SISSONNE. FRANCE

Our brief time at Sissonne was marked by passes to Paris!!! And training. However, on the 17th of December word got to Field Marshal Von Rundstedt that the 82nd was enjoying a rest and immediately he assembled his best divisions and ordered a tremendous counterattack thru the Ardennes. It had the desired effect and the 82nd was alerted to move. What mass confusion...we had 60 men standing in those big semis moving thru that terribly cold weather but no one was quite sure where we were going. It was cold...no bed rolls...no winter equipment...few roads. It was probably our toughest campaign, certainly from the physical aspect. Here again, names we had never heard of, Vielsasm, Salm Chateau, Their Du Mont Ridge, Basse Bodeux, Haute Bodeau Abrefontaine, and Erria became part of our vocabulary. The 508 took a position on the northern flank of the Bulge bending around the Their du Mont ridge. The lines had to be straightened and on Christmas Eve our first withdrawal was made under cover of darkness and we were in our new positions on Christmas day. A German attack was repulsed on the 28th of December and then we had the task of retaking our original positions on January 7. It was tough going, with German 88s being used against individual soldiers, but in the end we secured the position. On the 10th of January we were relieved and moved to a rest area near Chevron, Belgium. It was the first chance in almost a month for a hot shower, and to this day I do not take a shower without thinking back on that wonderful hot water, trickle though it was, and remembering a vow I made that day that whenever I took a hot shower after that I would remember those cold miserable days and be thankful for whatever I had. In less than a month, 900 officers and men had become casualties of which more than 40% were victims of the weather rather than the enemy. It was a tough, physically demanding campaign that truly tested the mettle of the 508.

CENTRAL EUROPE

On the 21st of January, the 508 was back in the lines near Diedenberg and on the 28th the 82nd was on the attack into the Siegfried Line. At dawn on the 29th of January the 1st Bn.  jumped off at four in the morning, attacking toward the small village of Holziem. On their way to the town, while still in the approach march, two German wiremen wandering up the trail were captured. This seemed to indicate that surprise would be complete. "B" company attacked from the north, while "C" company approached the town from the southwest. The town was soon taken and about 80 prisoners with it. At about this time, 1st Sgt Leonard Funk took the spotlight. As "C" company was entering the town, they received direct fire from light, self-propelled artillery weapons in the town. Sgt. Funk led the assault on these weapons and they were soon neutralized. A Second Bn. contact patrol, captured by the enemy, was brought into town by some unsuspecting Germans. The German officer in charge took advantage of his ability to speak English and the snowsuit which hid his identity. He boldly approached the guards and bluffed his way to where the prisoners were and began to rearm them. Just as a counterattack was about to materialize, Sgt. Funk walked in. The German officer stuck a machine pistol into his ribs telling him to surrender. Sgt. Funk answered with a burst from his tommy gun. Taking the lead from Sgt. Funk's action, the rest of the men in the area soon quelled the disturbance.