At this time the shelling got very heavy.
As luck would have it, I couldn't even get back to my own fox
hole. I did find a hole though and dove into it. The stench was so bad and I
found that I had landed on a rotting corpse. I flew out of the hole and spent the rest of
that night trying to get some sleep lying out in the open without any
protection. I was very lucky to make it through that night.
On the morning October 14, we were
told to move down to the Kall-Trail and head East to join the rest of I Company.
There we were to assault the same position that we had attacked once before and
the place where two of our companies had
been completely wiped out.
The 60th's objective at this time was to attack from the Mausbach& and Schevenhutte area to capture Germeter & Vossenach. To drive over the high
ground beyond the Gremeter- Hurtgen road at Raffelsbrand, and then drive on to protect
the Rohr dams. The fear was that the Germans would blow the dams and flood
the whole Ruhr Valley which could prolong the war considerably.
We joined the rest of our company about 150 or 200 yards
along the Trail. From that point we started toward the Germeter- Hurtgen road. Shortly
after, we started up a slight incline between rows of trees that looked almost like a trail. I
heard a shot and I looked at my buddy on my left as he turned toward me. He
was just about three feet away. His shirt was open to his chest area and I could see a red dot appear in
the center of his chest. The red dot opened to about 3/8th of an inch and he moaned and
went down. I was certain he was killed because of where he was hit. It had to come from a sniper. We
continued and no other shots were fired but the shelling started again.
About 40 yards further, we saw an open field about 50 yards square.
Our guys were setting up two 60 millimeter mortars on each side of the field. It takes a minute to set up a mortar
after they reach their position. But before they could get the first round off they were both hit by
German
mortars. The Germans had to be zeroed in on those locations before we ever
got there.
To be ready for anything (Don, at
right ready for anything), we
pushed ahead on the road to an area that appeared slightly dug out and ideal
to fend off an attack. As we formed a skirmish line, we were told to fix
bayonets and ordered to move across the road. On the other side of the road I observed a large open field about 150 yards wide
and about 75 yards deep to a wall of trees and dense brush. About 25 yards later all hell
broke loose. Beside the machine pistols and machine guns to the right and
left cross firing up and down our whole line. One round hit my M1 and destroyed, knocking
it out of my hands. I picked up another M1, there were plenty laying around
from those who were killed or wounded. We were all pumping hundreds and
hundreds of rounds towards the woods.
After advancing another 20 yards, the first sign
I saw of the enemy was when a large number of
grenades (we called them potato mashers) were being thrown at us and they
came flying our way. I looked to my
right and saw a very young looking soldier grab his M1 by the end of the
barrel, with the butt on the ground. He put his finger over the top, pulled
the trigger, dropped the rifle and ran toward the rear. At this time I
realized I was about the only one still standing, or actually lying here on
the ground.
I continued hugging the ground and
noticed the slightest movement set off the enemy machine guns which traversed the
whole front again. A squad leader about 8 feet to the left, suddenly jumped
up and began firing. I screamed at him to stay down. What could a few of
us do
against, God knows, how many of them there were. I was shocked as I saw him
get hit 3 or 4 times and a tracer must have hit him in the head. Smoke
poured out of his head. While he was still standing he fired a couple
shots before he went down.
It could have been an hour or
more before I decided to move back. I crawled to the right for 15 or 20
yards to check to see if anyone was still alive. I then went to the left to do the same. I found
one still alive. I ask if he was hit. He didn't say anything so I started
searching him for a wound, then he whispered, not hit. I told him to stay low and
follow me out. I started to crawl away, then looked back and he
hadn't moved. I had to try to pull him and he finally moved on his own.
When we finally got back across the road, a
platoon leader from L Co. came running up and asked if we were OK. I told him
that we were and that I was
from I Co. and the guy with me was from L Co. He told me that I was the
only survivor from I Company and there were only 11 survivors from L company.
The next morning when I checked
my equipment, I found a bullet hole in my canteen and two in my pack. In all
the years since, I can never forget how lucky I was that day. At that time,
we were getting between 60 and 80 replacements a day to replenish our
group.
On the 17th of the month, we made
the third assault on this same position. I use this date because this was
the day that the military had me listed as wounded. In this assault, we approached the road
with two tanks in the lead. This gave us a little more confidence than we
had the times before. The tanks
stopped about 30 yards from the road to wait for the order to shove off.
They were supposed to shut down their engines and remain silent while
waiting for orders to proceed. Unfortunately they were unable to do this and
claimed that once the engines got hot, the could not be shut down and
just kept running.
The sound
of advancing tanks really brought in one hell
of a mortar barrage from the Germans and God only knows what else they threw
our way. When the order
came on the skirmish line to fix bayonets, I was kneeling and ready to cross
the road. Then there was a deafening burst in the trees and I felt a
heavy hit in the back of my leg a little bit above the knee joint. I reached
around the back and felt a deep wound about an inch and a half wide, about
four inches long and about an inch deep.
When I tried to
stand, I found I could do it. This made me unbelievably happy. I made it to the aid station
on my own power where I was immediately placed on a stretcher and my wound
was packed and bandaged. Then I was lifted to the top of a jeep that was
rigged to carry stretchers and was whisked away. A few days later, I arrived
at the Division Evacuation Hospital unit.
After the doctors checked my wound,
it was off to Paris on a hospital train and was on my way to a big hospital in Paris.
This was really wonderful with descent food and very good care. After
looking around at other wounded, I realized that I was much better off than
many of the other patients but this didn't last forever. In about two weeks,
I was on a train again and ended up in a field hospital somewhere in western
France. I was in a big tent with about twenty other patients.
Perhaps my wound wasn't going as
well as expected as I was not allowed to walk and after a few days, the
nurses started to put very hot wet compresses on my wound. A nurse came
every thirty minutes and put boiling water on the compress. This went on for
twenty-four hours. I was then wheeled to an operating tent and was under
heavy sedation. Then I was given a shot of sodium pentothal. This enabled
the doctor to stitch the wound shut. The operation was a success and the
doctor told me that I had a million dollar wound and would be out of action
for six months.
With this good news, I
(at left, patched up and ready for action) was sent
to a rehab center not far from Cherbourg. While there, I was put on a job
building log roads and walkways. Suddenly the value of my million dollar
wound started to plummet. The "Battle of the Bulge" made its ugly way into
my life. Instead of six months, those of us at the rehab center, were given
a Christmas dinner and told that we would be leaving the next day. Everyone
who could walk, even some with crutches, and some with their arms in slings
were being sent back to their outfits.
At this last Christmas dinner
though, an extraordinary thing happened. At dinner I was having a
conversation with the person that was sitting next to me. When I asked him
what outfit he was with, he said I company, 60th. I asked what kind of wound
he had and he opened his shirt to show me. I almost fell off of my
seat. Here was the guy who was shot in the middle of his chest. The very
same guy that was beside me when he got hit. How wonderful that was to here
he was not killed. I couldn't believe it. He said that position we were in
was attacked five times before it was taken.
To provide the reader with some
idea as to the size of this battle, Don provides the following data:
Four main Infantry Divisions Casualties in this battle
-
9th Div. 13 Sept. 44 to 26 Oct.44----3836
28th Div. 27 Oct. 44 to 20 Nov. 44---3611
4th Div. 6 Nov. 44 to 8 Dec. 44-------5260
Total casualties-- 99 days---12,707
Dates for my two attacks on this position are based on the date I received a
Bronze
Star- 12 Oct 44.and the date I was wounded 17 Oct. 44.
Editors Note: So ends the story
of Donald Stibitz's adventures in the Huertgen Forest. His "Million Dollar"
wound did get him out of the forest alive so we have to assume that it
really was worth it. How did Don on his next assignment? Well, he had a lot
of fight left in him even with his bum leg so it was off to the Battle of
the Bulge. Don promises to forward his next encounters on his extended
travels through Germany as soon as he can get them on paper. As soon as we
get the next stories, we will post them here.
Readers, you are
in luck. Don has come through with the next chapter of his great adventure.
As mentioned above, the "Battle of the Bulge" washed away his million dollar
and he was back in action. His location at the time of that battle wasn't
conducive to placing him in the "Bulge." Instead, his orders took him to a
quite a different area.
had spent in the Civilian Military Training Corp so he arrived in the
service with some previous training. He was sent to Camp Shelby, Mississippi
just as the 69th Infantry Division formed so his previous experience was
needed and he was made Instructor. At that time, however, there was a great
need for pilots, bombardiers and navigators in the Army Air Force so he was
sent to Miami Beach in December for testing and orientation while waiting
for assignment to flight school. 
