June 27, 1944-D-Day+21-The Assault

The night before the attack on "St. town 8" Short had pulled sentry duty. He decided he take the second half because he knew if he took the first, he wouldn't be able to sleep the rest of the night. There was to be no smoking or talking of any kind. Complete noise and light discipline and Lt. Herz meant it. Lt. Herz wasn't an intimidating man who demanded your respect or he'd get your ass. He was similar to Captain Miller in the sense that he was trying his hardest to keep everyone alive. He was tough and compassionate. Herz would weep over the letters he had to write to the loved ones of the men who had recently died. Not a single man in the company said a word when their CO did this. No one said he was a coward or even dared to utter it, because they knew he wasn't.

At 5:45 AM, the company began moving into position. 1st platoon was to lead the assault down the road with 2nd right behind while 3rd was to move ahead through the woods and hit the town from there. Once doing so, they would link up with Charlie and continue the attack. Cpl. Arlen Short was in 3rd platoon and some what relieved to be so.

The clock ticked down slowly to 6:20 AM and Lt. Thompson was given the order to begin his advance with 3rd platoon. The woods that looked to be thin soon thickened and reminded Arlen much of the hedgerows. They used the town's church steeple to orient them and not move too far from the main assault. There had seemed to be dead branches all over the place and every time a soldier stepped on one, the crack seemed to echo for miles. Around 6:28 AM, the platoon had reached the edge of the woods with no encountering of the enemy. There they waited patiently for the day to truly begin and looked for any obstacles that had to be cleared.

A small white picket fence with a garden lined the back of a house. The windows of the house were closed and the shades drawn, a very good thing. There were alleys on both sides and if one looked down them, they could see the cobblestone street. This short-lived peace was the best thing Short had experienced in a while. It was refreshing in a strange way. It was a shame that it didn't last much longer.

From both the left and the right of the platoon, gunshots began ringing out. This was the signal Lt. Thompson was waiting for and gave the order to move. The platoon made the mad dash from the woods to the houses in a matter of moments. They trampled the garden but that was to be considered collateral damage. Thompson ordered two groups of two to clear out the houses they were against while the rest of the platoon moved up to the street.

Lt. Thompson led a group down the left side while Sgt. Palkovich and a squad went down the right in a single file line. Arlen followed the sergeant and his buddy Pate accompanied him. The gunfire began growing louder and louder as the battle got closer and closer. Sgt. Palkovich stopped at the corner of the alley and slowly looked around the corner. At a building across the street and to the right of another alley, a window was open and the barrel of a MG-42 was sticking out, spraying lead down the road.

"Rifle grenade!" Sgt. Palkovich ordered in horse voice and Pvt. Benson moved up behind the sergeant. He began setting up the system on the top of his M-1 and when he was finished, Sgt. Palkovich moved aside and instructed Benson on where to shoot.

"Building on the right, second floor, first window on the left. You shouldn't miss him." Sgt. Palkovich continued pointing his hand at the machine gun. Benson looked around the corner and saw the machine gun continuing his constant destructive action. Benson nodded his head, moved to the left, leveled his rifle and fired. He couldn't have shot any straighter. The grenade sailed through the air, took out the machine gun and even tossed a German onto the street. Sgt. Palkovich raised his carbine and put a round through the man's helmet, possibly making the Kraut more dead than he already was.

"Let's go!" he yelled and the men began flowing into the street. As they made their way up and across the street, opposing fire began opening up from further down the road. Short slid, tearing up his knees, behind a stoop on the other side of the road. He ignored the pain, leaned out from behind the steps and shot down the street at a bunker down the road. He emptied the weapon and reloaded it. Short then slowly looked out again, his helmet somewhat lopsided and he shook his head to adjust it. At the curved part of the street on the left side, he could sort of make out an object of some kind, just peeking out barely.

An explosion ripped into a building across the street sending debris of all kinds into the air. Arlen threw himself to the ground, shielding his face from the fragments of building coming down. He now knew what the object was and when he looked again, he saw it becoming longer and heading towards him.

"Panzer! Panzer!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. He turned to see the gray expressions of his fellow soldiers and then to Lt. Thompson. Short didn't remember anyone in the platoon possessing a bazooka even though one person was required to have one and another to carry the ammo. Short heard gunshots from behind as someone began shooting at the tank in hopes of stopping it. There was very little chance of stopping a German tank with a round from a bazooka due to its armor, but you might have a little success if you went for the tracks.

Arlen turned back to the Panzer only to its turret rotating in his direction. "Oh shit!" he yelled quickly getting to his feet running for the corner of the building. As he turned to make his break down the alley heard the tank discharge a round.

The shockwave threw Short from his feet and building began to collapse behind him. He covered his head and face to protect him from bricks, glass and wood landing all around him. He slowly got to his feet when he felt a hand clasped under his left arm, pulling him up. Short looked to see whom it was and was happy to see it was Pate.

"Come on," he yelled pulling him to follow, "we got to get back with the rest of the platoon."

"No, we gotta stop that tank first!"

"Are you crazy? We've got nothing to do that with in the first place and it's suicide to even try." Pate exclaimed.

Short ignored what Pate said, turned and yelled over his shoulder, "Follow me!" He ran over to a window that was blown out and climbed in. Short didn't look back, but he could hear Pate right behind him. Arlen made way for a flight of stairs in the house and began bounding up them.

He went to a window and cautiously looked out. The Panzer was lumbering slowly down the street and he could see the tops of the German's helmets. Short turned and gave the hand signals to Pate ordering to drop grenades in the back of the tank. Pate nodded and pulled one off his holster, pulled the pin and gripped the device tightly.

The tank was getting closer and closer, Short swallowed hard waiting for an eternity. When the Panzer had reached the point they had been waiting on, Short gave the command and he and Pate dropped their grenades in the back of the Panzer, ducking back behind the window. Arlen heard several screams before the explosion and saw a flame shoot straight up and passed their window. Short and Pate looked out the window to inspect their work will bullets slammed all around them.

Both men jumped back, Pate yelped grabbing his arm. The rifle fire increased from both directions. Pate was cursing the Germans and Short and now Short was helping Pate to his feet. They ran down the stairs and out the same window they came in. Arlen looked to his left and could see the barrel of the tank still pointing down the street.

"Let's go to the right, avoid the crossfire!" said Arlen looking into Pate's eyes. He nodded and squinted in pain, grinding his teeth together. They headed towards the end of the alley, which was 5 paces away from the window. Arlen slowly looked to the right, his rifle ready. He didn't see anyone coming that way and motioned for Pate to follow. The two ran down the alley for two blocks, took a left and met up with the rest of the platoon.

Lt. Thompson turned to see the two, "Short, Pate where the hell have you been?"

"Doing the usual, stopping enemy tanks and coming under heavy enemy fire. That sort of thing." Short said nonchalantly.

Thompson gave a quick smirk and saw that Pate was wounded. He told him that the aid station was across the street and to go if he thought he could make it. Pate didn't give it a second thought and took off. He made it safely.

"What's the situation lieutenant?" Short asked getting close to Thompson to make it easier to converse.

"Looks like we caught them right when they were deciding to make a break for it. Could have been worse. If we had started this any later they'd have us out in the open and for the picking. I've contacted Charlie Company to let them know we will be a bit late." the lieutenant explained.

"Does Lt. Herz know of our position?"

"Haven't been able to raise him so I've got no idea how they're doing. Did you see anyone down that alley you came from?" Thompson asked. Arlen shook his head and he could see the lieutenant thinking something probably crazier than what Pate and he had done, "Sgt. Palkovich!"

Palkovich came running up and Arlen made room for him, "Sergeant, take second squad and move up the alley to see if you can get behind the Krauts. Short, your point." ordered the lieutenant. Arlen's heart sank he hated taking the point.

"Second squad on me!" Palkovich yelled and seven men came running up and took a knee around him. He then gave a quick overview of what they would be doing and then turned to Short to take the lead. Arlen turned around and began making his way down the alley with sixteen feet clomping behind him. They turned the corner and headed back where Short and Pate had just come from.