Evening star., 1943-04-14
Jeep Driver Awarded
DSC for Heroism in
E| Guettar Fighting
Won Troops Admiration
For Bringing Ammunition
Through Mountains
BY JOHN LARDNER,

L
somewhat surprised after the Ger
man rout and retreat from. Southern
Tunisia to hear that his fellow
Americans hereabouts had regarded
him right along as one of the spec
tacular figures of the battle He had
been too busy "hell-bending" around
the mountains and desert with jeep-
loads of mortar shells and machine
gun ammunition to realize what a
sWath he cut.
Yet every soldier and officer who
saw him remembered him. His name
is Joseph Peters and he now has
a DISC for courage and efficiency
under fire. At one point in the Ell
Guettar battle he rescued his colonel
from trapped position under
enemy fire and rode him to safety
In his jeep, which Pfc. Peters, a man
of strong family feeling, calls by his
own name, to wit, Peters"
Pfc. Peters is of Polish parentage.
He has one of the strongest pair of
lungs in TuniSia, which is one rea-
son he finds himself famous locally.
A powerful voice is not noteworthy
In itself but when you find it COM
oined with the vocation of hauling
live shells at a good speed over
bumps as high as S feet in the
thick of battle it attracts the at
tention.
Talks to His Vehicle.
In sporadic doses it is not too
tough an experience, but Pfc. Peters
was under enemy fire continually or
thereabouts these last few weeks
Commenting on this point and, for
that matter, on any point whatever
he says excitedly:
MY wife is a wonderful woman.
Did I show you the last letter
got? Well, right here she says"
His wife is the only subject which
disturbs Pvt. Peters nonchalance
and practically the only one he will
talk about in his spare moments
from ferrying ammunition On the
road he speaks to his jeep at the
top of his lungs, exhorting the We
hicle, haranguing it, pleading with
1t and yelling in triumph each time
he clears an obstacle without blow
ing up-Which so far has been every
time.
She's riding high today!" Pvt.
Peters would yell to pedestrians, by
ISLANDERS and other drivers as he
rolled past them. Or Look at her
bounce! How do you like that?
Stick with it, Peters, we're on the
BEAM"
Jeep Repaired Frequently.
It's no great wonder that every
body, including enemy machine
gunners, noticed Pvt. Peters and
paid him a tribute of a smile or
respectful volley of bullets.
But what battles me-" says t:c
lieutenant of Pvt. Peters company,
lis the way his jeep stands up under
the punishment it gets from the
enemy. from Peters and from our
own supply people that load it.
He's been driving that same jeep
almost since the time We landed
at Oran last November. At least,
It's the same jeep, technically
speaking.
After one trip Peters replaced
q couple of tires. Next time he put
In a new feed line and then he
patched the left side of the body
and so on. It's new jeep in a
way, but it's just the same old
chassis"
1t has also got more holes in it
than a square yard of honeycomb.
Bullets have hit every part of Pc
ters,' the jeep, without touching
Pvt. Peters, the driver The pri-
Yates job is to rush mortar and ma
chine gun ammunition from a sup
ply dump to the front, mostly
through battle lines, and then drive
back to get another load Often
he tucks food rations in among the
shells to feed the TROOPS at the
front-when they have time enough
to eat Whether they have time
to eat or not they find a minute or
two to say hello to the driver and
to hear about his last letter from
his wife.
"If you don't believe she's a won-
derful woman" the lieutenant said,
''just get within range of Peters for
30 seconds and you'll have the in
formation"
Lieutenant Was Lucky.
This lieutenant, of New York City
is considered, incidentally, to be one
OF the luckiest characters in the
neighborhood. He was on salvage
detail a day or two after the Axis
retreat from the Gafsa region. He
exercised normal caution, but that's
not always enough. He picked up
an Italian hand grenade. apparently
discharged, and had taken most OF
it apart before the BOBBY trap, con-
sisting of small, compressed charge
of powder under the coil went off in
his hands.
The explosion cost him one Joint
OF the middle finger of his right
hand and minor cuts around his
facial around his eyes, but mirac-
ulously without touching them. ]
found him in hospital a day later
feeling cheerful and restless and
worried about his company. A soft
hearted doctor gave him leave for
quick visit to his colonel and /
drove him to company headquarters
where he found the colonel just on
the point of removing his name tenn
porarily from the rolls
Don't do it, colonel" he begged
"Okay," said the latter, suffering
from general post-battle epidemic
of tenderness, ''if you'll get back to
the hospital and behave yourself"
The lieutenant returned to the
hospital few minutes later with
the further knowledge that the
colonel had signed the necessary
papers for his promotion to captain
that same day. Finger or no finger
he considered the recent battle q
time well spent.
(copyrisht. 1943, by the Bell Syndicate,
Inc)
You; |i'3!I Vs.