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We heard the wind song of the shells overhead the moment we heard the firing of the big guns. Within seconds, the shells were exploding over Dorsten. You couldn't help but think of all 4th of July fireworks "rolled into one. Only this one wouldn't end with an American flag display. It was awesome, 10,000 rounds of 155's in 15 minutes!!

You have a fleeting thought - "Will anyone be alive when or if you get there?"

You check your watch - 06:14 - 20 seconds - 10 - 5 - silence. You look up, above the cloud of dust covering Dorsten, a trail of white smoke - that's our signal!

"Move out!! Move out!!"

We are half way between the: willows and the houses when "'machine gun fire comes at us from a flak tower to our right front - about 500 yards. We hit the dirt.

Each squad has a two man machine gun team. One of these is directly behind me. Machine gunners all along our line of attack direct their fire toward the tower. The enemy fire stops.

"Move out!! Move it!!"

Behind my back - three sharp rounds of machine bun fire. Brazell screams - the assistant machine gunner accidentally tripped the trigger when he picked up the gun. "Medic, Medic". The call is passed back from man to man. 'Little Joe', third platoon medic runs forward - "We can't stop - we're running toward Dorsten.

We reach the houses - I look back. Pfc George R. Bowman's rifle with bayonet attached has been plunged, muzzle down, into the ground next to where he fell. 'Little Joe' continues to work over him.

German self propelled 88's and larger fixed place howitzers lay down a counter barrage between us and the rest of the company. Unknown to us, third platoon is the' only unit, at that time, to make it into the town. We are on our own for the next hour and a half.

Dorsten is deserted. Only a few dead civilians - no stray dogs – above all - no German soldiers - just silence. German soldiers did not warn the civilians before they vacated the city. Women and children were killed.

We race down rubble strewn streets past bombed out houses with broken windows and collapsed roofs. We reach the railroad line - still no Germans.

A street runs north and south, parallel to the tracks. We cautiously move north toward the center of the town using two church steeples as our guide point. Two or three men are dropped off at each point where a street intercepts the railroad line. By the time we reach the overpass (with the main street going under the rail line) we are down to ten men - we started with fifty.

Suddenly all hell breaks loose! A roving self propelled 88 has spotted us and doesn't intend to let us go further. Round after round explodes - to our right, to our left, behind us. We dive into the safety of the large church next to the underpass.