War Stories III

by Oliver North

  MURRAY PULVER received the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star for his service in the 30th Infantry Division. After the war he managed a cold storage business, returned to farming, and later became the owner-manager of a service station. His book, The Longest Year, chronicles his experiences in World War II.

  RENE DEFOURNEAUX served with the OSS in IndoChina after V-E day and is a recipient of the Silver Star. He left the OSS in 1946, but continued to serve in military intelligence and counter-intelligence assignments until he retired in 1965.

  DONALD BURGETT returned to the U.S. and was discharged in 1946. He is the recipient of the Bronze Star for valor, three Purple Hearts, and numerous other decorations. He married Twyla in 1953 and they have five children and nine grandchildren.

  WILLIAM “BILL” MERRIKEN went back to college after the war, earned a degree in business administration, and became the head of a successful small business. After selling his business he worked for the Commonwealth of Virginia and in 1999, he returned to the site of the Malmedy Massacre in Belgium, where he nearly lost his life in 1944.

  HARRY KINNARD made a career of the Army, served in the Korean War, did two tours in Viet Nam and retired as a lieutenant general. He is professor emeritus at the University of Vermont and author of several books on military history and strategy.

  EMILE JAMAR, the paperboy who helped save Bill Merriken’s life, graduated from college, became a successful businessman, and later served as the mayor of his town where the Germans and Americans fought during the “Battle of the Bulge.” He and Bill Merriken met for the first time when Bill returned in 1999 for a visit.

  JOE REGAN returned to his job as a ship fitter after World War II ended and married his sweetheart, Kay. After working for Centennial Flour Mills, he was employed by Boeing Aircraft for thirty-six years.

  JOACHIM FEST became a successful and prolific author and lecturer. His six books on the Third Reich emphasize the gratitude he feels toward the United States for rebuilding Germany and establishing a democratic framework for the modern German state.

  ARMIN LEHMANN recovered from his wounds and after helping his family rebuild their lives, he emigrated to the United States, where he worked thirty-five years in the travel industry. He is the author of In Hitler’s Bunker, and uses his experiences to warn young people about fanaticism.

  ALVIN UNGERLEIDER received two Purple Hearts during his service in World War II and stayed in the Army. He subsequently served in Korea and Viet Nam and retired as a brigadier general. He is a much sought after speaker at civic and historical events.

  RICHARD MAROWITZ was training in Austria for the invasion of Japan when World War II finally ended. After returning to the U.S. in June of ’46 he successfully auditioned for a job as a trumpet player for a band in Spanish Harlem. He subsequently became a successful magician and entertainer in his native New York City.

  GLOSSARY

  AA—Anti-aircraft

  AAA—Anti-aircraft Artillery

  Abwehr—German military intelligence service

  ALT—Altitude.

  AO—Variously used for Area of Operations and Aerial Observer

  APC—Armored Personnel Carrier

  API—Armor Piercing Incendiary

  ARP—Air Raid Precautions (Great Britain)

  ASW—Anti-submarine Warfare

  AT—Anti-tank

  ATA—Actual time of arrival

  AWOL—Absent without leave

  Axis—The 22 May 1939 “Pact of Steel,” formal alliance between Germany and Italy with which Japan became aligned in 1941

  Bandit—Hostile or enemy aircraft; also sometimes referred to as a Bogey

  BAR—Browning Automatic Rifle

  BB—Battleship

  Blitzkreig—German slang for “Lightning War;” the term first appeared in the British and American press in 1939, describing the German air-armor assault on Poland

  CAG—Carrier Air Group

  CAP—Combat Air Patrol

  CC—Combat Command

  CinC—Commander in Chief

  CNO—Chief of Naval Operations

  CO—Commanding Officer

  ComNavNAW—Commander, Naval Forces, North African Waters

  CP—Command Post

  CPT—Variously used to abbreviate Captain (Army and Air Force) or Civilian Pilot Training

  DD—Destroyer

  DE—Destroyer Escort

  D-Day—The day on which a military operation commences

  DIV or Div—Division

  DUKW—A multi-purpose, diesel-powered amphibious truck equipped with propellers for moving through water and wheels for use on land

  DZ—Drop zone

  E-Boat—A German motor torpedo boat, similar to the U.S. PT-Boat

  ETA—Estimated time of arrival

  ETO—European Theater of Operations

  FO—Forward Observer

  Führer—German for Leader, the title assumed by Adolf Hitler in 1936

  Gestapo—Geheime Staatspolize, the internal security organization of the Third Reich, Hitler’s secret police

  Herbstnebel—German for Autumn Mist, the code name for Hitler’s Ardennes offensive in December 1944 that the Allies called the “Battle of the Bulge”

  H-Hour—The time at which a military operation commences

  Higgins boat—The smallest of the U.S. amphibious landing craft, originally designed and built by Higgins Boat Works, New Orleans, LA. The plywood-hulled, diesel-powered, bow-ramp equipped craft could carry thirty-six troops or a jeep and trailer. Also see LCVP

  HMS—His (or Her) Majesty’s Ship, an abbreviated prefix for British naval vessels

  Il Duce—Italian for “The Leader,” the title assumed by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini

  INF or Inf—Infantry

  JCS—Joint Chiefs of Staff

  JTF—Joint Task Force

  KIA—Killed in Action

  Knot—A nautical mile, equal to 1.15 land miles, or to 1.85 kilometers

  LCA—Landing Craft, Assault

  LCI—Landing Craft, Infantry

  LCVP—Landing Craft, Vehicle & Personnel, also “Higgins boat”

  LMG—Light Machine Gun

  LST—Landing Ship, Tank

  Luftwaffe—The German air force

  MIA—Missing in Action

  NCO—A non-commissioned officer; sometimes called non-com

  MTB—Motor Torpedo Boat; also E-Boat

  MOS—Military Occupational Specialty, for armed forces job descriptions

  NKVD—Narodny Komissriat Vnutrennykh Del, the Soviet internal security organ and intelligence service, predecessor to the KGB

  NM—Nautical mile, equal to 1.1508 statute miles, and 1/60th of a degree

  OKW—Oberkommando des Wehrmacht, Supreme High Command of the German Armed Forces, created by Hitler in 1938 to coordinate the High Commands of the Army (OKH), Navy (OKK), and Air Force (OKL). The OKW was directly responsible to the Führer as commander in chief

  OP—Observation Post

  OSS—Office of Strategic Services, U.S. military intelligence service created in WWII, the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

  Pluto—Abbreviation for Pipeline Under the Ocean, the cross-Channel fuel line installed between England and the continent after Normandy

  PM—Prime Minister

  POW—Prisoner of War

  RAF—Royal Air Force (Great Britain)

  RAAF—Royal Australian Air Force

  RCAF—Royal Canadian Air Force

  RCT—Regimental Combat Team, a task force formed around an infantry regiment that usually included armor, artillery, and transportation units

  ROTC—Reserve Officer Training Corps, an officer training program at civilian colleges and universities

  SHAEF—Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, Eisenhower’s headquarters for the Allied invasion of Europe

  SOE—Special Operations Executive. British military intelligence organization created to support partisan activities a
nd espionage in occupied territories

  SOP—Standard Operating Procedure

  Sortie—In military air and naval operations, pertains to an operational flight by an aircraft or the dispatch of a vessel or vessels from a port

  SS—Schutzstaffel, elite Nazi Party military personnel and units operating within the German army and organized as Waffen SS battalions, regiments and divisions

  Stavka—Staff of the Soviet Supreme High Command. Under Stalin the Stavka coordinated all military and political activities in the USSR during WWII

  TD—Tank Destroyer; a mobile armored vehicle mounting a heavy caliber gun

  TF—Task Force

  Ultra—Code name for the decryption of German radio communications by MI-6, the British secret intelligence service

  USAAF—United States Army Air Force

  USS—United States Ship, the prefix to identify a U.S. naval vessel

  WASP—Women’s Airforce Service Pilot

  Wehrmacht—The German Armed Forces from 1935 to 1945

  WPA—Works Projects Administration, a “New Deal” program created by President Roosevelt to alleviate unemployment by creating public works projects during the Great Depression of the 1930s

  XO—Executive Officer

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This book and accompanying DVD, a collaborative effort of FOX News Channel and Regnery Publishing, is a tribute to heroes—those who fought and won the war against Hitler. Thanks to the vision of Roger Ailes at FOX News and Marji Ross at Regnery, this multimedia chronicle of courage serves as a reminder to future generations of the sacrifices necessary to preserve this nation as the land of the free and home of the brave.

  Like the two FOX-Regnery books that preceded this one, we again draw heavily on the accounts of eyewitness-participants—those who make War Stories an award-winning television series. Though I am blessed to host these documentaries, the real “stars” are the men and women who serve—and have served—on battlefields all over the world. The words of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen, Marines, merchant seamen, and civilians who fought World War II in Europe are the heart and soul of this book. Their self-effacing, matter-of-fact descriptions of battles, wounds, injuries, and privation reflect the brutal reality of war—and inspired all of us who worked on the television series and this book. Our liberty is their legacy.

  Writing this book about the heroes who won World War II in Europe has been, in various ways, similar to preparing for a combat operation. To be done well, military planning requires the work of many to assimilate vast amounts of information to determine what is accurate and relevant. Time is rarely sufficient to easily carry out the task. Unforeseen events often disrupt the original plan. And as in warfare, there is always the enemy—in this case a deadline! Even the word—“deadline”—sounds ominous.

  In completing this work, all of these factors applied. The volume of information about World War II in Europe is extraordinary and challenges authors far more gifted than I. Complicating an already ambitious schedule for this book about the heroes who beat Hitler were my protracted absences to document a new generation of warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan for FOX News. Thankfully, there were others—just like in the military operations we chronicle in our War Stories television series—willing to step into the breach to help accomplish the mission.

  Much of the burden fell on the shoulders of Joe Musser, my friend, collaborator, and research partner of many years. With the help of Freedom Alliance Fellow Tom Crowe and War Stories executive producer Pamela Browne at FOX News, Joe pored through mountains of transcripts, tapes, and interviews from our now extensive War Stories archives to prepare a workable draft manuscript.

  David Deis, the gifted cartographer who lent his considerable talent to the first of our World War II books—Heroism in the Pacific—has done so again for the European theater. His maps—and the remarkable photos selected by Andrew Stenner—illuminate the events described in these pages.

  Thanks to the active engagement of Roger Ailes, Bill Shine, and Dianne Brandi, the preservation of eyewitness accounts and an accurate, documentary record of battles past and present has become a passion for the War Stories unit at FOX News Channel. Executive producer Pamela Browne, who has headed the unit since its inception, personally supervised the production of the DVD included in this book and exercises oversight over every episode. Producers Martin Hinton, Greg Johnson, Steve Tierney, Cyd Upson, and Ayse Wieting spend countless hours with every hero who appears on the air and in this work. Associate producers Kelly Guernica, Jason Kopp, Michael Weiss, and Bevin Mahoney and production assistants Christina Diaz and Andrew Stenner have devoted themselves to finding material worthy of being preserved for posterity.

  Peter Bregmen provided invaluable assistance with the archives at FOX Movietone News. Rich O’Brien’s graphics department helps us every day—and none of this would have been possible without the help of business manager Rey Erney.

  Because of my protracted absences, Ben Domenech, my patient editor at Regnery, was compelled to edit this book a chapter at a time—sent to him electronically—often from thousands of miles away. Art director Amanda Larsen, managing editor Paula Decker, and publicity director Angela Phelps all had to wait for a belatedly delivered manuscript—and still ensure that this book would make it into the hands of readers. Without their diligence—and perseverance—this book would not have been completed.

  My friends Bob Barnett and Deneen Howell at Williams & Connolly helped put this great collaboration between FOX News Channel and Regnery Publishing together so that these War Stories could be told in book and DVD format. Marsha Fishbaugh, my executive assistant, and Damon Goude, my faithful travel companion, have borne the brunt of my frenetic schedule.

  Betsy, my wife of thirty-seven years and best friend, gave the most to see this work finished—tolerating my lengthy travels to faraway battlefields and frequent trips to interview those who fought there. Without her support and encouragement—and that of our children and their spouses: daughters Tait and husband Tom; Sarah and husband Martin; our son Stuart and his wife, Ellen; and daughter Dornin—this book would have been impossible.

  Also deserving of special recognition and praise are the authors, historians, curators, and museum directors who have participated in our European War Stories documentaries. The breadth and depth of their knowledge and experience has made this a better book:

  • Rick Atkinson, historian and author of Army at Dawn

  • Walter Boyne, author of over thirty books on the history of aviation

  • Dr. Robert Browning, Jr., chief historian, U.S. Coast Guard

  • Burl Burlingame, historian and author of Advance Force Pearl Harbor

  • Prof. Thomas Childers, World War II expert and author of Wings of Morning

  • Chad Daniels, director, Armed Forces Museum, Camp Shelby, Mississippi

  • Carlo D’Este, author, historian, and expert on the Normandy invasion

  • Dr. Eckhart Dietzfelbinger, Nazi Party Documentation Centre, Nürem-burg, Germany

  • Susan Eisenhower, author and granddaughter of Dwight D. Eisenhower

  • Joachim Fest, authority on the Third Reich and author of Inside Hitler’s Bunker

  • John Hanson, senior vice president, United Service Organizations (U.S.O.)

  • Sir Max Hastings, historian and author of Armageddon: The Battle for Germany

  • Don Holt, director, Eisenhower Presidential Library

  • Keith Gill, curator, U-505 exhibit, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

  • Col. David Glantz, author of numerous books on the European Eastern Front

  • Kristian Marks, U.S. Army historian, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York

  • Marvin Miller, expert on U.S.-German history and author of Wunderlich’s Salute

  • Terry Miller, executive director, Tin Can Sailors, Natl. Assn. of Destroyer Veterans

  • Patrick O’Donnell, author and military historian

>   • Robert Patton, author and grandson of General George S. Patton

  • Richard Powers, professor, City University, New York City, author of Secrecy and Power

  • Lt. Col. Mark J. Reardon, senior military historian, U.S. Army

  • Thomas Reilly & Lynn Homan, co-authors, Black Knights: The Tuskegee Airmen

  • Gary Robinson, historian and author of By Order of the President

  • Henri Rogister, authority on the “Malmedy Massacre” of WWII

  • Ed Ruggero, military expert and author of Combat Jump

  • Dr. Helmut Trotnow, director of Allied Museum in Berlin

  • Ernest Volkman, authority on the OSS and author of Spies and Espionage

  • Dr. John Votaw, executive director, Cantigny 1st Division Foundation

  • Flint Whitlock, president, Colorado Military History Museum, author of Soldiers on Skis

  • Hans Wijers, Dutch historian and author

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  John Keegan, ed., Atlas of the Second World War (New York: HarperCollins, 2003)

  Dwight D. Eisenhower,Crusade in Europe (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1948)

  E. B. Potter, ed., Sea Power: A Naval History (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1984)

  James Dunnigan & Albert Nori, Victory at Sea (New York: Quill/William Morrow & Co., 1995)

  Ken Polsson, Chronology of World War II (Island Net.com, 2005)