In the Battlefield

There was a lot going on in the battlefield.

The guys cooked right on the truck. The mess sargent worked all the time especially with the four hour deal. I would help out as the cook's assistant when the mess sargent got shot. I always wanted something to do.

The French kids would come up to you in the field for your leftovers. The kids were thrilled to get food as they were being starved by the Germans. One kid had a funnel and bottle to get your leftover coffee. The boy's father would heat it up at the house and have hot coffee.

Sometimes you got 3 rations. You would eat one, and put the other two in your back pocket. I would see dead soldiers lying face down with their C-rations in their back pocket. They didn't get a chance to eat those.

After the war, I had the cook and his wife come over to my house in Spalding Heights. As they sat on the porch, the cook said "I never thought I would be sitting here with you in Maryland. You are cooking for me instead of me cooking for you."