I was born on March 1, 1925 in Pasadena, California and I am now eighty nine years old. I was drafted in to the United States Army in June of 1943 at the age of eighteen. I was a Corporal in the Sound Section of the 288th Field Artillery Observation Battalion. My job was a Forward Observer and I worked one to three miles in front of my unit. If we were being shelled or I could spot enemy tanks or artillery I would then start the process of getting that information and coordinates back to my unit so they could begin our action against it.
The purpose of my unit was to measure sound and flash and spot the exact location of the enemy’s tanks and artillery. When the location was determined it was phoned to our Artillery Gun Batteries who then fired… If they got a hit our unit got credit for it!
As my unit moved forward from the villages of Condor and Eschdorf in Luxemburg, we stopped at a house that had already been partially hit by shells. The second story had no roof or walls left. We decided to set up a Forward Observation Post there. I was waiting for the telephone crew to run wires upstairs to my phone that I had attached to a 4×4 post. It was snowing and cold, so I started down the stairs, thinking I would wait in the enclosed bottom floor of the house where it was warmer. I was still on the stairs when a German shell came in and exploded on the top floor where I had just been! The impact knocked me all the way down the stairs and after realizing I was still in one piece, I went up to what was left of the second floor and the phone I had put up on the 4×4 post… was blown to pieces! It then hit me, 1 could have been blown to pieces just like the phone! I went down stairs and threw up many times!
Later on the same day, in that same house I heard some weird noises coming from the basement. I went down to investigate and found one of the Army Infantry Sergeants, holding a 45 pistol and crying. I asked if I could help him. He kept saying” I can’t stand this any longer”. I went back upstairs to my First lieutenant, in charge of tagging and sending wounded soldiers back to 1st Aid Stations and asked him if he could send the guy downstairs to the rear lines to get some help. He said “Hell No! If we send everyone back who doesn’t want to be here, there would be no one left to fight this F—– war!” I returned back down to the Sergeant in the basement and he finally gave me his gun. I have often wondered what became of him!
My most vivid recollections of my World War II Service include seeing my first American GIs shot dead and lying frozen in the snow banks, the horrible sounds of the shells, mortars and screaming meemies hitting the snow and turning it black. My most haunting memory is the feeling of the bitter cold, snow and heavy rain. I suffered permanent damage of my toes from frostbite, lying in the foxholes in the middle of winter, in the Battle of the Bulge.
I am blessed to have a wonderful wife of 66 years, two wonderful children, four beautiful grandchildren and six amazing great grandchildren. I was in the building business for over forty- five years and retired several years ago. Through all of these years the great men of “A “Battery Sound Section have stayed in my heart, my thoughts, and my prayers. The experiences we shared can never be forgotten!