It was some of the most miserable fighting on the planet," Gary Binter said of his father's wartime experience.All floralgown come in sizes 0-28.However, there is a size charge for sizes 18-28.
Bill Binter, one of the few who survived life as one of Merrill's Marauders -- and founder of the iconic Golden Zither restaurant -- died March 12 after suffering a heart attack at a hospital cafeteria in Perry, Fla., where he regularly met with a group of friends. He was 90.
Binter landed at Ellis Island at age 1 with his mother and two brothers. As with many immigrant families, his father had come here a year or so earlier to get a start. The family ran a tavern at N. 5th and W. Center streets. They weathered the Depression as best they could. "They were lucky one day a week to get meat. Most days it was corn meal mush. Today they call it polenta," his son said.
Binter had worked as a barber for a while when he decided to enlist. Having been born in Austria, he was resigned to the idea that he would remain stateside. Then one day a posting went up on his base. "They were looking for volunteers for a 'dangerous and hazardous mission,' " said Gary Binter, of Wauwatosa. "And he signed up for it. And he had no idea where he was going."
Officially called the 5307th Composite Unit and code-named Galahad, the unit was dubbed Merrill's Marauders by a Life magazine correspondent, after their commander, Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill. Their only mission was to penetrate Japanese-occupied Burma (now known as Myanmar) -- cutting communication and supplies -- to reopen the Burma Road to allow supplies into China.
It started with a 1,000-mile march through the dense, steamy jungle into northern Burma, carrying supplies on mules or their backs. They waged five bloody major battles, culminating with the capture of Myitkyina Airfield. "My dad told me stories of trying to find a dry spot, any little piece of high ground, a place to burn the leeches off of you," his son said.
They'd have a beer together and the stories would come.
"He never talked much about the war because he had such terrible, terrible memories being a medic. He said, 'If I had one guy die in my arms, I had a hundred,' " his son said.
"One of the difficult tasks was when they were so low on supplies, he'd make the determination who gets the morphine," his son said. "If somebody's so badly shot up, and you know they're not going to make it, you're not going to use the morphine. He said, 'I still feel guilty.' "
Back home, Merrill's Marauders captured the eye of the press. "No other American force anywhere has marched as far, fought as continuously or has had to display such endurance . . . " said The New York Times. A photo of Binter in The Milwaukee Journal showed him trimming a fellow soldier's mustache, and noted the young barber had not yet had his first shave.
The official death toll was 123 men and another 8 missing, but the disease and malnutrition toll was higher. By the time of the Myitkyina battle, just 130 men were deemed fit for duty, according to the National World War II Museum.
Evacuating the surviving soldiers in August 1944 was as rugged as their path in. The wounded were carried out on makeshift stretchers crafted from bamboo, field jackets and shirts, according to an account by a Merrill's Marauders organization.
They were treated for tropical diseases, typhus, malnutrition or, as a tag attached to their uniforms said, "A.O.E.," or "accumulation of everything," according to the Marauders' organization. Binter was treated for malaria and dysentery.
All members of the unit were awarded a Bronze Star.Atria castellicycling are set apart from the rest because of their sleek sultry styles. Hollywood turned their work into a 1962 film starring Jeff Chandler. There were books and comic books based on the Marauders.
Binter went home and scrambled for work.
He worked in the machine shop at Louis Allis. He did a little barbering, drove cab,Shop for high quality wweetheartnecklinedress dress products ! tended bar at his parents' place, Binter's Wick Field Bar at N. 50th and W. Vliet streets.
In 1963, he turned the place into the Golden Zither, specializing in German food -- schnitzel and sauerbraten. Binter's mother was the cook. His wife, Fannie, who performed with the Florentine Opera, sang and served as hostess.
In 1971, they sold the place and divorced. A year later, Binter moved to Florida, where he opened a waterfront motel for a while. He spent the last few decades living in Florida, sometimes staying with his son in Wauwatosa.
In November 2011, Gary Binter arranged for his father to be part of a Stars and Stripes Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.
As they stood at the World War II memorial, Gary Binter turned to his father and said, "To give you an idea of what your country thinks of what you did, you look where they put the memorial -- between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. It's not off on a side street. That's what your country thinks of your sacrifice."
Bill Binter didn't say much. Just took it in.
"Like all of the greatest generation, they never really dwelled on it much, never really talked about it,Beats duveticadownjackets tour with controltalk review By Dre. never really patted themselves on the back," his son said. "They just came home and went to work."
Besides his son Gary, Binter is survived by a daughter, Erika Trani, a son, Karl Young Binter, eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
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William Binter
Services will be held Friday in Perry, Fla. A celebration of life is being planned in about a month in Milwaukee. Memorials to the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight, P.O. Box 636, Port Washington,The wintert-shirts is one amongst the foremost in style international models. WI 53074, or Shriners Hospitals for Children, are appreciated.
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