We moved to Bountiful a while before I was drafted. My wife and I milked by hand twenty cows, fed twenty sheep, and had seven hundred rabbits. There [were] three chicken coops-full in their pens. People would come to buy eating rabbits, and I would have to kill them. I could have one killed and cleaned in less than ten minutes.

I was drafted by the St. George Draft Board. They took everybody but St. George first. We had Jeraldine, Joann, and my wife was carrying Darwin. So we moved to Salt Lake, not far from Aleath's mother and dad. When I left in the Service, my wife moved to 6th South. Eldon was drafted later, and Denise moved in[to] an apartment in the same building. We had no car, so Aleath had to haul kids around in a buggy. It was tough to leave my family again as I was gone on my mission for two years.

A map of the Infantry Replacement Training Center, Camp Fannin, Tyler Texas

I was shipped to Camp Fannin in Texas.

I went out on a few long marches. One time they were firing over our heads and I ran, stooping over, into a trench and I think I had a slight heart attack, as I couldn't get my breath for a few minutes. I never did tell my wife about it. I knew she would worry.

I then took their cook's school and I got out of a lot of marches and hard climbing. I graduated from the school. My buddy took a bugler's school, but ended up as a cook overseas.

We were moved to Maryland, next [to] Washington, D.C. I cooked while there and got to go see the White House.

I was shipped down to West Virginia. [Ed. Note: I wonder if he means the Norfolk/Hampton Roads/Virgina Beach area of Virginia instead, where many troop ship and merchant ship convoys originated? West Virginia is not on the coast, and the closest thing to a port--and I don't think it is--would be Harper's Ferry, where the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers meet, and Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet. Or perhaps West Virginia was just another stop-over point on the journey before arriving somewhere else where he embarked onboard ship. The U.S. Army Air Force did have airfields in West Virginia for training pilots and aircrews.] There I was assigned to a ship going to Italy. I cooked for the Air Force 'till I got to the east side of Italy where there were a lot of sunken ships in the harbor. [Editor's note: It's possible the Adriatic coastal harbor Gerald mentions is Bari, Italy, where the U.S. Air Forces had a base. A German air raid on December 2, 1943 at Bari had sunk seventeen ships and damaged six others, five of which were U.S. ships. That would match Gerald's description of a harbor with lots of sunken ships. And since Gerald was cooking for the Army Air Forces, the fact that the Fifteenth Air Force had a headquarters in Bari makes Bari a reasonable site for Gerald's arrival in Italy.]

We landed in the Adriatic [Sea] and it was so serene and calm after crossing the Atlantic. [Crossing the Atlantic] took a whole month.

Aleath gave birth to Darwin the day I shipped out. I was cutting meat in the bottom of the ship. I was really sea sick.

While we crossed the sea, a friend had a pair of hand clippers, so I borrwed them, and charged fifty cents a hair cut and gave him half of it for using his clippers. We would have to set the guy on a box with a rope from the cabin to the outer edge of the ship. And they would have to hold to the rope and set on the box. The ship was always rocking pretty bad[ly].

I read the Old Testament while going over. I cut hair on my hour off from cooking, and at night read the Old Testament.

Some nights it was so rough that the ship would almost stand on its side. [Editor: In Sept. 1944 there was a large Hurricane moving up the Atlantic coast of the U.S. which would explain the rough seas.]

Before we got to Sicily [or Italy], we had to stop the convoy, as there were mines floating by. There were about ten ships in our convoy. After the mines would float by without blowing us up, they would shoot them after they [floated far enough away].

I had Majors, Captains, Lieutenants, and Sargents on K.P. Here I was, a Buck Private at that time. [Editor: In the audio recording beginning around the 2 minute mark where Gerald talks about his cooking experience, he says "But so I figured, well I'd be cooking in the Army, but I didn't. I was cooking going overseas for the Air Force. The Air Force I had--Here I was a buck private and I--and I was cooking for majors and leiutenants, captains, and all of them. And I had to supervise them on K.P. And here I was a buck private. But I cooked in Maryland, there--there close to the capital. We went and visited the ground on the capital when we were there."]

After we got on the water, a couple or three weeks, there would be rotten eggs now and then. We couldn't serve fried egges because of the rough seas. When we had breakfast, those on K.P. would have to break the eggs in a big ten-gallon can. They would break the eggs on a little platform. If a bad egg would show up, [it] would go down into the can so [it was] scrambled. Those on K.P. would never eat a scrambled egg.

When we got to the end of our journey, I was placed in the 7th Army 100th [Infantry] Division. I was told I would be cooking back and forth over the ocean. [Editor: Gerald's Purple Heart records indiciate he was a member of Company G, 397th Regimen, 100th Infantry Division. The online histories of the 100th ID say that they sailed over the Atlantic after Gerald and landed at Marseille, France. Gerald was stationed in Italy at a replacement depot for some time, and likely was assigned to the 100th ID while at the depot shortly before leaving it and being shipped to France to join up with the 100th ID. He most likely joined the rest of the 100th ID somewhere in France, possibly in Marseille.]

We passed by Spain and stopped for a short time at Algiers, Africa. One of our men had appendicitis. We passed by the Rock of Gibraltar, a solid rock, tons of ammunition and guns inside of it. [Editor's note: Gerald would have passed the Rock of Gibraltar upon leaving the Atlantic Ocean and entering the Mediterranean Sea first, before subsequently stopping at Algiers, which is on the northern Mediterranean coast of Africa. Oran, Algeria was a destination port on the northern coast of Africa at which convoys would stop. I don't know if Gerald meant Algiers, Algeria, or perhaps Oran, Algeria. Oran is further east along the north African coast than Algiers.]

We landed on the east coast of Italy, and [were] trucked back to Naples on the southwest corner of Italy. We then went north to Mussolini's son-in-law's old dairy farm and lived in those old stables right by a large river. [Editor's note: The dairy farm that had belonged to Count Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini's son-in-law, was about 20 miles northeast of Naples outside of Caserta, Italy in the Volturno river valley. The farm was being used as a replacement depot. I found mention of someone receiving postal mail via APO 776 which mentioned that on March 12, 1944, APO 776 was establised in La Fagianeria, Italy. I found on Google Maps right on the banks of the Volturno just north of Caserta a place called Fagianeria. I wonder if that was the farm location of the "Repple Depple" a.k.a. Replacement Depot. Also, this document, http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ATO/FRWW2-II/FRWW2-4.html mentions a Replacement Command located at Fagianeria, Italy. Also the same document mentions that Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ) was moved to Caserta, Italy in July of 1944]

Italy has lots of rain, and all the hills are terraced off with grass all over, olive trees, and grapes everywhere—really pretty.

We saw about fifteen women with bundles of sticks on their heads marching through the fields, a man in front carrying nothing.

We had a latreen, or tent toilet in the middle of an olive orchard. There were about sixteen seats around, with the sides rolled up. A group of women came in while a group of us were sitting, trying to sell grapes [to us]. Imagine buying grapes with one hand, and toilet paper in the other hand. I was embarrassed.

In Rome, down the main streets, were urinals for the men to stand, against the wall, and everybody could see everything. That was embarrassing.

In our tents there were four of us on cots.

Three of us went down to Vatican City and saw where the Pope would stand, two stories above, to give his talks.

Three of us went down to St. Peter's church [Basilica] in the Vatican. There was a large statue of Peter. The feet were about three feet above the floor. One of the feet, the right one, had been kissed so much on the foot, that it was over half-way worn through.

There was a picture on the large wall that had [Jesus] standing in the water, and [John the Baptist] was on the bank [with a cup] pouring water on the head of Jesus. Harold [Glascock], who was a Sunday School teacher for the Baptist Church asked me if that was the way Jesus was baptized. I told him no.

So every night after that we would study by candlelight when we were on the front line. I got to baptize Harold [Glascock]. We got in a big creek [behind] our camp. When we got into the stream about to our waists, I lifted my hand up and started to say the prayer. We both started to sink in quicksand. [By the] time I got the prayer said, I was up to my neck in water. I got Harold under, but darn near drowned myself getting out.

Harold [Glascock] was with me after he was baptized. We were in an old house, almost blown apart. Harold took some of the men and me into another, telling them about the Church. There were shells landing all around us. There were no atheists around us. I never saw one.

We were in a house, almost knocked down, all but the stable underneath the house. Some of us would have to stand guard every... [Editor: Gerald doesn't complete this sentence.]

In Italy I climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was scary to look down under, as it leaned so far. I thought, what if it should fall?

When we got off the ship in France, we got into railroad cars and went toward Bitche, France.

As we were going along on the highway, we started to get srafed with shells. We had a long convoy. Some of the men got under the trucks and jeeps. Some of us ran out to the side and started to dig foxholes. A large shell lit in the sand just behind me, and didn't go off. It would have blown me to a thousand pieces.

We were near Bitche, France, going through a forest, and we found dozens of wagons and horses. The horses were all dead, and someone cut the meat off the horses' hinds to eat.

We crossed a meadow and the Germans started shooting at our company. We had to cross a creek, up to our waists [in water]. Half of the guys were throwing a lot of their things away so they could run faster. I had shells going [off] in front, over, and [in] back of me. I threw away a towel. I got so tired that I didn't care if I got hit or not.

After we crossed the creek and started up the tall hill, we looked back, and there came our dinner on a jeep. It was about five o'clock. The bridge was blown out and they, the Germans, shot through the windshield [of the jeep]. The guys ducked down and ran into the creek. We never got our meal.

When we got to the top of the hill in the pines, we started digging foxholes. Two German planes came and strafed us. Then we looked and we had hit one of the planes. Down it came. My buddy [had thrown] his sleeping bag away and about froze that night.

We were in a town, and before we got clear in, there was a wagon and horses [at a] house. So I opened the door. It was filled with German soldiers. The could have blown me apart.

A little farther, I and my buddy saw a barn and took two prisoners. I brought on of their knives home, [but I] don't know where it is now.

We were in one canyon and dug a foxhole in the trees. After [a] while, the Germans started shooting from one side of the canyon to the other. One of the shells sheered off a small tree next to our foxhole. It bounced up into the air. We got out and rand down to a house. Part of it was blown apart. I got downstairs so fast I don't think I hardly touched a step. That was a close call.

I saw as high as five [dead] men stacked on top of each other alongside the road, and women screaming in the houses close by.

We were on the south end of the Siegfried Line where the Germans had driven our men way back. When we crossed through the tangled wire and everything, there was a pillbox on top of the hill. It went about two levels down in the ground. we stayed there over night. There were dead German soldiers down below us and they really did stink. [Editor: The Second Battalion of the 397th Regiment (which I think is the battalion Company G belonged to) departed Schweyen on the French side of the border on March 22, 1944 and crossed northwestward over the border near Walschbronn. There was relatively little fighthing crossing the border and the Siegfried Line, considering the heavier fighting they had experienced at Bitche and even Hottviller, and Schorbach on the French side. Possible map location near where Gerald may have crossed the border from France into Germany and the Siegfried Line, perhaps on 22 March 1945.]

One time I was in my foxhole with my buddy. [One of us] would lie in the bag at night [while the other stood guard] for two hours, standing on [the] end [of the foxhole] that was up higher than the rest, watching with [his] head just above the ground. I was in my sleeping bag, shoes and all on so I could get up and go in a moment. My protector was standing, protecting me. The platoon sargent came and took [my buddy's] hat off. He was sound asleep protecting me. Think I was safe???? [Editor: The four question marks used for emphasis appear in Gerald's notebook.]

There were sheep somewhere around, and when one would let out a blat, you would jump. Everything was so still.

I Was Wounded

[Editor: Here begins Gerald's narrative of the Battle of Heilbronn, a nine-day struggle in April 1945 for the control of Heilbronn, a mid-sized city on the Neckar River. The 100th Infantry Division began the assault on the German-occupied eastern side of the Neckar on April 3, 1945. Gerald's company must not have arrived at Heilbronn yet, arriving on the 4th of April. The 398th Regiment made that assault a bit further north than where Gerald's G company with the 397th Regiment crossed a little over a day later. Here is a Google Map marker near one of the places the 397th Regiment crossed the Neckar River, a place near a power plant and a glass factory. Perhaps the broken bridge Gerald describes taking shelter beneath is the one near this marker. Or perhaps it is the smaller one to the south across the smaller channel.]

There are many things I could add to my experiences, but it [this history] is long enough.

When we got to Heilbronn, Germany, we arrived in the afternoon and took posession of half of the town. [Editor: They took the western side of Heilbronn, meeting little resistance.] Many homes [were] blown up. The Neckar River separated the residential part of town [from] the other side [where there] were factories. The bridges over the river were blown up.

We got in one of the houses about half-destroyed. I knew we were going to cross the river the next morning. I went into a small closet several times and asked the Lord to spare my life.

Well, at one o'clock the next morning, we rowed across the river in small boats. When we got to the other side, we lay underneath pieces of the bridge until daybreak.

We went up from the river to a cement wall or fence. Every now and then, there would be a hole in the cement. We got up by the fence. A German solider had his back toward the fence.

My buddy said, "Shall I shoot him?"

"Well," I said, "he may get us if you don't."

Then we went down along the fence. There was another hole. By that time, our tanks got to the river and started shooting over us and the river into the factories.

We had fifty German soldiers with white flags come out. [They surrendered and] were rowed across the river.

Three of our men [from] our platoon went through the hole in the fence and ran over into a depression. [They] started to shoot [into] the factories, [then they] were killed.

Three more of us went. It was about eleven o'clock. We got down [into] a depression and kept shooting through the [factory] windows.

About eleven o'clock April the 5th, on my birthday, here came a German 88mm mortar shell and hit all three of us.

I wouldn't have been hotter if I had been in a fire. I couldn't move. Those other guys got my coagulation pills off my belt to help slow the bloodloss down. I was a mass of blood. Harold [Glascock] and someone else carried me to the river.

I was rowed across the river with a wounded German soldier. While we were crossing the river, shells were dropping all around. I was worried about getting hit again.

They took all of my clothes off and rushed me to a tent hospital. The first day they were digging shrapnel out of me. The second day they continued operating on me.

Then I was shiped by plane on a stretcher to Paris, France for a short time. Then I was taken to Londan, England for about six months, where I got a lot of operations.

I went on a stretcher from England to South Carolina for a short time, and then by train on a stretcher to Modesto, California for a few operations. Then I was taken to Letterman just south of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I was there for a while, then taken to Bushnell in Brigham City, [Utah]. And after an operation or two, I was taken to Fitzsimons in Denver, Colorado where I had some operations.

And two years later, I got out of the hospital. What a long time getting over it.

When I got home, I started to work for Smedley Fruit Company in Salt Lake. I worked for seventeen years for Smedley. Then I moved to La Verkin, [Utah, where] I worked for Rocky Mountain driving from St. George to [Las] Vegas, distributing produce clear back to Zion [National] Park.

A photo from 1945 of U.S. Army engineers at Heilbronn, Germany. The body of water may be the Neckar River, or a tributary. Gerald was severely injured by a mortar during the beginning of the Battle of Heilbronn on his birthday, 05 April 1945, sometime around 11:00 AM. He had crossed the Neckar River at 1:00 AM and sheltered beneath a destroyed bridge, probably not unlike the one pictured, until dawn. Gerald was likely not very far up from the river on the east side of the river when the German mortar shell hit him.

A retouched photo of Heilbronn, Germany in 1945, the city where Gerald was severely injured by a mortar shell on his birthday, 05 April 1945, sometime around 11:00 AM.

Troop movement map of the Battle of Heilbronn in April, 1945