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The story begins in April 1943 when F Company is formed and begins mobilization training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The division that they were a part of, the 75th Infantry Division, had an average age of 21.9 (average age of an American Division was 26). Eighteen months later, after 8 months at Leonard Wood, 4 months in Louisiana, and 6 months at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, F Company would be on a ship to England.
F Company would be deployed to Belgium to participate in the Battle of the Bulge. The weather was horrific; 2 feet of snow and sub zero degree temperatures, the misery and cold weather injuries compounded by a lack of cold weather gear, a deficiency not remedied until March. They would begin combat on 27 December 1944 and participate in their last battle on April 12. Within those 105 days, the company would decline in strength from 6 officers and 190 enlisted men to 3 officers and 65 enlisted men. F Company would suffer their first death on 16 January (LT Bowman) and be restored to full strength in late February. Though Churchill would officially declare the war in Europe won on 8 May, it caused no elation in F Company; the possibility of being transferred to the Pacific Theater lingered until August when Japan also surrendered. Still, it would be 9 months until the last members of F Company would be returned to the US.
Within this time frame, through the eyes of F Company, one begins to understand why combat veterans are reluctant to tell much of their story. The new soldiers had to avert their eyes when seeing the bodies of those who were once their friends. Veterans were reluctant to get too close to replacements for fear that they would lose them soon. Friends standing side-by-side would wonder until their last days why shrapnel struck their friend and missed them. For some, the war would never leave their consciousness, something as innocent as a photograph or cold weather could trigger memories of the terrible days in the Battle of the Bulge. Balancing these memories are ones of heroism (numerous), stupidity (HQ demanding a report of survey for equipment lost in combat), and pleasure (discovery of casks of wine in French basements, vacationing in Europe after hostilities ceased).
Scott Adams and Tex Cox have provided a story that future generations must know to appreciate what their forefathers bequeathed them. We should be grateful that they have preserved it for us.
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