ERINN NEEDS A HOSER NICKNAME

Erinn is starting to feel left out of hoserland because she still does not have a nickname. It is time to find her one. I will give a few suggestions here. Vote for your favorite or add ideas of your own in the comment section.

1. Grandma Hoser

2. Rhody Hoser

3. Becker Hoser

4. Psycho Hoser (due to the fact she has a psych degree and many of us use her as a shrink)

5. VP Hoser

6. OT Hoser

7. Provdance Hoser

Congradulations to Ankur and Namrata

Congradulations to Ankur and Namrata on the recent wedding.

Well Namrata has not only survived her first UNH hockey game but blended right into the crazy world of the hozer in the front row. The only down side is this is starting to affect our ratio of guys to girls in hoser nation (I think we are starting to see a swing in the power of the front row)

RIP Grandpa Mil

Today one of the most amazing men that I have ever known past away (my grandfather, my hero, my friend). I have always loved my grandfather ever since I was very young and I would look forward to overnight visits to my grandparent’s house. However it was not until I was assigned a project in junior high to interview someone and to write a paper on that person that I truly realized what a remarkable man he was. It was at that time that I found a new found level of respect for him not only as a war hero but also as a hero of our family with the values that he has passed on through generations. I learned that a hero was not my favorite sports figure but rather people like my grandfather who gave every bit of himself so that we may enjoy the freedoms we have today. Below is the short version of his experiences as a POW in Germany during WWII and the story of his return to visit one of his prision gaurds in Germany years after the war.:

A Soldier of WW II and POW

I entered the service on 23 October, 1943 at Camp Devens, MA. and was shipped to the 30th Infantry Division after completing my 17 weeks of basic training in Camp Blanding, Florida. During the Christmas holiday, my wife Rita and my mother and father came down for a week to be with me for the holidays. I did not have much time with them as our unit was on alert and was only able to get over night passes. This meant that we had to be back by 6:30 am for morning roll call. After 17 weeks of training, I was shipped home for a furlough and then had to report to N.Y. for shipment over seas. We left camp Shanks in N.Y. on an English ship and it took 21 days before we arrived in England. The reason it took so long is that we where in a very large convoy and the whole convoy had to zig and zag across the Atlantic to avoid any German submarine attack

Once we were settled in England and I was assigned to a school for armour artificer. This was in Swinden England a school teaching about weapons. We studied from the 45 Cal. Pistol to the 50 Cal. Water cooled machine gun. This was a 5 week course and in the last part of May, I completed the course with a grade of excellence. A few days later, we were shipped to a marshalling area for shipment over the channel as “ D Day ‘ was close at hand.

O n the evening of 11 June, 1944 we were shipped to France on L.S.T.’s and we landed on Oamah beach on 12th of June 1943. Once on the beach, we were told to dig a slit trench for our selves. No sooner had we dug our trenches, we were strafed by a plane that we never saw or heard it coming. All we heard was the drone of the engine and the bullets hitting the ground. This was our baptism of fire from a German Jet Air plane that we never heard of.

A few hours latter, we started to move in land and into the fighting in Normandy. Fighting here was very difficult as we encountered what was called the hedge row’s .These were boundary lines for farmers land. The hedge row’s were mounds of dirt about 5 to 6” high and the same distance wide. On top of these mounds, there grew a thorny type of bush that was also about 5 to 6 ft. high. The total height was at least 12 feet high in all. It was difficult to see through them or go over them.

Many days we would be fighting on one side of the hedge row and the Germans on the other side. To combat this problem for getting through or over, the engineers devised a plow type blade and welded it to the front of the tanks.. After ramming the banks several times the tanks was able to break a hole through to make an opening to the other side. This was fine and good until the Germans set up a machine guns to cross fire at the holes.. The German cross fire was tough getting through with out getting shot.

How ever after the engineers made several of these plows, they were able to break holes in many areas so we could get through. Once our troops got through the hedge rows, the tanks were traveling nearly 100 miles a day and the infantry was close behind. We had very difficult fighting from the beach to 7 August, 44 when we arrived at a town call Mortain, France. This town was mostly on a hill top. We had just come out of a rest area where the U.S.O. had come to entertain us. Edward G. Robinson was one of the celebrities.

On the evening of 6 August, 44 we moved out to relieve the 1st Div. on the line. All during the night, we could hear loud voices and the sounds of tanks coming into the area. We thought it was the noise from our tanks coming into position. BOY! Where we wrong. At about 5.30 am, we were awakened by the loud sound of tanks in the very heavy fog. The fog was so thick, that you could not see your hand in front of you. Suddenly these tanks started to fire through the fog at our position. After about 5 hours of fighting, the tanks over run our position and we were told by to surrender rather than lose a lot of men. Our anti tank guns were wiped out and we had run out of tank fighting ammo and weapons The word to surrender came up from Battalion Headquarters. I at the time was a platoon runner and was with my platoon leader, Lt. Philip D.Mc Intyre when we surrendered.

After capture, we were marched the rear of the German lines where they stripped us of our belongings. Watches,Gold I.D bracelets any gold parcel teeth that a soldiers would have.. Some Germans even took shoes and field jackets from us.

After searching and interrogation, they loaded us on to German trucks and drove off. Where to we did not know. While on the trucks, we were staffed by a British Spit Fire plane as there were no POW signs on any of the German trucks.

The Germans got off the trucks to take cover, but held rifles on us and were told not to get off the trucks. After a couple of passes, we took off for the ditches on the side of the road also after seeing our men get shot up by this plane. Many on the convoy were dead and wounded. We tried to wave the pilot off with our shirts or what ever we had to wave. After many passes firing at the trucks, the pilot realized that we were allies and he wave his wings and took off.

The wounded and dead, were left there and we took off again where who knew.. As dusk was coming in, we started to enter a large city and driving through, we saw the Efle Tower and knew we were in Paris. They drove us to a freight yard and loaded us on to the famous 40 & 8 freight cars. The term 40 & 8 came from WW I and meant that the cars could hold 40 men or 8 horses. We were loaded 50 men to a car. Barely enough room to lie or sit. In one corner, there was a wooded bucket for us to use to relieve our selves if we could make it to the bucket in time. After many days, with out food or water, the G.I.,s were getting sick and many had dysentery. Not being able to get to the other side of the car things just went all over the floor. This is where we had to sit or stand in all the slop.

It was three month of traveling this way before we got to a German prison camp.. Many of these days we had no food or water. Occasionally they would open the doors and throw in a couple loaves of black bread. Most of this bread was made of saw dust . The camp we arrived in was called a Stalag, Meaning prison. It was call Stalag # 7 in the German town of Memmengen. This was a new camp and only had a large tent for shelter. On the ground it was covered with a light thickness of dirty old straw full of bugs. The bugs were so bad, that some of us took the chance and sneaked out under the tent to sleep to get away from the bugs. God, help us if we ever got caught. We stayed here a very short time and were fed a very watery soup with potato skins boiled in the water. Slices of the same black saw dust bread. They also severed a hot drink they called coffee. This was nothing more than burnt acorns boiled in water. It wasn’t what we called coffee but in the cold weather it was hot and tasted fairly good.

After a few weeks, we were shipped out to a working camp in a large city called Augsburg about 50 miles North West of Munich. Here we had three wooden barracks much like our G.I. Barracks back home but made very flimsy and no insulation on the floor, roof or walls. When it got cold in the winter we lived and slept in all our clothes. They had a very small pot belly stove in the middle of the room. With 25 men to a room, not many could get close to the stove. Another thing was that there was no coal to be had, so while out working we picked up pieces of any kind of material that would burn and took it back to the barracks at night for a fire to keep warm and cook. Ex-POW’s where to receive a Red Cross parcel of food and cigarettes weekly but seldom received them. Most of the parcels where used by the Nazi . We where issued old hole filled blankets.

New blankets where always issued when the Red Cross came around to inspect the camp but when they left, the blankets where taken away from us and the old blankets where reissued.

Our detail of work here was to clean up after the allies bombed the city.. The Americans would come about noon and the English would bomb at night. Once we left the stalag and went to a work camp, we were not protected from the bombing. If the Germans got it we got it also. While out working, if an air raid came we would be rushed into one of the air raid shelter that the G.I’s. where digging for the Germans Shelter. The only problem with the shelter was that we were put in one that had now second way out. If a bomb hit the top of the entrance and block it up we would be buried alive and the Germens would care less. The shelters the German civilians went into had more than one entrance for escape.

All the Stalags, were listed with the Allies and the Red Cross and would not get bombed as all the roofs in camps were marked POW... We would have the detail to clean up after the bombing was finished or we would be digging air raid shelters for the German civilians. The shelters where dug into a mountain or big hill near by. Once we where in the hill, we would dig down ward for a long way so that bombs could not penetrate the mountain. One day while digging, a bomb hit the top of the entrance and a lot of dirt started rolling down Thank God it was frozen dirt and did not roll down into the shelter. We started to scramble out for fear of a cave in as we only had one way out at this time because the tunnel was not finished.

After doing this a short time, we were reassigned to another detail. We were assigned to a lumber yard making shingles for bombed out buildings. These were very narrow strips of wood that would be place in between two slate flat tiles so that water would not seep in between the two tiles.

This is how they were started. We would go into the forest and cut down several large pine tree and haul them back to the lumber yard on a trailer much like the trailers that the electric companies use to transport telephone poles. We would debark the tree and with a two man saw, we would cut it up into 18” blocks, then we would chop the blocks into a pieces of wood slightly larger that a two by four, These were place on a small bench and shaved into thin strips of wood to go in between the slate as I mentioned. On this bench, there was mounted a large curved sharp blade. It was bolted at the top so that it could be brought down with a handle on the front end and as we moved this knife up it would be brought down , we cut a shingle about 1/8 thick. After we had cut 1200 shingles we would tie them into bundles with a pieces of wire to hold them together. When we had made 12 bundles of 1200 shingles that each of us cut, we were allowed to go back to the barracks. This is what four of us G.I.’s did for 6 months.

We were marched to and from work every day. The march from Augsburg to Friedberg was about 5 miles each way. A German guard was assigned to us and he would march to work and stay as we worked until time to return. We got to know this guard named Otto Hausch very well and changed his manor of thinking. He was a disabled German soldier from the Russian front and at heart he was no NAZI. He treat us well and never was harsh with us but did what he had to do as a German soldier but never over did his authority. Before the war ended, we had Otto pretty well trained our way. With our cigarettes and powered coffee when we got them, he would trade for us among the civilians and bring food back into camp for us from the farmers. We were not allowed to trade with the Germans, and if he was caught he would have been shot. In the latter days of April, the Allies were getting close to our barracks and once again, we were told to pack up as we were moving. This was on the 25th of April. 1945 we were marched to the rear away from our troops but on the third day, the Americans caught up with us. On the night of 26 April,19 45 as we were bedded down in an old barn and Otto came into the barn and told us that the Americans would be in town in the morning and we would be liberated. He was ordered to move out with his troops during the night.

Knowing this, we told Otto to stay with us and surrender to the Americans as the war was nearly over and there was not much sense for him to die now. This he did. I was friendlier with Otto than the other three and I asked him for his German issue Bayonet which I still have as a memento. Before Otto left, we all signed a paper that Otto was a fair German and treated us well and asked the Americans to treat him the same.
After liberation we were flown out into a French hospital in Reams and stayed there until we put some weight back on and to heal anything else that was wrong with us. Many of us were starving and had lost a lot of weight. After several weeks in the hospital, we were shipped home arriving home about early June,of 45

POW life was very difficult with hard work and little food but with the will of God, we got home. After a 72 day furlough, I was shipped to Lake Placid, N.Y. for a 2 weeks of R & R and my wife was able to attend with me. After our R & R Rita went home and I was shipped to Ft. Knox to teach Officer Candidates on all types of weapons and how to use them.

This is my military history of 2 plus years. To-day, I am still involved with the Veterans as a member of the American Ex-Prisoners of War. The Disables American Veterans, The 30th Division Assoc. and President of the New England Chapter of the 30th Division and the Combat Infantry Assoc.

Since 1984, Rita and I have been Volunteers for our veterans at the Northampton, Mass. Veterans Affairs as well as at the Holyoke, Mass. Soldiers Home We have received many awards and certificates for the hours of volunteer work we have done..

. This is my Military History and proud to have served my Country.

Private First Class Emil V. Raimondi
Co. A 117 Reg. 30th Division
Serial # 31415402

Entered on 10 November, 2004:

In the year of 1990, Rita my wife and I returned to Europe for a tour of Italy,Switzerland,Austria and Germany. While on tour, we took the time to go to Friedberg, Germany to visit my guard Otto Hausch and his wife Maria. As we arrived at his home, he was standing out in front of his house with his wife, Otto and I both broke down and hugged each other and cried for some time and the women followed.

Maria had cooked up a great German dinner and Otto opened a bottle of Champaign for a toast to all of us. We had a great visit and talk with the help of a friend of Maria who was a teacher and spoke English so we got along very nicely. It was very hard to leave them as we both knew perhaps we would never see each other again.

After arriving home from the war in 1945 I thought of Otto many times and what happened to him and low and behold, Nine months later,I received a letter from Otto. He had been held in American zone prison camp and was back with his wife in Friedberg where we worked as POW’s and he was working there now as a carpenter.
I made a commitment to myself that I would continue to be in touch with Otto and Maria as long as I could. I would write to them several times a year and send photos over to them and they did the same. In this way, we each knew how we were aging and what was going on.

Six months after Rita and I left Germany, I received word that Otto had died from a heart attack. I sent money over for a floral arrangement for the teacher to purchase and place on Otto’s grave. I still continued to write and made phone calls on either Christmas and New Years to his wife. It was hard to understand each other, but she knew it was Rita and I calling and was ever so greratful.

On August of 2004, I received word that Maria had died and the teacher sent the death notice and Mass Card with a photo to us which was greatly appreciated. Rita and I immediately sent over money for flowers to be placed on their grave at a latter date. The Death notice and cards where placed with Otto’s in my album of POW history. I still reminisce about my POW days with Otto. Both He and Maria where great German people and I will never forget them.

This may be a very strange story for an American Ex-Prisoner of War and his German guard but this is my story.

Ex-POW Emil V. Raimondi
7 August, 1944 27 April, 1945


After the war he became an active member of many veterans organizations including the American Ex-Prisoners of War. He has since lived his life following the organizations motto “You are not forgotten”. He has spent countless hours volunteering at different veterans functions, running BINGO games at the soldiers’ home for the disabled veterans, and fundraising for monuments to be built to honor those who have served this country so they will not be forgotten.

My grandfather was the strongest man that I have ever known. Even has he sat in a chair dieing of cancer, suffering from pneumonia and renal failure and resting his head on a pillow in my lap his strength came shinning through. As he sat there he held my hand with such strength that after he let go there were marks on my hand from his grip. While those marks will fade the lasting impression of his strength that it has made in my mind and in my heart will not fade for as long as I shall live.

Grandpa . . . enjoy your long deserved rest . . . I love you.

Nick

Gionta the Italian Christmas !@#$%

Hey Chingedy Ching
Ohh-ahhh, Ohh –ahhh
It’s Gionta the !@#$%
Chingedy Chin
Ohh-ahhh, Ohh-ahh
The Italain Christmas !@#$%
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la ee oh da

York has got a little friend
His name is Gionta
The smallest little !@#$%
You’ll never see hime win
When York visits his paisons,
With Gionta he will be
Because not every player
Can climb the hills of BC

Hey Chingedy Ching
Ohh-ahhh, Ohh –ahhh
It’s Gionta the !@#$%
Chingedy Chin
Ohh-ahhh, Ohh-ahh
The Italain Christmas !@#$%
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la ee oh da

Hockey Skates are on his feet
And a helmet on his head
Hey look at the 5 holes mask
On top of Gionta’s head.
A pair of wins for the other team
And no wins for BC
All you have to do is try
And you’ll see Gionta cry.

Hey Chingedy Ching
Ohh-ahhh, Ohh –ahhh
It’s Gionta the !@#$%
Chingedy Chin
Ohh-ahhh, Ohh-ahh
The Italain Christmas !@#$%
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la ee oh da

We Three Hosers

We three Hosers from Durham are

Bearing cowbells we travel afar

Field and fountain, moon and mountain

following yonder star

O Star of wonder, star of Night

Star with royal beauty bright

Southward leading still proceeding

down route ninty five

From Durham we travel in the fast lane

The Black Bears will wish they never came

Maine sucks for ever, ceasing never

Wildcats forever rein

O Star of Wonder, Star of Night

Star with royal beuaty bright

Southward leading still proceeding

down route 95

White boards to offer have I

From dry erase markers we are high

Prayer and praising, all men raising

worship him, Smith most high

O Star of Wonder, Star of Night

Star with royal beauty bright

Southward leading still proceeding

down route 95

Cornel fans to cheer a joyess RED

Cloud 9 so happy it will go to his head

The will cheer till the realize they have been tamed

and are now forced to play a consolation game

O Star of Wonder, Star of night

Star with Royal beauty bright

Southward leading still proceeding

down rout 95

Back to Durham we travel with everblades cup

Maine fans realize that their time is up

Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding dying

Walsh is sealed in a stone-cold tomb

O Star of Wonder, Star of night

Star with Royal beauty bright

Southward leaking, still proceeding

down route 95

12 Days of Christmas Hoser Style

I know that I was promising 1 song a day until Christmas but unfortunatly life in Grandpa Hoser's land has been a bit hectic. Grandma Hoser as not been feeling well (to the point of having to leave a hockey game early) and also Grandpa Hoser's Grandpa is dieing of cancer. Erinn and I went to visit him tonight and he was having a good day today. He was fairly upbeat and was joking around with us despite the fact that he only has a few days to live. It must be where I got my Hoser genes from (waiting on Indian Hoser to confirm) since we all know that hosers are not only funny but tough. On the way back from visiting him we wrote the 12 Days of Christmas Hoser Style:

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me A Manke on the bench

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me:2 Zambonis and a Manke on the bench

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to be 3 Blind Refs, 2 Zambonis and a Manke on the bench

On the 4th day of Cristmas my true love gave to me 4 on 4 Hockey, 3 Blind Refs,2 Zambonis and a Manke on the Bench

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me 5 penalties, 4 on 4 hockey, 3 blind refs, 2 zambonis and a Manke on the Bench

On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me 6 defencemen checking . . . 5 penalties, 4 on 4 hockey, 3 blind refs, 2 zambonis and a Manke on the bench.

On the 7th day of Christmas my true love gave to me 7 Band Geeks Whinning, 6 defencemen checking . . . 5 penalties, 4 on 4 hockey, 3 blind refs , 2 zambonis and a Manke on the bench

On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me 8 Hosers Cheering, 7 band geeks whinning, 6 defencemen checking . . . 5 penalties, 4 on 4 hockey, 3 blind refs, 2 zambonis and a Manke on the bench.

On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me 9 teams enveying, 8 hosers cheering, 7 band geeks whinning, 6 defenceman checking . . . 5 penalties, 4 on 4 hockey, 3 blind refs, 2 zambonis, and a Manke on the Bench.

On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me 10 skaters Skating, 9 teams enveying, 8 hosers cheering, 7 band geeks whinning, 6 defencemen checking . . . 5 penalties, 4 on 4 hockey, 3 blind refs, 2 zambonis and a Manke on the bench.

On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me 11 puck bunnies drooling, 10 skaters skating, 9 teams enveying, 8 hosers ceering, 7 band geeks whinning, 6 defencemen checking . . . 5 penalties, 4 on 4 hockey, 3 blind refs, 2 zambonis and a Manke on the bench

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me 12 Hey Ya dancers, 11 puck bunnies drooling, 10 skaters skating, 9 teams enveying, 8 hosers cheering, 7 band geeks whinning, 6 defencemen checking . . . 5 Penalties, 4 on 4 hockey, 3 blind refs, 2 zambonis and a Manke on the bench.

Dashing through the Whitt

Dashing through the Whitt

we have for rows to save.

For our seats we run

laughing all th way

(ha ha ha)

Goal horns have to ring

making spirits bright

what fun it is to wave an sing

at that dumb sieve tonight.

Running Hosers running Hosers

Running all the way

O what fun it is to run

cause we got four rows to save.

A day or two ago

I thought I'd take a ride

We went up to Lowell

what a fucking hole

The crowd was sparse and thin

as least on Lowells side

then the hosers ran in

and showed the wildcat pride

Running Hosers running hosers

Running all the way

Oh what fun it is to run

cause we got four rows to save.

Dashing through the Whitt

Dashing through the Whitt

we have for rows to save.

For our seats we run

laughing all th way

(ha ha ha)

Goal horns have to ring

making spirits bright

what fun it is wo wave an sing

at that tumb sieve tonight.

Running Hosers running Hosers

Running all the way

O what fun it is to run

cause we got four rows to save.

A day or two ago

I thought I'd take a ride

We went up to Lowell

what a fucking hole

The crowd was sparse and thin

as least on Lowells side

then the hosers ran in

and showed the wildcat pride

Running Hosers running hosers

Running all the way

Oh what fun it is to run

cause we got four rows to save.

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE BREAK

Twas the night before break, when all through the Whitt

Not a creature was stirring not even a twitt:

The gromets were hung from the ceiling with care,

in hopes that banners soon would be there.

Thee hosers were nestled all snug in their seat,

with visions of the opponets we would soon beat.

And Mamma Hoser in her jersey, and I in my cap,

had just yelled at the sieve skate, turn, tap tap.

When out on the ice there arose such a clatter,

I stood on my seat to see what was a matter.

Away from the band with hands on my ears,

listening to more would surely bring tears.

The lights glistened on the new Zambonied ice,

and cheers were given when Black Betty enticed.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,

but regan in net for whom the fans would cheer.

With a little old coach so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment is was whistleing Dick.

More rapid than eagles the wildcats they came,

and Dick whistled and shouted and called them by name;

Now Smithlicker, Now Jerry, Now Hobey and MicFlickier!

On Hemmi, on Cicco, on penalty box and Switzer!

Out of our zone, bounce it off the wall,

now score goals score goals score goals all.

The drive up 95 would make the hosers insane

When they met with an obstacal, an undefeated Maine

they left their fans with Ben Bishop to blame,

scored a shit load of goals and the Bears were tamed.

And then in a rush they came from the tunnel

to meet the next team they would soon pummel.

The Hosers bowed to Regan as he skated round

for we new a shut out would soon be found.

He was dressed in blue and white from helmet to skate,

and denied the puck bunnies a chance for a date.

He wore lots of pads and carried a big stick,

and he looked like a wall made of mortar and brick.

His helmet how it twinkeld, his fans how merry,

his pads like a baracade, his glove hand is scarry.

His droll little mouth was drawn up with a frown,

cause the hosers shouted to him while the puck came down.

A mouth gaurd of plastic he held tight in his teeth,

and the spotlight of the Whitt circled his head like a wreath.

He had a broad face and a rock hard belly,

that made opponets shake like a bowl full of jelly.

He was quick he was fast no pucks would soon pass,

Darci laughed so hard she fell on her ass.

A Wink of his eye and a wave of his glove,

soon let the hosers know it was us he did love.

He spoke not a word but went straight to his work,

and made a bitching Parker look like a Jerk.

And laying his stick across the goal crease,

put our anxious Hoser hearts at peace.

He sprang to the bench as a penalty was called,

and Smithlicker still scored even though he was fouled.

But we heard them exclaim as life is life was played

Merry Christmas to Hosers when the title is displayed.