Journal Entry February 8th And Cliff Hope-Death of Sargeant Thompson

From 'Growing Up in the Wartime Army'

Feb. 8th Tried to triangulate to Brandscheid. Waited 5 hours for Chuck & Thompson. found they had gone up untraveled Rd. to B. SCH. Hit mine. Jeep demolished, Thompson 1st degree burns. Don't think he'll live. (30 Gal gas burned), Chuck thrown 40' from Jeep. Hope he isn't too badly hurt.

Cliff Hope-A tragedy on 8 February was to change the small world of our survey section from that date until the end of the war. What we all believed to be inevitable happened. hompson and Wagner, riding in a jeep, ran over a mine near Brandscheid about noon. Out working on triangulation, some of us didn't learn about it until four hours later. The jeep was apparently headed down an uncleared road. mason and Hoppe told us.They and Gindele went to the site. The jeep was wrecked and burned. What wasn't burned had already been looted by GIs. An infantry staff sergeant said his hand pulled off burnt flesh when he tried to pull Thompson out. Wagner was thrown 40 feet.

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