Local World War II veteran recalls time overseas

SANDUSKY — Fewer World War II veterans are around to share their memories. But one Sandusky resident who served in the war talked about traveling with American armed forces to help liberate Europe from Nazi Germany. Keith Singer, 96, spoke with a Register reporter in an outdoor, socially distanced interview outside his Rohde Street home and was joined by friends and neighbors. Singer is hard of hearing and Cindy Shreve, his neighbor and caretaker, helped relay questions to him. Before the war Singer grew up with his siblings in a Cleveland orphanage, Parmadale. His mother died when he was young, and his father worked and was unable to care for him. Once they reached a certain age, Singer and his siblings were able to leave Parmadale and came to live with their father in Sandusky. Singer attended Sandusky High School. He was drafted into military service in 1943 when he was 18 years old. After several days at Fort Dix in New Jersey, he and thousands of others sailed to England aboard the RMS Queen Mary. "To have to go overseas, that was an experience for me," he said. Going overseas Singer joined the 2nd Armored Division in June 1943 as a replacement. The division had already fought in North Africa and Sicily. Ahead of the D-Day invasion in Normandy, Singer completed basic training at a camp in Tinworth, a village in southern England. His division made landing a couple of days after the initial assault. He said that his division would always move at night. He also said he benefitted from older, more experienced soldiers with whom he served. "You were always scared," he said. "You never knew where you were going." He said he made friends during his time overseas, some of whom did not survive the war. After the Normandy campaign, Singer participated in four other Allied campaigns: in Northern France, the Rhineland, the Ardennes and Central Europe. Battle of the Bulge Singer was unable to recall certain memories of his time in the war. But he did remember fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. The battle, which lasted from Dec. 16, 1944, to Jan. 25, 1945, took place in the Ardennes region of Belgium when German forces launched a surprise attack on the Allies, according to History.com. The 2nd Armored, which was stationed in France when the attack started, was ordered into Belgium to help contain the Germans. The weather was very poor — Singer experienced temperatures of less than -20 degrees, meaning people could not take off their shoes — adding to an already difficult situation. "It was a hard time. We thought we were surrounded," he said. During the battle, Singer worked as a part of a crew that operated a machine gun mounted on a half-track, a type of armored vehicle. "We used it for strafing hedgerows and airplanes, keeping the airplanes, keeping the Germans from coming down at us," he said. Though the Americans held off the attack, they suffered more than 100,000 casualties, making it the costliest battle in U.S. Army history, according to History.com. Honorable discharge Singer was honorably discharged on Dec. 4, 1945, after the war's end, and he received several awards: the Good Conduct Medal, the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with five Bronze Stars and the World War II Victory Medal. "I was proud to serve in World War II," he said. Years later, Singer participated in the Cleveland Honor Flight, a program that transports veterans to Washington, D.C., for free to visit memorials. Singer went to the Arlington National Cemetery and helped change the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. "It did a lot for him," his friend David Streng said. With no living family left to care for Singer, Shreve took over that role. She's been her neighbor's caretaker for the past two years. "He came down one day and knocked on my door and said, 'Could you take me to my doctor?'" she said. "I've been doing it ever since." She said it's an honor to be able to care for Singer.