75 Years Ago, Upper Saddle River’s Men Were Coming Home

Upper Saddle River’s population was just over 500 when World War II started, but the town did its share. Forty-four men joined the Armed Forces. Many others, men and women, worked in war plants or volunteered with the Red Cross and other organizations.

Over the years we have collected stories, photos and ephemera from many of those people, and from other veterans who moved in just after the war. They are all gone now but for the next few months we will be posting photos and memories from our archives to share their stories once again.

First Lt. Peter J. Odo

Peter Odo was not technically from Upper Saddle River when he joined the Army. He was from Saddle River and his name is on their WWII marker. But in March 1942, shortly before he left for Officers Candidate School at Fort Benning in Georgia, he had gotten married to Rosemary Otens of Upper Saddle River and they were living with her family, who lived just north of where Presentation Church is today. And it was to Rosemary’s home that he returned in 1945. Soon after they built their own home on Union Avenue. Peter was teaching school, but was elected to the Upper Saddle River Borough Council. In 1956 Steven Goetschius retired and Pete Odo replaced him as Borough Clerk. Pete continued teaching school and worked as clerk in the evening until 1966, when the job became full time. He retired in 1981. Many residents remember him — he was an integral part of Upper Saddle River’s formative years from a rural farm town to a highly touted suburban town.

Peter shared a story from his army days at our World War II event in 2006. It was a newspaper clipping from The Ridgewood News, shown below, detailing how he bagged 200 Nazis single-handed. He laughed about it. It was the end of August 1944 and his unit was in southern France. The Germans there knew the war would be coming to an end and they wanted to surrender to Americans rather than to the French. Pete was in a jeep and he told us that the truth was that he had a driver and a sergeant with him, but his commanding officer gave him all the credit.

Looking through the site for Newspapers.com, there were more stories about Pete. He was with the U.S. Seventh Army, 45th Infantry Division. They started in the Mediterranean Campaign, under General Patton, moving up through Italy. Then their unit moved into southern France. A small article in the Ridgewood News in October 1945 speaks volumes:

“First Lieutenant Peter J. Odo returned to this country September 18, aboard the Thomas Barry, after 2 years overseas duty [he shipped over in September 1943]. Lt. Odo was with the 45th Division and saw action in Italy, France and Germany. He holds five campaign stars, the Purple Heart for wounds received in France in December 1944, and the Bronze Star awarded after Anzio Beachhead.” — Ridgewood News 10/12/45

The Seventh Army served under Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark, and Lt. Gen Alexander Patch. After Anzio and Rome, Pete’s 45th Division took part in the invasion of France by its Mediterranan coast. It then drove a retreating German army north and west toward Alsace where they were absorbed by the Sixth U.S. Army group. The Seventh Army fought its way across the Rhein into Germany, capturing Nuremberg and then Munich.

VE-Day, May 8, 1945, was a cause for celebration. The joy ended, however, when the 45th Infantry Division took part in the liberation of Dachau. Records state that when the soldiers entered Dachau, found “thirty railroad cars filled with bodies, over 9,000 of them. There were still 30,000 inmates, starving, in rags and barely alive.” It was the first work camp, established by Hitler in 1933. When inmates could no longer work, they were sent on to one of the exterminations camps. Peter’s daughter Betty said it was something he could not talk about. It made him too emotional. In fact, she said he did not talk about many of his experiences during the war.

Peter did share his World War II story when he spoke at one of Upper Saddle River’s Memorial Day services when Ken Gabbert was mayor.

The above appeared in The Ridgewood Sunday News on August 31, 1944 and the 3-line promotion notice on December 7, 1944.