More Info On My Grandfather
- April 18, 2004
- 1 comment
I’ve found out some new information on my grandfather, Henry Ruzin. He was trained in Camp Roberts, California, Company D, 76th Infantry Training Battalion. His service number was 37 589 335.
The company he was working for in Havana, Cuba when he died was called Borsari Tank Corporation of America. He was staying at the Hotel “Azul”, Avenida de los Presidentes #158.
I read a letter from a fellow co-worker who saw my grandfather die. The handwriting is very hard to read and there are a lot of misspellings, but I could read most of it. It turns out he didn’t die of asphyxiation. I’m not sure exactly what he died from, but he was having problems several days before he died. A week before he died, on June 1, 1953, he and three co-workers went to the plant. Henry (they called him Hank) went upstairs with another worker. When the author of the letter came upstairs later, he found my grandfather on the ground, bleeding from the head. They ran him to the hospital and did some X-rays, but they showed nothing. He most likely injured his head when he hit the floor. He had stitches put in and stayed in the hospital until Friday, June 5.
That following Monday, June 8, he had breakfast with the guys and seemed to be doing alright. They all went to the plant again, and again the co-worker found my grandfather lying on the ground. This time he looked really bad. He was black and purple in the face. They rushed him to the hospital and the doctor called for some kind of team of workers (the handwriting is illegible here), but before they got there, Henry “gave one deep breath and was gone”.
A later examination showed that his liver was twice the normal size, but they pronounced the cause of death as heart failure. Henry drank a lot apparently, but had tried cutting back. In an earlier letter, dated June 4 to my grandmother (which he must’ve written while in the hospital the first time), he mentioned he hadn’t had much to drink and didn’t want to drink because “it stinks”.
That’s all I’ve found so far. It’s sad, and I can see why dad never talked to me about it. Even so, Henry was a decorated soldier and was an honorable man who loved his wife and kids. I would really love to find more info on him while he was in the army in Europe.
That is all truly amazing. I never knew any of that information exsited.
Out of his 5 living children, their feelings and memories about him vary widely. All my mother ever talked about were all her terrible memories about his drinking. Grandmother said things to me about him often, but they couldn’t really be labeled as good or bad, just things that happened.
I am looking forward to reading whatever else you find out about him.