Dad's introduction to his stories

The following stories are my attempt to tell you some things about the war in Europe and the experiences which many of you men, and your men, my dear ladies, went through so many years ago. I hasten to tell you that there is hardly a day that passes in which my thoughts, perhaps only momentarily, fail to go back to those days so long ago. There was a time when I mistakenly thought I remembered everything that had happened to during those years, but my attendance at these treasured reunions has shown me that there are many things which I have no memory of whatsoever, for the men about you have told me tales, many concerning myself very intimately, which had long slipped into the dim recesses of my mind, and were only brought to the surface by their prodding words.

Also, I hasten to tell you, I have no intention of regaling you with tales of horror and terror, but rather intend to try to tell you tales that demonstrate the kindness and humaness of men the world over, traits which I pray to God shall never leave us.

And, often as I am sitting here, writing these words, my heart cries because I've not had the courage or the time to tell you my feelings personally. Our good and faithful friend and comrade, Emmet Dooley, said it so well at our reunion in Texas, when he so simply said "I Love you all". What wonderful words!!

Many times during these accounts which follow you will find the pronoun "I"; more times than I really like, and more times than considered acceptable in writing. However, it is pretty much unavoidable. I've noticed when at these reunions that the stories and tales which you hear are filled with that, oh so prevalent pronoun. The reason is quite simple. A soldier in a rifle company, and especially during the bitter hedgerow fighting, can only be aware of what is going on in his immediate vicinity. Therefore, his memories, and, consequently, his stories, are filled with phrases such as "I did this", or " I saw that", etc. etc. Do not misunderstand this as ego. It is not. He's not trying to brag on himself. He can only tell you of those happenings in his immediate vicinity. What was going on in the next field is as unknown as if it had been ten miles away.

And this applied to me, also, as company commander. My vision, and therefore, knowledge of the battle was absolutely limited by those ever-present hedgerows. It was immediately apparent to me, as soon as we moved off the beach and into the fields and hedgerows, that a person's knowledge of the battle is, unfortunately, limited to what is going on in that field, within the confines of those hedgerows.

Therefore, although the army manuals always talked about a commander directing his troops from some sort of forward command post, this concept was completely out of the question as far as I was concerned. The only thing to do was to run back and forth, from one field to the other, sometimes up and back through the fields and personally direct each platoon commander, whether he be a noncom or an officer.

So..we come back to the very, very prevalent pronoun "I". Don't scoff at or scorn it. It's a perfectly good pronoun and is very properly used to describe these small unit actions and stories.

I am vain enough to hope that you will find something of interest in at least some of these stories. Perhaps they will bring back memories to you, as they have to me. Or, perhaps they will be informative about some things which you've puzzled about over the years. I truly hope my efforts have been successful.

Forward to Dad's stories

When my Dad wrote these stories, the original audience was for the men (and their wives) whom he had served with in the "E" Company of the 29th Division. He would write the stories, print them up, and then distribute them to everyone who attended the annual company reunions. As you read these stories this is important to keep in mind. I want to present my dad's stories as he wrote them, with as little editing on my part as possible. Enjoy!