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I remember one other officer, Lt. McNerney. I think he was
with "C" Company of the 508th Parachute Infantry, He was killed that
night. The rendezvous point being occupied by the Germans, and he not
knowing it, he walked right into a machine gun. The next morning I saw
men from Rockwell's platoon. They told me Rockwell had been killed the
night before. I saw Lt. C., he was crying like a child, and was terribly
unnerved because of the slaughter. I couldn't get much out of him. He
did not tell me that he saw Rockwell killed or that he knew positively
that Rockwell was killed, neither did any of the men in Rockwell's
platoon tell me positively that they saw him killed. They simply
understood that he was killed. "The Germans kept
coming through, we were driven back and back and we did not reorganize
and come back to the position we occupied Christmas Eve until nine or
ten days later. When wr got back there I searched and searched for my
men so that I could identify them and report. I found some of them but I
never found the body of my Lieutenant and I did not find the bodies of
eight of my men. The Germans had occupied this territory, had buried
some of our dead, I even opened graves and found men in graves, in
Parachute Infantry uniforms of the 508th Parachute Infantry, the
uniforms apparently new, men who were not on the Regimental Roster and
who were unknown at Regimental headquarters. It was a very strange thing
and the only thing I know is that the Germans had some of their own men
dressed up in our uniforms."
"When we got back to the position nine or ten days
later and were searching for the bodies, I tried, with Capt. Woodrow
Wilson Millsap's, to find Lt. Rockwell's body. We did not find any trace
of him. Later, however, I heard that Capt. Millsaps or someone had found
Lt. Rockwell's body in a building in the Town of Rencheaux which is just
across the river from Vielsam. Indications were that Lt. Rockwell had
received medical aid from the Germans. The story I heard was that his
body was there, he was dead, there was evidence that he had had medical
aid. I never saw the body, I don't remember who told me this story, I
don't know who buried the body or where it is buried."
"The report you have heard that Lt. Rockwell was a
part of the Office of Strategic Services, G-2 is news to me. I never
heard of it before and I am astounded. It explains Lt. Rockwell's
peculiar actions that night. He may have been trying to get through
German lines. He did not confide in me. I don't know what to think about
it. This information leaves ground for hope in my opinion."
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