My father (born in 1925) was a radioman during Battle of the Bulge. He turned 19 on his first day of battle (September 10, 1944). He almost never talked about the War. He would dig his own foxhole, and tried to survive during that bitterly cold winter, leaving him with permanent trench foot, and horrific nightmares (and a short hospital stay for battle fatigue, along with a Bronze Star for a crazy act of courage) . He was Patton's radioman for a day, and overheard the argument between Patton and my Dad's Colonel, on where to attempt crossing the Saar River. The Colonel had sent scouts up ahead to find a safer crossing than the one Patton wanted, which was right underneath a well-dug-in emplacement - in a bluff high over the Saar - of heavy guns, and which could (and did) become a shooting gallery for the Germans. Patton didn't want a long slog downriver (upriver?). He wanted to cross right there - "I don't care if it takes a truckload of dog tags! We're crossing here!" At some point eventually word came down to the troops about Malmedy (American prisoners of war being killed, against the rules of war), and I remember Dad quietly telling me that after learning of Malmedy "We no longer took German prisoners of war." (I have not read about this in history books.)
Here's to our fathers. I wish you'd had yours longer. My father took advantage of govt funding for college after the war, and became a physicist-engineer Cold Warrior. Built a family and spent a lot of therapeutic time in the garage, building exquisite furniture. Us "kids" are still paying the price for his mental wounds.
A wonderful tribute for a wonderful man by a wonderful man.
👍🏻❤️
My father (born in 1925) was a radioman during Battle of the Bulge. He turned 19 on his first day of battle (September 10, 1944). He almost never talked about the War. He would dig his own foxhole, and tried to survive during that bitterly cold winter, leaving him with permanent trench foot, and horrific nightmares (and a short hospital stay for battle fatigue, along with a Bronze Star for a crazy act of courage) . He was Patton's radioman for a day, and overheard the argument between Patton and my Dad's Colonel, on where to attempt crossing the Saar River. The Colonel had sent scouts up ahead to find a safer crossing than the one Patton wanted, which was right underneath a well-dug-in emplacement - in a bluff high over the Saar - of heavy guns, and which could (and did) become a shooting gallery for the Germans. Patton didn't want a long slog downriver (upriver?). He wanted to cross right there - "I don't care if it takes a truckload of dog tags! We're crossing here!" At some point eventually word came down to the troops about Malmedy (American prisoners of war being killed, against the rules of war), and I remember Dad quietly telling me that after learning of Malmedy "We no longer took German prisoners of war." (I have not read about this in history books.)
Here's to our fathers. I wish you'd had yours longer. My father took advantage of govt funding for college after the war, and became a physicist-engineer Cold Warrior. Built a family and spent a lot of therapeutic time in the garage, building exquisite furniture. Us "kids" are still paying the price for his mental wounds.
That's an amazing story about your dad and Patton and thank you for sharing this about your dad.
:)
eliott eisenbach told me that my mom was a member of the party. but since my dad had already died i had no way to confirm
Thanks for sharing, Jonathan
A touching memorial