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3 Transition: From Lorraine to Metz December 3-19, 1944 OPERATIONAL BACKGROUND Prior to the launching of the offensive in Lorraine on November 8, General Patton had declared that the Third Army would reach the West Wall, the line of fortifications on the border of Germany some forty miles away, "in not to exceed D plus 2 days."1 When the offensive was suspended on December 20, however, the battered American forces were still somewhat short of that objective in several areas. Despite the stubborn German resistance, by November 30 the 26th Division had closed to the line of the Saar River and was preparing to breach it. While the 328th Infantry was retained as a screening force centered on Harskirchen a couple of miles west of the Saar, on December 1 the 101st Infantry, assisted by elements of the 4th Armored Division, crossed the river and launched an assault on the small manufacturing town (pop. 3,000) of Saar-Union (see Map 3). Because this was a key point on the way to the highly industrialized Saar Basin, the Germans put up strong resistance and Saar-.Union was not secured until December 4.2 On December 5 the 328th, on the left flank of the 26th Division, crossed the Saar and swung north in a clean-up operation that was to register the greatest gains the Yankee Division had made since the beginning of the Lorraine Campaign.3 [P.R.] Dec. 3, 1944. G Company remains in reserve in Harskirchen, where 2nd Lt. Lee Otts joins it. EGGER We attended services conducted by our chaplain in the village church this morning. Except for the windows, the church had suffered little damage from the shelling. Harskirchen was shelled periodically by the Germans. The heaviest barrages were at night and when we were changing ·guard. I wondered how they knew when the changing of the guard took place. Perhaps FROM LORRAINE TO METZ • 73 they had communicated withinformers in town.* We ran from building to building when going to and from guard duty. A shell landed in a building across the street from the schoolhouse where we were staying and killed two men in an antiaircraft unit last night. OTTS Today was Sunday and we all went to church. The church was pretty well torn up, but the service was very impressive. The dirty, unshaven men were standing among the ruins of a once beautiful church with the sun pouring in through the holes in the ceiling. Two of the Tech Sergeants of Easy Company received battlefield commissions , so Lt. Lassiter and I were transferred to George Company today. In a letter home I wrote, "I hate to leave Easy Company as I am just beginning to know all my men, and this is by far the best company in the battalion." I later decided that no other platoon could equal the 2nd Platoon of George Company and no company could equal George. But for catching more than its share of hell and coming through victorious every time, my hat is always off to Easy Company. It was almost dark when Lassiter and I got into Harskirchen with all our gear and reported to the Company Cp' which was in a former beer hall. Captain E. Gardner Goldsmith, "Goldie," was the company commander . He was one of the old members of the 26th Division and had been on the regimental staff for a while. Goldsmith, who was in his middle twenties and single, was about sixfeet -four or five inches tall and weighed around two hundred pounds. He was a likable fellow, made friends quickly, and had a very good sense of humor. He should have been a Southerner, though, for besides myself I imagine he must have been the laziest man in the outfit. He wasn't just downright lazy like I was, but he just didn't want to exert himself any more than he had to. A Northerner may think it an insult to be called lazy, but we Southerners brag about our laziness. The first sergeant of the company was Ed Germain, who was also one of the old hands in the 26th. Germain was about six feet tall, slim and dark with brown eyes and close-cropped black hair. He was an excellent first sergeant who handled his job exceptionally well. *Like the French army in 1914, the Americans found numerous German informants in Lorraine. But much of the problem arose from an appalling lack of...

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