate of Merit for achievements as Utilities Foreman.
Personal History: Louis was born on the 6th of February 1923 in East Aurora New York.
History: Master Sergeant Louis C. Graziano earned his 2 Campaign Battle Stars leading a platoon of communications specialists tasked to assure reliable means of command and control for the highest of command personnel.
As winter approached the Germans had mounted a last ditch counteroffensive which developed into what has become known as the “Battle of the Bulge”. In response, all troops were being mustered to come to the rescue of encircled troops near the Belgian town of Bastogne. In a very dangerous mission along with his Captain, Louis set off in a Jeep to find an element of the 3rd Armored Division to aid in the effort to relieve the surrounded soldiers.
After suffering frostbite during the successful effort to search and find the lost armored element, Louis returned to Reims to recover. Among the buildings in Reams there was a “Little Red Schoolhouse” where General Eisenhower had his headquarters. It was here that the unconditional surrender of Germany was signed in the early morning hours of Monday, May 7, 1945. Louis was there, in the room, as General Yodl of the German Army signed the articles of surrender. U.S. General Walter Bedell Smith signed on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, General Eisenhower, and General Ivan Susloparov on behalf of the Soviet High Command. French Major-General François Sevez signed as the official witness.
It is most likely that Louis is the last surviving witness to this historic event…