On To The Front


The "Front" is a term more attached to World War I but that's what we were soon off to, wherever it was. The "Battle of the Bulge" was winding down and the Division received orders to move into the area around Mersch, Luxembourg, in preparation for going into the line, and assigned to the XII Corps of General Patton's Third Army. On March 3, infantry and artillery battalions loaded into ancient "40-and-8" freight cars for the long, tedious journey across France. Other units, like ours, moved out into convoy. The trip averaged over three hundred miles with blown bridges, ruined roads and detours causing frequent delays. There was much to see if you were driving or sitting in the front seat of a truck, particularly when we went through Reims and similar places. Even if you were fortunate enough to be sifting on the bench at the very rear of the truck, your view was very limited. But being the assistant or backup driver, I did get to sit in the front seat. Of course, my turn was in the middle of the night in a complete I blackout and all I got out of it was a neck ache and sore eyes. The head of our little supply group was a Warrant Officer not often seen back in the States--he was busy trying to make like an officer and was lazy to boot. It was cold out and the driver's cabin was buttoned up. The gastronomic turmoil my stomach had been through beginning with the seasickness and ending with the pancakes could no longer be contained. I let (I really had no control) some depth charges go and was at first horrified but then happy to see Epstein cringe with disgust. Sweet revenge but it ruined any future chances or promotion, which by now were almost non-existent anyway. In fact, it took an Act of Congress to get me promoted to PFC.

We assembled in a small village north of the Luxembourg Capitol and near Echternach, ready for our first combat mission. It was here that I had my first chance to try out my high school German with the friendly Luxembourgers. In 1939, when in high school, I concluded we would soon be in a war with Germany and took German classes for two years. As it turned out, it didn't help me with the war effort but after the war, with all those pretty and lonely fraulines, well that's another story.

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