Group photo of the 111th at Fort Dix, NJ, June 1943

We have been in touch with Tom Sedlacek, son of 111th member Joe Sedlacek recently, and he sent us a copy of a panoramic photo he has of the men, taken when they were 103 strong at Fort Dix, NJ, in June 1943. Thrilling! We scanned the large image–it was about 8’x32′–and created a stitched panorama to show all of you. It looks small here, but if you click on the image, it will enlarge and fill your screen–then if you click on the little magnifying glass, you can make it even larger. Use the scroll bar at the bottom to move across the photo. Let us know if you see your father, and let us know where he is.

The 111th Men at Fort Dix, NJ, June 1943

Art Brooks has identified the officers and a few of the men in the center front row. Find the four men in front center wearing the darker jackets with belts; then move to the second man to the left of the first officer on the left to start the identifications: the large man is Tech Sergeant James Roush; First Sergeant Bill Mayo; Lt. Dante Vezzoli (who soon left the 111th to go to Army Intelligence because he knew Italian; he retired a full colonel); Cpt. Lionel Malsbury, the CO at the time; Lt. Art Brooks; Lt. Perry Witt; Master Sergeant Frank Gomez, and Sgt. Harold Goerges. My dad, Edward “Pinky” Johnson is in the front row, ninth from the right, and on his left is his buddy John Andrews. On the back row, third man to the right of the man holding flag–only the flag stick shows (and counting the man holding the flag) is John Raisler, and to his immediate right is his buddy, Joe Sedlacek. To Sedlacek’s right is Leroy Faehling. Also on the back row, 20th man from the left, is Severt “Sy” Stroberg.

Here are a couple of other IDs: Constantino F. Navarra is in the back row, third man from the right; and Charles Whisenhunt is also in the back row, 8th man from the left.  Let us know if you see your dad or grandfather in the photo.