Stanley Goldstein
Age: 89
Born: April 10, 1922
Hometown: Chicago
Residence: Cathedral City
Military branch: U.S. Army; 3rd Army; 35th Infantry Division; 134th Infantry Regiment; Company L
Awards: Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart
Years served: May 1944 - December 1946
Rank: Private first class
Family: Wife Audrey (deceased); two children, Howard Goldstein of Columbus, Ohio, and Robin Tatina of Sequim, Wash; four grandchildren.
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U.S. Army infantryman Stanley Goldstein said his first combat assignment — as company scout — didn't last very long.
“I got lost in the woods at night,” he said, laughing.
Scouting wasn't a natural fit for the young soldier.
Walking ahead of his company, Goldstein, a member of the 35th Infantry Division, was supposed to keep his eyes and ears open for the enemy.
Although he'd hear the “bang, bang, bang!” sound of shots being fired, he'd just keep moving forward.
“My buddy said, ‘Goldie, when you hear that, you run for cover.' I had no idea how close they were. After that, I learned to dig a hole really fast!”
Eventually relieved of his scouting duties, Goldstein was assigned to carry the radio for his company's captain.
In France, the men raided the cellars of abandoned homes where residents kept liquor among their piles of potatoes.
On one occasion, U.S. soldiers were digging through potato piles for cognac and champagne, while Germans were across the street shooting at the treasure hunters.
Goldstein fought — and was wounded — during the Battle of the Bulge.
“It was so confusing at that time,” he said. “Nobody knew where they were going.”
The German 88s, massive guns mounted on tanks, seemed like they were everywhere.
“When you hear the tracks of those things coming ... they look like huge monsters.”
Flying shrapnel from an exploding tank shell left its mark on Goldstein on Jan. 29, 1945, in the last days of the battle.
His arm and helmet were hit with the hot, piercing metal.
The shrapnel busted a seam in the helmet and nearly penetrated through to his head.
“That was scary,” he said.
After getting hit, he fell into a trench and broke his nose.
Goldstein spent a short time recovering behind the lines, but was soon back in the fight.
“We were moving. Fighting Germans off. Dodging shells. We went all the way to the Elbe River where we met the Russians.”
Goldstein, who spent 20 months overseas, said it was just “dumb luck” that he survived — while many of his friends never made it home.
“I was just very, very fortunate. When you're under fire, you know sooner or later you're going to get hit.”
One of his buddies was killed when a shell blew up in his foxhole next to Goldstein.
The “nice, quiet boy from Beverly Hills” was gone in an instant.
Goldstein returned to the states on the Queen Mary. When it entered New York Harbor, a yacht carrying the singing Andrews Sisters circled the big luxury liner.
“There wasn't a dry eye on the ship. What a feeling that is.”
After the war, Goldstein had a hot dog stand on Beaudry and Temple in Los Angeles. He later opened a restaurant, Magnolia Fish & Chips, in Burbank.
Goldstein moved to Long Beach in the late 1950s, where he began a longtime career as a milkman with Carnation Milk.
“After 20 years with Carnation, I went from milk — to booze,” he said laughing.
He spent 10 years working for liquor giant Seagram's before retiring to the desert in 1986.
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II on Sundays. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
