Page 38 - The History of Veterans at Highland Springs

AL BINKO
HIGHLAND SPRINGS RESIDENT, ARMY BY PAT BINKO, WIDOW
Albert J. Binko, (Al) was born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 26, 1926. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on October 2, 1944 just after his 18th birthday, passing up a full engineering scholarship to Johns Hopkins University.
Assigned to the 63d Infantry Division, 255th Regiment, Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, the Army trained him as a scout. The troop ship, the USS Brazil, docked at Le Havre, France in January 1945.
The 63rd division fought in France and Germany. The Siegfried Line, Worms, Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Munich to the Danube River were on its combat agenda. As a scout most of his nights were behind enemy lines.
In April 1945 he and fellow scouts came upon Landsberg Concentration camp in the Dachau complex. The memories of the horrors of torture, starvation, and deaths of these human beings remained with him always.
Al earned the Combat Infantry Badge and the Bronze Star for his service. He always felt his honors were for all the scouts that did not return, as scouts had a high attrition rate. He was honorably discharged on July 31, 1946.
After living a full adult life, Al died on January 22, 2019 at the age of 92. One of his highest honors was being a part of establishing the Veterans Memorial Park at Highland Springs. It began with a “mustard seed of faith,” and now the Park has become a legacy gift for Highland Springs Veterans and many others. I am sure he would be happy to know the work is being carried forward by such capable and devoted veterans.
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