(Uslar, Germany, May 10th, 1945)

The announcement, "retreat parade" was posted on the company bulletin board. Thus having been informed of this, the entire company busied themselves getting ready for it. Standing around waiting for the bugle call, the men looked "sharp"; Shoes were

shined, pants were pressed and shirts. clean. About that time Segar looked over one of his squad members. 'Spears,' he exclaimed 'Where are your O. D.'s!' 'You have fatigues On!' Spears, after a considerable amount of thinking, said, 'oh, my gawd.. . . I didn't notice.'

C A N 'T G E T O U T O F T H I S M O O D

When the two pretty young Frauleins came to our billet the first morning, everybody was quite pleased. They did the dishes, swept the floors and in general made themselves not at all obnoxious (rather pleasant) and very helpful. There was some murmuring of 'Fraternization', but most all agreed that such harmless helpfulness could not be so misconstrued. They returned on the following days. The cheerfulness with which

they did their work touched many a hardened heart. No longer did they do the dishes alone. Inspired, many rushed to help the Frauleins perform their tasks. They now remained at the house throughout the day and any inconsiderate act toward them was frowned upon by some GI gentlemen. Much wrangling resulted. The house was split into two factions: Those who big-brothered the Frauleins; Those who wanted to throw them out . . . . This problem may never have been solved, had we not moved out.

N E R V O U S I N T H E S E R V I C E

He entered the service from the State of Kansas. He must have made a very impressive record at basic training in Fort McClellan, for he was immediately sent overseas to combat and the Eighth Armored Division.Fortunately for him (?) he was entered on the roster list of C Company and quickly assigned to the first platoon, machine-gun squad. The squad met Zeke (he plays a mean fiddle too), and Zeke met the two ammunition boxes which were destined to bear heavily upon his future. But his future and his chance to win a bronze star was short lived, as active fighting and enemy action was

curtailed for us about two weeks after he joined our ranks. In spite of the fact that his chances of capturing a 'Kraut' possessing a P-38 pistol was getting slimmer and slimmer as the days passed by, Zeke (the only man in the ETO with bags over his eyes) stood his tour of guard duty with everlasting faithfulness and alertness. For his calmness and coolness above and beyond the call of duty, Zeke was awarded the Seat Cover Cluster by his cohorts of the machine-gun squad. And now one can always find him during off duty hours cuddled in 'his' corner of Track 24 with his complete gear fast asleep, in order not to miss that trip back home and his well earned furlough.