Posted on 11/14/2018 10:05:24 AM PST by Berlin_Freeper
Clarence Smoyer's index finger caressed the trigger. Sweat poured down the leather flaps of his helmet. No one in his tank moved or even whispered.
It was March 6, 1945, and Smoyer was part of the Allies' last push into Nazi Germany. The lanky 19-year-old with a mop of curly hair was part of a tank crew that had crawled into the German city of Cologne for what would become the US Army's biggest house-to-house fight in Europe. The Germans called it "Endkampf," the final battle for their homeland.
"Gentlemen, I give you Cologne," Smoyer's commander announced over the radio. "Let's knock the hell out of it!"
Smoyer didn't need any added motivation. Before he entered the shattered city, he'd received word that his cousin and his wife's brother had both been killed in the war. Those bastards are going to pay, he vowed.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
The guy was very lucky to be in a new Pershing tank. Much more firepower and better armor, it could take on a Panzer. The Shermans were death-traps.
Sounds like an interesting article, but I refuse to get on a CNN website.
Many soldiers, it seems, harbor no ill will towards the foot soldiers on the other side. Not after peace, when time and distance have given them perspective. They see each other as comrades, in a way. People who shared an experience that only they can fully understand, regardless of the uniform they were wearing. Not an SS colonel certainly, he would not be viewed as another guy just doing his job in a horrible situation. But another tank gunner? sure. To find one you actually fought a battle against one on one, wow. And on top, the mystery of the staff car and the fact that it was all filmed. One in a million story.
Thank you for posting this deeply moving story.
“...it could take on a Panzer.”
Panzer is the word the Germans use for “tank”. What you’re probably looking for is the “Panther” tank (or the panzer called and designated as Panzerkampfwagen V Panther). Not criticizing you, just a common mistake.
(Can't believe CNN posted content having nothing to do with Trump.)
That’s a shame because it’s a hell of a story.
I’ve seen a documentary on Cologne, including a short clip on the Panther “brewing up”, the crew getting strafed and the Pershing roaming the streets, firing.
I’m assuming its about the same or similar story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBI9d0-IfEM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6LqB-RYUvY
I hate giving CNN a click point and traffic. Anyone tell me the summary?
Haunted by two men on both sides. Our enemy today is haunted that the didn’t kill more women.
Great story! I can’t help but think that Satan has worked overtime to destroy Germany, the nation that gave us the reformation and the printed bible, for the last 100 years. First the Debacle in WWI, then the WWI part two with Hitler. Then with the low birthrates, now the Islamic invasion.
... I despise CNN. But it’s a great story and worth it.
“Many soldiers, it seems, harbor no ill will towards the foot soldiers on the other side. Not after peace, when time and distance have given them perspective.”
My hardscrabble farmer uncle Harry was Army in the Pacific and he was a POW in a Japanese camp for most of the war. He hated the Japanese until the day he died; and that was in the 80s. God rest his soul, he spent the the bulk of the war in a living hell.
“The Shermans were death-traps.”
The U.S. supplied the Brits with thousands of Shermans.
The Germans called them “Tommy cookers”.
As my father would see a hospital blow up, he knew those soldiers would not be returning to the fight and the doctors and nurses would not heal the enemy. He explained that when you declare war, it's on everybody. There is no "Kings X" for people that didn't want to fight. As he flew over the countryside, if he had the ammo, he trained his dual 50's on trucks and trains, and rake streets on his way back to England. He went over with an original 50,000 men, but left the military with less than 50 of the original deployment. His plane was the "Male Call" so he made 30 missions successfully and kept in touch with His crew after the war. Several of the crew had been wounded and killed, so out of the original crew only 4-5 survived.
He came to gripes with what happened over there by keeping things in perspective. He lost so many friends and acquaintances he had no problem maintaining the hate necessary to justify what happened. For every German woman that died or child that died, he knew as many Americas that wouldn't be coming home.
He knew that when the people back home stop supporting the war, the war will end. If the right Germans had died, someone would put a bullet in Hitlers head. Sure enough, as we tried to kill just the "right" people in Viet Nam, the war took so many American lives the War became unpopular back home. We won every battle over there, but lost the war in the end. War should be total. It's quicker and more savage to be unthinkable for the people that will lose. IMO, in the long run it will take fewer lives if everybody is involved in it.
When the new civil war comes to America, will you hold your fire because the person is 17 yo with body piercings and a circled "A" tattooed on their forehead? Will Jane Fonda be on your do not kill list? Is George Soros too old? How about the NYC congresswoman Cortez because she is too stupid to shoot? If you are fighting for your country, there should only be enemy or not enemy for you.
This poor man written about in the article fretted over a random shot 70+ years ago, and she probably voted Hitler into office in the first place. I'm sure all the dead Germans wanted to get married and have children and live happily ever after. So did a lot of GI's.
My dad was with Patton’s Thrid Army...He stayed in Europe after the war for a little over a year as an MP Lt...
He liked the German people and said hat a lot of the German soldiers were NOT Nazis, but were common German draftees...
He said he agreed with what General Patton had said after the war about re-arming the German people and driving out the Russians...
We also supplied about 6000 Sherman tanks to the Soviet Army. At their request, we built those Shermans with diesel engines instead of gasoline engines. Didn’t catch fire nearly as easily as the gasoline fueled Sherman tanks used by the Americans and British.
Oops...Thrid = Third....
I knew we supplied the Russians. Had no idea of the number but assumed it was high.
Never knew about the diesel either.
I learn something every day. Now if I could remember.....
The Shermans were easy to produce, light enough for most bridges and nimble.
However the propensity to burn and the short barreled low velocity main gun made them unequal to the task of taking on a Panther or even a Mark IV.
As a kid I read a book about the convoys to Russia. There were MEN crewing those ships.
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