Gottlieb "Scott" Ruby was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, as Gottlieb Rube and changed his name before he joined the US Army prior to World War II.

The following is from a hand-written letter from Gottlieb “Scott’ Ruby in response to a 17 March 1987 request for information from Fred L Witzgall of the Eightieth Division Veterans Association. In order to make sense of Gottlieb Ruby’s reponse, the transcriber has included the original Witzgall letter which is denoted by [ ] marks.

Bakersfield, Calif 93306
26 May 1987

[To] Fred L Witzgall

Sorry it has taken so long in answering your letter of 17 March. I’ve been trying to contact some of the original I Co. people but haven’t had too much success. I did end up talking by phone to three of these & all three said they would be glad to answer any of your questions so I am sending their addresses and phone numbers. I think all three were with the company from the beginning to the end while I was hospitalized the first time for four months, the second time for approx. 2-3 weeks, then spent twenty days with the 394 Bomber Group, then a day or two after the war was over I came down with scarlet fever.

Hugo Rosene, Hammond, IN

Francis Santucci, Jim Thorpe PA

Raymond Gage, Elk Creek CA

I think all three would have reliable information since Rosene & Gage were at headquarters part of the time and Santucci was I Co. mail clerk. I’m also enclosing two pages of names & addresses of I Co. people that was sent to me several years ago by Gage.

Now back to your letter of 17 March.

[COMMENT (from the Witzgall letter): My record indicates that on 24 May 44, Capt Floyd E. Shockly* was CO of Co I, 319th - then there is a gap in command until 1st Lt Edward B. LeRoy was indicated as CO in August 1944.]

[Question #1 - Who was Capt Schockly* and when/why did he leave Co I? For where?]

Who was Capt Schockly*? Neither I nor Rosene or Santucci knew of him.

[Question #2 - Was Lt LeRoy your CO on 4 September 44?]

Capt LeRoy was the I Co. Com. on 4 Sept 44.

[Question #3 -Could you still describe Lt LeRoy (appearance, mannerism, voice)?]

[part of the sentence is missing from the text copy] …. Normal. He never seemed excited or upset.

[COMMENT (from the Witzgall letter): On 3 Sep 44, CT 319 received orders to advance and occupy the high ground SE or TOUL. The CT attacked with the 3rd Bn at 0700, 4 Sep 44, while the remainder of CT 319 moved into TOUL. At 0600 Co I was 1 mile E of TOUL in the battalion assembly area and began its move by truck via Fort Villey-le-Sec** to 3 miles S of CHEYEDENE***, then on foot to TOUL where the crossing of the MOSELLE River was completed by 1530. About 1 mile E of TOUL Co I was engaged by enemy fire before reaching the high ground near GONDREVILLE. Co. I casualties: Lt Ruby, Pfcs Carlson, Young, Chesniak, Holly, and James. On 5 Sep 44 Co I continued the attack but was again held up by heavy enemy fire. Casualties: 2Lt Harry Sullivan.]

[Question #4 - What was your platoon (1st, 2d, 3d, etc?) and who was the Platoon Sgt?]

My platoon was the 1st platoon. Sgt. Inks was my platoon Sgt.

[Question #5 -What was the platoon mission?]

To take two small hills across the Moselle River. Had to cross by boat.

[Question #6 - What was the time of day, weather, and terrain?]

I think it was 4 PM. The weather was clear & the terrain was pasture land & fairly level to the foot of both hills.

[Question #7 - What type(s) of enemy fire did you encounter?]

Rifle, MG, and sniper fire

[Question #8 - How and when in the attack were you wounded and by what?]

I was hit in the left shoulder right from the beginning and was told it was a smiper that got me. I really think it was MG fire because it was a tracer & I was being fired on by MGs from both hills.

[Question #9 - Exactly what were you doing at the time of wounding?]

I was getting the riflemen to move forward & fire at the same time while at the same time, I had the two MGs attached to me do the same thing. While one MG would be firing I would have the other one move forward for some short distance then the other MG would fire. In other words I would have them leap frog. I had them keep this up until we took both hills. While we were attacking from the front I had Sgt. Inks w/one sqd & one bazooka sneak around the back of the 1st hill to knock out that German MG which they did while we were assaulting from the front.

[Question #10 - How fast did you get to the medics or the medic to you?]

I didn’t let my 1st aid man Petropolus come near me until Sgt Ink’s squad had knocked out the 1st MG that was trying hard to get me. This took approximately 15 min to ½ hr. I stayed until we took both hills.

[Question #11 - What treatment and evacuation steps?]

I was ordered back to the 1st aid station by Chaplain Henole & our medical officer. From there I was taken by ambulance to a field hospital located next to an air strip. From here I was flown to Bristol England where I was hospitalized for 4 months. Should have recovered sooner but had an infection so had to operate a second time.

[COMMENT (from the Witzgall letter): At 1330, 1 Apr 45, Co I left OBERAULA, Ger by motor 23 mi to the Bn Assembly area at MELGERSHAUSEN, arr 1745. At 0300, 2 Aor 45, the Bn moved 6 mi NW to GUXHAGEN, arr 0330, and set up roadblocks on the E and N approaches to town. At 1200 Co I attacked and cleared the woods S of VOLLMARSHAUSEN and them seized the town. Enroute, Co I encountered medium enemy artillery fire and heavy automatic and s/a fire. It was not until 0630, after house-to-house fighting that the town was cleared.]

[Question #12 - Do you recall the particulars of this fight? And what happened to Capt LeRoy** who was at first declared missing and then killed in action?]

Now back to Capt LeRoy. I don’t remember the date or the name of the town but I do remember what he and I discussed before he was killed.

I had just received my attack orders and since we had a few minutes before zero hour which was 4 PM we were talking about the war being officially over the next day. I mentioned that I hoped that none of us would get killed before then. Capt Leroy then spoke up saying “I’m never going to make it home.” I spoke up saying “What do you mean Capt?” He again stated that he wouldn’t live thru this war. He seemed to really mean it & I was shocked. I then told him “Capt as far as I know you have never been wounded and tha this is the fourth time up front for me & also my platoon & I will be spearheading this assault while you will be behind so you shouldn’t have anything happen to you.” He seemed depressed when I was leaving to get my platoon ready to attack this small village.

At 4 PM I ordered my men to move out. I hadn’t taken but a few steps when enemy artillery started coming in. I ordered my men to spread out & move in faster to hopefully keep ahead of the artillery. About this time we started to receive rifle & MG fire so again I ordered the men to spread out more & start firing with everything they had. About this time I jumped down a railroad embankment on this side hill right in front of a German MG. I fired my carbine while still in the air. Of course I missed & would you believe it my carbine jammed so I jerked out the clip & replaced it with another one. I got in one round just as two GIs jumped on top of these germans. I then caught up with my platoon, cleaned out the small town.

About this time I got a call on my radio from Col. Cheston. He told me that there was a tiger tank coming down the road & to get this tank. I then stepped around the corner to check on this tank. When I stepped around the corner of this building there were two german riflemen, one kneeling, one standing, with rifles ready to fire. We were so close together that we could have touched guns.

All of us fired at the same time. I still haven’t figured out how I kept from being killed. I was firing from my right hip. All I know is that for a few seconds I thought my right hand was gone until I noticed I was still holding my rifle in my right hand but I couldn’t feel anything. Apparently both bullets had been deflected by my carbine because the am clip was torn out and the chamber was completely demolished.

At this time, Col Cheston came by. He told me that Capt LeRoy had been killed so Cheston gave me Capt LeRoy’s pistol since my carbine was demolished. He also gave me LeRoy’s binoculars which had a bullet hole thru the left lense.

I told Cheston about Capt LeRoy saying that he would never live thru this war. I can’t remember now what Cheston said about this.

The war was officially over the next day.

I had several more close calls during this action but decided that I better answer your question instead.

I’m sure Santucci, Rosene, & Gage can fill in the thing I left out or could be wrong on.

G. “Scotty” Ruby

P.S. You mentioned that you had degenerative joint disease. I had both hips replaced 14 years ago then had one replacement last fall. My first hip replacement is going into the 15th year & is still doing good.

[Here is my Army History]

Entered Army 21 Feb 1941 at age 27 Co. C 15th Inf 3 Div
PFC to Corp 20 Mar 1942 Co. C 15th Inf 3 Div
Corp to 2nd Lt 26 Aug 1942
2nd Lt to 1st Lt 7 Feb 1944
1st Lt to Discharge 20 Jan 1946
Honorary Reserves 2 Aug 1949
Reserves 31 Dec 1952
Was overseas from 1 Jul 44 to 17 Aug 1945

Went on five bombing missions with the 394 Bomber Group 584th Bomber squadron at Cambrai, France, for the purpose of instructions in Air Ground Liaison from 5 March 45 to 25 Mar 45

Decorations
Purple Heart, Gen Order 29, 6/6/44
Oak Leaf Cluster, Gen Order 96, 4/6/45
Distinguished Service Cross, Gen Order 97, 11/24/44
Combat Infantry Badge, Spec Order 27, 2/25/45
Bronze Star, Perm Order 192-12, 10/5/83
4 Bronze Service Stars

I was told before I left the Bomber Group that I was being put in for the Air Medal. In fact they had me sign some papers, but have since been told that I was never recommended or awarded this medal & so have not followed this thru

Transcriber Updates:
*the proper spelling of Schockly and Shockly is Shockley, found on Fold3 website
**via Fort de Villey-le-Sec is likely the road, Route de Villey le Sec, leading toward the Fort
***Cheyedene is probably a misspelling of Chaudeney as the battle took place in this area
**Captain Edward B. Leroy can be found on Fold3 website. Portions of this letter were added to his record

The Fresno Bee Article - "Gottlieb Ruby, son of John G. Ruby, Route 7, box 295, recently was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army Infantry. He was graduated from the officers training school at Fort Benning, Ga., and, after spending a ten day furlough in Washington, D.C. will be stationed in Indian Town Gap Military, Pa."