Rapido River Texas 36th Div 141st - 01/29/2022 07:47 PM
I was only 14 when I convinced him to tell me about this.
It was hard to piece together in my mind at that age what he had experienced.
He died a year later, and I spent a lifetime wondering about the fear he must have had but still being able to do his job.
Reading the book Crossing the Rapido by Duane Schultz finally put all the stories in context being lost in mine fields, shell imbedded in ground unexploded next to his tent, establishing camp on a hill facing the Germans.
He also told me about being pinned down by an MG 42 with a badly wounded officer his feet frost bit took out the machine gunner put the officer on his back and crawled to safety. He refused a battlefield commission said he just wanted to go home after the war was over.
JRM
It was hard to piece together in my mind at that age what he had experienced.
He died a year later, and I spent a lifetime wondering about the fear he must have had but still being able to do his job.
Reading the book Crossing the Rapido by Duane Schultz finally put all the stories in context being lost in mine fields, shell imbedded in ground unexploded next to his tent, establishing camp on a hill facing the Germans.
He also told me about being pinned down by an MG 42 with a badly wounded officer his feet frost bit took out the machine gunner put the officer on his back and crawled to safety. He refused a battlefield commission said he just wanted to go home after the war was over.
JRM
