A Soldier Strips the Romance Out of Life at War

"Jack Danish told his son about being part of the Battle of the Bulge:"...the first light of the day brought a view of horror, dead American soldiers lay frozen in awkward positions,their mouths filled with snow. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples as my mind raced. Clenching my fists,I tried hard to blank the images from my mind and maintain self-control. Moments later,gunfire erupted forcing me to change my focus.""I had to fight the bitter cold, which was becoming more difficult without enough sleep or food.I resorted to eating powdered lemonade and snow all day to help quench both my thirst and hunger.It was so sour it made my mouth pucker and my body shudder."

World War II Combat Engineers

 

Not offhand Jeff. Ill have to search my file folders to see if I have any more info on it.

 

All I have is that it was titled "A foxhole near Krinkelt, Belgium "

 

I truly appreciate you posting this letter JC. I know I will never truly and completely know what anyone who participates in a war goes through. I really don't believe that I want to know that feeling, but I do want to understand. I think it's letters like this that get a person closer to a feeling of understanding (whether accurate or not), even if only vaguely, what is experienced during war. Thanks for this.

 

From an old soldiers memory I seem to remember that the 2nd ID was
spread out on the North Side of the Bulge with the assignment of
protecting Liege and Antwerp. At that time they were in the
1st Army but later joined us in the 3rd Army.

If I'm wrong say so!!

Sgtleo

 

Here's a long read but hope you find it informative.

Note:- Gen. J.C.H.Lee was known to Combat GIs as
J***S C****T Himself!! Not affectionately!!

Gen. J.C.H.Lee was in charge of the supplies for all of the
ETO and he had a tremendous staff. He was ordered by
Gen. Eisenhower NOT to move to Paris but to a location
in the suburbs around Paris. However,he ignored Gen. Eisenhower
and moved all of his people(the total 10,000 sticks in my mind)
into Paris and immediately set up shop. The first order of business
was to requisition ALL of the hotels and in some cases apartment
buildings for his people which was exactly what the Krauts had
done and this made the Parisians more than a little PO'd. Again
a NO NO to Ike!!!!!

This type of requisitioning meant that his people had the
choice quarters-heated and safe from the elements. Their
quarters in many cases had running HOT water and even
Maid service. Since they had the control of the supplies
coming in they had many items before the Front Line Troops
even knew they were available such as combat boots,sleeping
bags etc. They also had access to their pick of the supplies
of cigarettes,candy,soaps,rations etc. which many of them
used to please their "girl friends" and believe it or not they had
access to the Jerry cans of gasoline which was sold to the
civilian population for big bucks.

There was one unit (and even the Col. who was the CO was
involved) the 716th RR BN. that went so far as to sell railroad
cars of supplies to the blackmarketeers. Ultimately they were
caught and went to prison but that is another story. The CID
Div of the MPs requested help from the Intel Group due to the
magnitude of the operation-that's how I know. It was a huge
operation believe me!!

The thing that frosted us was that before the rules were
changed if a man got to Paris on leave he in many cases
would be assigned a COT in a school gym for quarters,using a
community shower if there was one and eat in a mess hall type
of place. Remember the Rear Echelon Commandos could be
eating in a dining room with all the fancies that went with it.

You have no idea of how the REC's lived while we were freezing
our butts off, had only rations to eat and many were not hot food.
We had no hot water to wash or shave but that should give you
the big picture of the difference. These guys were better off than
many of the men that were Stateside.

Paris was taken in August but we didn't get any extra blankets
and never saw a sleeping bag until long after they had them and
they also had the shoepacs to keep their feet dry before we got
them even though they weren't much better than our boots.
Sorry to run on but even today this gets me POd big time

Question Posed to me "Err- Top!!
"I kinda remember reading on this story a long time, but I am
not sure. Was that general, JCH Lee, relieved for defying Gen.
Ike?"
My Answer
"Both General Omar Bradley and J. C. H. Lee, Communications
Zone (ComZ) Europe, ordered the release of prisoners within a
week of the war's end. This SHAEF order was countermanded
by Eisenhower on May 15, 1945."
This I know to be true but whether or not Gen Lee still had
Supply I can't say positively but he was still on the SHAEF Staff.
I had no access directly to SHAEF

I have to correct my figure of 10,000 as above to what follows:-
"They stated the obvious at the height of the supply crisis, Lee
had spent his precious time organizing the move, then used up
precious gasoline, all so that he and his entourage could enjoy
the hotels of Paris". It got worse. With 29,000 SOS troops in Paris.
It was a good thing that the men "on the line" didn't know that
these many men were in the rear while men from the front were
RTU(return to unit)ASAP after being wounded or that units that
were not up to full complement had to draw troops from the
Repple Depples(Replacement Depots) fresh from the States in
some instances and in the ETO only weeks!!!

By March 1945, there were 160,000 SOS troops in the Department
of the Seine. Many had never heard a shot fired or were ever in
the Field!! The irony was that because they had been in the ETO
longer than some of the COMBAT TROOPS they had amassed more
of the required Points for discharge and were able to go home
before some of us did.

We had another name for them but I'll not use it here. This was
another real hazard we faced and it proves that all men are not
created equal by the Army. Some suffer hardships but others
lived high on the hog. Not a very glamerous life for us in
comparison to those others.

Sgtleo

 

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to this thread. I hope you read all the reponses and stories . And thank you for getting what this the point of this thread is all about too . Please feel free to add if you like.

 

Cheers!!

Right now one of the books I'm reading is "Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich" by David Kenyon Webster.

In the back are letters from and to his family. They definitely have similar sentiments as the letter you posted. In fact, this is the most descriptive book I have read regarding the every day life of a paratrooper during WWII. I have just started reading "Hell's Highway: A Chronicle of the 101st Airborne in the Holland Campaign, September-November 1944" by George Koskimaki and while they are the combination of events during this time period, they are not as visceral as the book that Webster wrote. The explanations of the smells and just the immediateness of Webster's book is what is so interesting to me.

I do not get the same feeling from Koskimaki's book, but since they are the stories of hundreds of troops, I understand why. It's still very interesting to me, but just something about the letter you posted made me really think more on this book of Webster.

 

You know, until I watched "War" by Ken Burns, I never understood why some of the older gents I used to know when I was growing up hated Japanese people so much. I completely understand why now. I did not realize how different the war in the Pacific was from the war going on in Europe. I now understand why the bombs were dropped and why they had to drop more than just one. I know there are those that would argue with me about this, but my mind is made up on that one.

I feel for our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa and other places they are deployed. I feel like a coward, but I know I could not do the job that these troops are doing now. I'm just amazed by the mentality of a warrior (no matter what war or when). When I was growing up I was told that war and the military were horrible and that I shouldn't be interested in it. I think I'm rebelling now. At any rate, for a long time I had a very skewed view of the military. I feel as though I sort of get it now, perhaps a bit too late in life.

I saw a post earlier where someone mentioned how they were adjusting to life after being in a war and not having warm and fuzzy feelings regarding Arabs. It just reminded me of all the different ways we look at certain situations and how we cope and move on. Even back in ancient times, I am sure the conversations were similar.

I'm rambling now. Sorry, I get that way sometimes. I just hope I'm getting my thoughts and point across. Let me know if I didn't. lol

 

Thats no prob. I grew up during the 60s and 70s. I was in a military family and grew up on bases and overseas. I was arond military people almost all the time.In the late 70s after Vietnam,as I mentioned earlier that my father served 2 tours of duty during the war,the military was very muched looked down upon. So I know what it is like. When I was in AFJROTC in high school I was also looked down upon and harrassed. But I was able to deal with that for knowing who the ignorant ones were.

 

Back to the previous subject at hand LOL. More stories of the wonderful winter fighting.

"With scant supplies of toilet paper sometimes running out, we'd have been glad to have a copy of The Stars and Stripes to wipe our behinds with. Of course for that—most of the time—we had snow.

World War II Combat Maginot Line to Rhine

 

Glad to be of some help Jeff .

 

Yes, I am noticing more similarities than I thought I would actually, but after I read Ambrose's Band of Brothers, I thought there had to be other sources.

I also am noticing some differences that I didn't expect. Like Webster not going on that patrol and Jones actually leading the patrol and Spiers actually taking more of a role that Winters or Nixon did in Haganeau. I'm almost done with it, I'm very interested to hear Webster's take on the concentration camps and Hitler's Eagle's Nest.

 

I believe we have overlooked one group of US men that also
suffered from the cold.

Excerpted from an 8th Air Force History Book

"Aeromedical Challenges in Mounting an Attack from Great
Britain Medics at High Wycombe also helped prevent anoxia
deaths at high altitudes. These deaths were caused both by
inadequate training with oxygen equipment and by the faulty
design of the first AAF oxygen masks, which often froze up at
high altitudes (above 25,000 feet) and shut down the oxygen
flow. Most anoxia deaths occurred among recently arrived
crew members, whose lack of experience at high altitudes
sometimes caused their oxygen masks to disconnect from
the hoses.

Training in the proper use of oxygen equipment began in March
1943 at the school unit at High Wycombe. High-altitude flights
in training chambers were made available to almost everyone
in the Eighth Air Force, including the medical staff, and training
exposure to the first stages of hypoxia (shortage of oxygen)
was especially valuable because it emphasized this silent danger
that could kill quickly and unexpectedly.

By September 1944, oxygen training was completely adequate.
Meanwhile, designers improved the standard AAF oxygen mask
by substituting a demand flow for a continuous flow system.
And new pressurized oxygen systems succeeded in sustaining
operations above 43,000 feet. From November 1943 to November
1944, oxygen programs reduced the anoxia accident rate by 80
percent and the anoxia fatality rate by 68 percent.

Cold injury was another worry. Frostbite casualties were
caused by the extreme cold and wind blast in AAF bombers
flying at high altitudes. Unheated sections of bombers were
sometimes –60°F, and the open waist gunner windows were
especially dangerous.

Yet less than one-fourth of the aircrews arriving in Great Britain
knew how to prevent frostbite at high altitudes. Extreme cold
often hampered first aid efforts. A ball-turret gunner described
one such instance:
At 26,000 feet the tail gunner had both cheeks of his buttocks
torn by a 20- mm shell. We had him lie face down and put a
dressing on as well as possible. Bleeding continued so we put
a 140-pound ammunition box directly over the wound. The
pressure seemed to stop the bleeding. He rested comfortably
but was almost frozen because his heated suit was torn and
we had no blankets available."
end quote.

I think many of us have forgotten just what these men suffered.

Sgtleo

 

And not just on land.

December 2007 issue: ‘Life Gave Me a Christmas Present a Couple of Hours Ago’

For servicemen and women far from their loved ones during war, holidays often prompt mixed emotions. Thoughts of friends and family gathered together trigger fond memories, but they can also make the troops all the more homesick. While stationed aboard a subchaser anchored near the Philippines in December 1943, a twenty-three-year-old ensign from Rhode Island, Charles Edward Sweeney, was trying to enjoy the spirit of the season as much as possible. In a letter written to a favorite cousin on Christmas Day, he explained that a sudden turn of events had caused him to forget about all he was missing and appreciate what he already had.
Dear Esther,
All morning the turkeys roasted in the oven; the cook was busy with all the fixings which we’d managed to beg, borrow or steal from other ships or from nearby Army quartermasters.
With the exception of the cook and his helpers, there wasn’t much work for the rest of us to do. We were lying to in a little inlet which is described in dispatches as an “advanced base.” When we first arrived here, all hands were excitedly talking of the Japanese and of air raids and of possible hand-to-hand encounters with other enemy small craft.
We’d spent much time on patrol with the ship in a state of semi-tension all the time. However, very little occurred. Most of what did happen sprang from our over-eager imaginations. The subchaser was nervous at night, particularly, and, in the darkness, engaged in nervous signaling and maneuvering with other patrolling ships. We experienced only one bona-fide air-raid during which we were at battle stations but did not have the opportunity to fire a shot.
On this Christmas morning the tension was off. Early during the morning we’d heard all kinds of rumors of the bloody fighting which was going on nearby. But we knew on this day that we would not be ordered to sea, that Christmas was ours to enjoy as best we could….
The war was so near and yet so far away. This was Christmas and there was a handsome dinner to enjoy. Nothing loomed to mar it; our minds were free because the ship had, ever since its launching, patrolled far-off and friendly waters and our imaginations were not yet colored by the real tinge of war.
It was nearly noon and time for dinner when another camouflaged ship entered the inlet, signaled us by blinker for permission to tie up alongside us, and then made a quick berth with both screws turning full. Most of us were lolling around the deck and paid little attention to the routine mooring of the other ship until it was firmly secured to our side and one of its hatches was opened and a stretcher passed topsides by two sailors who handled their burden with great care.
The soldier on the stretcher had his arm and part of his shoulder torn off. His unconscious form was limp on the canvas; his fatigue suit was torn and bloody, his young features were frozen into hard lines.
The stretcher was passed over onto our deck, carried across to the other ship and then onto the beach where there was a waiting truck, in a small dirt road which led off into the brush and to a forward evacuation hospital. As the stretcher was placed in the truck, a large white tag bearing the soldier’s name, outfit, and a description of his wounds, became undone and fluttered to the road. Someone picked it up and tied it again around his ankle.
The second stretcher passed up the hatch was completely covered by a blanket, and so was the third.
Next we saw a sailor aboard the other ship reach down the hatch and help another soldier mount the ladder. He wore the familiar fatigue clothes, bowl-shaped tin helmet, and heavy boots which were unlaced. One foot followed the other mechanically. Someone helped him over the gangway to our ship and as he walked past us one of the assisting sailors said “shell shock” and we noticed the vacant look in the soldier’s eyes which seemed widened by a recent horror. The man got across the inboard ship to the beach with assistance across the gangways.

Life Gave Me a Christmas Present » HistoryNet