All of the tanks were below the crest of the ridge. We had an observer team on the ridge. The rest of the platoon was working on the tanks or scouting out places to sleep near the tanks. Five minutes after the the last tank was in position, three boys rode up the dirt road that connected the village with our position. The oldest was ten years old.
I used to play Army in an apple orchard near my home in Stoneham, Massachusetts, when I was their age. I was thinking that if I saw a platoon of tanks in woods I would have been on my bike and getting as close as those soldiers would let me. I also thought how different life in Stoneham would have been if a foreign Army could just park a platoon of tanks in the orchard.
I jumped down from the turret and waved for the boys to come to my tank. No one else seemed particularly interested in having kids near their vehicle. My driver and I lifted the kids up on the fender of the tank and let them sit in the driver's seat and gunner's seat. They put on our helmets and talked to each other on the intercom system. We gave the kids the waxy, canned chocolate that came in our C-rations.
They oldest spoke excellent English. I asked if he would to go to the village and bring us back some food from the local baker and butcher shops. He said he would right away. I gave him ten Marks. As he rode away, the driver of Bravo 13, who was from New Jersey, said, "Sergeant Gussman you are never going to see those kids again." Some others joined in. I was happy to see the platoon sergeant and the commander of Bravo 15, the only other soldier who had been to Germany before, did not say anything.
The boys seemed like good kids to me. Almost an hour later, the older boy came back alone. He said the younger boys had to go home. He had a backpack. Inside was sausage, butter, two loaves of bread, and some small candies. He spent 9 Marks, 98 Pfennigs, and gave me the two Pfennigs change. My crew and I got our camp stove out right away while it was still daylight and started cooking that sausage. I gave the boy some more C-ration chocolate and said to come back tomorrow, we were probably going to be there for the night. He thanked me again and rode away.
My crew and I made a big show of cooking that sausage and talking very loudly about how you can't trust those German kids. We also inquired about what the crews on either side of us were having for dinner.
The next time we stopped near a village and kids showed up, it was a competition to see who could get the kids to make a grocery run.
That little boy is 44 years old today. The other two are 40 and 42 if I guessed their ages correctly. I wonder what they think now. There has been peace in their country for their entire lives, but many foreign armies have lived in their country and trained for a war that, thankfully, never came. I hope they have good memories of the soldiers who parked a platoon of tanks in their woods. In fact, I hope they have nothing but good memories of American soldiers.
Still live in Germany all is diffrent now but the kids grow up and they still have nothing then good memorys about us
ReplyDeleteIt's one of my best memories.
ReplyDeleteWas in a mostly civilian unit with 7 military all total about 60 folks. Had no unit designation so we named our vehicles.
ReplyDeleteOur wrecker I named MAGILLA GORILLA and painted it in large letters on the boom. The German kids loved it and would wait for us to leave our tiny base and laugh and shout until we blew the horn for them.
I remember having similar experiences!
ReplyDeleteThis happened to us a few times. I wonder if Soviet Army troops in East Germany and Czechoslovakia had similar experiences.
ReplyDeleteJust about any Soldier who was part of REFORGER like exercises in West Germany heard the German phrase "habben Sie kaugummi?" Those kids were in awe of Amerikanische Soldaten im Wald and stopped by to visit us everyday. My landlord and neighbors young children are middle aged adults now and come to see me whenever I revisit my old haunts.
ReplyDeleteJust about any Soldier who was part of REFORGER like exercises in West Germany heard the German phrase "habben Sie kaugummi?" Those kids were in awe of Amerikanische Soldaten im Wald and stopped by to visit us everyday. My landlord and neighbors young children are middle aged adults now and come to see me whenever I revisit my old haunts.
ReplyDeleteI loved interacting with the German people. I once won a teddy bear at a Volksfest, I was a single soldier, 19 or 20 years old, what the hell was I going to do with a teddy bear. As I and a couple buddies were walking back to the car I spotted a young mom walking with a little girl, maybe 4 or 5, holding her hand. I hadn't learned much german yet so I gestured pointing at the teddy bear, then to the little girl and held the bear out. The mom caught on quickly, smiled, and nodded her head yes. I can still see the eyes on that little girl as she took that teddy bear from my hand, and luckily a buddy snapped a pic just as she took it. I need to dig through some boxes from nearly 40 years ago and see if I can find that pic now. I often wondered what became of the little girl and her mom, and whether or not she would remember the American who handed her that teddy bear!
ReplyDeleteAwesome memories of my assignment to 56 Bde. 3/84 F.A. Pershing Heilbronn/Neckarsulm
ReplyDeleteAha, also die Jungs haben den Amis Wurscht und Brot gekauft? Wir haben die im Manöver immer mit Tschörmen Biiiierrrr and Snaps versorgt! Lagen bei uns in Steinau ganz in der Nähe, meistens hat man es Nachts gehört wenn sie Stellung bezogen haben, dann am nächsten Tag nach der Schule nach Hause, Schulranzen abgeschmissen und Rucksack an, die Waldstrasse hoch und ab in den Wald, da gab es eine kleine Lichtung wo immer ein Beobachtungsposten lag. Mit ein bisschen English unsererseits und ein bisschen Deutsch von denen war die Geschäftsbeziehung schnell geklärt, mit Cash ging es dann ab zum Edeka, Bier und Hochprozentiges geholt, ja, das ging damals (😀Ernst wusste ja das es für die Amis ist), und mit vollem Rucksack wieder den Hahnberg hoch! Dann Übergabe der geistigen Getränke im Tausch gegen olivgrüne Dosen mit Erdnussbutter, Grapejam, Schoko- und Vanilliekuchen! Ohmann, den Geschmack vom Kuchen habe ich heute noch wenn ich drüber nachdenke...
ReplyDeleteWir genossen die Gesellschaft der deutschen Kinder auf dem Feld.
DeleteI had the same experience other side round. As a young boy i lived near an US. community. I loved the US people, the cars , the music so much it decided my whole life. Still now i look to the internet traces of that time in my town. Thank you guys.
ReplyDeleteAs a dependent, age 5 or 6, we were stationed in Ulm, maybe the army base was New Ulm. As an American base, it was completely surrounded by a tall fence and us kids were outside playing. Suddenly I felt a sharp blow to my forehead and reached up to find blood covering my hand and running down my face profusely. After a trip to the doctor and 7 stitches, I found out German teenagers were throwing rocks at us kids. I still bear the scar today. Otherwise no problem from being born in Frankfurt and two deployments totaling over 5 years. In Ulm I remember the beautiful Gothic church and climbing the stairs to the top. Looking it up now I have learned that it was and still is the tallest church to be built of stone and stands 530 feet. It took about 500 years to build and was completed in 1890. Most of Ulm was destroyed in an air raid during ww2, but I have read that the church was not to be hit as it was a prominent landmark useful for guidance from the air.
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