Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-10-09
Continued From First Page

abandoned stable on his right, 8
church tower 200 yards on hi.
left. and somewhere in front Of
him.
Sam couldn't see the church
gunner but he fred q rifle clir
through the towers little window
and the tower gun stopped.
There was q board OF a gable
in the stable. and Sam let &c
with another burst through the
opening. and the stable gun
stopped.
He started to rush a shell hole.
Bullets dashed around him and
Sam hit the ground. The Ger
man apparently thought Sam
was dead. and shifted FIRE, Sam
rushed for another crater.
dropped into it and almost
passed out. The hole was full of
mustard gas. II he put his gas
mask on he wouldn't be able to
see well enough to shoot.
Gunner Switched
Fire swept over him as he
crawled out and Sam Topped be-
hind a clump of thistles. The
gunner switched to another
target.
Sam worked his way ever so
slowly on his stomach to a little
gravel pile. Machine gun bursts
were coming from q clump Of
bushes 40 feet ahead.
He put his pistol In front Of
him. placed an extra clip along
side it. slid his rife forward
inch by inch over the gravel
heap and strained his gas
srnarting eyes for q target. light
struck q camoufiaged helmet.
Then he saw the gunner's face.
Sam lined up his sights with
the face. squeezed of q shot,
and the face disappeared.
His eyes were recovering from
the gas and Sam could see bet-
ter-well enough to see q second
German push the dead man
aside and take his place. Sam
fired again and the second man
dropped.
He dropped a third man, then
q fourth. The fifth tried to crawl
away from that suicidal assign
nent. Sam shot him down.
Clip Was Empty
The five-shot rife clip was
empty. Sam grabbed his auto
matte. Just as another German
got up TO run. Sam shot him.
Then Sam waited. The ma
chine-gun nest was quiet, so he
reloaded his rifle and dashed
to the nest. He almost stumbled
over q German. who sprang up
ripped Sans rife from his hands
and threw it away. Sam shot him
with his pistol.
1t. Woodfill had already
shamed the imaginations Of fic-I
tioneers and his story was barely
beginning. Black Jack" PERISH
ing had ample reason three years.
later to tag Sam for the top
Of the list.
Sam continued, now crawling
now running. A sniper's bullet
missed him by six inches, and
one Of Sans runners. in the
rear. killed the sniper.
There was another machine
gun nest ahead. in a shallow
dugout. with the gunner's head
and shoulders in view. The ex-
posure was fatal. One by one,
the nests survivors tried to get
the gun operating again. and one
by one. with a single shot to al
man. Sam killed them.
Three Gave Up
Sam was inspecting the body
Uttered nest when three ammu-
suddenly arrived
They dropped the gunbelts. flung
their hands up and yelled
"Kamerad! Kameradl" Sam
made sure they were disarmed
and sent them toward the Al
lied lines where his men could
take them.
Il would seem to anyone else |
that the Woodfill mission was |
accomplished and that The had
adequately established where the |
German line Of resistance was
located But Sam kept going 4
There was firing all around
him and shrubbery and saplings
were falling as though struck
BY some giant mower. Sam
Numbered down behind a tree
and peered for the muzzle blast.
He spotted a machine gun sweep 4
ing a rayine through which his
company was trying to follow
MIN.
Wallowing for 80 feet or soil
through soupy mud, Sam found
location where he could Just
zee the top of the gunner's head
,ver the lip of a trench.
In ordinance economy 1t.
was about as good an
Investment as Uncle Sam eyef
made. This latest machine gun
rev erasure followed the script
II the others--five shots. five
Germans.
Sam ran toward the silent gun
nd another weapon opened up
t him, The miracle still held. L
lie plunged into the gun trench {
lnhit - and almost jumped \