Milton Hart — WWII veteran vying for local monument

Friday, February 11, 2022 - 16:04
Milton J. Hart

Milton J. Hart

 

 

Milton Hart is the only child of two only children. His service in World War II — as a combat infantryman with the 70th Armored Infantry Battalion, 20th Armored Division — gave him a sense of camaraderie.

The soldiers he served with, he said, were “as close to me as a brother would be.”

Hart has stayed in touch with his comrades in arms throughout his life and, at 94, is one of the few surviving.

He tears up when he remembers liberating Dachau, giving away his rations to the “walking skeletons.” He laughs when he remembers the celebration after the Armistice as German and American soldiers traded guns and, rather than shooting each other, shot tin cans together. “I guess they didn’t want a war any more than we did,” said Hart of the Germans.

His troop ship landed in New York City — the soldiers were set to train for an invasion of Japan with heavy casualties expected — on Aug. 6, 1945, the day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

“We figured that saved our lives,” said Hart.

He returned to his home in Berne, working at The Mill as his father and grandfather had before him.

The town’s long-gone Honor Roll, listing World War II veterans, was replaced with a replica in 2006, built as an Eagle Scout project. That monument is now in disrepair and Hart would like to see a more permanent monument, perhaps of Helderberg bluestone, to honor Berne veterans of all wars.

Tags:

More News

  • ‘It’s not waste, it’s investment’ say food pantry partners at Tonko roundtable

    With a 23-percent reduction of the emergency program, Paul Tonko said, there will be more reliance on states. That, in turn, he said, would lead to “a huge tax increase” on properties because it “then filters down to the local level.” The tax cut, Tonko said, is “spending dollars on billionaires for a bonanza tax cut.”

  • GCSD board adopts $128M budget, does not pierce tax cap

    The spending plan comes right up against the state-set levy limit but does not pierce it. This means a simple majority vote can pass the budget. While spending is up 1.88 percent from last year, the tax levy is up 2.3 percent.

  • Guilderland highway workers look to unionize

    A majority of the 43 operators, laborers, and mechanics in the potential bargaining unit have signed cards choosing the Civil Service Employees Association as their bargaining representative, according to the union. 

The Altamont Enterprise is focused on hyper-local, high-quality journalism. We produce free election guides, curate readers' opinion pieces, and engage with important local issues. Subscriptions open full access to our work and make it possible.