The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-24
Third Drives Over Rhine
Without Loss OLA Yank

Let 'em shoot. This is old stuff
now" said Pfc Eric H. Doering
Chicago, as he started for the
river.
The boys who worked their way
in are now getting some small
arms fire" said Sgt Robert c.
Bradley of Durand, Mich, calling
down from an upstairs window Of
the cottage. Hitler must know
where they are by now" added
1t. Don Larson of Oshkosh, Wis.
Things began popping then along
the Rhine. The Germans fired four
orange signal flares and gunfire
broke out all over the place. A
couple of machineguns started fir
ing blue tracers wildly our way.
They didn't last long.
| Infantrynen charged two nests
and from the other side came
blood curdling screams. AS the
screams grew fainter, Pfc. Evans
Huffstet!er of Charlotte, N. c., COM
mented THAT was Heinie. They
all do that when they get it-like
stuck pigs"
Off to the right the Doughboys
charged.
Come out you bastards. Come
out" they were shouting. The Ger
mans didn't come out, so the
Doughboys shot them out and NOV
ed on.
'They know they are licked. Why
don't they give up?" asked Pfc
Leonard Isenhour of Liberty, Mo.
Damn the Germans anyway
Sgt. Kenneth A. Harris of Bedford,
Ind, added as an afterthought.
I've crossed 'em all from New
York harbor to the Rhine" said
Cpl. Walter Rainey of North Con
cord, N. H. 81 guess we'll have
to cross 'em all to Berlin"
Capt. Harry (Pete) Smith Of
Georgetown, Ky. who led the first
wave across had moved in swiftly
from the liver bank. 1t was time
for Rainey and his comrades to
move. He went over paired with
Pfc. William Palcher of Kansas
City, Kans. In midstream they
passed a boat coming back with
the first bag of five Nazi prisoners.
The captives told 1t. Stephen
Duke, Cleveland, they had been
dumped on the river bank two days
ago and did not even know the
number of their regiment. Asked
why they Gid not shoot, the Ger
mans replied, I'VE were eating"
1t. Col. Lyoal Berley, Bethlehem,
Pa, poked his head into the COM
mand post and said he had crossed
the Meuse with the same division
25 years ago and now was jumping
the Rhine with it.. 'The same dl-
vision was on our flank then as
now" he added.
Two hours after the silent wa
tiers of the Rhine had been churned
into action, the Germans collect
ed themselves and their artillery
opened up. Mortars and anti-tank
shells began slamming into the
American positions on the banks.
A mortar tore a chunk out Of the
7 cottage command post and every
body decamped. Shells crashed In
to the yard covering the men who
: had hurried out of the house with
| debris.
: cts time we were getting some
a of it," calmly announced Capt. Mer'
t lie Potter, formerly of the Minneap'
oils Star-Journal. now a public re-
t lations officer, who now was in on
/ the big story.
t American artillery, which hao
| kept quiet, erupted into action and
3 gave the Germans hundred fol
one. Engineers, busy with Their
duties on the ground and on the
water ignored the two-Way traffic
. of shells overhead.
Hell, this Rhine is nothing but
, a CREEK said 1t. David Spauldine
= Portsmouth, Va, who command
ed our boat. His men included Joe
Wasiele of Scranton, Pa, and Sew
= eric Benfari, New York.