The most memorable event for me was when 1/276 managed to take the Schlossberg Castle overlooking Forbach and the valley leading to Saarbrucken, Germany. There is an account of that event on our web site and in our history book, both of which are quite accurate.

The date was February 18, 1945; however, each member of Company I had their own experiences and I can only tell you what I can remember about mine.

We managed to scale the hill on the steep side where the Germans did not expect us to attack. They were expecting an attack from a different side, which was a more gentle slope. We had some resistance from a few German snipers, but for some reason there was not a large number of Germans defending the castle.

Company I entered the castle and in the early afternoon occupied foxholes that the Germans had dug for us. Captain Andrews warned us that things might not be so easy later on. He was right because the counterattack began at dusk.

During the late afternoon the cooks sent us our K-rations and a couple of boxes of hand grenades, a mixture of regular grenades and white phosphorus grenades. I took a large supply of those grenades and stashed them in my foxhole. I had played on my high school baseball team and had a good throwing arm. Later on those grenades came in handy. Larry Brandt and I were fortunate to occupy a foxhole that overlooked a 90-degree drop so that Germans could not scamper over the hill at our position.

The attack began just before dark and started with a barrage of 88s. I remember seeing the muzzle blast of the 88s as the shells passed over our positions. Most of the shells bounced off of the tower and the rest of the castle. When it got darker the Germans tried to scale the hill.

We had a lot of support from artillery and our 81mm mortars and they took a large toll on the Germans. A few of the Germans broke through and about that time the order from Captain Andrews came to retreat to the castle and our heavy weapons company would fire 81mm mortars directly on our positions.

Not all of us received those orders, but we had the safety of our foxholes. I decided to use the grenades that I had accumulated - one to the right, one to the left, and one to the center. It was an easy matter to toss the grenades down the hill. I have no idea if any of them found their mark. I did hear a couple of screams that could have resulted from artillery, mortars or grenades. I am sure some of the other guys also tossed a few grenades down the hill.

Finally, we saw some guys running towards the castle and could not figure out what was going on. Larry Brandt and I decided to follow orders. Larry went first and was wounded. I followed later and took my last grenade along with an M-1 rifle. I looked behind me as I ran up the path to the castle and saw some soldiers following me. I shouted, "Who goes there?" but got no response - they were Germans.

I unloaded the M-1 and threw my last grenade. I made for the safety of a three to four-foot wall and then saw a huge ball of orange flame exactly where the Germans were.

Though I was caught out in the open as the 81 mm mortar barrage continued, fortunately I had found the safety of that small wall and a taller wall of the castle. It was a little nook that protected me from our mortars. I can't remember how long the barrage lasted, but I do remember it was a continuous roar: shrapnel zinging and zapping through the trees and bouncing off the walls.

When the barrage stopped, we had successfully held our ground. It was relatively quiet except for the moans and cries from the wounded. I remember a German soldier crying out "mama, mama, mama"; but his cries gradually died out. I also heard the rumble of wagons as the Germans carried away the wounded. The next morning we found that the Germans had lost somewhere between 35 and 50 men.

That next morning I decide to look for the two Germans who had tried to follow me. They were both dead, with one of them lying in the prone position behind a machine gun that was pointing directly where I had been standing behind the small wall. The orange ball I saw must have done them in, or perhaps the M-1 I fired and the grenade I tossed helped.

If I had decided to leave our position a few minutes later I might have been where I saw that large orange blast. That is the way it is in combat: A few yards or a few minutes makes a big difference. A graves registration GI showed me a picture found on one of the two Germans - a picture of his wife and two children.