Alan’s TTIM Stories #7

A young man in New York wallowed in despair. His anguish over a failed romance and a struggling writing career was interrupted by a draft notice in 1942 – a typewriter replaced by a rifle. Assigned to the 12^th Infantry Regiment, 4^th Infantry Division, combat began with the storming of Utah Beach on D-Day. The regiment moved inland and relieved the 82^nd Airborne* at Sainte-Mere-Eglise.  

During the liberation of Paris, the young soldier made the effort to meet Ernest Hemingway, a famous writer who the young soldier both admired and criticized. After a few drinks he found Hemingway authentic and encouraging.

His unit moved into the Hürtgen Forest, a sparsely populated area mistaken for an easy entrance into Germany. The Army spent months in a desperate and ineffectual battle. Trees that didn’t explode from shelling provided a hiding place for a determined enemy. The carnage, cold, and endless combat surpassed the horrors of Normandy beaches. The few soldiers who staggered out of the forest were forever changed.

In the snow and cold of winter the unit faced the German counteroffensive Battle of the Bulge.** Moving into Germany included entering a concentration camp associated with Dachau.

The regiment approached a town on the northern edge of Bavaria on April 22 – Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The timbered-framed buildings were a perfect representation of historic Germany, described as an “enchanting medieval town.” The value of the town was known to Assistant Secretary of War, John J. McCloy. The destructive results of the war reduced many towns in Germany to rubble.

McCloy ordered the American commanding general to make attempts to spare the town, already damaged by Allied bombing. Six soldiers from the regiment went to the entrance to the town with a white flag. One soldier spoke fluent German. The German commander, Major Thömmes, understood the futility of further armed conflict along with the importance of the town. Against Hitler’s orders to “defend every town to the last man,” he agreed to withdraw. As an act of appreciation, McCloy was made an honorary citizen of Rothenburg in 1948.

The young soldier spent a few weeks in a hospital suffering from “combat stress reaction.” You never get the smell of burning flesh out of your nose entirely, no matter how long you live. He witnessed the horrors of war and the extreme limits of inhumanity. One day at the gates of Rothenberg, compassion and wisdom provided hope for a better future.

With the surrender of Germany and assignments in the Counterintelligence Corps, the European military adventure was over for the young soldier. J.D. Salinger came home. ***

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*Commanded by Col. Benjamin Vandervoort, played by John Wayne in “The Longest Day.”

**The 10^th Armored Division, under the command of General George Patton, was the first to arrive at Bastogne before being reinforced by the 101^st Airborne. A member of the 10^th Armored, Troy, Ohio, native, Fred Hosley, died of wounds in the battle. Fred was the first husband of my mother-in-law. An officer in the 10^th Armored was played by Jimmy Fallon in HBO’s “Band of Brothers.”

***Author of the classic, “The Catcher in the Rye”

Sources:
J.D. Salinger – A Life, by Kenneth Slawensaki
Wikipedia
Germany’s Fairy-Tale Dream Town: Rothenburg, Rick Steves Europe

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Follow Alan’s TTIM Stories at Facebook.com/alan.vandervoort or Instagram & Treads vandervoort_author or www.alanvandervoort.com. Novels: Sandhills – A Novel and Key Largo Summer are found at Booklocker.com and other online booksellers.