Two ET=20
troops recall day Allies arrived at Rhine, prepared to face=20
Germans
FRED BROWN, brownf@knews.com
Sunday, March =
27, 2005=20
The Third =
Reich was=20
collapsing on itself in March 1945. Hitler, the megalomaniac leader of =
the=20
Nazis, was heading underground to carry out his personal final solution =
as=20
Russian forces moved west toward Berlin and the U.S.-led Allies crossed =
the=20
Rhine River, entering German soil east of the river for the first time =
since the=20
days of Napoleon.
Two East =
Tennessee=20
soldiers who arrived on the Rhine in March experienced very different =
views of=20
that historic river crossing. One fought his way across the bridge at =
Remagen, and the other was building a bridge at =
Wesel.=20
Neither event was ordinary.
Clark Sweetser, 84, of Knoxville was a rifleman with the =
78th=20
Lightning Division, an infantry outfit created and battle-tested in =
World War I.=20
He arrived at Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen =
in early=20
March just in time to fight his way over the span, which became an =
important=20
bridgehead for the Americans.
Jesse Hicks, =
82, retired=20
from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, was with the 167th =
Engineer=20
Combat Battalion, an engineering unit that constructed the largest =
floating=20
bridge ever built at Wesel, Germany, downstream from the famous Remagen structure with its mock-medieval towers on =
either=20
side. Their stories at Remagen and Wesel are =
of=20
survival and valor.
Sweetser was born in =
Mason City,=20
Iowa, earned a degree in architecture from Iowa State University and was =
drafted=20
in 1944. In 1947, after the war, he arrived in Knoxville to work for the =
Tennessee Valley Authority. Later, his architectural firm designed the =
Knoxville=20
Coliseum and the nearby Safety Building, among others.
But in 1944, =
he was on=20
his way to England with the 309th Regiment of the 78th. After landing in =
Normandy after D-Day, his unit fought across France and up to the Rhine. =
He=20
recalls the first day he saw the river. He was on a hill, overlooking =
the town=20
of Remagen. It was around March 8. The 309th =
had taken=20
a German town, and the soldiers were about to enjoy a few bottles of =
German wine=20
as they lounged and rested inside empty houses.
Just as they =
settled in,=20
their commanders told them to move out, toward a new town, up from the =
Rhine=20
valley where they were.
"We had to =
march up out=20
of the valley, and they put us on trucks," says Sweetser, who had been promoted to staff sergeant. =
"We ended=20
up at the Remagen bridgehead. We were able =
to get=20
above the river and could look down on the bridge."
Remarkably, =
the bridge=20
was still there. The Germans had not yet destroyed the steel and wood =
link over=20
the river, one of 22 roads and 25 railroad bridges spanning the Rhine =
into=20
Germany's heartland.
"That's when =
we knew for=20
the first time we were going across that bridge," Sweetser says.
As the 309th =
crossed,=20
German artillery began to rain down upon them, but there was little or =
no small=20
arms fire. Shells spouted river geysers. A Luftwaffe fighter zoomed =
in, dropped a bomb and left.
"The bomb =
didn't even=20
come close," Sweetser says. "There were gobs =
of=20
anti-aircraft guns on the river bank (shooting at the German fighter). =
After=20
that, the Germans (infantry) took off."
Sweetser says he =
looked across=20
the bridge and saw that it led to a railroad tunnel. U.S. jeeps were =
hurrying=20
past the marching soldiers.
"We thought =
that if we=20
could get off that bridge and into the tunnel, we'd be safe," he says. =
"But we=20
were directed to get off the bridge, and we walked under it and down the =
river=20
and into another town.
"The next two =
or three=20
days were heavy fighting. All units lost men. Our moment came when a =
German tank=20
came around a corner of the road we were moving on. Our scout, Max DeForest, held up his rifle to alert us just as =
the tank=20
fired.
"Max got power =
burns=20
from the tank, but the shell just went on down the road. I never heard =
it=20
explode. Max and I jumped into an existing foxhole alongside the road =
(which)=20
had probably been dug some time before by some German. I called out for =
the=20
bazooka. We loaded the bazooka and waited for the tank to show again. He =
never=20
did.
"In the =
meantime, we=20
could see where the column behind us had turned and headed into the =
woods. We=20
could see a machine gun on the far right that had clear grazing shots =
over the=20
cleared area. Max, as scout, carried a rifle grenade launcher. So we =
fixed it up=20
and made what appeared to be a perfect shot.
"We saw the =
grenade=20
explode over what appeared to be the machine gun. Anyway, it quit =
firing. We=20
then followed the rest of the troops into the woods. The squad set up a =
defense=20
position and repulsed at least some of the attackers.
"One lay dead =
about 15=20
feet in front of our foxholes. However, we soon got word that we should =
retreat=20
back to the town we had left that morning. It is true that several of =
our=20
regiment were captured that day, and our =
casualties=20
were great."
Crossing the =
Rhine and=20
Moselle Rivers
About this =
same time,=20
Hicks, a tech sergeant and liaison for the three engineer companies in =
the=20
167th, was busy relaying messages and carrying information to his =
headquarters=20
company. The unit had just been through rigorous training learning to =
build a=20
floating Bailey Bridge.
Designed by =
Sir Donald=20
Bailey, the bridge was a welded truss with vertical and diagonal =
supports, 10=20
feet long by 5 feet high. Each panel weighed 600 pounds and was attached =
end to=20
end with pins, creating a multiple-truss girder.
Hicks' unit =
was=20
transferred from Gen. George Patton's Third Army to the 9th Army to =
build the=20
floating Bailey Bridge across the Rhine =
River. The=20
bridge was 1,415 feet long and was said to be of "inestimable value" for =
the=20
Allies heading into Germany, which was facing an enemy on its own soil =
on two=20
fronts. This was especially true after the Remagen=20
Bridge roared into the river, falling a few weeks after its =
capture.
"When crossing =
the Moselle River there was small arms fire, and =
German planes=20
tried to bomb us. They were lobbing artillery in on us," Hicks =
remembers. "The=20
88s had a scream, and when it shut off, you better be ducking," he=20
says.
When the =
shells began=20
bursting around them, Hicks says the engineers would roll off the =
pontoons into=20
the water.
"Shrapnel =
would sprinkle=20
the water," he says. As the soldiers ducked beneath the water's surface, =
they=20
could see deadly shards sizzling through the water around =
them.
Shells hit the =
bridge=20
and pontoons, cutting some of the boats loose. After the engineers =
retrieved the=20
boats, the shelling began again.
Once the =
Bailey Bridge spanned the river at Wesel, U.S. tanks took =
up the=20
battle with the 88s, giving the infantry breathing space and the =
engineers time=20
to relax a bit.
The human =
struggle for=20
the bridge, Sweetser says, and the crossing =
of the=20
Rhine River into Germany was not only an important strategic and =
tactical move,=20
but it was a psychological blow to the German soldier.
"They really =
didn't want=20
us there," says Sweetser. That victory, =
which led to=20
the shortening of the war, came with its own price.
"We had lost =
so many=20
men. I've read it (the number of casualties), but I don't know how many. =
That's=20
the best way to keep from worrying about it," he says. "I would say that =
in=20
those two weeks, we lost about 40 percent of our personnel around that=20
bridge.
"You never =
think you=20
won't make it."
Senior writer =
Fred Brown=20
may be reached at 865-342-6427.