We got almost to the crest of the opposite mountain. There were mounds of dirt and straw with dummy poles stuck in the side to look like gun emplacements. As we got close to theses dummy gun emplacements, we were spotted and drew small arms fire.  

 We immediately started to withdraw and Lieutenant Blodgett instructed us to get out of the woods. We started walking through a snow-covered clearing near another woods, back deeper in no man’s land. As we were crossing the clearing, mortar shells began coming down all over the woods we had just left. Meanwhile, the woods were booby-trapped. The lieutenant saw wires just under the snow and grenades tied to the trees on each side. We followed our footsteps and returned safely to our lines.

 I was on guard in our dugout at 5:30 A.M. on the morning of December 16, 1944, when all hell broke loose. For a minute I thought the world was coming to an end.