On December 20, 1944, we were across the Siegfried Line in the town of Wadgassen, Germany, preparing to cross another river which was the Saar.  At noon, the 10th Infantry Regiment of the 5th Infantry Division received orders from General Patton to withdraw from the bridgehead as soon as relieved by the 95th Infantry Division and hurry of the City of Luxembourg to the aid of the hard hit 4th Infantry Division.  The speed with which the shift was accomplished proved an extraordinary feat in troop movement.  Despite the apparent confusion on dark roads, 80% of the 10th Infantry Regiment troops were in the 4th Infantry Division area within 24 hours of issuance of the movement order.

Forty-eight hours after the order to move had been received, and 70 miles further north, the 10th Infantry Regiment combat team, attached to the 4th Infantry Division, had attacked to the north in snow and bitter cold to attack objectives south of Echternach, Luxembourg, passing through elements of the shattered 4th which were precariously holding a line generally south of Scheidgen, Luxembourg, and extending eastward.  “E” Company’s mission was to relieve a company of the 4th at Echternach who had been cut off from the remainder of their unit.  There are seven medical aid men in an infantry company.  The 4th Division infantry we relieved didn’t have any aid men left.  As we continued the assault, we drew heavy artillery fire through the woods.  At the same time a force of approximately 200 Germans were moving in the attack directly towards us.  We faced one another across an open field in a counterattack.  We suffered many KIA's ’and wounded.  They were throwing mortars, 88’s and some stuff that seemed even heavier.  They pulled out, but the artillery kept coming until we reached the town of Michalshof (?) where the 4th was trying to hold the line with cooks and MP’s.  We lost a lot of men.

On Christmas Day, grim and battle wise veterans of the 10th Regiment looked out over the snow covered terrain of this section of little Luxembourg.  We read General Patton’s yuletide greetings and a unique prayer for favorable weather.  Suddenly, haze and fog which had covered the movement of Rundstedt’s daring and dangerous offensive was lifted.  Christmas Day dawned bright and swarms of fighters and bombers droned overhead, tracing the sky with an intricate pattern of vapor trails.