MY ARMY DAYS: WWII (91-100)

            -91-

We wakened when we heard some shots

And wondered what was up

We thought it was just nervous guards

And so went back to sleep

But later on we were to learn

The Krauts had sent out troops

And killed three men from First Platoon

While they were fast asleep.

At three o’clock they wakened us

And said we would attack

Across the field and road we’d hit

And then we’d be in Fürth

We moved across the field quite fast

The road and river too

Then up the other side we went

To wait for six o’clock.

But just before we made our jump

White flags began to show

It was still dark, but we could see

The Germans coming out.

They surrendered, all of them,

And we just went on through

We sent the Krauts back to the rear

With just a guard or two.

            -92-

It was the same, where’er we went

The Germans just gave up

We saw one Kraut in uniform

Just kiss his wife goodbye

And knew that he had been called up

Not many days before

The old, the young, the crippled too

Would try to make a stand.

So after we had taken Fürth

We headed south again

Thru many towns and villages

All flew the big white flag.

We had but one slight incident

Some miles south of Fürth

There we were strafed by three Kraut planes

That came down on the road.

They came in line, and opened fire

Before we spotted them

Then each man jumped to save his life

It mattered not just where

One of my squads had moved thru town

Along a garden wall

And when they jumped, they fell ten feet

And nothing broke their fall.

            -93-

The mortar, sight, and cleaning rod

All ended up in mud

But as each man got himself up

Not one of them was hurt.

We looked again to find the planes

But found that they were gone.

We later learned they’d been shot down

By our P51’s.

We went across the Blue Danube

That wasn’t very blue

It was a wide and muddy stream

And so we crossed in boats

When the south side had been secured

Our engineers then built

A pontoon bridge to get the tanks

And vehicles across.

So we continued on our way

When evening called a halt

We stopped right near the autobahn

That led down to the south

Toward Munich and still further on

This open road did go

We thought of how we’d move along

If we were on that road.

            -94-

We spent the night in this small town

Without an incident

And in the early morning dawn

We saw a lot of tanks

They now were on the autobahn

And waited just for us.

We climbed aboard and off we went

And now it was a race.

The Third Division raced us hard

The Forty-Fifth did too

All tried to reach the old beer hall

Where Hitler got his start.

It took two days to reach the town

For often we did stop

To clear the road of SS troops

Who tried to block our way.

We’d passed by Dachau in our plunge

To get to Munich first

And later learned that some of ours

Had gone into that camp

They saw the horrors in the stripes

The living and the dead

The living only skin and bones

The dead lay everywhere.

            -95-

The German guards were shot on sight

Wherever they were found

But very little could be done

For those close to their deaths

The dead were stacked as cordwood is,

Around each oven door

While inside, ashes and their bones

Were all that once were men.

And now we were so very glad

That we’d been picked that day

To ride the autobahn on tanks

And miss out on Dachau.

We had no envy for our friends

In our first battalion

Who had a most distasteful task

Of cleaning up the camp.

At last we came into Munich

And stopped quite close to dark

We jumped down off the tanks we rode

And looked across the street

For here we saw a storage plant

That was chock full of food

It did not take us very long

To load that tank with crates.

            -96-

We then jumped back onto the tanks

And rumbled down the road

Until we came to the billets

Selected for the night.

We took the food down off the tanks

And carried it within

Then had a feast, the likes of which

We’d never had before.

The Swede was a machine gunner

Who liked to eat his eggs

Now he had a whole crate full, but

Could eat just twenty-eight

The rest of us just ate and ate

‘Til we could eat no more

Then after setting guards about

We settled down to snore.

Now as for us, we slept that night

And rested one more day

And then we started south again

Thru old Bavaria

Town after town, we passed on through

Without a single stop

Sometimes we rode the tanks or trucks

But mostly we just walked.

            -97-

There was one time that we were stopped

By just a bunch of kids

They had an MG forty-two

And stopped our movement cold.

So we had to set up our guns

As our riflemen deployed.

We thought four hundred yards would do

For nothing could we see.

We got a call, from out in front,

On where we were to fire

The range was right, but where to shoot

Was anybody’s guess.

And so we dropped one round ahead

“You’re shooting far, far to the right,”

The answer soon came back.

We then adjusted all the guns

And moved them to the left

Then dropped another round out front

And hoped it would be close

“You’re long about ten yards or more

And now just to the left.

Come in a bit, and move more right

And you’ll be where we want.”

            -98-

These weren’t the ways that mortar men

Were used to firing guns

But this is what we got that day

From someone out in front

So we corrected all our guns

According to his word

Then started firing while we searched

Traversing left to right.

 “You’re on,” I heard him shout in glee

Over my five three six,

“One landed right on that bunch of Krauts

And now confusion reigns.

I do believe they’re giving up

Stop firing anytime.”

And so I gave the sign to halt

And sure enough they quit.

The Germans just threw up their hands

They were about sixteen

They all were just a lot of kids

Whose officer was dead.

He had been hit by mortar fire

That rattled these young kids.

And with him dead, they chose to quit,

And this is what they did.

            -99-

We moved on out, when we were sure

The village had been cleared

This was the last time in the war

That we would have to fire.

In two more days of marching so

We entered Austria

And there we rested for a while

Just waited out the war.

The war did end officially

The seventh day of May

But for most of us at least

It ended days before

We now began to occupy

The villages and towns,

The western part of Austria

Known mainly as Tyrol.

We traveled now by German trucks

We’d captured in the war

And first went up to Krimmel

The last town to the west

Where the Salzach River begins

So high up in the Alps

It was a pleasant place to stay

The fishing was just great.

            -100-

We stayed in Krimmel for a month

And then were called upon

To furnish General Collins troops

To act as honor guards.

We went by truck to Kitzbühel

That lies in the Tyrol

This was a ski town ‘fore the war

But none of us did ski.

We stayed in Kitzbühel for a month

It had a great hotel

Where General Collins lived in style

With non-coms as his guards.

We stood our watch throughout each night

Two man on every floor

And then had four days of our own

To see the sights of town.

We went up on the Hoehnenbahn

The ski lift for the town

Went way above the timberline

And could see all around

The snowcapped peaks just to the west

Was where the Alps began

While down below we saw the town

It looked so very small.

MY ARMY DAYS: WWII (101-113)

            -101-

Then after we had done our tour

As General Collins guards

We went to Krimmel once again

And here we stayed a while.

I had a friend who liked to fish

And so the two of us

Climbed up the single mountain trail

That leads to Italy.

We fished where’er we found a pool

And had a lot of trout

To fry and eat up for our lunch

When we did reach the top.

The mountain then did flatten out

And we could see a sign,

That said we’d entered Italy

No other signs were seen.

As soon as we had crossed the line

We built ourselves a fire

And with some crackers crumbled up

And with a little fat

We fried ourselves four trout apiece

That’s all our mess kits held

They were delicious as could be

And we were satisfied.

            -102-

After we’d eaten up our trout

We headed down the trail

And going down was faster than

The climb in going up.

We came so fast, we hurt our legs

And had to take a break

At least we now could say to all

We’d been in Italy.

We moved again after our stay

In Krimmel, which we loved.

This time to Salzburg, where it looked

Like we’d be called upon

To leave for the Pacific soon

So training did begin

We had to teach our replacements

How mortars worked and fired.

A lot of men who had the points

Were leaving to go home

But we, mostly unmarried still,

Stayed on to train new men.

We had a mostly intact group

That is how young we were

We lost Ben Gerber who went home

The last of older men.

            -103-

I now assumed the non-com role

Of our weapons platoon

Though I never did get the rank,

Advancements were on hold.

And when the rank did come

It went to someone else.

They thought that I was far too young

To run a whole platoon.

We trained in Salzburg for a while

But then before we left

The war against Japan did end

And we could just relax.

But once again we moved on out

Rotation was the name

Up the Salzach once again

This time to Neukirchen.

I’d played some ball when I was young

But always played baseball

I did not care to play softball

This was a game for girls.

But when the army took up sports

To keep us occupied

Softball was all we had to play

And so we saw it thru.

            -104-

I used to pitch when seventeen

And played some shortstop too.

But pitching with this great big ball

And under-handed too

Was something I would never try

Nor could I if I would

So I became a short-fielder

Fly balls were now my game.

At first we played on bumpy fields

Cow pastures they were called.

But gradually we smoothed them out

And played much better ball.

I played a mediocre field

But I could always hit

And so was picked to play short-field

On our battalion team.

We played the other battalions

In Salzberg, Neukirchen

And finally played at Zell am See,

For the regimental crown,

But we were beaten by one run,

There’s no more I can say

We all returned to army life

And waited to go home.

            -105-

And while in this unpleasant town

We had some chores to do

We took a load of prisoners south

So they could be released.

And then with winter coming on

I, and some of my men

Were sent way back into the hills

To guard a prison camp.

This was a cold and snowy job

But had its moments too

We had a brand new officer

Who hadn’t learned the ropes.

And so I ran that prison camp

The way that I saw fit

And let our men go hunting deer

When no duty was assigned.

I went out hunting by myself

As often as I did go

And jumped a deer right out of camp

But dared not take a shot

And so I slowly moved along

Until I saw three deer

I shot at one and down he went

The others disappeared.

            -106-

He kicked a lot when I arrived

So shot him in the head.

He wasn’t big, just a spikehorn

But just the size to eat.

I dragged him downhill to the camp

And gave him to the cook

She had her husband skin him out

And then he fed the camp.

We stayed in camp for one more week

And then we were relieved

Our regiment was off again

Vienna was our stop.

And here we stayed until we heard

That some were homeward bound

Most of my mortar men and I

Were in that homebound group.

We left by train and traveled back

The way that we had come

We stopped for four days in a town

While waiting for a ship

Then moved again straight for Le Havre

‘Twas on the coast of France

Then boarded a small freighter that

Ran right into a storm.

            -107-

It took us thirteen days to cross

That ship bucked all the way

But finally we did arrive

And gave one great big cheer

As we passed her going in, the

Statue of Liberty

We disembarked and boarded trains

That took us to our camp.

Now at Fort Dix, we turned all in

Except our army clothes

We went thru all the paperwork

That gave us a discharge

But then so I could keep my rank

I stayed in the Reserves.

When all the paperwork was done

They gave us all a pass.

 “Go up to New York City and

Have yourselves a time.

Just get a haircut and a shave

And let yourselves relax.

Eat in a noted restaurant

Longchamps comes to mind

Have yourselves a nice thick steak

Then sleep in a hotel.

            -108-

But don’t forget that each of you

Must be back here by noon.

We have allowed some extra time

So you can travel back.”

And so the six of us who went

Did everything he said

We got a haircut and a shave

Then ate at Longchamps too.

We got back into camp in fact

Before our time was up.

Then picked up our discharges and

A pin called “Ruptured Duck.”

It meant that we were on our own

Could leave at anytime

And so we said our goodbyes there

And promised we would write.

I took the local to New York

Then transferred once again

I boarded the New Haven line

Back up to Providence

From whence I’d left three years before

In all my innocence

And now returned, but all alone

No one to greet me there.

            -109-

I stood outside the station steps,

Just stood and looked around.

The sun was bright, the day was warm

It was March thirty-first.

A couple looked me up and down,

And saw my duffel bag.

They knew that I was coming home

And gave me a “Thank you.”

I hailed a cab, which took me to

My home on Cora Ave.

I met my mom, gave her a hug

And she held on to me

She said to me, “Thank God you’re back

And back without a scratch,”

And then she made a quiet call

I did not know to whom.

But soon I heard a car pull up

And much to my surprise

It was my buddy Gene McGrail

And with him was my Pat.

We’d left Gene at Camp Gruber

When he had taken ill

And I had taken up his place

When we’d gone overseas.

            -110-

And that was my big welcome home

I saw just Pat and Gene

My best friend Larry had come home

But he was off somewhere

And so I talked to Gene and Pat

About a wedding soon

All of which I’d started when in

Camp Gruber we were friends.

And so I bring this army tale

To a conclusion now

I’d gone from eighteen years of age

Who hardly had to shave,

To our Weapons Platoon Sergeant

With years far past my age.

And then began my life anew

Civilian once again.

I write this now at eighty-six

The memories return.

I see my old comrades in arms

As clear as I see sky.

I often wonder what became

Of each of them who lived,

To come back home, to take up life

As though they’d never left.

            -111-

My tears go out to all those men

Who died so long ago

And to those who lost a leg

Or lost an arm, or both.

They all have struggled thru this life

And who’s around to tell

The story of the fight each had

With Krauts, and with themselves.

I will not tell of army days

That started o’er again

When North Korea hit the south

And we were called back in.

I was not called to fight the war

That raged in Korea

I, and a group who trained with me,

Were sent to Germany.

I spent a year in that old land

That once I knew so well.

A bunch of men who’d seen the war

Were now called back again

To train Constabulary troops

That now patrolled Berlin

To ground soldiers, that gave rebirth

To the Sixth Infantry.

            -112-

I came back home as I had left

Without fanfare or fuss

There was no one to welcome me

I traveled all alone.

My wife knew that I’d soon be in

But did not know the hour

And so I went back home alone

Civilian life again.