wanted to stay alive.
Incredibly, there were some guys who actually enjoyed the war. There was one private who couldn’t wait to kill Germans. He just lived to fight and kill. The rest of us would be completely exhausted from fighting all day and he’d say “I want this war to end sooner than later, so you guys stay here, I’m going out!” It was really spooky. We’d all look at one another and think, “What’s with this guy?” He used to take his BAR and go out looking for soldiers in the trees. We all tried to stay away from him as much as possible.
Most nights we’d be awakened by the bombs that were going off around us. On the front line we’d see dead soldiers, dead horses, and big holes in the ground where bombs had exploded. To me, it’s a joke that they make “horror” movies about things like Dracula and Godzilla and they make “adventure” movies about war. War is far more horrifying than anything anyone could ever dream up.
We’d crossed the Rhine at the end of March, successfully occupying Germany and driving back the German army, but there were still German soldiers who were holding out until the absolute bitter end, defending the small towns and outposts along our path. Our job was to flush out the Germans,either fighting house to house against the remaining Germans or by taking them prisoner. We did this in town after town. We checked each house from top to bottom, and once we were sure the house was clean and abandoned, wed bunk for the night in the cellar, first checking around for any traps the enemy might have left for us. One particularly terrifying incident happened to me shortly before the fighting stopped. We were moving through a small German town. On our first day checking out a house I was standing in front of a window when one of the older soldiers tackled me. I had no idea why, until he told me that to even walk in front of a window could mean instant death; there might be a German sniper watching, waiting to pick you off.
G Company’s numbers had been severely depleted, and there were only myself and a few other men left when we were passing through a town on our way to meet up with the rest of the 63rd Division. One of the remaining men was Herbert Black, a fellow I’d met when I joined G Company and with whom I became fast friends. Suddenly a German tank came out of nowhere, and we were under attack. “Blackie,” as we called him, was the only man among us with any sort of usable ammunition left. He was in charge of the bazooka, and as he was getting ready to fire it, he yelled, “You’d better get down, Tony because I’m going to let this thing fly, and it’s gonna be either us or them!” With that he fired the missile, scoring a direct hit and disabling the German tank and saving our lives. It all happened in an instant. Blackie was awarded the Silver Star for his quick thinking and bravery, and I’ll forever be in his debt for saving my life.
I’d have to say that only one good thing happened while I was at the front. I was pulled off the line, along with thousands of other Gls, to see Bob Hope give his show. He was there with Jane Russell and Jerry Colonna and Les Brown’sband. I was in the stands enthralled. It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Bob was just fantastic, and all the GIs loved him so much for boosting our dismally low morale. He became a big part of the reason that I went into show business, because at that moment he made me realize that the greatest gift you can give anybody is a laugh or a song. Ask any of the legions of servicemen who saw him at that time and they’ll tell you it felt like he had saved their lives. And it wouldn’t be the last time I felt like Bob saved mine.
After we got back to the front, we continued to push east until we reached the Kocher River. We established a bridgehead at Weissbach by the first week of April, and by the end of the month we had reached the Danube River. We captured a bunch of SS
Incredibly, there were some guys who actually enjoyed the war. There was one private who couldn’t wait to kill Germans. He just lived to fight and kill. The rest of us would be completely exhausted from fighting all day and he’d say “I want this war to end sooner than later, so you guys stay here, I’m going out!” It was really spooky. We’d all look at one another and think, “What’s with this guy?” He used to take his BAR and go out looking for soldiers in the trees. We all tried to stay away from him as much as possible.
Most nights we’d be awakened by the bombs that were going off around us. On the front line we’d see dead soldiers, dead horses, and big holes in the ground where bombs had exploded. To me, it’s a joke that they make “horror” movies about things like Dracula and Godzilla and they make “adventure” movies about war. War is far more horrifying than anything anyone could ever dream up.
We’d crossed the Rhine at the end of March, successfully occupying Germany and driving back the German army, but there were still German soldiers who were holding out until the absolute bitter end, defending the small towns and outposts along our path. Our job was to flush out the Germans,either fighting house to house against the remaining Germans or by taking them prisoner. We did this in town after town. We checked each house from top to bottom, and once we were sure the house was clean and abandoned, wed bunk for the night in the cellar, first checking around for any traps the enemy might have left for us. One particularly terrifying incident happened to me shortly before the fighting stopped. We were moving through a small German town. On our first day checking out a house I was standing in front of a window when one of the older soldiers tackled me. I had no idea why, until he told me that to even walk in front of a window could mean instant death; there might be a German sniper watching, waiting to pick you off.
G Company’s numbers had been severely depleted, and there were only myself and a few other men left when we were passing through a town on our way to meet up with the rest of the 63rd Division. One of the remaining men was Herbert Black, a fellow I’d met when I joined G Company and with whom I became fast friends. Suddenly a German tank came out of nowhere, and we were under attack. “Blackie,” as we called him, was the only man among us with any sort of usable ammunition left. He was in charge of the bazooka, and as he was getting ready to fire it, he yelled, “You’d better get down, Tony because I’m going to let this thing fly, and it’s gonna be either us or them!” With that he fired the missile, scoring a direct hit and disabling the German tank and saving our lives. It all happened in an instant. Blackie was awarded the Silver Star for his quick thinking and bravery, and I’ll forever be in his debt for saving my life.
I’d have to say that only one good thing happened while I was at the front. I was pulled off the line, along with thousands of other Gls, to see Bob Hope give his show. He was there with Jane Russell and Jerry Colonna and Les Brown’sband. I was in the stands enthralled. It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Bob was just fantastic, and all the GIs loved him so much for boosting our dismally low morale. He became a big part of the reason that I went into show business, because at that moment he made me realize that the greatest gift you can give anybody is a laugh or a song. Ask any of the legions of servicemen who saw him at that time and they’ll tell you it felt like he had saved their lives. And it wouldn’t be the last time I felt like Bob saved mine.
After we got back to the front, we continued to push east until we reached the Kocher River. We established a bridgehead at Weissbach by the first week of April, and by the end of the month we had reached the Danube River. We captured a bunch of SS
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