THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 25, 1994 TAG: 9412230005
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
I read with joy and appreciation ``Mark this day'' (editorial, Dec. 16). I was in the Battle of the Bulge, and the piece brought back some memories.
I was an artillery man. I never faced the enormous dangers of the infantrymen, to whom I owe a very large debt of gratitude.
Two experiences from ``the Bulge'' will live with me forever.
First, the weather was atrocious. Snow was up to our knees, the temperatures were always below freezing. Water for washing mess kits was always cold; thus, a lot of us had diarrhea. We had slit trenches in which to relieve our diarrhea, but our bare bottoms hung in the snow.
The second memory involves Christmas Day 1944. At about 5:30 a.m., a German artillery gun scored a direct hit on our No. 1 gun section, killing all 12 men. At mail call that afternoon, I received a package from my mother, who couldn't have known our living conditions. That box had a wool bathrobe. My thoughts, ``What am I going to do with a bathrobe, and how am I going to hide it from the guys to avoid teasing?''
But just about then, our No. 2 gun crew started to sing, ``Silent Night,'' and the rest of our battery joined in to celebrate the birth of Christ.
GERALD WAYNE THOMPSON
Chesapeake, Dec. 16, 1994 by CNB