Karl W. 'Bill' Jones - 81st Eng - capture at the Bulge

[Walt's Daughter]

Recently after posing one of our forum questions to our vets (re dog-tags), Bill told me about his experience during the Bulge. Pretty scary stuff, especially considering how a few seconds of time can change the outcome of any event. Needless to say, happy Bill is still among us and was willing to share this with all of you. God bless ya!

 

Here was his answer regarding the re-issuance of dog-tags during the war:

YES, I WAS. MY ORIGINAL TAGS WERE TAKEN WHEN I WAS TAKEN PRISONER BY THE GERMANS....NOT ONLY MY TAGS BUT ALSO MY UNIFORM, BOOTS AND HELMET, ALL BUT MY UNDERWEAR....WHEN I GOT OUT, THEY WASN'T SURE WHO I WAS BUT THE US TOOK ME BACK ANYWAYS AND RE-ISSUED EVERYTHING

AFTER ABOUT A 3 MONTH WAIT. BILL

 

 

When I asked if I could share his story below, he wrote:

 

YES, YOU MAY SHARE, BUT IT ISN'T ANY DIFFERENT THAN OTHERS WHO WERE

IN THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE......BILL

 

Marion.....I was a member of the 81st. Combat Engineers attached to the 106 infantry Division. We landed just north of main landing and headed for the Rhine River where we were to put a Baily Bridge across. We got caught in the first push by the Germans wearing American uniforms at the Battle of the Bulge.

 

We fought until there were only seven of us left and we attempted to escape the area at night and try to get to Bastogne where the 101st. was. It was dark and we fell over a small cliff only to find Germans at the bottom. They stripped us and tied our hands behind our backs, put us down on our knees and started to kill us, one at a time, by shooting us in the head. My buddy was killed first i was second and the rifle misfired. The German soldier got mad and buried the barrel of the rifle in my head and that was the last i remembered until i woke up with my buddies draging me east into Germany. I never got any medical aid until we escaped a camp in Berlin near the end of the war. Not a very gallant story.....Bill

[CaptO]

What a story.

 

I don't say good luck to my 10 year old when he is about to take a test. Nor do I wish anyone luck who is about to do something requiring effort for which they either did or did not prepare. War is not like that. You need to be prepared, and preparation and experience do a lot get you through combat. A lot of times, however, it really does come down to chance. Call it luck, karma, fortune, whatever - sometimes people’s luck just runs out. I recall the scene in Band of Brothers where the 88mm shell lands right in front of the two troopers and just fizzles. Some German guy back in the fatherland forgets to connect a couple of components in a fuse and you live; he does it right - you die. This sort of explains why fighting men have been such a superstitious lot since early times. Nothing else as serious is quite like it. There but for the Grace of God. . .

 

So to all of our friends in harm’s way today, I wish you good luck.