From Shelter Island to the Alps,  a soldier’s odyssey

He was a boy from an Island surrounded by saltwater, whose passion was being out on it, as well as on the ponds and streams of his home, fishing, hunting, and trapping. But he reached manhood serving his country in the bitter cold and snows of towering mountain ranges across the ocean and a continent away.

John William Sanwald Jr., known as Bill or Billy, was one of four children — three boys and a girl — of John Sr. and Marguerite, who had a house on North Ferry Road, where Black Cat Books is now located.

Born on June 23, 1924, Bill grew up in a family where fishing poles, lines, nets, rifles, and knives were tools to make a living, as well as an access to the beauty and serenity of the natural world all around them.

He came from a family of baymen and took to the trade eagerly as a boy. A sign of his dedication to the life, and his sense of organization, was that Bill not only landed fish and cleaned them, shot deer and dressed them, and trapped shormuskrat, mink and otters to skin for pelts, but meticulously recorded what he brought home. Young Bill, like many children in the 1930s, was a fan of the “The Big Little Books,” small illustrated volumes on cardboard of mystery and adventure stories priced at a dime apiece.

When Bill and his siblings were finished with a book, he cut the cardboard into squares to record his observations. “Matt’s Pond, deep, big swamp. Muskrats, plenty.” “Big Ram Pond, muskrats, mink, fox around the edges.” “Fresh Pond, carp, muskrats, berries.” And many more.

It’s a chronicle of a world long gone — of peace, of people fully aware of each change of season and what nature would bring, quietly preserved in a boy’s record of roaming his home island. 

But all that would change for Bill and millions of others, as war in Europe and Asia erupted, and the United States would be attacked in December 1941. He enlisted in the U.S. Army right after graduating from Shelter Island High School and the bright, healthy, fit young man was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, a full division of the United States Army specializing in mountain and winter warfare.

At a Colorado base, the boy, who had never been at any elevation higher than Shelter Island Heights, was taught to ski, climb vertical cliffs in the snow, and rappel down from ridges. It was reported that the men trained in the Colorado Rockies at altitudes up to 14,000 feet, in deep snow and blizzards, camping and not returning to their home base for weeks at a time.

He was designated a “sniper-scout,” and deployed to the Italian Alps in November 1944 to fight the German army. According to a U.S. Army report: “By January 1945, the division was executing combat operations in northern Italy. During these operations, the 10th Mountain Division seized German positions on Riva Ridge and Mount Belvedere, breaking through the German mountain defenses into the Po River Valley … During nearly five months of intense combat in Italy, the division was opposed by 100,000 German troops, yet effectively destroyed five German divisions, unhinging the defense in Italy and drawing forces away from other theaters. The division sustained nearly 5,000 casualties during World War II, with 999 soldiers killed in action.” 

One of those killed on Feb. 25, 1945, was Bill Sanwald, less than two months before the war in Europe officially ended. He was 20.

NEVER FORGOTTEN

Sitting in the kitchen of his and his wife Wendy’s home on Menantic Road, Norman Sanwald spoke recently about his Uncle Billy, a man he never met, but who the family has never forgotten. Norman was told by his father and uncles that Bill’s father and mother were “devastated” when they heard the news from the War Department.

His grandfather was a taciturn man, Norman said, and never really spoke about the death of his beloved boy, but his deep grief was apparent. Norman’s father, Norman Sr., immediately wanted to enlist when he heard of his brother Billy’s death. 

“But he was too young, and my grandfather refused to sign any permission to allow him to join,” Norman said. But when he turned 18, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

The family didn’t learn the details of Bill’s death until a letter arrived at the end of October 1945. Norman has a copy of the letter, as well as other memorabilia of his uncle.

Written by a comrade-in-arms, the letter says that Bill was killed on Feb. 24 on Mount della Torracia, one of the battles of the final northern Italian campaign. “Bill and a kid named Gordon Rosenberg were scout-snipers for the 1st platoon,” the letter says. The plan was for the 2nd platoon to take a knoll on top and furnish cover for the 1st platoon, who were to cross over on the left flank and engage the Germans who were dug in on a forward slope.

The 1st platoon reached the reverse slope and stopped because the 2nd platoon had not reached the knoll. The scouts were ordered out. “Rosenberg, a brave guy who holds the snipers record for the 5th, and Sanwald” were together, the letter reads. “Bill went over the top by himself, and Rosey heard the big guns opening up … Rosey ran over the crest after a hell of a fight … Rosey looked for Sanwald … He found Bill’s body …”

Norman Sanwald has a collection that was handed down to him of photos of Bill and his father. There are Indian arrowheads the boy had collected from around the Island, his hunting knife, and ancient pottery shards he lovingly preserved. And here, also, are the squares he cut from The Big Little Books, with his handwritten descriptions of what he had found on forays into and around the ponds, streams and surrounding waters of Shelter Island.

One of the bravest Americans to wear his country’s uniform is home, buried in the Emily French Cemetery, on his beloved Island.

This Memorial Day, as every Memorial Day for the Sanwald family since 1945, their Billy will be remembered, along with all those who have perished in America’s wars.