From Blake Avenue in Racine to Belgium, Germany, Czechoslovakia and The Nuremberg Trials.

While researching my dad's (Fred) WWII service I found these two documents.  

Initially, Fred was deployed to the European Theater as a member of the First Infantry Division, 26th Regiment, Battery B 953 Field Artillery Battalion.  He was a forward observer, responsible for sighting in and directing his battery's fire against enemy targets.

When the war in Europe ended in May of 1945, Fred was assigned to the force of American soldiers tasked with guarding the Nazi leaders who were being prosecuted as war criminals at the War Crimes Trials in Nuremberg, Germany.

Pictured are his I.D. card and area pass for the prison compound at Nuremberg that housed the accused Nazi prisoners of war.  As a sergeant, Fred was responsible for a detail of American soldiers who were in constant supervision of those interned at the prison for trial.

Like many WWII veterans, Fred didn't speak much about his experiences as a 19 year old fighting the Nazis in Europe.  Liker his older brothers Santo, Vince, Louis and Mike, Fred honorably and ably represented the Bencriscutto family and served our country with valor during World War II.

I would love to have attached a picture of the German field binoculars Fred was given by one of the Nazi officers he was responsible for while at the prison at Nuremberg.  That's not possible because I left those binoculars on a CTA bus while on the way home from Wrigley Field at age 14.  Needless to say, my dad wasn't too pleased about my close up look at the game.