Evening star., 1943-12-22
By THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star Staff CORRESPONDENT.

/. WITH THE 5th ARMY IN ITALY,
Dec. Is Delayed. The narrow
valley stretches westward 20 miles be-
tween two ridges Of ash-grey noun
tains. At one end Is the shell shat
tered town OF Bonazzo held by
American troops for more than a
month. At the other end, on a
mountain from which Rome can be
seen on clear days. is the great
Benedictine Monastery OF Monte
Casino, where st. Benedict estab-
hshed the order which bears his
name.
The valley floor is covered with
green fields and deep brown new
plowed land, stone walls, winding
roads, clusters Of grey houses. The
lower slopes Of the mountains are
covered with olive groves Above
them is a narrow zone Of brown
bushes and then reaching almost
into the clouds, barren, fantastical-
ly curved cliffs and steep mclines
covered with loose stone. About
halfway up the valley Is black
shattered little town. From its roof
less buildings emerges a square
massive church tower. This Is San
Pietro. Across the valley is long,
low mountain darkened from many
days OF constant shellfire. On its
sides the Germans have dug ip, A
yellow road with hairpin turns winds
along the mountainside to the north.
Sweet peace seems to enfold the
valley as seen from this rock-strewn
mountain top looking down on San
Pietro. But here in the chill De-
cember wind, Sergt. H. L. Hershey,
Rockville, Md, and 1t. Roger Shep-
herd, Rochester, N. Y, both of the
Army Pictorial Service, are setting
up their cameras and the little
group q artillery observers are
scanning the countryside anxiously
with their field glasses. 1t is cold
crouching among the bushes to keep
hidden from the German artillery
observers on Mount Lungo, only a
few miles away. We had all crawled
the last few yards over the cold,
sharp stones amidst thorn-covered
holly bushes.
Stage Set for Battle.
This is the stage for what Is ex-
pected to be one of the toughest
battles of the Italian campaign due
to start in a few minutes. This
afternoon they are planning to take
San Pietro, used by the Germans
as a supply center. Tonight when
the moon comes up American in
fantry regiments are going to take
key positions on the slopes of
Mount Lungo in preparation for
an Italian attack at dawn by which
1t is proposed to capture the sum-
nit.
All eyes are on the yellow road.
From point almost directly un-
der our eyes it is under German
observation. Down this road, ex-
actly at noon, IL American tanks
have been ordered to proceed wip-
ing out German positions along
the way and running into the town
itself. They already are assembled,
hidden by sharp bend in the high
way from the enemy observers on
Mount Lungo. For some of them
it is expected to be q suicide move.
The road is known to be heavily
mined. There is no possible way
for these mines to be cleared. The
tanks must take their chances and
run over them. The slow moving
monsters make perfect German ar
tillery targets. We had heard the
plans discussed the night before at
q conference with the tank officers
IT almost wish tomorrow would
never come" the colonel had re-
marked as he stepped out Of the
smoky cave into the moonlight for
a gulp of fresh air. It had been
seeded that it would be good STRAIT
egy to risk losing quite . few tanks
for the assistance they would give
to the infantry regiment which even
now is creeping invisibly westward
through the olive grove just above
the road.
Troops Move on Village.
Other troops, also invisible, are
moving on San Pietro from two
other directions.
just before noon the artillery
starts. Up to now it has been
quiet as a Sabbath. The chemical
mortars are laying down a thick
smoke cloud over the slope of
Mount Lungo to blind the German
gunners. 1t is a crucial moment
when the first tank comes around
the bend into the range of enemy
observation, followed by the others
at 50-yard intervals. The smoke
screen has accomplished its pur-
pose. Not a shot is fired at them.
Apparently the enemy has not the
slightest idea of their presence.
They hit no mines for a half hour.
1t looks as if they will get away
with it. Suddenly there is a ter
rifle explosion. The third tank stops.
1t Is on fire. 1t has hit a mine
which two already have passed over
without exploding. The others 60