This website is dedicated to my father,
William Heller 1910-1972.
Bronze Star
By direction of the President, under the provisions of Army Regulations 600-45, as amended, you are awarded a Bronze Star Medal for meritorious services in connection with military operations against an enemy of the United States.
Citation:
Technician Fourth Grade WILLIAM HELLER, 36 682 818, Signal Corps, Third Signal Company. from 15 August 1944 to 8 May 1945 in France, Germany, and Austria. Technician Heller and a comrade, a Photographic Team assigned to the Division Photographic Section, with great devotion to duty and often at great personal risk, photographed all combat operations of the Division, from the beaches of Southern France to the final operations of the Division in Germany and Austria, thus providing the Division with a complete authentic pictorial record of its campaign.
Bill, born and raised in Chicago, operated a portrait studio on the south side of Chicago for more than forty years. Married to Sylvia with one son (me – my brother Jerry came
along after the war), Bill entered World War 2 when he was 33 years old.
He could have received a deferment, but like most of his generation, Bill offered his
services to a grateful country.
As a first generation American, his sense of duty was never in question. Mom always kidded
him, that he had to do his “John Wayne duty.”
Many of the captions on this website are from my father’s handwritten notes on the back of the photos. Other information came from my conversations with him, and other World War II veterans of the 3rd Infantry Division, US Army.
Old GuestBook
Entries 1998-2000
A special thank you to Ed Heller, my son,
and Martin Spirit, my dear friend,
whose special artistic talents made many of the graphics on these pages possible.
These pictures have been part of an album that Mom and Dad put together in the 1950’s. They showed our family and friends the horror of the war in Europe. Also note, there are at this time more than 200 photos on these pages, so be patient while they load.
After basic training at Camp Croft, near Spartanburg, South Carolina, Bill shipped out to North Africa. Naturally, in the US Army’s typical modus operandi, Bill started out in the infantry as a rifleman, instead of his specialty, photography.
He fought in the invasions and occupations of North Africa, Sicily, and Italy.
The Army finally came to it’s senses and assigned him to the Signal Corps permanently in June of 1944 .
Photographing the 3rd Infantry Division’s march through Sicily, Italy, Southern France and finally Germany,
Bill was awarded the Bronze Star for his bravery under fire.
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