I CAN'T REMEMBER THE PARTICULAR TOWN BUT WE WERE RESTING IN THIS LARGE FIELD AND WE WERE GOING INTO THE TOWN AT DUSK. WHY WE WERE WAITING FOR DUSK I DON'T KNOW.
AT THIS POINT IN THE WAR THE GERMANS WERE GIVING UP IN HOARDS AND THE FIGHTING SEEMED TO BE ALL IN OUR FAVOR. THEY VERY OFTEN WOULD LEAVE BEHIND A MACHINE GUN OR A SNIPER TO DELAY THE ACTION WHILE THE MAIN BODY RETREATED, THIS WAS THAT KIND OF SITUATION.
JUST BEFORE DUSK WE MOVED ONTO THE ROAD. I WILL DESCRIBE THE AREA. A TWO LANE COUNTRY ROAD, DITCH ON EITHER SIDE AND TREES ALONG THE INSIDE OF THE DITCH.
THERE WAS A RIFLE SQUAD AN EITHER SIDE OF THE ROAD AND THE MACHINE GUN SQUAD THAT I WAS IN FELL IN BEHIND THEM. THE REST OF THE COMPANY WAS LINED UP BEHIND US.
WE HADN'T GONE 100 YARDS WHEN A GERMAN MACHINE GUN THAT HAD BEEN HIDDEN FROM OUR VIEW OPENED UP ON US. HE GOT TEN IN FRONT OF ME, MISSED ME AND MY BUDDY AND GOT TWO BEHIND HIM. ALL WOUNDED. MY BUDDY JUMPED UP PLACED THE TRIPOD IN FRONT OF THIS LARGE TREE AND I DROPPED THE GUN INTO THE TRIPOD. I ALWAYS CARRIED A BELT OF ABOUT TWENTY OR THIRTY ROUNDS IN THE GUN IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. THIS WAS SUCH AN EMERGENCY. WE CALLED FOR AMMO AND UNFORTUNATELY THE TWO AMMO MEN HAD BEEN HIT.
FROM THIS POINT IT GETS HECTIC. HERE WERE BEING FIRED ON BY THE HIDDEN MACHINE GUN,EVERYBODY IS TRYING TO GET HIM AND I AM LOW ON AMMUNITION. I SAID TO MY BUDDY I'LL COUNT TO THREE AND FIRE WHAT AMMO I GOT LEFT TO COVER YOU SO YOU CAN DIVE IN THE DITCH AND GET MORE. ONE, TWO, THREE I CRANKED DOWN ON THE TRIGGER MY BUDDY JUMPED UP AND FELL BACKWARDS ACROSS MY GUN, HIS FACE COVERED WITH BLOOD. I SHOVED HIM INTO THE DITCH AND YELLED FOR THE MEDIC. AT THIS POINT MY BUDDY WAS COMMING TO AND HE GRABBED MY ARM AND SAID NO MEDIC, NO MEDIC. HELL! I RAN INTO THE DAMM TREE. IN THE EXCITEMENT HE HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE TREE, TURNED TO RUN FOR AMMO AND RUN INTO THE DAMM THING. THIS GOT US MANY LAUGHS FROM THE REST OF THE COMPANY THAT EVENING. A PURPLE HEART FOR RUNNING INTO A TREE.
THIS SAME MAN WAS FEEDING AMMO INTO THE MACHINE GUN AND A GERMAN BULLET CAME THROUGH THE AMMO BOX DEFLECTED AND A PIECE OF METAL FROM THE BOX WENT INTO HIS EYE. HE WENT TO THE MEDICS GOT A BANDAGE AND NEVER WENT TO THE REAR. HE GOT A PURPLE HEART FOR THAT TWO. BUT AS FAR AS I KNOW NEVER GOT A PENSION. AND UNTIL HE PASSED AWAY WAS ALMOST BLIND IN THAT EYE.
HE WAS ONE OF THE BEST FRIENDS THAT I EVER HAD OR EVER HOPED TO HAVE.