Racing Eastward


Soon we were racing down the Autobahn, a super highway like we never saw in the States, at 40 and 50 miles an hour. The 89th (assigned now to Patton's Third Army) was the easternmost United States Infantry Division and one of the closest to the Soviets. We were subject to both unit and air attacks. I can't remember whether it was then or later but I vividly remember our column being attacked by a German jet fighter. The noise and speed of the plane scared the hell out of us and there wasn't time to do anything but watch it fly away. Thank the Lord they didn't have many of them. As we penetrated deeper into Eastern Germany we drove through column upon column of German infantry and tanks that had been obliterated by air attacks. My division fought some major battles at Eisenach and Gotha as we pushed through to Zwickau and the Czech border but this story is not intended to be a military history, just the memories of one soldier which are related below, but not necessarily in strict chronological or geographical order.

A Supply Base

We were on the road somewhere in the province of Thuringia when we stopped for lunch. I remember it was a beautiful day and someone had turned the generator on so we could hear some music on the Army radio station when a bulletin was announced that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had just died. The entire battery was shocked into a deep and moving silence. Very soon we were in a small city called Ohrdruf. We were to stay there a few days so we kicked the German civilians out of their apartments and enjoyed the comforts of home. Outside this apartment complex was a large field where we gathered to eat. Again, it was a beautiful spring day and I was relaxing for a few moments reading the just distributed "The Stars and Stripes". The headline read "EISENHOWER SAYS LUFTWAFE KAPUT". Comforting news and I did not look up immediately at the familiar sound of high flying planes but when I did it seemed to be just another flight of Allied fighters. After all, we just read they were totally destroyed. However, they began to circle and lose altitude rapidly and then peel off into a dive and heading towards us. Something was wrong, including all those training sessions we had the past six months on enemy aircraft identification. They were Messerschmitts and went after some of our gun positions causing some casualties, damage and considerable commotion before running off for another "back from the dead" attack.

It was also in this area as explained just above where we were billeted for several days in an apartment complex after having ejected the civilian owners/occupants and enjoying their comparative luxurious accommodations. The Frau of our apartment was particularly worried about her china and glasses. We had no intention of damaging anything but soon grew tired of her interference and kicked her out. The kitchen was in the rear facing a field where our artillery was set up. I was writing a letter home on the kitchen table when I heard a roar and some firing. A German fighter plane was strafing the field directly in front of me and seemed headed right for me. Automatically, I fell to the floor seeking protection under the flimsy table, an automatic but futile reaction, and when he was gone, re-emerged to see that he had also dropped a bomb, killing a GI in his fox hole. After a few minutes, I returned to my letter writing but was shocked to discover that my hand was shaking so badly it was impossible for me to continue. It took over an hour before I returned to normal.

The Supply Gang

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