Charles
Zimlinghaus
Army
Coram
Picture of Company E, 413th Infantry. Charles Zimlinghaus is listed
as being in the photo.
Charles
Zimlinghaus was born in 1920 in Long Island City, New York. Before
the war he was employed as an Industrial Engineer, He enlisted in
New York City on December 18, 1942. As a private, he served with
Company E of the 413th Infantry. Zimlinghaus was awarded a Marksman
Badge with Rifle, a Combat Infantryman Badge, a Bronze Star Medal, A
Purple Heart, the European African Middle Eastern Medal with 3
Bronze Service Stars, a World War II Lapel Service Button, a World
War II Victory Medal and an American Campaign Medal. Zimlinghaus was
discharged from the service on October 14, 1945 at Camp San Luis,
California.
The 413th Infantry was part of
the 104th Infantry division, which was nick named the "Timberwolves" The
division was activated in 1942, and was landed in France in September of
1944. In October the division had advanced into Belgium taking part in
the battles at Aachen, and Colonge. They advanced into central Germany
and met up with Soviet forces in late April 1945.
The 104th overran Nordhausen and the Dora-Mittlebau
concentration camp on April 11, 1945 where they discovered 3,000 corpses
lying around the camp and some 750 emaciated, starving, and ill
prisoners who had been left behind when the SS evacuated the inmates on
death marches.
The 104th Infantry Division suffered over
6000 casualties in the European theater of operations
Written by,
Erica Kannry
Longwood JHS
January, 2006