Mrs. Cordie's Soldier Son: A World War II Saga

The Long Walk

THE LONG WALK The reality of the situation did not hit D.C. until he was shoved from the post office basement out into the narrow street of Clervaux by the muzzle end of a German rifle. Fortunately, the rifle did not have a bayonet on it. The muzzle seemed to penetrate the area between his shoulder blades, but it was more the brutal nature of the treatment and the knowledge that he and the others could expect no gentleness from their captors. There was a lot of yelling at the newly captured prisoners, whose main concern now was to survive and wait to be rescued. They had no idea how badly the Allies had been hurt in this breakout by the Germans. Only a few short days ago they had been anticipating going home. This was not supposed to happen. Surrender had seemed a reasonable alternative to having a hand grenade thrown into the post office basement. As the prisoners were herded out of Clervaux, some of them questioned that option, however, when, on the edge of town, they saw bodies lying in the road ditch. The Germans were apparently shooting prisoners. Were these the same Germans that had captured those Allied soldiers earlier? None of them knew and they dared not ask. D.C. now wondered whether the telegram his parents would receive might say something else. This was his first true realization of his own mortality. During my research in Clervaux, I attempted to gain some clarity regarding the sensitive and very emotional memory of the corpses along the road, which D.C. mentioned only once. According to Frank Kieffer, the Gestapo (German secret police) came into the village almost as soon The Long Walk 103 as the Americans were defeated. They already had the names of people who had cooperated with the Allies and were making examples of some of the local citizens. Kieffer believed this is what D.C. had seen. In Clervaux the German SS troops did not take the time to commit these particular atrocities. It was cold, much colder than anything D.C. had ever experienced in Texas, and the march was numbing. He remembered little other than the freezing temperatures, hunger, and a feeling of uncertainty, if not outright abandonment. However, he never lost hope. Even after the devastating tank battle he witnessed in Clervaux, the loss of life, and the inability of the U.S. forces to reestablish their positions, D.C. still believed it was only a matter of time before all of this would be over. In addition, a lot of GIs learned to pray that day and in the many days that followed. As D.C. and the others slowly walked (and were carried, in some cases) into Germany, they were ravenous and exhausted, and many were wounded. A very young German soldier walked along beside them as American POWs walking along a muddy road into Germany. (Photo in Hugh M. Cole, The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge.) 104 Mrs. Cordie’s Soldier Son one of their guards and attempted a conversation with the only person in D.C.’s group who spoke German. It appeared that the boy wanted to make friends, but D.C. and the others were in no mood. Whether accurate or not, D.C. believed the young German risked his own life by slipping them black bread. In fact, D.C. felt this bread came out of the boy’s own ration. If the other German soldiers had discovered that the boy was actually helping them, he would have been killed, D.C. firmly believed. Considering the bodies along the road outside Clervaux and the overall situation, it was a reasonable conclusion. Although so much was going wrong, it was odd to see an enemy risk his own life to help them. The bread was not much, but since they could not even remember the last time they had eaten, it was greatly appreciated and perhaps even critical to their survival. Nevertheless, D.C. thought it somewhat sad that their translator played up to the boy, while the boy smiled, nodding his head in agreement to whatever was said in English, the whole time thinking he was making friends with the Americans. All the while the translator encouraged him in German and cussed him out in English. The young German soldier never understood what...