Journal Entry Dec 19 and Dec 22nd Orientation of the Situation

Dec 19 Ate breakfast & dinner on side rd.-
Convoyed to Champlon- Stopped in at a nice French/Belgian home for the night (t.g.) cooked some soup on Queer looking stove and talked with family while toasting shins-

2100 grabbed all amo & Bazooka & headed for side Rd. to put in road block to hold tanks in the valley from breaking through-Was Bazooka man with Anfuso helping.

Lt Wilson & Thompson and and Muller in charge- Cold, damp, foggy, on post 2 hours on & 2 off. Too cold and clammy to sleep-
Kept bazooka ready in case the tanks & half tracks we could hear below in the valley tried to break through-

Bazookas

Incidents of past several days Dec. 17-21
Kahner was in 102nd field Hosp. in Ettelbruk when Germans attacked-. He went A.W.O.L. with a mail clerk & 2 M. Gunners in W. C. (Weapons Carrier) and though all main roads were cut got to Bastogne and the 8th Corps H.Q. then went to Beho & Major Cameron picked him up-

Several A Btry O.P.s (Observation Posts) area unheard from-may be with the 106th boys trapped in forest NE of St. Vith or captured or dead. (Malmedy Massacre?) Danny Goldberg, Leny Drosin, Buchanan and Van-Houghton among missing.

Michals & Gordon W. Priebe killed in command car accident while on 'secret' mission.

"B" btry (strafed?????) on way because they went through Houfalaize-

A Lt. & 3 enlisted men from 285th F.O>B. are with us. Their outfit is missing.

Interactive map for 12/19/44

Captain Carter's orientation Dec 22nd
Situation of A & B batteries explained. Overrun in matter of hours by Jerry tanks. From then on we jumped from spearhead to spearhead helping to slow the German attack. -Some Bull!

Our movements all ordered by 8th Corps general. The Germans started drive with 14 divisions, 5 armored & 9 infantry, to our 106th infantry division, 28th infantry, 9th & 7th armored.

Our flanks at St. Vith and Arlon holding strong but 3/4 Luxembourg overrun and 35 miles of Belgium. The dumps at Govey destroyed. Several big gas dumps destroyed.

Comments

September 22nd Letter to Mom and family-Pass to town

Dearest mom & all, Got your letter of Sept. 3 a few days ago but have been so darn busy that I haven't had time to touch correspondence. I'd much rather write individual letters to all of you and if this break lasts long enough I will but for now just make believe I'm talking to each and every one of you cause I love you all. Things were rather hectic for me for quite awhile after we came over here and we still have some work of the drudgery sort to do for a while but we are now in a "Rest" area safe and sound from any enemy action and have prospects of some relaxation (can't count on it too long though.) Last night I got my first pass in France and we all went into a little town nearby (I'll tell you its name when I'm allowed). Of course the first thing the boys I was with headed for... ...was a wine shop, but that did them no good- "Bosche Take" was all they could get from the proprietress. That was the way with every th...

July 20 1945 Letter to Mom

Bensheim Germany July 20th 1945 Dearest Mom, I started to get a letter off to you last night about midnight. I was corporal of the guard on duty in the orderly room. But an electrical storm was commencing and I no sooner got paper and pen out than a crash of lightning hit the power relay station nearby and all the lights went out. That storm was a beaut. Great jagged forks of lightning playing everywhere and the thunder sounded like all the artillery in the E.T.O. (European theater of operations) was sounding off in unison. In between flashes it was pitch black but most of the time (for about a half hour) you could read street signs a block away it was so bright. One triple forked bolt lit up the castle up on the hill and really made an eerie scene. You (You) know this is the first place I've seen actual balls of lightning. They looked like balls of fire. Mail came in at last yesterday. A big batch of it and it was really swell to hear what's going on at hom...

November 4th 1945 Embarkation! Headed Home on the USS Westerly Victory ship

Watch for Lu's binoculars in many of his photos. They might be his best used acquisition from the war. This mimeographed newsletter is an interesting view into the voyage home.

Winsor War Notes-Luther Snow Winsor's WW II experiences

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