Where Not to Drive!
The following is from
the fall 2001 issue of the Trailblazer, the official publication of
the 70th Infantry Division Association, pp 20-21. It was written by
Bill Nelson, C/270.
In Summer 2001 "The Horrors of Berga" (page
12) noted that a high ranking officer wanted to amputate Norm
Fellman's (B/275) badly infected leg. That sounded more than a
little familiar to me.
On March 16, 1945 C/270 Engineers were removing mines from a road
going into Forbach. Two other engineers and I were detailed to go
into the forest and remove dynamite charges that were wired to
trees. When the Germans pulled out of the area, they were supposed
to detonate those charges and the trees were to fall into the road
as obstacles. In their haste, though, the Germans failed to set off
the charges. We removed them so someone could not infiltrate the
area and complete the job.
We were about 300 to 400 yards ahead of the main party of
engineers when they sent a Jeep up to get us. The driver had Lt.
Olsen in the jeep with him so the two guys with me got into the back
of the jeep and I sat on the passenger side of the hood. When we
neared the others. the driver turned off to the right of the road
(in front of the engineers) where the mines had not been cleared.
BLAM!
I heard the explosion and was blown about 20 feet into the air, making two turns. I know that for a certainty
because I saw the sky above, then the ground, again the sky, and the
ground again. I hit the ground in a sitting position in a crater
where the engineers had blown up a mine about five minutes before.
If the mine had not been removed I would have gone up for a second
time.
At the 7th Army's 93d Evac Hospital I was on a gurney, waiting my
turn in the operating room when a Colonel came by (as seen in MASH).
He asked, "What are they going to do for you?"
"They said they were going to amputate my right foot."
The Colonel asked. "Why?" I answered. "I do not know" The Colonel
ordered. "Let me see this soldier's picture."
As they put my X-rays In the viewing screen I could see that the
tibia bone had two breaks right at the end.
"You do not need to amputate his foot. You could put a few screws
in it" said the Colonel.
The doctor replied, "But it might not work."
The Colonel retorted, "If you cut it off you will never know that
it might have worked."
After several days in the hospital it was time to see if my foot
was healing. I had been taking Penicillin shots every three hours,
eight times a day. I had 48 stitches in my right foot and leg, one
for each state. It turned out that I had three breaks in the leg
bone and five fractures in my foot.
The hospital was using Italian POWs as orderlies. They
pushed my gurney to the stairs on the second floor and proceeded to
take me down the stairs to the cast room. They lifted my stretcher
and turned it over, rolling me down the stairs! I was saying more
than my prayers by the time I entered the cast room.
The attendant asked, "What is the matter with you, Nelson?"
I told him that these two men rolled me down the stairs!
"I can't believe they would do that to you," he said. As he spoke, one of the
Italians was nodding his head "Yes."
The attendant asked, "Where are you from Nelson?"
I replied, "New Orleans."
His reply was, "New Orleans what?"
I immediately shot back, "New Orleans, Louisiana, USA!"
His reply? "If you are an American, what are you doing with that
'Prisoner of War' stenciled on the back of your pajama shirt?"
I guess they thought I was a German...white hair, blue eyes, six
feet one inch tall. From then on those two waited on me anytime I
wanted anything!
I was on that eight penicillin shots a day for 28 days. I still
have my foot 56 years later and it hurts every day. In all I've had
six operations, but I am still walking. They told me at the VA
Hospital that I would feel pain as I get older ...and they were
right!
