| This is Chris Swift's Yankee Division page. I have a cousin of my mother's side of the family named Raymond M. Geigle that was killed in the 102nd Regiment of YD in France buried in a family plot in Waterbury, Connecticut as well. |
| The Key to understanding the Yankee Division Veterans Association is understanding our relationship with the Catholic Church as a whole. With out that none of it makes sense to an outsider. During the Battle of Belleau in 1918 YD destroyed the village church as it was used to call in artillery. In the 1920s a group of YD veterans got together and rebuilt the church using their own money to fulfill the promise of Commanding General Clarence Edwards. During the Second World War Sal LaRosa was detached from YD as he spoke Italian and sent to the command designed to liberate Rome. He was the only one wearing a YD patch when the Vatican was informed Rome had been liberated. Several months later 660 YDers under Commanding General Willard Paul would die taking back the region where the Yankee Division Memorial Church was. I started to briefly email back and forth with Pierre Rinfret who was YD at that time in World War Two. He was an economic advisor to three United States Presidents and ran a YD website in 2001 when we started to communicate. In 2007 the National Lancers would host a cook out and I got a chance to meet and talk with Sal Larosa. We do not work for the Vatican but we do have a special relationship with it. |