We did a lot of drinking that night!!

Sadistic Humor:-

Was talking to an old friend the other day and he reminded me of a story about a time we were at Fort Devens,MA awaiting new assignments.

After retreat, we would chow down and head for the "Slop Chute" and drink for sometime to kill the night hours. This was a Reception Center so there were a lot of "Newbies" floating around and we watched as they looked at us and the "Fruit Salad" on our uniforms. I think they thought we walked on water or something.

Anyway,one kid who looked about thirteen got up enough courage to come over to our table and asked if we would mind talking about some of our experiences(bad choice on his part). Of course we agreed as it was obvious that some of these kids were scared green and you know it's funny and easy now to say "kids" because we were all only around 22 years old ourselves so we weren't old men. Just felt like old men!

I had this Tech. Sgt. that truly had the golden tongue gift of gab so he said if I had no objection he'd relate a particular experience we had had in France in Normandy's Bocage(hedgerows). I had no idea of what he was talking about but knew enough to go along with him.

He had us entering a field completely surrounded by the Bocage and the Krauts were deeply entrenched in this field with almost every conceivable weapon they, the Krauts owned. We managed to get into the field but were pinned down waiting for armored support. As time passed, our ammo was running out and as the armor showed up the Krauts blew the tracks off the tank making it useless.

Several more "Newbies" had gathered around and their mouths were opened wide enough to drive a 6by6 in there - drinking every word. We were just drinking (LOL)I don't remember all the details but the "Newbies" were hanging onto what the Tech was saying and he was casually drinking his beer and the ones the kids bought him. Straight faced as you please.

Finally he stopped and said it was too hard for him to talk about it anymore. You could see the disappointment on the "Newbies" faces. After a truly classic pause, the Tech lowering his head and feigning tears screams out to the kids "I HAD TO STOP BECAUSE WE WERE ALL KILLED BY THE KRAUTS'.

When they realized they had been taken, the "Newbies" were BS to say the least and the free beers stopped coming. I suggested we call it a night and find another "Slop Chute" for the next night's drinking.

Sgtleo

World War Story #1 The Padre

One time when we were attached to Intel they put two of us with an MP traffic control location because the Kraut stragglers had been mixing in the convoys after dark and then disappearing when the time was right.

This was a real small town,nothing more than the cross road and an auberge(inn),which the locals visited and we knew some of them were sympathizers. We would scout around at night and early morning looking for "stragglers" that would come out at these times and had some success getting some for Intel data.

Each morning the Parde would come down the road so far,stop and yell out who he was and ask permission to go to his church for a Morning Mass. We got to know him pretty good and he was very happy the GIs were taking over the area. I always spoke with him in French (as a door opener and so he would be partial to us) and as he said "now I can feel safe" - he told us even the Gendarmes were Kraut sympathizers.

One morning he asked me to walk along with him to the Church and although puzzled I went along. When we got to and area that nobody could hear us he asked me "Do you know that you are being watched day and night?". My ears perked up quick as a wink. When the Bikie that picked up the messages came by, I told him to pass the word to the CP ASAP. A much larger detail was sent and we rounded up the "watchers" before they knew what hit them. The Padre had given us the location of the farmhouse they were living in.

Much to everybody's surprise two different idiots from Intel had each assigned a team to do exactly what we were doing and they were planning on getting help to take us out. Thus a catastrophe was averted. I was NOT KILLED!!

WW II Story #2 The Bikie!!

At this same cross road as I said above a Bikie came by to pick up messages etc. and to see if we needed ammo etc. Myself and the other man were talking to him when "ZIP" a shell went between us and lodged in the tree. We had no idea where it can from so we decided to take off ASAP. The Bikie had a rack over his rear wheel so my buddy and I squeezed on to that(almost flattened the tire) but we got the hell out of there. We stopped about a mile down the road and the Bikie started to laugh like a fool and comes out with this remark "I'll bet the Kraut that shot at us is laughing his a** off at what we must have looked like getting the hell out of there". Never did catch that b**s***d!!

Sgtleo

A Home Town Boy:-

We had a guy that was continually homesick and going through a small town in Normandy he saw a Jeep with RED B-D-S letters painted across a metal plate on the radiator. "Be right back Sgt" he yelled to me and said "the rest of the word B-O-S-T-O-N" must have worn off.

Before I could stop him he got close to the jeep and I hear the words "Fire in the Hole" and just about that time there was a humongous explosion. and fortunatley he fell in a hole in the terrain. A good example of a conditioned reflex action!!

He came running back as white as a sheet and asked me "what the hell was that??"

I explained to him he hadn't been around long enough to know that the RED B-D-S meant Bomb Disposal Squad and they were exploding ordinance dropped by the AirCorps.

Last time he went looking for home town buddies!!

Sgtleo

The $64 Dollar Question:-

When WW II first ended and we were in the Army of Occupation a Non-Fraternization Policy had been put into effect and if one was caught by the MPs they would be arrested and after they were processed they would be

fined $64 dollars. You couldn't even ask a question without risking arrest.

Ironically, there was a radio quiz program in the States named the $64 dollar question at that time where the top prize was $64 dollar and folks thought that was a lot of money if and when they won. Somebody at SHAEF had a weird sense of humor!!

However, I remember it for another reason that I haven't thought about it for years but talking to a buddy brought back an awful time for me and when I would have given anything had I been able to change the result of an incident.

One of our guys was in town for the night and had been drinking heavily and was trying to pick up a fraulein when the MPs saw him and yelled at him to put down his carbine as he was going to be arrested(At that time we were still required to carry weapons outside our BN area). Drunk as he was, he started to run and the MPs gave chase and one of them slapped his hand on his .45 to prevent it from flopping around.

Our guy thought he was going to draw the .45 so he,almost as a conditioned reflex as he would have done before the war's end, dropped down on one knee and fired,hitting the MP and dropping him. Others had arrived by that time so he was taken easily. Luckily the MP didn't die but was wounded

The local MPs knew me so they honored his request to speak to me but there was absolutely nothing that I could do and I knew that nothing I could/would say was going to change the ultimate result. I went out of friendship to calm him down. I knew and he knew that he was going before a Courts Martial and to prison in found guilty - which he was - so he wound up in Leavenworth.

This was the man that I had known and gone through much with,who had been a good soldier until then and because he got drunk as a skunk his life was virtually over. A lot of men were set free after the war but that record followed him until he hit the bottom of the barrel and the booze killed him. Truman gave them amnesty

I never had to preach to the troops again about going overboard with booze in town. I still tell this story to someone I think is headed down this kind of road but hate every minute of it. It has worked well a couple of times.

Sorry to get maudlin but I have to say if you drink to excess at times remember this man's story.

Sorry for the Preaching

Sgtleo

I have been reading a very interesting book by the late Hal Lister, a sergeant in the 3rd Infantry Div. who is captured by the Germans. You would imagine a dire fate for a Jew in Nazi hands, but he manages to do amazingly well for himself and is ask to do a POW radio broadcast, which is titled "Krautland Calling" after he has convinced his SS captors that "Kraut" is a common phrase among GIs..and not at all disrespectfully!

I am wondering if any of our ETO Vets here ever heard his broadcasts, especially the "other Jim" who was also in 3rd Infantry Div.?

DD

ps- If anyone would care to read it after I'm done with it I will be happy to loan it out. Same goes for any DVDS I mention here...always happy to share with friends.