We were behind an Army 6 X 6, picking up bodies of German and American soldiers
piled up like logs, arms and legs sticking out of the stakes that formed the
sides with hair like fright. They stopped to throw more onto the pile and then I
quit looking. Not that it made me physically ill, but because it was taking my
mind where I didn't want it to go.
We passed the 6 X 6 and arrived at our mortar position. There were bodies of GIs
in their last mortal positions. One GI was sitting under a tree with his rifle
across his lap and a bullet hole in the head. He looked like he was sleeping;
another was standing against a hedgerow with his rifle leaning on top of the
hedgerow in firing position and a bullet hole between his eyes.
We dug our holes and entrenched our mortars. One of the sergeants was looking
around for a good position for guard post when the the soldier who was on guard
became concerned about these dead GIs. When he found the dead GI standing against
the hedgerow, he went a little wacky. When the sergeant saw this, he took the
opportunity to make it a little worse by saying, "that's a good place for the
machine gun. You can put it on top of the hedgerow and stand on his shoulders and
see everything". The guard was now pretty well shook, and about this time the
Germans started shelling. This guard started running around and alerting people.
When he saw the GI under the tree, he went over and tried to "wake him up". When
the body fell over and the guard realized the situation, he started running
around saying, "What will his mother think?" like the proverbial chicken with his
head off.
The bewildered guard hadn't dug himself a hole. When he ran by the sergeant's
hole, he (the sergeant) reached out and grabbed his foot and pulled him in. He
saved him from enemy shell fire but probably, mostly from himself. In situations
like this, it is better to think of anything but what you see in front of you, to
keep your brain from getting loose and running away. It's awful hard to get back.
Art Pranger
(3/29/98)
