January 30th Journal entry and Cliff Hope-Back to St. Vith

Same view of St Vith after it was taken by Germans and re-taken by allied forces. 

Jan 30 Control. St Vith towards Schoneburg (German Held)

St. Vith unrecognizable. Some streets not even there. No buildings left standing. Girls in house sewed on stripes and patches (8th Corps) for us. Lot of fun. They speak good English. Finy & Sidey

Lu, in Ray Hight's book: Toward the end of January, we went back through St. Vith , so different now from the last time we'd seen it on December 17. The town had been essentially leveled, with not much left standing. I remember trying to find some of our survey stakes along what used to be the main roads, without success. The feelings about the devastation of war were already a part of my being, so St. Vith was just one more shock. Here was a town that had been a fairly serene part of our lives in October, November, and early December. Now there was nothing left.

Cliff Hope
When I wrote home at the end of January, I reviewed everyday events---Bruno and I nearly always slept warmly,  my feet were all right: "As long as the shoes can be removed at night, there's no danger of trench foot. "The cold seemed to make us feel more tired. I explained we were on the move most of the time, "but if we can keep pushing the Jerries back, it's certainly worth it...Everyone here is more interested in the Russian drive than anything else now. I hope by the time this reaches you they'll be at the gates of Berlin but of course everyone has been fooled on that score before and I refuse to make any more predictions." As I told my family, I knew certain sections of Belgium and Luxembourg better than I ever knew Kansas.

Keeping busy and on the move didn't ease my conscience on a matter that was always creeping up on me. As the month ended, we surveyed toward Schonberg, turning off at Setz and the area where we were on December 16th. It was cold, rainy and noisy---screaming meemies most of the day. I took pictures of seven German Prisoners brought in by the 87th Division Infantry. We didn't get in until dark. My toes ached from the cold and my head was weary with a day of regretting that I wasn't in the infantry.