Section 4

In my case, it happened after we had just finished putting on a demonstration at Fort Knox for a group of visiting legislators and high ranking officers. At the finale we detonated a mine field to allow the tanks to charge through the breech in the mine field. The tanks would proceed the Infantry.

After the demonstration was completed our job was to police and clear the area and pick up the remaining mines. One mine with its small explosive device had apparently not gone off. We did have (S.O.P.) Standard Operating Procedures for such cases. I attached a rope to the mine and backed off and jerked the mine back and forth from a safe distance. This lasted about 5 minutes and the device failed to go off. I let it lay for 5 minutes more and then went over and picked it up. Guess what. It went "Boom" and I ended up in the Base Hospital with multiple lacerations from the exploding mine.

In surgery the doctor told me to start counting as soon as they gave me a shot of Sodium Pentathol. I do remember counting to 7 or 8 and then I lost complete feeling in the injured areas although I could see them take out 56 metal fragments from my body. I was lucky that none of the fragments reached my eyes.

I will always remember Capt. Albrick coming into my hospital room that night. His first words were. "What a dumb ass thing for an Engineer Sgt. to do with a dangerous mine cartridge." I totally agreed with and considered that I deserved such an "ass chewing". Little did I know that a few months later I would be able to visit Capt. Albrick in the same hospital and to say the exact same words after an accident with a mine cartridge. Our hospital stays were about a week.

His accident happened after he had taken one of the explosive cartridge mine cores back to (B.O.Q.) Bachelors Officers Quarters. There he was fooling around the cartridge with a knife. Like me, it went "boom". He had serious wounds around his face. One laceration went through to his teeth. I walked into his hospital room and said to him "what a dumb ass thing for an Engineer Capt. to do with a dangerous mine cartridge". His injuries were more serious than the ones I had received.

From those two incidents I was very careful in all of my future dealings with mines, both foreign and domestic. I later even worked with 1000 lb. aerial bombs.

I've never used such language in talking to an officer but I knew that Capt. Albrick would accept it as a "payback" for what he said to me. He took it all good naturally although on that day he still couldn't smile with the stitches on his face.

I did use some very rough language to an officer one night while on maneuvers in Louisiana. I got into very deep trouble when I used very questionable language to an officer. But at the time I didn't know he was an officer. It almost had very serious consequences. On this occasion we were working in the rain on a cold and miserable night to help a tank column through a swamp. There was a lot of confusion. I was directing my platoon in laying (corduroy) large branches and small trees across the soft ground so that the tanks and the other track vehicles could continue to move forward. I kept hearing comments from one side. I guess I did some very loud cussing. My Lt., heard me and asked me "Sarge what in the hell is the matter?" I was boiling mad and answered "Some fucking Joe is trying to tell me how to do my job". Well this "fucking Joe" stepped forward; a "full bird" colonel, just one rank below a General. He called me to attention.

He asked me for my name, rank and serial number and stated very loudly, so that everyone could hear. "I'll have those stripes" (my Sgts. Stripes). Right then and there I pictured that my days as a Staff Sgt. were over. Soon I would again be Private Jozsa. You don't refer to a full bird colonel as a "fucking Joe".

The next morning my Lt. took me to see our Battalion Commander, a Colonel Podufaly who also happened to be a West Point Graduate. We explained what had happened last night in the rain. He listened attentively and said "the Colonel's request will probably come down through channels and will end up on my desk for action to be taken. There will be a recommended discipline attached. When it does arrive here I will answer that the discipline has be administered. That should end it all. It must have because I never heard anymore about it, thanks to my Colonel.

On reading the 1994 8^th Armored Division Reunion Newsletter, I saw Colonel Podufaly had just deceased. A very good and caring gentlemen and he saved my Sgts. stripes, and my ass.

While in England we talked with many recovering wounded Americans who were recovering at a Tidworth Area Hospital. They impressed upon us that firepower was important in battle. They advised us to get as much firepower as possible. In a close battle you never have enough. Half track vehicles carry 1 - 50 cal. Machine gun. The recovered victims told us that 2 - 50 cal. Machine guns were better than 1. But how do we get an extra one?

We talked to our Gunnery Sgt., a Sgt. "Sparrow" Gholson who said that there was a giant armament complex in Sherwood forest and that if we could get there we possibly could obtain an extra 50 cal. Machine gun, by hook or crook. It might involve some "moon lite requisitioning". Somehow we did get permission to visit the Sherwood Forest Motor Pool and Armament Center. We were in quest of 3 - 50 cal. Machine guns. Sgt. Gholson figured that the 2^nd and 3^rd Platoon also needed more armament. We were getting armed by hook or by crook. We knew we were sticking our necks out.

We did get to Sherwood Forest through some very lucky breaks. The Security Forces was very lax and we were able to "requisition" 3 - 50 cal. Machine guns for the three platoons of the 53^rd Armored Engineer Div. We were probably the most heavily armed platoons of the 8^th Armored Division. When we rolled off the L.S.T. at Le Havre, France we were ready for war and definitely better able to defend ourselves.

Our trip to Sherwood Forest where Robin Hood and his band had difficulties with the Sheriff of Nottingham took us through some parts of England which had great historical significance. We went through Salisbury with its famous Cathedral. We also went through Oxford with its famous colleges, and Coventry, the town which was almost totally destroyed by the Luftwaffe in one night of concentrated bombing by massive numbers of planes. The English never forgot the bombing. The town was completely rebuilt after the war. We had to drive around Coventry as it was off limits to all Military Personnel.

We were never under any serious danger from bombing while stationed in England, although the Germans were sending over their Buzz Bombs regularly. The V. Bombs to London came later. Some Buzz Bombs hit London while I was there. Had another experience with a Buzz Bomb while we were in Holland in the Spring of 45.

The Buzz Bombs were crude rocket powered bombs. They were run by an engine that sounded much like our old Model T Fords. You didn't have to worry as long as you heard the engine put-putting. When the engine stopped that meant that the bomb was on it's way down. While in Holland, we must have been on the path to London. While in Holland we had heard them quite frequently. However, we only heard one stop operating and all of us dove for our fox holes or cellars. These bombs flew slowly so they could be shot down by our planes or our anti-aircraft artillery.

The V-Bombs that hit London came later. These were German rockets which reached great heights and wiped out whole city blocks of London. These were almost impossible to detect or to shoot down.

The Battle of the Bulge in Late December of 1944 ended our short stay in England. Germany's last attempt to stop the continued invasion of its Homeland necessitated the presence of more and fresh troops of American soldiers. The 8^th was ready.

Shortly after the 1st of the year in 1945 we boarded L.S.T.'s with all our Half Tracks and Engineer Equipment to land on the beach at Le Havre, France. We had no enemy opposition as the fighting had moved inland, closer to the border of Germany. It was "D Day Plus six months". But the town of Le Havre was devastated but "A" Co. of the 53^rd had met no opposition from the enemy but we were getting close.

Our first night in France was spent in a forest near Rheims (City of the world famous Cathedral). I remember it well as Lt. Campos, my Platoon Lt. of my 1^st platoon bought a bottle of champagne and he offered me a drink. I did not refuse. The next morning we left. During the night the whole company had decided that the G.I. Gas Mask was not to be a part of our regular equipment. Over 150 Gas Masks were left behind in the woods as we pulled out for our next destination , Pont a Mousson. A few days of rest near Pont a Mousson gave us a trip into town, some schnapps and a chance to participate in some forms of "recreation".

In coming into town, after we had a dinner of cold rations, we noticed a long line outside a town building. We inquired why the line? They said girls. Now we were so indoctrinated by the army to line up for many reasons that we automatically took a place in line. That was our introduction to France. Welcome to France and French hospitality.

The weather was very cold. There was snow on the ground. We were sleeping in relative comfort in the barns of neighboring farms. You shared the barns with several different kinds of farm animals. Most of them were sheep. You had to sleep with your boots on or with your boots inside your bed roll to keep them from freezing solid, thus making it impossible to put on in the morning. We were on a 24 hour alert so that we had to ready to move out in a very short notice.

Orders to move up came very soon. No more trips into Pont a Mousson for French Schnapps or "French Recreation". We were ordered to move up to the front to work with the 95^th Infantry Division. We were attached to a Combat Command Group of the 8^th Armored Division which consisted of the 36^th Tank Battalion and the 49^th Infantry Battalion. We were going to attack the famous Siegfried line in our first combat action in the area of Nennig and Berg.

We had not been told our specific mission ahead of time but did find out as I attended a "battle briefing" with Capt. Gettings and my Lt. Campos. General Walker of the Third Army Group and who was General Patton's right hand man briefed a group of us from the 8^th Armored Division Officers and non-coms of the proposed mission.

He stood up in front of a large map of the area where our part of the Mission was to be, or what job the engineers were to be assigned to do. Our job of "A" Company's through platoons was to clear mine fields, eliminate the barbed wire obstacles, destroy the concrete "Dragon's Teeth" (concrete barriers) then bridge the anti-tank ditch with steel bridge treadway equipment and then guide the tanks over the anti-tank ditches into an obstacle safe area of the Siegfried Line. All we had to contend with were the strong and strategically placed concrete "Pill boxes." The defensive forces had a good "field of fire".

General Walker with his pointer on the map made it sound easy but we anticipated that it was not going to be that easy.

We returned back to where our platoons were and briefed the three platoons on what each platoon would do in the operation. My 1^st Platoon was to advance up to the Infantry and help them in any way we could.

Lt. Campos and I reported up to the C.P. (Command Post) of the Infantry. The Colonel in charge told us that the retreating German troops had left a destroyed German tank; cross wise in a narrow street which prevented our own tanks from proceeding the Infantry. Our path to the front was blocked by brick buildings on both sides of the narrow buildings on both sides of the narrow cobblestone street. The tank had to be moved out of the way. It was our job.

The Lt. and I decided that the destroyed German tank had to be moved out of the way to allow our own tank to move up, as the tanks were needed to protect our advancing Infantry.

We called up Cpl. Frank Shutakoski the Demolition Specialist of the 1^st Platoon to decide on the best method for doing the job. Cpl. Shutakoski had accumulated his knowledge and experience with explosives in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. The Demolition Specialist, Shutakowski, figured to use massive explosive charges to blow the tank sideways through the brick building to allow enough room for our tanks from the 36^th Tank Battalion to move up the road with the 49^th Infantry to bring us face to face with the Siegfried Line. The 2^nd and 3^rd Platoon of "A" Company of the 53^rd had the responsibility of removing or "gapping the mine field", bridging the barbed wire, demolishing the Dragons Teeth and then bridging the anti-tank ditch.

We sent word back to our Platoon to have the 1^st Squad under Sgt. Patterson to bring up the required explosives, the T.N.T. needed for the job. The squad delivered the explosives up to us at the "C.P." and Cpl. Shutakoski placed the T.N.T. charges where the explosion would move the tank out of the way. I ordered the squad to return back where they had been stationed and what was supposed to be a safe area. How wrong we were. The members of the 1^st Squad were the victims of a terrible accidental explosion. While returning back to the staging area the Squad had stopped to rest in an alley where a Platoon from the 49^th Infantry battalion was waiting to move forward after the German tank had been moved out of the way.

We set off the T.N.T., the brick walls caved in, the tank moved sideways through the building and the road was clear for our tanks. We signaled for the tanks and Infantry to move up. Then came a huge explosion. One of the tanks while maneuvering to get out of the alley accidentally backed over a stack of old German mines that had been removed by some Engineers previously. The resulting explosion blew up the mines, the tank and the flames and shrapnel from the explosion of the tanks gasoline and ammunition.

Many of the tankers and Infantrymen were killed and injured. The 1^st Squad was fairly close to the explosion but since they had observed a space between each other they were not bunched up close together. All of them suffered wounds or from concussion. Two of the men, Schonger and Zawiza were evacuated and were returned to the states. One lost an arm, another was blinded. A few others had little wounds but soon returned to us. Selig left us for a short time.

One of the men reported to me and didn't even realize that he was carrying only half a rifle, the stock was partially gone. After hearing what had happened to the 1^st Squad I remarked to Lt. Campos "Only a few hours of combat and we've already lost one squad. This is going to be a rough war. That day was still not over.

As Lt. Campos and I were returning to the Staging area we came under intense mortar fire. We were caught in a fairly open area and tried to dig. But how do you dig in without a digging tool? All I had was a bayonet. It is difficult to dig in with a bayonet, a digging or entrenching tool would have been more effective. The shells continued to explode all around us for about an hour. It was very scary. Lt. Campos broke down emotionally. It was too much for him and he had to be helped back to the rear and was then evacuated to a Field Hospital where he was diagnosed with what was called "Combat Fatigue". He never returned to active combat duty. He was assigned to help administer the Red Cross Unites and Donut Wagons. A Lt. Santy our Company Motor Officer was assigned to the 1^st Platoon. He was a good man. It had been a rough day for the 1^st Platoon. The breakdown of the Lt. And the loss of 3 members of the Platoon was very sobering. Lt. Santy, our new Lt. helped us a lot through this period. He was a real soldier.

We did realize that we had been lucky. It could have been much worse. In fact the 2^nd Platoon under my close friend "Kelly" Kalwieth did lose a man to artillery fire that night.

The dead man was Cpl. Ed Sherrill. The Second Platoon had the job of bridging the anti-tank ditch and destroying the "Dragons Teeth". They had worked most of the night on the ditch. It was just completed before dawn.

Around dawn they signaled that the tanks could start across the steel treadway bridge placed over the ditch. Corporal Sherrill was guiding the tanks with flashlights across the Treadway Steel Bridge. The German Artillery opened up. He was killed by an "air burst". After the "tank moving" and explosion and the mortar shelling I rejoined the 1^st Platoon three or four blocks to the rear. We were in the cellar of a brick building supposedly a fairly safe area. However, the excitement of our first day of combat was not yet over. We were then subjected to a half hour "rocket" attack. Rocket attacks are scary because you can see the "balls of fire" coming at you from the hills to our left.

Later that night we had more excitement. It was very foggy. We heard enemy tanks moving in the fog on our left flank. Our Intelligence Officer had reported that Germany's most powerful and dangerous "Tiger" tanks were in the immediate area. We could hear the tanks maneuvering in the fog but could not see them. We knew that this tank was bigger and better than anything we had. It had thicker armor and its armament was an 88 mm gun. The biggest gun on our tanks at this time was a 75 mm gun. We were sitting in the fog waiting for them with our little "pea shooter" 37 mm gun. We were relieved when we finally heard the tanks start moving away from us. We were under fire from German Artillery until the time we left.

We left and were relieved the next day while German Artillery followed us with about a dozen shells as we crossed an open thousand yard open area. We were not hit but it was still scary. It was a trying and interesting introduction to combat. I had picked up a Nazi Ceremonial Flag in Nennig as a souvenir of our first combat experience. Official Commendations came down through officially constituted channels in April 1945 about our participation in the combat action in January between Nennig & Berg. We then returned to Pont A Mousson for a short R & R (Rest & Recreation). I did not participate in the "Recreation" part. The sheep were still there in the barn. They did not smell any better from the first times here.

Our combat action near Nennig and Berg ended our participation in the Battle of the Bulge., Eisenhower's plan to cut off the initial German successes. Our help on the southern part of the penetration helped or at least contributed to our success. We received our Battle Star for our contribution. The 1^st Platoon of the "A" Co. 53^rd Armored Engineers did contribute. After a short R & R week the Barn and its sheep we were getting anxious to move on. The sheep were probably glad to see us move on. Their smells were not enjoyed. While in Pont a Mousson we displayed the huge Nazi Swastika Flag that I had picked up in a house in Nennig, a battle souvenir.

After a very short R & R in Pont a Mousson we received orders to prepare for a long overnight drive to Holland. The entire trip was under blackout conditions using only blackout lights. It was a real "Bummer" for our drivers and the Navigator who happened to be S/. Sgt. John Jozsa. I stood up through the entire night from South France to Holland, watching very carefully that we didn't rear end the Jeep in front of us which contained our Company Commander, James J. Gettings and our first Sgt. Lavelle. It was a pair you shouldn't rear end.

It was a long night, dark, miles of narrow cobblestone streets through the quiet streets of France, Luxembourg and Holland. No one slept much that night in Adolf's Coffin, the name of our half track. Pit stops were few and far between and there were no portable "Potties" on board. You relieved yourself at the Pit Stops or "held" it.

It was just after one of these "Pit Stops" that one of the young men yelled out "Sgt., I got to take a crap". Now what do we do. We couldn't stop the Convoy. We couldn't throw one of our own men out on the French Countryside.

One other alternative was to let him crap in his pants and sicken the 14 of us with the smell or stench. I made a momentous decision. I was thinking about all the men not just the guy who had to relieve himself. I hollered back "Use your helmet". The voice then asked " What do I do with it then?" I answered "Throw it out of the half track". He answered "I need my helmet". I told him "Tie it to a rope and let it hang out of the half track". He grudgingly followed my "orders". The Sgt. usually meant what he said, so the receptacle filled with feces or human waste was dragged behind the half track for nearly 100 miles over the bumpy roads and cobblestone streets of France and Holland.

The helmet took a terrible beating and was not in wearable shape. It was quite an interesting story. No "Crap" about that. My man picked up another from the first dead G.I. we ran across in Holland. He just exchanged helmets.

We reached our destination in mid morning just a few miles west of the Roer River. The Germans were on the east side of the Roer while Allied forces were on the west side. This was to be our position for the next month and a half. Spring rains grounded most vehicles so there was very little combative action. During the "down time" we carried on a lot of advanced Engineering training, mine fields and repaired roads and really got acquainted with friendly and wonderful Dutch people.

It was real nice to be with people who truly appreciated our presence there. The English and the French never made us feel that way. The Dutch people were more like us. Most of them spoke English and were always so clean and neat. Later on when we got into Germany, we found that most of the Germans were more like the Dutch and unlike the French and the English.

We were staying in a barn like building on a Dutch farm. I remember how the Dutch family would bring us warm fresh milk every night. That is until our Medical Officer found out about it and put a stop to it. The reason they did that was because of the possibility of us coming down with typhoid which supposedly was present in much of the fresh unpasteurized milk. The Dutch had developed anti bodies to the disease so were immune to typhoid. For us, that was the end of the hot milk in the evening from that nice Dutch family.

While in Holland, we were kept busy. We did some mine field clearing, bridge building and reinforcing, bridge building drill, and road maintenance to prepare for the Spring "action"."

The big drive to cross the Roer in the Spring would involve American and British armored units so a lot of preparation had to take place. At times we could observe the Germans on the east side of the Roer River through our field glasses. Every once in a while they would let us know of their presence by lobbing in a few 88 mm artillery shells.

We called these the "Screaming Meemies" because of their weird and frightening sound as the shell was coming in. The fear of the 88's kept us close to our foxholes.

We had our own individual fox holes to suit our own particular tastes. They were also used when the "Buzz Bombs" flew over.

Eventually, in the Spring, following an almost all night artillery barrage we attacked and moved eastward.

The 8^th Armored Division was involved in the Roer Pocket Operation where hundreds of thousands of Germans were captured in the Roer Pocket closing.

After the Roer Pocket Campaign we found ourselves very close to the Rhine River; the last obstacle for the English and American troops. The obstacle was the Rhine River. The bridges across the Rhine River were all mined so they would be destroyed as we got close to the River. If this happened, that meant the Engineers like the 53^rd Armored Engineers would be asked to build a bridge across the Rhine at one or multiple sites to allow our Armored Divisions to finish off the Germans.

We pictured ourselves building a Rubber Pontoon Bridge while under heavy artillery fire. It really didn't appeal to us. We didn't look forward to being the bridge builders on the Rhine. We were assigned however to build a pontoon "practice" bridge about 10 miles west of the Rhine River.

We built the bridge according to the exact specifications according to the width of the River at a certain point. The bridge was across a real swampy area. The water area was not as much as the Rhine so we had to use explosives (T.N.T.) to get the desired bridge length through the swampy area.

The bridge was to be used for the Tankers to practice going across the bridge. The bridge was to be approximately the length of the bridge to be build by some Engineers Outfit.

Then occurred one of the most opportune and lucky breaks of the war. A bridge across the Rhine at Remagen was practically given to us. The Germans failed to destroy the bridge.

The 9^th Armored Division which was advancing on our right flank came across a bridge that the Germans had failed to completely destroy allowing us use to it for many precious days. The failure to detonate all the explosive mines on the bridge gave us the bridge almost intact. This allowed the Engineers of the 9^th Armored Division to secure the bridge and to reinforce the bridge so it could be used by our armor. Our troops were able to pour over in great numbers with our armor before it finally collapsed. After securing this bridgehead on the last bank of the Rhine, the Allies subjected the whole eastern bank to the most intense artillery barrage of the war. The artillery bombardment went on for hours. The noise was deafening. I couldn't see how anything could survive that shelling.

However, when our troops crossed the river they met opposition from dug in fanatic German soldiers. There wasn't a leaf on a tree for miles. Our Division crossed the Rhine at Wesel, north of Remagen a few days later on a pontoon bridge build by some Combat Engineer Battalion. The bridge at Wesel had come under fire while in construction but we were not bothered as we crossed.

After we crossed the Rhine River at Wesel we were on the go for a very long period of time. I remember that I personally went 17 days without a shave or bath. I also picked up a case of "scabies" which bothered me a lot.

Scabies are the result of unsanitary conditions. On many nites I just sacked out in some German farmhouse. The bedding apparently was the problem. I couldn't take care of the "Scabies" problem until we completed the operational mission assigned to us.

Then I checked into a "Delousing Station", showered with special soap and had all our clothing fumigated. I still have some of the scars from the scratching I did while those pesky scabies were in and on you.

Then followed the closing days of the war. Many of the German soldiers were trapped and surrounded by our swiftly moving troops. We were now in Gen. Simpson's 9^th Army Group and was attached to the British Desert Rats Division and we were heading for Berlin. Just ahead of us was the town of Braunchweig (Brunswick). Hundreds of Germans were walking towards us with their hands above their heads saying "Alles Kaput" and "Cameraden". We directed them to the rear where they could be processed and be sent to P.O.W. (Prisoner of War) camps. In some case they just went home.

One scene I'll never forget. We had "liberated" a small hand cranked phonograph with some German records. The fellows in the back of the half track played the records as we drove through the German towns. The squad was always on the alert, ready for any action with machine guns ready to return enemy fire. The war was still going on very seriously and firmly while our little phonograph played a German version instrumental of the popular American song "Sweet and Lovely".