SGT DENNIS S. ZABOTH – KIA

G – Co, 411th

FINDING OUR FATHERS

DENNIS S. ZABOTH BIO

By Diane Helland (Zaboth) - daughter

My father, Dennis Zaboth, was born May 7, 1919 in Chicago, the youngest of four children.  As fate would have it, he was the only one to enter the military and be sent to war.  My grandmother told me when I was young that he originally had a desk job in the army, but welcomed the chance to go over and fight when it was presented.  She said he was a gentle soul and felt he was better suited to stay behind the scenes.  She would tell of how shy he was and very hesitate to ask the girl at work who had caught his eye out on a date.  From his letters I learned that when he finally did approach her, she turned him down.  He thought she was interested in someone else, but she was a shy person also. She, too, was the youngest in her family, a large Italian family of six.  She was one of the few in her family to work as America was just coming out of the depression and work was scarce.  Her oldest brother, Michael, was in the army and was sent to Africa.  Because he talked of her constantly, my grandmother prodded him to persist in his pursuit of her.  She finally accepted a date and the rest became my history.

 

From the few letters we have of his writing to her during his boot camp and my grandmother's remembrances, I found a gentle, loving connection between two very shy people who adored each other.  They married on April 26, 1942 and Lorraine Delores DeMichael became Mrs. Dennis Stanley Zaboth.  I, Diane Gae Zaboth, was born on May 26, 1943.  My father believed the number 26 to be his lucky number.  My Grandma and Grandpa Zaboth and my dad's two brothers and one sister were thrilled with the union.  My Grandma DeMichael, a widow left with six children at a young age, was more hesitant. She thought they should wait until the war was over.  Her concern was that my mom would marry, have a child and become widow if her husband was sent to war.  As fate would have it, her worry became reality. 

 

Dennis was drafted into the army's 103rd Infantry, 411 Division, Co. G, 3 Battalion and sent to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana in June of 1942, learning shortly after that he was to be a father the following May, then to Camp Howze, Texas.  One particularly poignant 6 page letter written from camp, reminisces on their meeting, dating and marriage with a positive outlook to their future together as husband and wife, dad and mom.  This was not to be, however.  His unit was deployed in October 1944 and he was sent overseas to France. Mom lost her love on December 15, 1944 on the Climb to Climbach on the day preceding the Battle of the Bulge.  He was laid to rest in France and brought home in 1948 to be buried in Irving Park Cemetery in Chicago.

 

His legacy continues through his daughter Diane Gae (Zaboth) Helland, her husband Jerald Mark Helland, grandchildren Mark Eugene Helland (Michele Lyn (Crepes) Helland, Lisa Lorraine (Helland) Hammer (Michael Scott Hammer), Melissa Lyn Helland, great grandchildren Zachary Mark Helland, Nicholas Mark Helland, Emma Lorraine Hammer and Mia Belle Hammer.

 

May he rest in peace and honor.

 

 

 

	Dennis S. Zaboth  with daughter, Diane. (1943)