West Point ’41: The Class That Went to War and Shaped America

14 | Victory Europe

158 14 Victory Europe In the first week of May, Allied units raced toward the Bavarian city of Berchtesgaden, not far from the German border with Austria. The alpine city was a coveted prize since it was a key outpost for senior members of the Third Reich (including Hitler, who maintained a luxurious home there for years). The residence had also served as a headquarters for planning Nazi victory. While much in Berchtesgaden was destroyed from Allied bombing, within the walls of Hitler’s fine abode, the wine cellar stood intact—an oasis amid the smoldering rubble, stocked with fine vintages pilfered from the French. It would not remain that way for long with the thirsty 3rd Infantry Division fast approaching. Berchtesgaden had, in fact, been slated as a prize for the 101st Airborne till that division got delayed in its advance due to blown-out bridges. The 3rd Division had the glorious task of capturing the town on May 4, 1945, with little resistance. Despite Berchtesgaden’s capture, the ultimate objective was broaching the nearby Eagle’s Nest. The capture of Berlin had been a strategic Allied objective, but the Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s mountaintop retreat a few miles from Berchtesgaden, was a symbolic one. Ostensibly a teahouse built for Adolf Hitler’s fiftieth birthday in 1939, it served as a more sumptuous retreat than the moniker “teahouse” implied. It was outfitted with a brasslined elevator shaft that whisked dignitaries up a sheer mountain face to the six-thousand-foot summit where the enclave was perched. There, sun terraces framed with enormous arches overlooked stunning vistas. A circular great hall was laid with exquisite rugs. Tapestries hung above a­ burgundy-colored Italian marble fireplace—supposedly a gift from Mussolini . And there was a large reception room that hosted special events like the wedding of Gretl Braun, the sister of Hitler’s companion, Eva. The führer and thirty-three-year-old Eva, meanwhile, after being newlyweds for just forty hours, committed suicide on April 30—she with a cyanide capsule, he with a bullet to the head. Kazel-Wilcox - West Point.indb 158 3/19/2014 5:40:14 PM victory europe ★ 159 Henry Bodson and others in the 3rd Division scaled on foot the steep summit road of the Eagle’s Nest, cursing out the gilded elevator that had ceased functioning. The troops ventured off-road and around obstacles on the rocky climb, panting in the thin mountain air, the sweat pouring down many an earnest young face. From a distance the troops appeared like ants frenetically swarming up a hill—till their winding paths converged at the shrine of the devil. Bodson entered the Eagle’s Nest and scanned its surroundings. I expected more . . . grandeur, maybe gold . . . but it’s pretty austere. Everything of value had been stripped long before, leaving the Eagle’s Nest resembling little more than a typical mountain chalet with simple country furnishings. Still, plenty remained for American troops to nab as proof of their conquest, whether the corner of a leather chair, a scrap of a loveseat, or a fork that Hitler might have used to stab a filet mignon. Souvenirs came in all shapes and sizes as pocketknives sliced and diced. Flatware was tucked into pockets, dishes into backpacks. Anything movable was “liberated” in the name of Allied Forces. Henry Bodson was a little late to the free-for-all, but in the pantry, he spotted linen hand and dishtowels. So much for clinching the grand prize, he thought, but it’s something. He held up the fine linens, noting the cream-colored herringbone stripes embroidered with “Der Platterhof,” a choice hotel turned military retreat that had serviced the Eagle’s Nest. Bodson tucked the linens into his backpack. Someday these towels will have a story to tell for my children and grandchildren about the 3rd Division capturing the Eagle’s Nest. It was perhaps fitting that, in the end, that victory was left for the 3rd Infantry Division, the only Allied division to have fought Germany on all fronts—beginning in North Africa, from Casablanca on to Tunisia, then proceeding into Sicily. The division then breached the Anzio beachhead before invading southern France and marching on to the Nazi homeland. And the war wasn’t over. Austria lay ahead. All told, the division would have 531 consecutive days in combat along a twisted path so treacherous that its losses would tally up higher than any other U.S. division...