The group of POWs in the compound were put in the two-room building in the room closest to the German lines when the German artillery started shelling the compound area. We moved the POWs into the rear room including the SS Trooper who had been pointed out to me by the S2 folks. We were all on the floor. I positioned myself sitting on the floor with my back against the partition wall with the SS Trooper near me and to my left the open door was to my right, 88 shells popping all over the place. I wouldn't be surprised if the Germans were shelling the compound to give the SS'er a chance to escape. Nothing was said. I kept the slack taken out of my M1 rifle trigger and finger tight. He understood this. When the shelling was over I took a look outside and found a window about 15 feet behind my position that had been hit in the frame on the side, leaving about a three-foot hole in the brick beside the window. It made me think if that shell had been six inches to the right it would have gone through the window and hit the other side of my brick wall square in the middle of my back. If it had gone through it would have been goodbye Bob. If I still had my trigger slack tight it would also have been goodbye SS'er. If my rifle had not gone off, the SS'er would have been out the door and down the road to his lines. I will never forget the hate and meanness in that man's eyes. We were eyeball to eyeball which is unusual. Usually it is two or three hundred yards.
From Bill Donofrio, (E/274) Don't know if it would help those asking about it, but for what it's worth, the Japanese used wooden bullets against GIs in the Aleutian Islands. Several of our first platoon, E/274 guys served there before being reassigned to the 70th. They told us about the wooden bullets. One of them, PFC Trinidad Munoz, gave me one. The casing was brass, but the bullet itself was made of wood. (About the size used in a carbine.) The rationale for its use was that upon impact, the bullet would splinter, making removal of the pieces difficult and possibly cause infection. Unfortunately, I gave the bullet to someone interested in WW2 stuff just a few years ago...Also, sorry to say, Munoz was KIA.
http://www.trailblazersww2.org/history_woodenbullets.htm
I hope you have enjoyed the story. Thank you for taking the time to read it. Please take the time to leave a review of the story on the Amazon.com website for this title.
~Stephen Sanford
About the author.
Stephen Sanford is a combat veteran of the U.S. Army, and was wounded in action in Iraq, while performing his duties as an infantryman. For valor he was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest award for valor. He also was awarded a Purple Heart, and a Combat Infantryman Badge. Steve was medically retired from the U.S. Army, and spend a few years recovering from his combat wounds. Steve is a certified firearms instructor. He works part time at a small Michigan police department. Steve is married and the father of two children. He and his wife live in Michigan with their children and dogs.
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Vampires of World War Two Page 3