L0810

In April 1945, in southern Germany, a young lieutenant noticed that the ground in a farm field outside a liberated village looked disturbed. He called over two soldiers, and they began to dig. Six inches down, they hit fabric. American fabric. Twenty bodies lay in the earth. All were American soldiers. All had been shot … Read more

In March 1945, at Third Army headquarters in Germany, General George S. Patton witnessed a scene that would become one of the most remembered moments of his command. A Black colonel in full dress uniform, decorations visible, was walking across the compound. From the opposite direction came a white lieutenant, younger and junior in rank. … Read more

In August 1944, the road to Paris was open. General George Patton's tanks had just smashed through the last German defenses, and no enemy soldiers stood between his army and the French capital. Patton could have been in Paris by sunrise. Then French General Philippe Leclerc walked into his command tent. Leclerc carried orders directly … Read more

In December 1944, the Ardennes Forest in Belgium had become a frozen hell for the American infantryman. The Battle of the Bulge had just begun, Hitler's last desperate offensive, and German forces had smashed through Allied lines. The weather was the worst Europe had seen in decades, with snow, ice, and wind that cut through … Read more

In May 1945, the war in Europe was over. Germany had surrendered, and the American army suddenly found itself responsible for hundreds of thousands of German prisoners of war. Among them were large numbers of officers — colonels, majors, captains, men who had commanded divisions and led battalions across Europe. They were housed in temporary … Read more

In December 1944, an SS officer was brought to Lieutenant General George S. Patton's Third Army headquarters in Luxembourg for interrogation. He had been captured during the German Ardennes Offensive, the massive attack that became known as the Battle of the Bulge. The prisoner was arrogant and defiant. He entered Patton's command post with his … Read more