If Money Holds Out, Luck Will Change

MK comments: I remember Robert "Bob" Tartaglione (#66) much better than he remembers me. Of course, the SOP at the time our paths crossed was to address fellow GIs by their last name, and Tartaglione is a much more  memorable name than is Key. We were together, and in the same company for basic training and then for six weeks of Leadership School.

As he told you at his entry into the Bunker, this was done in the 101st Airborne Division (then a basic training outfit with no jumping required or advisable) at Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky. Another reason he might not remember me too well is that he chose Owensborough, Kentucky for his weekend furloughs. I was happy with the Hotel Vendome in Evansville, Indiana - just across the border.

He stayed at Camp Breckenridge (for cadre training or activities) longer than I did and so he got to Company A about two months after I did. How we wound up in the same Company and, for a while, in the same platoon, I don't know. God and the US Army work in very mysterious ways.

I was in the 4th Squad of the 2nd Platoon for my entire stay. He was in the 3rd Squad of the 2nd Platoon for a while, during which time I would run across him once in a while, and then he switched to the 4th (Weapons) Platoon, where I would see him only rarely and on unhappy occasions.

Bob Tartaglione was the first guy from New Jersey that I ever conversed with and he struck me (rightly or wrongly) as a streetwise, outgoing fellow with a penchant for taking a gamble when he got a chance. He made a very strong impression on me because, although I was a very shy little fellow (another reason for the remembrance difference?), I too would be known to take a wager on occasion (meaning every chance I got). Now you know the reason that this page's title is an old gambler's old adage.

I realize that this introduction is getting long and boring, but I trust you will forgive me for wandering around while I reminisce. Anyway, with the hope that Bob will add some stories to this page, here's his stuff so far:

Photo on the left: Carl Hansen & Tartaglione                      

                                Sad Sack Bob        Just Bob   Bob - Carl    

Photo on the left: Tartaglione on Kelly in August 1952

                           Carl Hansen - Bob - Reginald Romeo 

Romeo was  KIA on either Betty, Nick, or Tessie (all just east of and next to Kelly) on 31 Jul 1952. Both Tartaglione and I were there, but I don't remember which of the three hills it was, mostly because I didn't know any of those names at the time - maybe Tartaglione will remember. I did not see Romeo get hit because a new Lt and I were busy trying to dig a hole without the benefit of entrenching tools. However,  I will always remember Romeo's scream. Reginald Romeo is #25 in our Bunker. To read a longer remembrance of him and more about the circumstances on the day he was killed, click on Romeo's Page.


Sam Kellogg - Bob      ? - Bob - ?            Sam Kellogg     

Sam Kellogg (#29) has some great photo pages, which were relayed to me by J. C. Poe (#2). They start with Sam, a River, a POW Camp, and a Jeep. Sam was wounded and evacuated on 31 Jul 1952, Co A's worst day while I was in Korea.

Photo on the left:
Co A's oldest, established, permanent, floating crap game.
Jackson - Nick - Bob - Sgt ?                                                    


                                        ? - ? - Bob                ? - Bob            

Photo to the left: SFC Tartaglione (posing in the rear front).      

                                                   R & R                Bob at Play

I can't help but wonder about "Bob at play" and wonder why that MP couldn't find Tartaglione. I do hope that he'll get in the mood to tell us more about ALL these photos and life around the Imjin.

If anyone with better eyes than mine wants to compare the faces on this photo with the ones on the page Able in June 1952, please have at it.

3rd Division Page      IBB Map and Photo Index
 
IBB - Page Seven 

 
"Can Do" Photo Album

                    ? - ? - ?