A Tank Gunner's Story: Gunner Gruntz of the 712th Tank Battalion

by Louis G. Gruntz

In the movie, the producers engaged in a little cinematic license and portrayed Patton as requesting his chaplain to write a prayer for the snow to end, in order that his troops could make the breakthrough to Bastogne. But the movie’s portrayal of the events are not entirely accurate. Actually, the prayer was offered in order to bring clear weather for the planned Third Army breakthrough to the Rhine in the Saarguemines area, then scheduled for December 21. The Battle of the Bulge changed these plans. As it happened, the Third Army was moving north to attack the south flank of the German Bulge in the Ardennes when the prayer was actually issued.

  Fall is normally wet season in Lorraine, with an average monthly rainfall of three inches in September, October, and November. In November 1944, 6.95 inches of rain fell during the month.

  Patton’s efforts to take Metz and the rest of Lorraine, had been hampered by sheets of cold rain, mud clinging to boots and tank treads and the Moselle at flood stage, he was truly disgusted with the weather.17

  In letters home, Patton continually complained about the rain and how it was hampering the Third Army’s ability to advance against the Germans.

  In a letter to the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, he jokingly asked that “in the final settlement of the war, you insist that the Germans retain Lorraine, because I can imagine no greater burden than to be the owner of this nasty country where it rains every day…”

  With respect to his prayer, Gen. Patton wrote, in his memoirs, “The weather was so bad that I directed all Army chaplains to pray for dry weather. I also published a prayer with a Christmas greeting on the back and sent it to all members of the Command. The prayer was for dry weather for battle.”18

  According to Patton’s staff, the dialogue in the movie where Patton requested the prayer is accurate if not complete.19

  By the time the prayer was distributed to the troops, the weather that had plagued the Third Army during November and most of December, when the prayer was requested, was no longer rain and mud, it was now snow and ice. The morning the prayer was being read by men of the Third Army, they were in a driving snow storm headed for the Ardennes. Gen. Gay, had reminded Patton that the prayer had been printed for an attack over the Saar and toward the Rhine.

  “Oh, the Lord won’t mind,” was Patton’s answer. “He knows we’re too busy right now killing Germans to print another prayer.”20

  On December 23, it was a cold bright dawn all over the Ardennes. For the first time since the great offensive had begun, flying weather was perfect. Ceiling and visibility were unlimited.21 When Patton looked out of his window and saw the sun, he was jubilant. “Hot dog!” he said. “I guess I’ll have another 100,000 of those prayers printed. The Lord is on our side and we’ve got to keep him informed of what we need.”

  He called for his deputy chief of staff, Col. Harkins. He wore a smile from ear to ear. “God damn, Paul, look at that weather! O’Neill sure did some potent praying. Get him up here. I want to pin a medal on him.”22

  The next day, the weather was still clear when the Chaplain came to Patton’s office. The Gen. rose, came from behind his desk with hand outstretched and said, “Chaplain, you’re the most popular man in this Headquarters. You sure stand in good with the Lord and soldiers.” The General then pinned a Bronze Star Medal on Chaplain O’Neil.23

  In 1950, Monsignor James O’Neill wrote an article attempting to set the record straight on the true facts surrounding the now famous prayer that he authored. The former Chaplain wrote the story to not only enhance Patton’s memory as great military leader, but as a person who had a genuine trust in God, and was true to the principles of his religion, being an Episcopalian.24

  Monsignor O’Neill stated that Patton had called him on December 8, 1944 requesting a “weather prayer”. When he presented the prayer to Patton, Patton questioned the Chaplain on how much praying was being done not only by the chaplains, but the soldiers as well.

  When the chaplain admitted that not much praying was going on, Patton stated:

  Chaplain, I am a strong believer in Prayer. There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by Praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that’s working. But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure…. Up to now, in the Third Army, God has been very good to us. We have never retreated; we have suffered no defeats, no famine, no epidemics. This is because a lot of people back home are praying for us…. But we have to pray for ourselves, too. A good soldier is not made merely by making him think and work. There is something in every soldier that goes deeper than thinking or working—it’s his ‘guts.’ It is something that he has built in there: it is a world of truth and power that is higher than himself. Great living is not all output of thought and work. A man has to have intake as well. I don’t know what you call it, but I call it Religion, Prayer, or God.…

  […]

  We must ask God to stop these rains. These rains are that margin that hold defeat or victory. If we all pray, it will be … one of the most powerful forms of energy man can generate, it will be like plugging in on a current whose source is in Heaven. I believe that prayer completes that circuit. It is power.

  Patton requested a Training Letter on this subject of prayer to all the chaplains to get not only the chaplains but every man in the Third Army to pray. On December 14, 1944, Training Letter No. 5, was issued to the Third Army.25

  Patton obviously believed in the power of prayer and that such a power could produce miracles, even during a war.

  At the Christmas Day briefing, it was announced that the weathermen were now predicting clear weather for another seven days, which brought a general laugh from the staff, because there hadn’t been that many clear days all winter and it just seemed impossible that such a miracle could continue. But it was explained that through a freak of nature, two high-pressure areas from opposite directions came together directly over the Ardennes, that they were approximately of equal force, and that the clear weather would continue until one or the other weakened and gave way.26

  The weather in the Ardennes remained perfect for another six days, enough to allow the Allied planes to parachute supplies into Bastogne and to bomb German tank positions and troop concentrations around Bastogne and the rest of the Bulge. At the same time American troops on the ground were administering a pounding.

  On December 26 the Third Army opened a narrow corridor to the besieged town of Bastogne.

  The Battle Route for the Ardennes and Rhineland Campaigns. (The History of the 712th Tank Battalion)

  CHAPTER 10

  The Battle of the Bulge

  Under a good general, there are no bad soldiers.

  Chinese proverb

  On January 10, 1945, Dad’s best friend, Sgt John Richard Williams, was killed in action during the Battle of the Bulge. Almost a year had lapsed since the married men of the 712th told their wives goodbye at Fort Jackson. Unfortunately for Richard and Opal Williams, their goodbye occurred during a period of marital discord. Dad had written Mom in November of 1944 and told her that he had asked Richard if he ever heard from Opal; Richard’s reply was that he had not written anything in the past seven months. Dad stated: “A day or two before he (Richard) got killed he came to me, and said, ‘Louie, I wrote Opal and made up with her and I told her we are going to try in make it together, so when I get back we are going to go back together.’ He wrote her a letter and said that when he came home things were going to be different but he never did come home, he got killed two days after that.”

  More than a million men fought in the Battle of the Bulge.1 It was the bloodiest of the battles that US forces experienced in World War II with 81,000 casualties 19,000 of whom were killed.2

  As part of the Third Army’s move into the Ardennes, the 90th and the 712th were moved north to protect the right flank and widen the relief corridor that the 4th Armored
Division opened to Bastogne. From Dillingen the 90th and the 712th moved west to Cattenom which brought them once again on the west side of the Mosselle River; fortunately, this return trip across the river was via a bridge. From Cattenom, the 90th and the 712th moved north through Luxembourg City, the capital of the tiny Duchy of Luxembourg, and then over mountainous roads to an area southeast of Bastogne.

  Richard Williams’ obituary..

  Luxembourg Cemetery

  When Dad and I left Dillingen, we headed north toward Bastogne. Just outside of Luxembourg City, we stopped at the American Cemetery. We began looking for soldiers from B Company of the 712th buried there. The first grave we visited was that of Richard Williams. Dad spent a few moments in quiet prayer and reflection over Richard’s grave.

  Dad and I next located the graves of Giacomo Caruso, Buck Lee and Lee Miller. Lee Miller was the tank commander who received the Silver Star in Dillingen. He was killed on February 27, 1945, as the battalion was entering Germany. Dad had trained with Lee Miller; Caruso and Buck Lee were replacements. Caruso was killed on February 19, 1945, when his tank was knocked out by a panzerfaust in the town of Kesfeld, Germany.

  We next found the grave of Lt-Col. George B. Randolph. Randolph was from Birmingham, Alabama. He was forty-two years old at the time of his death and was survived by his wife and two sons. For his actions in combat he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star, Purple Heart with Cluster, Legion of Honneur Chevalier, Croix De Guerre with Bronze Palm. He was killed on January 9, 1945, the first day of action by the 712th in the Battle of the Bulge.

  Lt-Col. George B. Randolph. (Company B photograph)

  Randolph Cross. (Author’s collection)

  In the opinion of those who served under him, he was one of our finest combat leaders. Religious, with great faith in his men, he was a man of integrity, honor, and courage. Tall, with a slow gait, he talked slowly and easily. Not given to small talk, but when he spoke he said a lot. He complimented his men for a job well done but was silent when it did not meet his expectations.

  Each day he was out early to visit and check with commanders of the supported infantry units; he and his tanks were always welcome (by the 90th). He also visited his widely dispersed tank companies and platoons, encouraging them and orienting them on the combat picture. Among his men, he was especially renowned for his inspirational talk to them after the 712th’s excellent performance in the Falaise Gap.

  On 9 Jan. ’45, Col. Randolph was, as usual, at the front coordinating with others on an attack plan. The explosion of an incoming shell killed him. His men say that the saddest words ever heard on their radios were:

  ‘Randolph – killed – arty fire.’3

  Dad said, “He probably would have been promoted to General before the war was over.”

  Dad and I also stopped at the grave of Gen. George S. Patton Jr. Patton did not die during the war, he died as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident in Germany in December of 1945. Patton always enjoyed being among his troops, his widow believed that it was only fitting that his final resting place be among those who died while under his command, hence he was buried in the Luxembourg Cemetery.

  The Battle for Bastogne

  After leaving the cemetery, we stopped for some refreshments and a brief tour of the City of Luxembourg before heading on our trek north. This city was quite beautiful and we would have liked to have spent a few more hours visiting the sites, but we were trying to reach Bastogne by nightfall, therefore, we were soon back on the road again.

  It was a clear and sunny afternoon, the day Dad and I drove on the winding mountain road in Luxembourg with steep grades most of the way. Our traveling conditions were in stark contrast to the conditions in 1944 when the 712th was on this road. Dad explained that the tanks had to travel these roads in winter conditions at close to top speed, it was snowing and freezing conditions all of the way. When the tanks were traveling at night, they couldn’t see the road or where they were going. There were no headlight on tanks, there was no lighting of any kind to illuminate the roadway ahead. A lead vehicle, such as a jeep led the column of tanks. Each tank had to follow closely to the tank in front of it by watching a small two red lights mounted on the rear of the preceding tank. The trailing tank had to stay close enough to the tank in front in order to see the red light, otherwise, it would go off the side of the road.

  Jim Cary had described the operation.

  I remember a long, narrow road with trees closing over the top, it’s one of those things that just gets imprinted on your mind.

  I thought we were going a little too slow. We knew there was going to be an operation on January 9th, and here it was January 8th, about the middle of the afternoon, and the way I remember it, the road was winding back and forth through a chain of hills and mountains. I went out ahead of the company, and I noticed a road outside of the mountains that looked like a very good road. So I went down there in my jeep and ran all the way up and then over it; it was a much shorter, more direct route. I thought, “Gee, that’s great. I’ll bring the tanks down here.” So I took them out of the mountains down on this road and by the time we started down the road it started snowing, and the road was completely obliterated; you couldn’t see anything. The only thing we had to guide us was a fence that ran parallel to it, and that pretty well kept us on the road. But the second we came out into open country – I didn’t realize we were under German observation – they started shelling us, pretty heavy too. We kept moving, deploying to scatter the tanks and then moving some more. We finally got through there.4

  Dad and I arrived in Bastogne late in the afternoon. Our first visit was the Bastogne Memorial, which is located on the Mardasson Hill, just on the outskirts of town. The memorial is two stories high, in the shape of a five pointed star, with a circle in the center. It was started in 1950 as a memorial by the Belgium people to the USA. to thank them for having taken part in the Battle of the Bulge and the liberation of Belgium. The name of each of state in the Union is written along the top ring of the monument, and on the vertical columns forming the points of the stars are the names and insignias of the various Allied military units which participated in the Battle of the Bulge. We soon found and photographed the insignias of the Third Army and the 90th Infantry Division.

  I climbed the steps to the top of the circle. From atop the memorial, one has a commanding view of the area, surrounding Bastogne, where the battles were fought. At the entrance to the Memorial Park stands the last Borne de la voie de la Liberté, Boundary of the Way of Liberty.

  When we returned to the center of town, we found vacancy at the Hotel Le Brun. The hotel had served as the command post of Col. William Roberts of the 10th Armored Division during the war and had sustained damage when the Germans began shelling and bombing Bastogne. It was still daylight, therefore after renting the room, we walked the half block to the town square to find a restaurant for dinner. The town square has two monuments, a bust of Gen. McAuliffe and a Sherman Tank. The square has been renamed McAuliffe Square in honor of the commanding general of the 101st Airborne who was in Bastogne during the German attack.

  “There he is – Gen. McAuliffe,” Dad said, pointing to statue. “‘Nuts,’ that’s what he told the Germans when they sent a note about surrendering. They (Germans) surrounded the town and they sent a note to him to surrender. And he sent them a note back with ‘Nuts’ on it. So he wouldn’t surrender so they fought on.”

  With respect to the tank in McAuliffe Square, Dad pointed out the weakness of the Sherman’s armor. The Bastogne tank has a hole in its side approximately four inches in diameter. Dad said, “An 88 went through here and out the other side it was so strong. Those things went through the our tanks like a hot knife through butter.”

  Dad examines a hole caused by an 88 in the side of a tank at Bastogne. (Author’s collection)

  Tank turret outside Bastogne. (Author’s collection)

  On the va
rious roads entering Bastogne, I noticed the turrets of Sherman Tanks mounted on stone pedestals. It looked as if they were some form of memorial, but were oddly located in various spots on the outskirts of town. I later learned that these turrets are indeed memorials and they mark the location of the outer defense ring of the American forces that were protecting Bastogne.

  Dad and I drove across the Belgium/Luxembourg border to the area near villages of Bavigne, Mecher (Mecher-Dunkrodt) and Nothum, all of which are in Luxembourg, just a short distance from the border, a few miles southeast of Bastogne. We had driven through the town of Bohoey, situated on a hill and then to the village of Doncols, at the base of the hill. We stopped our car next to the side of the road and Dad pointed out the field where the major battle took place. From the base of the hill stretching southeast was a broad expansive meadow or field several hundred yards deep and at the far end of this field was a hill and wooded area. At the time of our visit the grass and foliage was just turning to autumn colors. When Dad first saw this field in 1945, the color was much different, it was white with snow. Dad explained how this was where the 712th entered the Battle of the Bulge, “We never went through Bastogne we came out in this area here and we had to get the high ground that’s when we made the night march.”

  Dad commented that while the Germans had new and modern tanks, not all of their vehicles were new. “When they (the Germans) came to a place, or even in the city, a person who had an automobile or a truck or anything, or a tractor or a mule, they took it away from them and they’d use it for transportation. They used the same equipment as in WWI, they used plenty of it in WWII. They had mules pulling big guns. They never had plenty of equipment, soldiers were riding in cars just like this here. If they went to a place and saw a car they’d take it. But they still produced enough equipment that when they were sent into the Battle of the Bulge, the soldiers had the best equipment, all the best clothes and everything else.”