William Geisler
| "If you're asking about fear, there was fear in my heart 24 hours a day, every day. You still had to do your job as a soldier in spite of the fear." |
Name: William Giesler Date of Birth: 10/13/22 Branch of Service: Army Dates of Service: July 1942 to January 1946 Location of Military Service: France |
Mr. Giesler enlisted in the Army Reserve Corps while attending the University of Cincinnati. After six months, it was activated and he was sent to Camp Wheeler, Georgia, for basic training. He took an aptitude test and was sent to the Army Specialist Program at Harvard University to train to be an engineer, but after 3 months, he was put into the 26th Infantry Division (Yankee Division) as a rifleman to be sent overseas. He was among the first U.S. troops that landed directly in France from the United States. He was in active combat and was wounded in his arm by a German sniper just outside of Kalhausen. He spent 14 months in a hospital for his injury. Mr. Giesler achieved the rank of Private First Class and received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star in addition to his other medals. |
 Al Kemnitzer, Al String, Bill Giesler, and Joe Kessler. The last night before going overseas at the Latin Quarter in New York |
 Al String and Bill Giesler. String is wearing a B.A.R. cartridge belt with large pockets. |
 Company street at Fort Jackson. |
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