1975 On a river near Reagensburg Germany. I was the Engineer Chief, providing electrical power for an Air Defense missile unit. I had been there for about a year and enjoying the beautiful picturesque country side, and the local brewery’s . A fellow Sergeant and myself decided to take a camping trip for the long weekend that was coming up. We stocked up on supply’s of food, cooking equipment, sleeping bags tent halves, fishing poles, and of course five cases of locally cured brew. The spot we had picked was a beautiful area about ten miles from Base. The river ran trough the valley below a small village, the village house’s were painted white with red brown roofs, it was nestled about half way up a large green grass covered mountain. We were kicked back sucking on a beer, had our fishing poles set out, with out the cooperation of the fish, I might add. We had our supper on cooking on the camping stove, fried potato’s, pork and beans and sliced onions.

    It was about dark when we heard a noise from down the river. As the noise came closer it sounded like. PRAISE GOD FOR PATTON. As the night was closing in we could make out the form of an old man on short crutches hobbling along as fast as he could make do. We could make out, he had no legs below the knees. He was still yelling PRAISE GOD FOR PATTON.

    Gene and I sat up as the old man came closer. Gene was married to a German girl, and could speak German quit well. The old German came up and sat down across from us, and was crying, still saying PRAISE GOD FOR PATTON. We offered the old German a beer. He was still crying as we listened to his story about the war.

    He said that he and his two brothers were with the underground near the end of the war. They had been blowing up railroad tracks not far from where we were camped. One night they were on a mission and the German soldiers caught them, took him and his brothers to the top of a hill and tied them to trees after removing all there clothes. There ages ran from seventeen to nineteen, The next morning they were to be shot. It was about midnight when it began to snow. they talked about there Mother and Father, and the hard life they lived growing up. And then the three brothers said goodbye to each other. Big heavy snow flacks were covering the ground and trees around them.

    About three o’clock in the morning Pattons troops came through. Rescued him, but was to late for the old Germans brothers. The medic’s saved him but had to take his legs from the knee’s down. He said he thought he was dead from the cold. But he did get to see his Mother again, his Father had been killed by a bomb. He said he came to be very skillful with the two churches. He said he made a living as a furnace attendant at a local school. He had never married, but was quit happy just to be alive.

    By this time the old German was setting between Gene and I. He had his arms around both of our shoulders, and we each had an arm around him, we were all three crying, it may have been the effects of the beer. It was well after dark when the old German hobbled off down the river still yelling, PRAISE GOD FOR PATTON. PRAISE GOD FOR PATTON

This is a true story, of many I have. If you don’t tell your story’s they will be forgotten.

By: JACK DAVID BURGESS