G Company, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division
April 9: A slow day. Bed Check Charlie was over again last night.
April 10: Another motor bike was given me by a civilian who said I could have it as long as I stayed in town. Couldn't get it to run! The Jerries came over and dropped some bombs. We all headed for the cellar. Civilians too. They broke windows in our building and shook us up. They strafed the streets a bit, then left.
April 11: We moved to Obernbriet and were billeted in two rooms. The Jerries came over again last night and dropped some more bombs. Got packages from Dad of jam, cookies, sardines and Vienna sausages. They went fast.
April 12: It rained last night. Fresh day. No activity.
April 13: Played poker.
One of Arnold's souvenirs: German Reichsmarks
April 14: We moved to near Ansbach. There was much equipment on the roads. The BBC reports some friendly units in Berlin! Long dusty ride today, and am so tired. So, will wash up tomorrow. Changed batteries in the radio.
April 15: Jumped off with some armor to take a town and in the process, lost a few tanks when they drove over some mines. Infantry walking along side were injured too. One G.I. jumped into a ditch to avoid a tank, and jumped on a mine!!!!! Dug in at night and had a few mortar rounds come in on us.
April 16: Jumped off at dawn to secure more hills!!! Lots of mortars and small arms fire. Got to a highway and dug in for the night. We took 157 prisoners. We are tired.
April 17: Jumped off again, walked most of the day, and I was nearly done in. The radio is so heavy! Rode some half tracks the last couple miles to near Colmberg. Bed Check Charlie came over tonight.
April 18: Slept well. Was so tired. Cleaned up the next day, and moved out with open radio on jeep. The name of the village unknown, but it had some chickens. So, we had lots of fried eggs for supper. The Germans are moving out of all the towns just ahead of us, and they leave only a couple to hold us up for a while.
April 19: Up at 4:00 a.m. to move out through the woods. Finally got to some small villages and took over. Feet are about played out.
April 20: Still pushing forward trying to keep the Jerries from setting up too permanently. Rode vehicles most of the time. Our kitchen was in the rear of the column and was held up for a time by sniper fire. Armor is really shooting up the towns.
April 21: More of the same.
April 22: It started to rain and we started to walk. We are closer to a big concentration of the enemy, so the vehicles will follow us. Walked about 18 miles, and in the rain. It is beginning to tell. We knocked out a German auto that made a mistake and was coming toward us. E Company knocked a Jerry off his bike when he tried to escape.
April 23: Today we tried to take a large wooded hill with a church and hospital on top. Our boys charged the hill a number of times and were set back by sniper fire from the windows. Lieutenant John Wasluiewski got a bullet crease through the top of his head, but returned to the outfit next day all wrapped up. The armor finally came in, and plastered the place. It rained all day. The Germans finally pulled out and we by-passed the hospital, and walked to Ellwangen where we stayed the night.
April 24: We moved out by vehicle, and met some artillery and small arms fire, but it was not long. They fired, then pulled out.
April 25: We moved out by vehicle, but were held up a lot by mines planted in the road. The engineers were called to destroy them and we walked about six miles to open roads. And, then we crossed the Danube.
April 26: The Army must have known it was our 4th wedding anniversary as we didn't move. Caught up on letter writing.
April 27: We moved a long way today, and crossed the Lech River south of Munich to face some ack-ack guns at 300 yards. The bridge was out, but we managed to walk across. The Engineers came up the next day to repair it and the following day the armor was rolling across. It was during the river crossing that one of our men was hit with a 20mm, and was probably the last one of G to be KIA (Guy Johnson).
From here on, it was moving to various cities, some patrol duty, and finally from Bamberg to Le Havre, and a boat home. We eventually took a train to Camp Lucky Strike in France, prior to getting on a boat for home.
After arriving in New York, we had our 30 day furloughs, then back to Camp Butner, North Carolina. Many of my friends received their furloughs, and were told not to report back to camp. Their discharges were mailed to them. So after a long hard conflict and a friendship, it was the last time that I saw these G.I.'s.
Lt William Callen (left) Arnold Erbstoesser (center) Francisco Bejarano (right)
standing in a 40/8 box car on the way to Le Havre
Being the 1st Sergeant of G Company was a real experience. It was quite different from the peacetime in the States prior to going to Europe. An early whistle and call for reveille only brought some remarks like "Go back to bed you ______!"
There were so many men that I developed a friendship for that would be quite different in ordinary life. When your life depended on the expertise of a buddy, it was different.
There was Walter Berry, George Devine, Paul Ingersoll, Gatis, George and Arnold Davis, Russ Humphrey, Shady Wires, and Dixon and his "Charlotte" jeep, and big John Roba, and Carey and Moseley and Ray Cordes. Oh, there were so many.
Closing thoughts: Where are they now?
Jack King, the little mail clerk
Eddie Ferrence, from Carteret, New Jersey
Lou Coppola
Sammy Hershman
and hundreds and hundreds who could be members of the 4th Infantry Division.
God Bless.
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Submitted by his son David
Many thanks David.
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