MEMOIRS OF ARNOLD ERBSTOESSER

G Company, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division

PATCH 4TH INFANTRY DIVISION

On our way to the G Company CP in the Huertgen Forest we were all in trucks and not to unhappy about riding instead of walking. Joe Devaro was getting on our nerves by screaming for ammo as we viewed our planes flying miles above us on a bombing raid to who knows where. (This was the same Joe that was shot in the "buns" a day or two later.) We knew we were close to the action and none of us had ammo for the M1 rifles we carried. This was not for long. When we arrived about dusk we found enough ammo for all, plus grenades, and all you wanted to carry. This eased our concerns somewhat, but it was still a mystery as to what to expect. We heard artillery going over us, both ways, and wondered just how we would protect ourselves against it. Oh, but we did learn.

  • K-Ration Breakfast
  • K-Ration Supper

We sent several men back for rations and blankets. One Louie DeRusso was opening a K-ration case and pierced his hand or finger with a nail. In a short time, his hand started to swell and he was evacuated. Eventually, he was sent back to the States. He probably never heard a rifle shot in the war.

Wonder just what his war stories were. Lou Coppola was our light machine gun sergeant. One of the first days in the Huertgen Forest he set up his gunner, one Johnnie Lazewski -- or something like that, covering a path through the woods. Sometime later a squad of Germans were seen coming up the path, and Lou said, "When they are real close open up and sweep the entire path." Well, Johnnie hit the trigger and froze. He was zeroed in way left, and couldn't move the gun -- just ran off a belt of ammo and never touched anything but some pine branches. I think Johnnie was an ammo bearer from that day on. Lou was fit to be tied.

So many of the men had cold and wet feet. When we passed James Bonneyman, where he was shot and killed, we noted that someone had gently removed his overshoes. I am sure he didn't mind.

Tall slim Evanson who came over with me on the boat was one day one of the missing. This happened with such regularity. I didn't see him again or hear what happened to him till one day in April -- there he was. I was so surprised and asked him what had happened? He said while he was in the Huertgen Forest he was lying flat behind a bush, and trying to get a better view. He reached up with one hand to break some branches that were in his line of sight. Well, some German was watching, and the hand was a good target. So, bang right through some of his fingers. He spent the winter in England while his fingers were reconstructed and now, here he was.

ROBERT ECKMAN I mentioned in previous reports of Robert Eckman receiving a severe shrapnel wound in our first bad encounter with the enemy. He was very close to me when this happened and, I ran to some aid men a few yards back to report this. They said they would take care of him.

This turned out to be quite an eventful experience. I guess I should put it all in proper sequence so some of you readers, who have heard only parts of this, will understand the whole picture.
I later asked the 1st Sergeant what had happened to Eckman, and was told that he was in the hospital. End of story? Not so!

After the war we were headquartered in Bamberg and Jack King, our mail clerk, got snowed under with a back log of mail and needed help to either forward or return it. This was at least an eight month supply for G.I.s that had been assigned to G Company and were no longer with us. I agreed to help and, while sorting hundreds and hundreds -- maybe thousands of letters, I noticed that many letters were for Robert Eckman from his wife.

About that time, I wrote Mrs. Eckman and told her I had heard earlier that Robert was in the hospital, and that was all I knew. I mentioned as carefully as I could when he was wounded and what I had done.

Some days after my letter to Mrs. Eckman was mailed, there was a note on the 1st Sergeant's door asking if anyone knew the whereabouts of the following soldiers. I was nearly floored to see the name of Robert Eckman among them. I immediately went in to Sergeant McCoy's office and told him my story ending with, "I know exactly where he is, right in the middle of the Huertgen Forest."

It was some days after that I received a letter of relief from Mrs. Eckman. She had heard in November that Robert was missing in action, but she had seen a picture in a newspaper of some prisoners of war and thought one of them could have been Robert.

The end of story? Not quite.

When we arrived back in the United States we all took our 30 day furloughs, and mine was in California. By the time I reached Los Angeles, the boys on the East Coast had been home for 5 or 6 days. After my furlough, I headed back to Camp Butner, North Carolina. I checked in at the orderly room where Sergeant Joe Columbus had taken charge of the Company as 1st Sergeant awaiting my return.

When I returned to duty, I was told there was a Mr. Eckman from Rhode Island, Delaware, I think, there to see me. He had been coming in every day for a week waiting for my return.

It wasn't too long before Robert's father came to see me, and he was very pleasant to talk to. He told me that the last report they received was that Robert was still missing in action and he wanted my complete story.

I carefully recounted the events that took place, but he was not satisfied as the body had never been recovered. It was hard for me to explain the vastness of the forest, the closeness of the trees, and the bad climate all winter.

Mr. Eckman felt that on that particular day there should have been maps of the area and, someone should have known where to look. I told him I was sure Robert would be found, but due to the conditions of the area you could walk a few feet from the body and never see it.
Our conversation was over and we parted with a friendly handshake. He was happy with all the details I had given him that he did not have before. He was going to contact his Senators and see just what could be done.

Before I was discharged I received word from the family that the body of Robert Eckman had been found and an imprint of his dogtags was also sent.

While this was only one of a thousand or more sad stories, I felt satisfied that I was a small part of helping to find the body of a loved one for a bereaved wife and family.


  • Robert W Eckman's Grave
    (click for larger image)

The end of this story. Yes, yes, the Huertgen Forest was the worst of times and places.

The times we were on fast marches for the interior of Germany brings another item of lighter note to mind. So fast did we go that we no longer walked, but rode in vehicles of all sorts. One of the most unusual was an old German truck that we liberated somewhere. It was made operable by our ace mechanic, one Shady Wires. However, it was one mean truck and, it was constantly stopping. In doing so, it was delaying the rest of the convoy. Too many breakdowns finally brought down the brass, and the poor old truck was pushed into the ditch. All aboard had to find other means of transportation.

About this same time someone in H Company liberated a neat Mercedes. It was duly painted Army Green with some bogus numbers on the bumper, and the words "GREENIP THE GREAT" in neat white letters on the door. John Greenip was Company Commander of H Company and could now ride in style. In due time, Battalion Headquarters issued an order that no private vehicles would be used to transport American officers, or words to that effect. I think Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Mabry had this vehicle for a day or two when Regimental Headquarters was next with the order. Lieutenant Colonel Strickland, Regimental Commander, eventually lost the vehicle to General Blakely, Division Commander. Well, when the 4th Division boarded the boat for home, who drove up but General Blakely and turned the car over to the motor pool. Neatly painted on the door in white were the words "GREENIP THE GREAT."

HORIZONTAL FLOURISH LINE

Submitted by his son David
Many thanks David.

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Arnold Erbstoesser's memoirs and WWII pictures are the copyright of his son David,
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