Newell, Art

Art Newell was born November 11, 1925 in Struthers, Ohio. He grew up there against the backdrop of the Great Depression, working in a local steel mill alongside his father, a Great War veteran who became a local labor leader.  Pearl Harbor would change the fate of Art’s generation:  Art’s older brother and an uncle were in the war from the start, and both served in the Pacific.  Because of their service, Art’s mother insisted that he wait until he was called up:  Art turned 18 in 1943, and with that he was off to basic training.  Art passed through a series of camps before being sent to New York, where he boarded the troop ship John Ericsson; they were supposed to sail to England, but their convoy came under U-boat attack, so they were rerouted to Le Havre, arriving in late 1944.  The first stop on the continent was in Camp Lucky Strike, and from there they were shipped to the front lines in the Metz area of eastern France.  Part of the 65th Infantry Division (260th Regiment, B Company), they pressed the attack in that part of France, crossing the Siegfried Line into Germany.  Art and his friend Harry had volunteered as point men in their scout platoon, so they were on the leading edge of the ongoing assault.  The unit saw intense action at Struth as they displaced the Germans and took prisoners as they advanced.  The march through Germany and Austria also saw the liberation of many of the Nazi concentration camps, and Art’s unit took part in the liberation of both Ohrdruf and Mauthausen, two of the infamous camps where the Nazis’ inhumanity was on display.  The war ended for Art in Linz, Austria; he did not get to go home right away as he was kept on for a year for the Army of Occupation.  Art returned home in 1946:  he was discharged and made his way back to Ohio, where he met Marcia a few years later.  They married and started a family, finding their own place in postwar America.  Art Newell was interviewed by Scott Masters at his home in Struthers, Ohio in March 2026.