No Victory in Valhalla Read online

  Still recovering from wounds received in Normandy, Pvt Bob Penner, Pfc Lonnie Gavrock, and Sgt Manny Barrios returned to I Co. After being hit by shrapnel Manny had hooked up with Bob Harwick (who was also on the run from the enemy) in St-Côme-du-Mont where they were both liberated on June 8/9, 1944. “I was posted to 3 Ptn and put in charge of the 60mm mortar squad, where the only person I recognized was Harold Stedman,” Manny later recalled.

  Soon after Gavrock arrived back at Mourmelon complications set in and Lonnie (who still had a bullet lodged dangerously close to his heart) was sent back to the hospital for the duration. Like Gavrock, Sgt Len “Sam” Goodgal (1 Ptn) was wounded at “Bloody Gully” in Normandy on June 13, but was lucky enough to make a full recovery. He recalls: “Some of our replacements, like privates Bob Chovan and Bill Chivvis, had proven themselves in Holland but they were not bonded like the rest of us who had been through basic training at Toccoa. Some of these guys came in, got killed or wounded and we never knew them. I think most of us, who were now veterans of one or more campaigns, felt that they should have got more recognition as they gave everything, including in some cases their lives. I was no great soldier – I was just there like so many others.”

  Twenty-year-old Chivvis joined 1st Squad on June 20, as a scout. “Len and the boys called me ‘Joe,’ after the cartoon character from ‘Willie & Joe.’ Everyone joked that I was the most ‘sorry arsed’ soldier in I Co, although it is fair to say, Len was a pretty close second!”

  A small number of troops from the 506th were selected for temporary duty with the 9th Troop Carrier Command Pathfinder Group to train as Pathfinders. Pvt Irvin Schumacher from H Co joined 1st Lt Shrable Williams (Regt HQ Co) and around a dozen other soldiers to undergo an intensive two-week course at Chalgrove in Oxfordshire. Others like Pfc George McMillan (I Co 2 Ptn) were accepted as Air Dispatchers and also returned to the United Kingdom.

  One of McMillan’s friends was Pvt Al Cappelli from Wayne, Pennsylvania, who joined 2 Ptn as a wireman in the communications section a few days before the jump into Holland. Cappelli recalls: “I had been hurt during the early stages of the campaign by a blast from a German grenade which damaged my back. Our squad leader at the time, Sgt Joe Madona from Winthrop, Massachusetts, killed the soldier who threw the grenade and saved my life. I spent eight days in hospital and was told that our medic, T/5 Robert Evans’ careful treatment kept me from further injury. I can’t say enough about Joe Madona, who used to joke that we were the only ‘Dagos’ in the outfit – so we’d better make it shine!”

  On November 29, two days after arriving at Mourmelon, Cappelli’s kidneys became so inflamed that he could no longer urinate. Capt Anderson immediately sent Al for treatment to the 99th General Hospital in Reims. “During my two-week stay,” Cappelli remembers, “I didn’t think anyone really cared, but when Joe Madona came to visit with our platoon sergeant Albert Wall and three other guys, I actually wept with pride.” 3rd Bn surgeon Capt Barney Ryan was also at the same hospital working on detached service with 502nd PIR regimental surgeon Maj Douglas Davidson.

  Unusually a number of parachute-trained senior NCOs were attached to both the 101st and the 82nd airborne divisions (albeit temporarily) from the 509th Parachute Infantry Bn (originally part of the First Allied Airborne Task Force). One of these men, Sgt Walter Patterson, was assigned to 1 Ptn H Co as a mortar squad leader, as Lou Vecchi recalls: “Patterson had a lot of experience and seemed to fit in right away. Walt took over the 4th Squad from Don Zahn (who had recently received a battlefield commission) and stayed with the platoon until the end of the war.”

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  The superb recreational facilities at Mourmelon meant that those who showed any sporting prowess competed for positions on the regimental football, basketball, or boxing teams. Joe Madona and Cpl Stan Stasica (H Co), rejoined the “Sky Train” football team to begin regular training sessions for “The Champagne Bowl,” an important game scheduled against the 502nd PIR in Reims on Christmas Day. John Wiesenberger and Lawrence Fitzpatrick were coaching the team when replacement and ex-high-school-football star Pvt John Kilgore (3 Ptn G Co) was sent on a work detail to deliver football strips. Wiesenberger recognized Kilgore’s name and asked if he would be willing to join Sky Train. “Of course I couldn’t say no and was pleased to learn that my squad mate, Pvt Albert Gray, had also been selected,” Kilgore later recalled.

  Pfc Harold Stedman (3 Ptn I Co) began to connect with Pvt Richard Shinn, who had joined the company just before Holland. “Richie came from San Francisco where he lived with his parents who were both Korean. It turned out that Shinn, a gifted prewar boxer, had previously trained at the same gym as my cousin and competed against him in several competitions. Shinn knew I was keen on amateur boxing and taught me enough to qualify for a place on the team that was still in the process of being re-formed. Richie always told me, ‘Stay in shape and maybe you won’t get killed’ – and of course, as I later came to realize, he was right.”

  Sgt Hank DiCarlo (1 Ptn H Co) had a large sum of money at his disposal. “I hadn’t been paid properly since May and having just received all my back salary, I was loaded.” Shortly afterwards Hank was approached by 1st Lt Derwood Cann (battalion S2), who had just been given an unexpected three-day pass to Paris. Cann wanted to borrow $500 and Hank trusted him enough to pay it back over the next few months in easy installments.

  Four years of German occupation had not seemingly changed Paris in any way except for the fact that now it cost a small fortune to purchase anything. Many began their leave at the Café de la Paix or “Caffay De La PX” to meet old friends and decide which places to visit. Parisians straggled by, often clutching scuffed old briefcases containing family heirlooms, which they were hoping to sell to the new occupiers. Barroom rhetoric changed from “women” to “when the war was going to end” as by now most people just wanted to go home. Before the men went on leave a rumor began to circulate that the 506th might be parachuting into Berlin. Bob Webb spent two days in Paris and recalled, “The American troops were constantly getting rooked on the money exchange! Twelve months earlier, I had made a $20 bet with a colleague that the war would be over by February 15, 1945 – which still seemed possible if the Russians achieved their aims in the east. However, we had a saying in the 506th that ‘Things would always get better before they got worse!’” Sgt Ken Johnson (2 Ptn H Co) adds, “In places like Mourmelon a bar of soap could buy you almost anything – liquor, laundry, even a woman if you tried hard enough.”

  Pvt Bob Dunning from the 81mm mortar platoon had been wounded in Holland. “I discharged myself from hospital and returned to the outfit in early December. Because my hip was still causing problems, I was put on limited duty and worked as an orderly for HQ Co. Despite my temporary position it was still good to be back with the guys and I went on leave to Paris with Jack Manley and Herb Spence, where we met up with three USO girls, one of whom I knew from Atlanta.”

  The United Services Organization (USO) was a non-profit entertainment company. The overseas operation was also known as the “Foxhole” circuit. Although the big stars were not paid for their appearances, many of the regular performers worked full time in concert and other associated units.

  “Most people who were lucky enough to get a furlough were only allowed into Mourmelon or Reims but I wanted Paris so badly that I just couldn’t wait any longer,” recalls Cpl Bob Rommel (MG Ptn). He continues:

  After losing 75 percent of our platoon in Holland we didn’t give a damn about anything and just wanted to have fun. One of our guys “borrowed” a car from the airfield and five of us piled into the tiny vehicle (still wearing working dress) and went AWOL to Paris. It was so cramped that one of the boys had to lie across our laps on the back seat. On the way we blew all the tires and had to hitch a lift from a passing truck. We hadn’t been in Paris long when we were stopped and arrested by the Military Police (MPs). One of the guys managed to get away but the rest of us were marched to a police station
to be processed. While we were dozing in the waiting room, another MP walked in and asked if we were for the American Red Cross Club at Gare de l’Est? I looked up and said, “Yeah that’s us” and he replied, “OK boys, you are coming with me.” We followed the “Snowdrop” (all MPs wore white helmets) outside before bolting in every direction. Although we were “free” again, the only problem was that none of us had any money and we were still dressed in fatigues. After a few days on the “run” I was so despondent that I gave myself up and was promptly sent back to camp.

  Previously Helen Briggs had been the American Red Cross representative for 3/506 in the United Kingdom. For the last few months “Briggsy” had been assigned to the Gare de l’Est railway station:

  There was a hotel at the station with about 20 rooms where we were billeted. Our job was to make donuts for the various organizations and serve the hospital trains. While I was in charge, our kitchen worked three shifts per day and more than two million donuts were produced by hand. In the hotel, which was also our American Red Cross Club, we had seven bathrooms where a soldier could sign in with a serial number and get a hot bath. Our place became very popular with the Military Police, who were constantly on the lookout for AWOLs. When the German offensive began the MPs collected all the guys on leave from the 101st and held them at the club until they could get transportation to Mourmelon via Reims. I managed to procure a bottle of Cognac for the 3rd Bn mail clerk, Pvt Richard “Swede” Stockhouse as a “thank you” for helping me distribute my “Poop Sheet” [a monthly current affairs bulletin] while the outfit was in Holland. I nearly got into serious trouble for allowing the guys to gamble while they were waiting for transportation.

  Doc Dwyer had only been in Paris for one day when, like hundreds of others, he was recalled. “Luckily I had time to visit a French friend and his family who helped me and Joe Gorenc after we escaped from a German prison train in the Loire valley during the Normandy campaign.”

  Earlier that week, Hank DiCarlo had been asleep in the H Co sergeants’ mess at Mourmelon when 2nd Lt Don Zahn entered the room around 2am and turned on the lights. Zahn (who had saved DiCarlo’s life in Normandy) had been assigned to 1st Bn and came direct from a midnight meeting at Regimental HQ. “We woke to find him rooting around in Bob Martin’s barracks bag for a set of binoculars he had loaned him several days before,” recalls Hank. “When we asked what the heck he was doing, Zahn replied that the Germans had attacked our troops along the German border in Belgium and the 101st were being sent behind the 82nd Airborne [who were pre-designated as combat reserve] to plug the gaps made by the enemy tanks.” It had not gone unnoticed by Hank and his buddies that the nearby airfield had been unusually active for the last 12 hours with scores of P-47 Thunderbolts constantly landing, refueling, and taking off.

  1st Lt Burton Duke (Bazooka Ptn) had been posted to 3 Ptn G Co when he returned from hospital. Immediately after the officers’ meeting at Regimental HQ, Duke, accompanied by T/5 Russell Kerns, visited a nearby ordnance depot to obtain some much-needed ammunition. Initially the man in charge refused to comply but eventually he agreed to sign a requisition after certain threats were made against his establishment. The following day Duke was transferred back to the “Rocket Launchers” while first lieutenants Perrin Walker and Lawrence Fitzpatrick were posted into G Co to fill the gap.

  Shortly after 2200hrs on December 17, the 101st began to mobilize and prepare for movement. All available equipment and supplies were secured and placed on transport provided by the logistical center at Oise near Paris. Nearest to Mourmelon, Oise was one of several enormous support bases belonging to the Southern Command Section – run by BrigGen Charles Thrasher. “The following morning we awoke to discover that the 506th PIR was going back to war,” recalls Hank DiCarlo. “The company was due to go on leave in Paris and to say we were disappointed was an understatement.”

  The divisional advance party, consisting of B/326 Airborne Engineer Bn, 101st Reconnaissance Ptn, and a detachment from Divisional HQ were first to depart. The 506th PIR had less than one day to get organized for the mission and everything had to be done at the double. “Most of our weapons were still being repaired and many were issued a variety of other small arms still covered in Cosmoline packing grease,” remembers DiCarlo. “They also gave us small cans of gasoline and cloth with which to clean off the grease. I had absolutely no ammunition for my Thompson submachine gun but at least it was something familiar to fight with.” The 801st Airborne Ordnance Co was responsible for the repair of all weapons as 1/Sgt Robert “Bob” Higgins recalls: “Our small workshop had been overwhelmed due to an earlier decision by Division to assess and repair just about everything unless it was in near-perfect condition. When the order came for mobilization we went into overdrive and took on 15 extra armorers and, during the next 48 hours, overhauled around 5,000 firearms.” Those soldiers who went to the front unarmed were told that their personal weapons would follow on within a few hours. When that did not happen, many joked that they had been equipped with nothing more than a hangover and a pair of silk stockings.

  Before the battalion left Mourmelon, two soldiers from a quartermaster unit arrived and began distributing the ammunition ordered earlier by Burton Duke. S/Sgt Ralph Bennett recalls, “At most my rifleman had no more than 12 rounds each and 100 rounds per machine gun.” The following day, at 1500hrs, un-briefed and still with only a pitiful amount of small-arms cartridges, the regiment (accompanied by the 321st Glider Field Artillery [GFA] Bn) clambered aboard 40, 18-wheeler semi-tractor units parked in front of Divisional Headquarters. Every rear-wheel-drive vehicle was towing an open trailer weighing 10 tons. Each combination was commanded by an officer or senior NCO and had a driver and co-driver. In total 380 trucks were used to transport the division.

  The order of departure was as follows: 501st PIR (less I Co – who were held back through “personal” issues) plus 907th GFA Bn and B Battery from 81st Airborne Antiaircraft (AA) Bn, closely followed by the remainder of 81st AA Bn, 101st Divisional HQ plus Signal and Artillery HQ, 506th PIR plus 321st GFA Bn, 326th Airborne Engineer Bn (less B Co), 502nd PIR plus 377th Parachute Field Artillery (PFA) Bn, 327th Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR) plus 401st GIR, and 463rd PFA.

  The 326th Airborne Medical Co and, not surprisingly, the 801st Airborne Ordnance Co were the last to depart. The 801st convoy was towing a miscellaneous array of equipment, including two 75mm howitzers and several generator trailers full of spare tires.

  “Sitting back to back for warmth, we set off and headed northeast across the battlefields of World War I such as the Marne, Verdun, and Sedan,” recalls Hank DiCarlo, “before continuing into Belgium and the freezing hills of the Ardennes.” The silhouettes of the men looked somewhat downtrodden as they huddled together in the darkness. As the vehicle lights went on, some people tried to sleep, some talked quietly, while others stared into the night lost in their own thoughts. At one point part of the convoy was stopped and the occupants ordered to de-truck when an Allied night fighter buzzed the vehicles several times before disappearing into the darkness.

  Originally heading for Werbomont, 30 miles north of Bastogne, the movement order was changed en route and the 101st Airborne redirected to Bastogne. Lacking any form of “snow chains,” the rear-wheel-drive prime movers were not suited to the icy road conditions and the 107-mile journey to Bastogne was fraught with delays. The vehicle carrying the 81mm mortar platoon had to stop due to a crash, as Bob Dunning recalls: “One of the lead trucks skidded off the road in a small town and went through the front of a house blocking the road. Since we couldn’t get around the wreck, S/Sgt Morton told us to find shelter as best we could in local houses until the road was reopened.” Nineteen-year-old Pfc Ewell Martin, from Mississippi, had joined G Co in late November, and been assigned to 1 Ptn. He recalls: “During the journey, we opened a bottle of champagne that I’d purchased in Reims and passed it around. It wasn’t long before I needed to use the latrine (a 5-gallon oil drum), which was full to
the brim by the time it got to me.” During one stop in an unknown French village the inhabitants came out with food and bottles of wine. “It felt good to have a couple of drinks in my belly,” recalls Manny Barrios.

  Finally, during the early hours of Tuesday, December 19, the 506th and 321st GFA de-trucked at a crossroad in the village of Champs, 3 miles northwest of Bastogne. Half-jokingly the drivers were told, “We’ll be right back so keep the engines running.” Attached to the 506th were a team of four specially rigged evacuation jeeps from the 326th Airborne Medical Co, whose job was to transport casualties from the front-line aid stations to the divisional clearing hospital at Herbaimont.

  It was an unusual way to begin a large-scale combat operation but this mission would write the most brilliant and courageous chapter in the history of the 506th PIR.

  2

  “Ghost front”

  December 17–19, 1944

  Nicknamed “Hitler’s Fireman,” German Feldmarschall Walter Model’s Heeresgruppe B’s (Army Group B) unexpected thrust northwest across the German border into the Belgian Ardennes on December 16, 1944 jeopardized the entire American First and Ninth Army front. In December the Allied footprint across this part of Europe was maintained by three main US groups: First Army (LtGen Courtney Hodges), Third Army (LtGen George Patton), and Ninth Army (LtGen William Simpson). Part of the battle group in the central Ardennes was the 4th, 28th (aka the “Keystone Boys”), and 106th infantry divisions plus the 9th Armored Division constituting VIII Corps, led by LtGen Troy Middleton, which along with V Corps and VII Corps collectively formed First Army. The 9th Armored was on its first deployment and had never been in combat, while the 4th and the 28th infantry divisions would be reduced by around 50 percent after two weeks of bitter fighting in the Hurtgen Forest.