MY ARMY DAYS: WWII (81-90)

            -81-

So we who had found all those vats

Had not a drop to drink

While those in the rear echelon

Just drank ‘til all were drunk.

That’s still what I remember most

Although I had a scare

Came face to face with a big Kraut

Who wanted just to quit.

Schweinfürt was the next biggest town

That we were told to take

It housed the great ball bearing works

Where we’d lost all these planes

In making daylight air attacks

Against these factories

But that was just before we came

And now it was our turn.

The date was April, the Fifteenth

That I remember still

And so will every G.I. Joe

Who fought that day as well

For it was on this very day

We lost our President

Our politics did differ some

But still I felt the loss.

            -82-

Our dawn attack was scheduled to

Begin at six o’clock

Preceded by an air assault

That came as a surprise

Medium bombers came in low

To keep us in the clear

And bombed the center of that town

‘Til there was nothing left.

Wave after wave, we watched them come

Left nothing but debris

Over which we had to climb, as

We started our attack.

We saw no one, we heard some shots

Resistance was quite low

We went right through and cleared that town

And never fired a shot.

We searched for billets when we stopped

So we could sleep that night

But only found some raunchy bunks

Where D.P.’s had been kept

But straw bunks were much better than

Sleeping on the cold ground

But right next door, to compensate,

We found a Kraut drugstore.

            -83-

This store was something else again

For it was so well stocked

The things associated with

Drugstores did not exist

Instead, as search revealed to me

Big crates of pink champagne

Why it was here, we’ll never know

Just made the most of it.

The next day was a day of rest

And it was just as well

Too many men in our platoon

Had heads that hurt like hell

And I suspected this was true

Among the riflemen

For we had shared our loot with them

With only guards exempt.

Perhaps the champagne did some good

For now most were relaxed

And when big heads did disappear

We were all set to go.

Our brass had figured that we’d turn

And head southward toward Fürth

Other outfits were then assigned

To take out Nuremburg.

            -84-

We traveled back the way we’d come

But this time was by truck

Back past Würzburg’s painted castle

And then we headed south

We moved on trucks for half a day

And then went on by foot

Each regiment had its own road

So off we went again.

Our usual approach to each small town

Was as described before

With mortars working as a team

And riflemen out front

Most every town as we approached

Would show the great white sheets

Then we would check each house in town

And then head for the next.

These towns were not too far apart

Perhaps three miles or so

But I have vivid thoughts of one

Late in the afternoon

We were about ten miles from Fürth

Had reached an open field

When Krauts were spotted digging in

Outside of the next town.

            -85-

There was no spot where we could place

The mortars out of sight

There was nothing our riflemen

Could do except lay flat.

We set our guns and placed our stakes

Right out where all could see

Then fired those guns to set the plates

And then the fun began.

Our second rounds were at the Krauts

That then were digging in

And once we had adjusted guns

We fired for effect

The rounds came down upon the Krauts

And gave them pause for thought

Our light machine guns took the flanks

And started their own fire.

The riflemen then moved ahead

In rapid jumps and starts

While we kept dropping in those rounds

As fast as we could fire.

Our combined actions did the trick

The Krauts began to run

We stopped our fire, knocked down our guns

And moved ahead again.

            -86-

The Krauts had mostly disappeared

Except the wounded few

And those whose war had gone kaput

Hit by our mortar rounds.

And when that skirmish ended there

We moved to clear the town

And found it full of big white sheets

That told us they had quit.

It now was getting on toward dark

So we picked out a house.

The men did eat some rations first

Then settled down to sleep.

They slept on beds, and slept on floors

And when I had returned

From setting guards out for our watch

There was no place for me.

The only place that was not filled

Was a new baby crib

There was no way that I could stretch

My legs while in that thing

But if I curled up on my side

I might just make it work

So that is what I had to do

And thus earned a new name.

            -87-

I will not say just what it was

But each can take a guess

It mattered not, for by the dawn

We all were rousted out

To start the new day off again

As we had spent the last

We ate our rations, then took off

Just chasing after Krauts.

We slogged our way along the road

That led us on toward Fürth

Then as we neared that famous town

We passed right through some woods

And here we found artillery

Counting about twelve guns

That they were big, that much we saw

We did not know the size.

They had been camouflaged quite well

With ammo at each gun

Yet there was not a Kraut around

They had abandoned them.

And after we had passed them by

We moved most of the day

And early in the afternoon

We reached the town of Fürth.

            -88-

Now we were high upon a hill

That looked out o’er that town

And we could see just everything

That lay across the plain

We saw the road, there was a stretch

About a half mile wide

That carried German vehicles

Both to the north and south.

We were among apartments now

With gardens down below

Where we could set out mortars up

We then could hit the road.

We spotted well from on the decks

And so had each gun fire

To set each base plate deep enough

Before we opened up.

I watched these base plate shells explode

Way out beyond the road

Then brought the guns back in toward us

And gave them each the range

I varied each a little bit

One long, one short, one on

To see which one would be the best

And closest to the road.

            -89-

They fired, and as I watched I timed

So I would know how long

It took those shells to hit the road

And then go on from there.

When they exploded, by my watch

‘Twas twenty seconds flat

And knew that I must time the rounds

To traffic on the road.

I then adjusted each to hit

As close as we could get

Then timed the traffic from each end

To see how far they went

The motorcycles crossed the space

Faster than we could shoot

But tanks and half-tracks poked along

And thus were ideal game.

The tanks we could not touch at all

While they were buttoned up

But half-tracks full of German troops

Were what we waited for

And soon a convoy came along

Heading south to north

And when they reached a certain point

I knew we had them cold.

            -90-

I gave directions to each squad

To have six rounds apiece,

With charges pulled, ready to go

With one all set to drop.

Each squad now waited for my sign

To start their small barrage

And when the half-tracks reached a point

I dropped my arm to fire.

It took not more than ten seconds

To get off eighteen rounds.

The last was gone before the first

Had even hit the ground.

But when they hit among those ‘tracks

The damage was so great

It bottled up the fields and road

No traffic now could cross.

And so we cleaned our mortars out

And stayed right where we were.

We waited for the night to come

So we could settle down.

We’d moved on foot a lot that day

And fired our mortars some

Now we were tired, and needed sleep

And so we hit the sack.