VII.   TRIP OVER THE ATLANTIC

They put us (the Division) on a ship on Presidential election day in November l944. This was the last time that Roosevelt ran for President. He died at the kitchen table in Hot Springs, Georgia, April l945 (at what was called The Little White House).

The ship we were on was an English ship called the Samaria. On the way out of New York harbor, I wondered if I would see the Statue of Liberty again as we passed it.

After a day or two out, I got sea sick. Anytime I got on my feet, I would have to throw up until I didn't have anything to throw up, then I would just dry heave. I went several days too sick to eat and finally I thought I would try to eat, but the galley had mutton and hot tea and I tried that but couldn't eat it. One night I was Corporal of the guard (I made Corporal at Camp Polk) on the galley. I told the guard I wanted something decent to eat. He brought me some spam and bread. It really tasted good.

After l3 days and l3 nights, we landed in South Hampton, England. They unloaded us and sent us to a field camp. A field camp is made up of tents. It was strange driving in England because they drove on the left side of the road instead of the right side as we do.

I hadn't been there too long before the back of my heels got real sore. I limped around for a day or two before I went to the infirmary. The Medic told me I had Achilles heels, which was caused by walking in mud for a period of time. Stretching the Achilles tendon causing inflammation of the tendon. It had rained about every day we were there.

We got a pass to go in London for the weekend. We rode the subway all over London. Went to Picadily Circus, the Whitehall Theater, Buckingham Palace, and the Wax Museum.

When we started to leave the Whitehall Theater, there was a big tremor. I heard one of the Englishmen say, "That was a close one." He was referring to the V-2 bombs or rockets. The V-2 was the first jet propelled rocket which was designed by the Germans. They launched the rockets in Germany and they landed in London, England. That night a V-2 bomb hit about a block from where we were sleeping. It knocked some guys out of bed, but I didn't hear it. We went to see where it lit the morning after. What a hole it left! In fact, after the war with Germany, some of the German rocket scientists were brought to the U.S. to assist in developing our rocket systems.

VIII.   GETTING TO COMBAT

The first part of December in l944, the Germans broke through the American line at Bastogne, Belgium, which was finally known as "The Bulge".

They loaded us on L.S.T.s (flat landing boats) and sent us across the English Channel to LeHarve, France. They put us on semi-stake trucks, we called them cattle trucks, and hauled us inland. It was a miserable ride, standing up and raining all the way. As we rode along in the trucks, we noticed when we went through some small towns, there were several French women with bald heads. We finally got to a town where we were to stay. They put our company in a large, empty chateau. We couldn't wait until

We could get to a bar. Three of us drank a bottle of Calvadous. It went down like water, but when it hit your stomach, it warmed it all the way. The French waitress said that Americans were piggish, a bottle like we drank would do a family a year. We asked the waitress why all the bald headed women. She said they were German collaborators that fraternized with the Germans. The townspeople shave their heads so everybody would know what they had done.

The next day, we headed across France by half-tracks and tanks, utimately to "The Bulge".

It got real cold and snowy. That night it was about zero and the wind was blowing hard. I dug a hole in the ground big enough for two. I got me a buddy and put his half of a pup tent and blanket down on the bottom of the hole and used my blanket for cover and half of pup tent to cover the hole. We slept snug as a bug until they rousted us out about daylight.

We were loading our half-tracks, getting ready to take off, when I heard a couple of shots. I happened to be looking in the direction, when I saw a G.I. grab his stomach and fall forward. The half-track had a turret on a 360 degree ring with a 50 caliber machine gun that would traverse 360 degree. We traveled with the gun at half load, meaning there were no cartridges in the chamber. The G.I. thought he was half-loading the gun, but someone had already half-loaded the gun. When the second G.I. pulled the lever of the gun back, he thought he was half-loading the gun, but he was loading it. He accidentally pulled the trigger and goodbye G.I.

We finally got to "The Bulge". The ground was so frozen, the Germans tried to bury their dead but one place, their toes with their hob nail boots were sticking out of the ground.

By this time, I had athlete's feet from not being able to change my socks so the medic finally put some purple looking stuff on my feet, but it did no good. I didn't get them healed until after the war when I had time to lay in the sun and sun dried up the fungus.