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Saved by German Medal
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| In Luxembourg mid-morning December 24, 1944 |
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| It was a sunny day and our Company “F” was on the road to take over positions of the 4th Infantry Division, 12th Infantry Regiment. |
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| My platoon was bringing up the rear on a paved road in the mountain area. The Germans opened fire on us on our left from the woods. My squad leader, Dengel, headed for a bolder down a slight slope. As first scout, I was behind him. While behind the boulder someone hollered, “Dengel take your squad around the left flank.” I tried to determine whose voice it was as I was sure we didn’t have a platoon officer or platoon sergeant with us. I started to move because I heard so many times, “scouts out, Jackson.” Something in my head said check your rifle and make sure you have a full clip. As I did, Dengel moved out in front of me and a German behind the boulder shot him with a burp gun. It spun him partly around.I dropped down and crawled backwards to go around the other side of the boulder to shoot the German. |
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| As I was crawling, my heart started beating hard. I looked and realized I was over a camouflaged foxhole. In inched backward and with one hand lifted a limb of a branch and a German lifted it up with both hands. He had a blood spot on his nose between his upper life. I figured that took the fight out of him. I motioned for him to go to the road. I continued to crawl to the other side of the boulder. There was a mound of dirt there that was from the foxhole. I kneeled behind the mound and about ten yards in front; I saw a German run from right to left. I shot at him.I started shaking my head as my ears felt stopped up. Many, many years later, I realized that the bullets were causing the feeling. |
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| Then a bullet hit me on the left side of my chest. It knocked me back on my heels. I could feel the blood and pain. I dashed up the road and could see puffs of dirt as I did. I figured they were shooting at me. I heard someone holler, “Jackson’s hit.”Dawdle, our medic, started cutting through my jacket, sweater and shirt with his scissors. My dog tags fell out and I reached out and grabbed them, fearing that if I died without them nobody would know my name. Dawdle poured some sulphur powder on it and patched it up.Dawdle told me to go to the aid station. |
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| I started walking back the way we came, hoping to find an aid station. Someone hollered, “Take this prisoner with you.” As we were walking, I was in a hurry to find the aid station. I told the prisoner in German to move faster. He said, in German, “I don’t understand.” I told him or asked him in German, “Do you understand shooting.” He said, “Ya” and I told him faster in German. He was around 40 years old and I figured he didn’t want to take orders from a 19-year-old. As we walked, I heard someone holler, “Where are you going with that prisoner?” Across the road under a cliff was a lieutenant colonel with about eight prisoners. I left the prisoner and thought – we’re up there fighting and he’s back here guarding prisoners. |
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| I kept walking and looked across a field and saw an ambulance and some buildings. I walked over and into a small one-room shack. There were two doctors treating two or three wounded soldiers. I noticed along the wall there were cartoons of blood plasma and most of the bottles were busted from the cold weather. As I waited, the door opened and they brought a soldier on a stretcher. I looked and it was a soldier from my squad with his guts handing out. I walked outside and sat down on the ground and thought – what am I worried about. The soldier was elderly when he us recently. He told me had been a ground observer with the air force. He also told me he was a half-brother to Jack Benny. |
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| I lit a cigarette and a German prisoner came over and motioned for a cigarette. I motioned him away. Years later, I regretted not giving him a cigarette as he could have shot me in the back. I recognized him as the one I routed out of the foxhole. |
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| I went inside and the doctor looked at my wound and called the other doctor over who I thought looked as if it was his first day there. He was told it was a “lucky wound or something to that effect.” The doctor put a patch on it and have me a “blue hornet” which we called a sleeping pill and told me to go back to my company kitchen and take it. |
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| I walked further back and saw a barn and our kitchen was inside. I talked to one of the cooks and showed him the pill and asked him where I could go after taking it. He pointed to the jay loft. I went up the ladder and slept through Christmas Day. The evening of the 26th, I was told that in the morning of the 27th, I was going back to my squad before daylight. |
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| Some month earlier, back in France, as some of us were standing around, one guy said he was pinning a German medal on my chest. “This is for bravery” or something to that effect, he said. The ribbon was a littler larger than say, our Good Conduct Ribbon and had a pair of miniature crossed swords on it. When I looked at some time later and saw one edge bent, I realize that it had deflected the bullet and saved my life. I think was a German cavalry ribbon. |
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| I was evacuated to England later in February, 1945, and in a repos depot tent, I laid it on a table beside my bunk and someone stole it. |
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| Source: Bulge Bugle May 2009 |
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By George H. JACKSON
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"F" Company
2nd Infantry Regiment
5th Infantry Division
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Campaigns
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| Battle of the Bulge, Belgium |
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