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 WEREIN 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
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"