Waynes Story Part 1

Wayne's Story: Part 1

When the Third US Army was called to a halt of its dash across France and into Western Germany, my unit was brought to a halt just east of Saarbrucken. I was commander of a reconnaissance platoon and we had just pulled into a forested area and dispersed our vehicles. As soon as we had our vehicles well spaced and relatively secure, I called my men together and insisted that they spread out and dig fox-holes for their own safety. I could read the distaste of such a project when they were all dead tired.
I had only been assigned to this unit several weeks before and I had been rather abrupt in my approach to the men. I guess they thought that I was kind of hard because the only time I spoke to them was when I had to give orders or directions. Personal conversation had not entered into my relationship with my platoon members. Even my splendid platoon sergeant was not a close friend. I did keep him completely aware of that which was going on in our unit and what lay ahead of us, that is, if I knew it too.
I did know the names of each of my platoon members, their ranks and something of their backgrounds and I always addressed them by their rank and last name. I had made a practice though of being very thorough in giving directions to the entire platoon. Their previous platoon commander had been badly wounded so I had stepped into a rather tough situation. I wasn't the only replacement though. Eight other men in the platoon were also replacements.
But, we had come together quite well and my platoon members seemed to accept me as I was. I made a point of reaching out to the men to make them feel that I actually cared about their safety. There had to be a way to do this without being totally personal. It came about the next day. We weren't too sure where the German troops were sitting. Our patrols had gone out about 1000 meters and hadn't encountered anyone. So we kind of breathed a sigh of relief, But, we kept very alert and maintained patrols in our area.
About ten o'clock in the morning though, we heard the frightening roar of artillery soaring over our heads. I yelled for the men to take cover and motioned for the platoon sergeant to assist me in getting all the men into their fox-holes or into a safe area. Suddenly, one shell burst in a tree to the edge of our position and another one just thirty yards ahead of where I was standing. I felt a thud on my helmet but paid no attention to it. I ran from fox-hole to fox-hole to insure the safety of my men and I noticed that several men were looking at me with startled glances. I just thought that they were surprised to see me, and I guess they really were. I continued my race around the platoon and caught up with the platoon sergeant who pulled me down next to him. He asked me rather abruptly if I had called up a medic and I said, "no, nobody's been hit."
"Lieutenant," he called, "you're bleeding. You've been hit." I looked down at my shirt and saw blood dripping down from my head. I reached up and touched the front of my helmet and I felt asharp piece of metal jutting out from my helmet. "Oh hell! Call the medic," I whispered to my platoon sergeant.
When the medic came up to our position, he pulled off my helmet and I let out a yell. The metal had penetrated the helmet and lodged into the front of my forehead. The medic refused to touch the metal and as a stupid act of bravado, I reached up and pulled out the metal scrap. The medic covered it quickly with a bandage and led me to the ambulance.
After a quick trip to the field hospital, they put four stitches in my forehead, gave me a shot and sent me back to my platoon. My men were surprised to see me and for the very first time, I saw smiles on their faces and my sergeant came up and said, "Welcome back sir>"
This was the first time that I felt truly at home with my platoon. This was my first purple heart but it was the first time that I felt wholly at ease with all my men. From then on we were a hard, relaxed and complete unit.

Upon returning to my platoon near Saarbrucken, I felt quite relieved to find all my men in good shape and in relatively good spirits. The weather was very cool when we were instructed to prepare to move to a new location. We were going back to an area just east of the fine city of Metz.

It was about two weeks before Christmas and it seemed so great to have a few days of peace and quiet. We even took baths and put on clean clothes. Then after several days, something happened and I noted a sudden surge of movement. My squadron commander called me and in very terse tones instructed me to assemble all my platoon and gas up all my vehicles and prepare for immediate departure.
When I asked a few questions about where we were going and what we were expected to do, I was surprised with a rather abrupt, "I can't tell you anything now." A sudden burst of quiet filled the atmosphere and everyone seemed tense and worried.

Our M8s and our jeeps were all checked over, oil, gas, tires and everything seemed to be top-notch. Ammunition was filled, weapons were checked and plans were made on where we were to assemble for a quick takeoff. Everyone was astonished by the sudden surge of activity and their faces reflected the worry created by such limited information. I assembled my platoon and tried to calm their fears with a promise to keep them informed as soon as information was available. The Sixth Cavalry Squadron was ready to go and my Recon Platoon was set to lead the way wherever we were destined to go. My men were all sitting next to their vehicles, smoking cigarettes and talking to each other in quiet voices.

Finally, my Squadron Commander put in his appearance and summoned me to join him along with all the staff officers and company commanders. In his hands he held several maps and pieces of paper. When we all grouped together and came to attention, he put us at ease and began his instructions.

He said somewhat blandly that he couldn't yet tell us where we were going or what we were expected to do. He informed us that he would lead the way and that we were to maintain radio silence all the way.

We were soon on the road traveling in a northerly direction. Everyone seemed to be very attentive to their driving and proper distance maintenance. Wherever we were or where we passed through seemed to be just a blur. Finally, we hit the Luxemburg boundary and passed on but changed direction to a westerly course.

After pushing on for an inestimable time, we came upon the Belgian border and continued on in a northwesterly direction. When we arrived in Arlon Belgium, we were instructed to pull over to the side of the road and wait for further instructions. The Squadron Commander and Executive officer along with several other staff officers drove off toward the center of town. We waited impatiently for what seemed to be several hours and finally the C.O. and other staff officers appeared. I was told to arrange for security of my vehicles and instructed to take my men into a church and prepare to sleep there overnight. Further instructions would be forthcoming when necessary. A number of local people had come out and were trying to speak to my men. When I spoke to them in French they were surprised and seemed to lurch out in friendship. They talked on and on and were disappointed when I had to leave them and return to my men.

After a quick emergency meal, we were instructed to turn in and get some rest. Fortunately, none of my men had to stand guard, so we all tried to relax and get some sleep. After a few uncomfortable snoozes, I woke up and was surprised to be hailed to a meeting with the C.O. and the Squadron S-3 and S-2 officers.

I was greeted with instructions to help myself to a canteen cup full of wonderful black coffee that was so hot I could hardly hold it. Then, the map was unfolded, taped to the wall, and the Commander stepped forward with his pointer. He glanced at me and asked if I was prepared to move out and astonished, I blurted out that we were always ready. Something must have happened because everyone laughed at my sudden outburst of tenacious readiness. The laugh seemed to relax everyone and the C.O. turned to the map.