 |
| Billy Wolfe |
Pfc. Billy P. Wolfe, 18 years old, 2nd Platoon, Company C, 712th Tank Battalion, was killed in the village of Pfaffenheck, Germany, along with three other members of his platoon, on 16 March 1945. Oral Historian Aaron Elson interviewed Billy's sisters, twins Maxine Wolfe Zirkle and Madeline Wolfe Litten, in 1993. The twins were 16 years old when their brother was killed.
Second of two parts
Aaron Elson (reading a letter of Billy's into the tape): "February 12, 1945, Dear Mom, I am glad you heard from Hubert. I had a letter from Gigi, Peg and you today. The most mail I received in a long, long time. Total letters received since I came in Fort Meade, five letters. So Uncle Hukey is in Belgium?"
Maxine:
That's our brother Hubert. They called him Hukey, the neighbor kids called him
that, they couldn't say Hubert...
Aaron (reading): "I have written to him a number of
times. About the next time you hear from me I will be overseas. We packed this
morning. We will be leaving soon. Tell Mary I am awfully sorry about her
cigarettes. Was Hubert's letter V-mail? It didn't take it long to come over,
considering the distance and all. I will have to close now. If you don't hear
for a while, you will know why. All my love, Bill."
Madeline:
Now this letter was written on the boat going overseas...
Aaron (reading): "February 16, 1945, It seems like a long time since I last heard from you. I did get a letter the 12th. How is everyone there? Oh yes, I got the Valentines the other day. Thanks a lot. I saw in a newsreel a couple of weeks ago about a fire in the Norfolk Navy Yard. Was it close to where Dad works?
"I wrote to Hubert yesterday. I hope he gets
it all right and before his birthday. Have you heard from him lately? How is the Martz family getting along?
"We just had a physical checkup. They are a
nuisance. Say, Mom, have you gotten my January war bond? I reckon you and the
censor will have a hell of a time reading this, but the boat is sort of rocking
and Jake is sort of shaking his bunk.
"I wish you all could see the ocean from a
boat. The ocean is so blue it looks like I could dip my pen and write with it.
We are on a nice boat, I think.
"Well, folks, I don't know what to say, so
take things easy. Love, Bill."
Madeline:
This one he changed boats en route overseas.
Aaron (reading): "March
5, in Germany, just joined his outfit..."
Maxine:
It was written March the 5th, and we received it on the 16th, the day he
was killed.
Aaron (reading): "March 5, 1945, Dearest Folks, I wrote
you a nice long letter the Third, and lost the darned thing, so I will have to
try another one.
"I haven't much to tell, except that I have
joined an outfit. As a lieutenant told us, 'The best goddamned outfit in
the world.'
"I don't know much about its history as yet
but it played a major part in smashing the Siegfried Line and has fought since
D-Day and drove the Nazis from France. It is the 712th Tank Battalion. I am in
Company C and in Germany now.
"Have you heard from Hubert lately? I haven't
heard a damned thing from anyone since the first of February. I am going to
write to Hubert tonight, I think. I have written to him I don't know how often
but haven't heard from him.
"When my mail comes through I should get a
bushel basket full. I wrote to Peg the other night and haven't sent it yet.
"Twins, I think you are having a birthday
soon. Sweet 17, isn't that right? You can be glad you are not boys, or there
would be a possibility of you getting in this mess, although I don't think, and
hope, it won't last that long. Happy birthday, Twins, and many, many returns of
the day.
"I am sorry I can't do anything about it and
I can't even send cards. I'll tell you what I will do. I'll bring you or send
you some souvenirs. I already have some.
"Peggy, Brookie and Gigi have birthdays in
March, too. What has Scorcher been doing? Tell him I have seen some of
the German rifles and machine guns and would like to be back and talk about
them.
"Well, has Alpen been over to see Mary yet?
Is Mary still there? I haven't heard anything for so long. Maybe she is married
and settled down. How about that, Mary?
"I don't know anything else to say, so I will
close now. Love, Bill."
This letter was received March 16.
Madeline:
This was mom's last Christmas card from Billy, and these are all the family
letters that Billy did not receive, they were all marked "deceased"
and returned to us.
Most of these were from Hubert to Billy, and
they were marked "deceased" and returned to the family.
Madeline: "As long as life and memory last I shall
always remember the beautiful sight..." oh, that was something else she
had sent. In 1932 something she saw in the sky... [note: You've got to love the Internet. The twins said they thought their mother might have been referring to an eclipse. According to the NASA web site, on August 31, 1932, there was a total eclipse of the sun!]
"In loving memory of my dear son who
lost his life fighting for his country..."
"...but
it only fills my heart with pain, for while others' hearts will sing with joy,
mine will mourn for my dear boy. He died for his country, his life he gave, his
dear body is sleeping in a lonely grave. Dear God up in heaven, send your
angels I pray, to watch over his grave on Christmas day. God bless our dear
boys who are still in lands far away, who cannot be with us on this Christmas
day. Speak peace to their dear hearts and remove all their pain, and bring them
home safely before Christmas again."
And "Dear Billy, I just have to write a
few lines to you tonight, although I haven't heard from you for a long time I'm
still hoping and praying to hear from you soon, so please, Billy, take care of
yourself and write to me. Until I hear from you I will always be waiting and
hoping."
Madeline:
That was written April 14, after she got...And this is May 8 (V-E Day), she's
still writing.
"Dear Billy, I am lonely and sad today
when I should be happy. If only I knew you were living I could rejoice. Please
son, write to me if you can."
Just all like that. Notes that she wrote.
Here's one: "Dear Lord Jesus, look down on that weary world this blessed
Christmas night and bring peace to the weary hearts, and may we through faith
hear the sweet message that the shepherds heard on that other Christmas night
so long ago as they watched their flocks. Oh blessed babe of Bethlehem born so
long ago, look down on this weary world this Christmas night and on it peace
bestow."
And these are just sympathy cards the family
received.
Maxine:
This is Daddy's letter to Mom after Billy's death. He was in the Navy yard.
He wrote it but he never sent it.
"Monday the 9th, 1:25 o'clock. Just got
through my wash and will try to write you a few lines. I worked last night.
Gigi and Phil are working today. We came to Richmond Friday, got there about 5
o'clock, stayed there until Saturday night p.m. o'clock, got home about 11
o'clock p.m., stopped at the post office, got the mail, got three letters from
Hubert written March the 20th and 23rd and 27th of March. Poor child said he'd
just written William" -- William, we called Billy William for fun -- "he
never had but one letter from him since he has been in Germany. He wanted to
know when we heard from him. Poor child, I just cannot hardly read the letters.
I just think they will break my heart to hear him wondering about his brother
Billy. But God knows it is not my fault, for the Democrats bring sorrow every
time they get in, then they all try to creep back or hide behind a petticoat,
or get where they never have to get into battle. But thank God I never helped
to put him there. Well, I must close and get my supper and pack my lunch."
March
25, 1983, a letter from John Zimmer, C Company secretary, inquiring about next
of kin or friend.
A.E.:
When you received that, what did you do?
Maxine:
They called me on the telephone, that they had gotten this letter at the
Chamber of Commerce in Edinburg.
Madeline:
See, this is Edinburg, and we live in Mount Jackson.
(The
letter was sent to the office of vital statistics, Edinburg, Va.)
Maxine:
They called me on the phone and asked me, Doris Stover, she was the secretary
at the town office, at the chamber of commerce, and she called me one afternoon
and asked, she had talked to someone and they had told her that they thought
that our brother was Billy Wolfe. Well, I was petrified. I said "Oh,
yes."
She said "Well, we have a letter here
from New York someone inquiring."
Well, right away I thought, after all these
years nobody's interested. It's a gimmick. That they wanted to present us with
a plaque.
Well, I got to thinking, "What's the
purpose? How much is it gonna be?" You know, just in my mind. And I told
her, "Oh, yes, please send it to me." So I had it hand-delivered, I
can't remember who it was.
Then we sat down and thought, checked out
with my husband, he said "Well, it sounds authentic to me." So we sat
down and wrote a letter. And it just took off from there.
A.E.:
So you wrote to John Zimmer, and then he called you or wrote to you?
Madeline:
They came down and presented us with this plaque on August 5, '83, he and
Sylvia brought this plaque to us. And we began to ask him questions and he
couldn't answer too many, so he put us in touch with Ray Griffin, and from
there, these two books are correspondence.
And of course Jack Marsh is our personal
friend, he was the Secretary of the Army (under President Reagan) and we wrote to him a
letter, and he sent us copies of all Billy's war records, his death, and all
the accounting of it.
(Billy's
name is on the Wall of the Missing in the cemetery where Patton is buried)
Maxine:
After 38 years, Billy was declared killed in action. They didn't want to
declare him dead, but they have. We received these medals in 1989, after we
requested them. And we even got a duplicate Purple Heart, which we didn't
need...
The European-African-Middle Eastern
campaign, the American campaign, the Good Conduct medal, and World War II,
honorable service lapel button.
Maxine:
By the way, over here is his guitar. And here's some rocks, here's Indian
slates that he found. And civil war bullets. He found them out in the corn
fields, where he thinned corn.
Madeline:
The letter from Snuffy Fuller was Hubert's. But his wife passed it on to us.
When he passed away she gave it to us.
Maxine:
Hubert had all of them tied up with a ribbon.
Madeline:
Hubert was wounded the day before Billy was killed. He was two years older than
Billy.
Madeline:
...papers and all this, so he wouldn't get the news out of the newspaper. We
just tried to keep it away from him. But our sister Peg wrote him a letter, and
she thought that he already knew and she said "Wasn't that terrible about
Billy?" Well, he didn't know what was terrible about Billy. But he always
had a feeling that something had happened to him because he never heard from
him.I
think it was about May that he got the letter from Peg.
Maxine:
Then he wrote to Fuller to confirm it.
A.E.:
And Fuller wrote back that letter. (reading statements from members of Billy's platoon who responded to the request for information:)
"8
June, 1945, statement. I, Corporal Otha Martin, was a member of the Second
Platoon of Company C, 712th Tank Battalion, when the platoon entered the town
of Pfaffenheck, Germany, on the morning of 16 March, 1945.
During the engagement with the enemy in the
town, I saw the No. 2 tank of our platoon receive a hit by an antitank gun and
saw the tank burst into flames.
This tank was commanded by Sergeant Hayward,
with Corporal Clingerman as gunner, Private Billy Wolfe as cannoneer [loader], Private
Moy as assistant driver and T-4 Harrell
as driver.
The tank continued to burn all that day, and
during the burning all the ammunition exploded. The next morning, 17 March,
1945, I went over to look into the tank. The interior of the tank was
completely burned, and the exploding ammunition had turned the interior into a
shambles.
The only remains that I could see of Private
Wolfe were what looked to be three rib bones, and these were burned so
completely that upon touching them they turned to ashes.
Staff S. Otha A. Martin."
This
is William Harrell's statement:
"I, T-4 William W. Harrell, was driver
of the No. 2 tank, second platoon, Company C, 712th Tank Battalion, when we
entered the town of Pfaffenheck, Germany, on the morning of 16 March, 1945.
Another platoon of tanks from the company was pinned down by antitank fire from
the edge of the woods to the right of town, so we attempted to circle around to
the left of the town to get positioned to knock out the gun.
As we passed an opening between two
buildings, the tank was hit in the right sponson by an antitank gun and
immediately burst into flames. I managed to get out safely and took cover
behind a pile of dirt, when machine guns opened up on us.
I saw Pfc. Moy and Corporal Clingerman get
out safely, and Sergeant Hayward got out and crawled a short ways away even
though he was badly wounded in both legs. I didn't see Private Billy Wolfe get
out of the tank.
The ammunition started to explode, so at the
first opportunity I ran to cover in the nearest building. Later I borrowed a
rifle from another tank and worked my way to the aid point, where I was joined
by Pfc. Moy. During all this time I did not see Private Billy Wolfe.:
This
is the statement of Koon Moy:
"I, Pfc. Koon L. Moy, ASN32421554, was
a member of the crew of the No. 2 tank, second platoon, of Company C, 712th
Tank Battalion, when we entered the town of Pfaffenheck, Germany, on the morning
of 16 March, 1945.
There was an antitank gun in the woods to
the right of the town, and we were trying to work around through the town to
get into position to knock it out. As we pulled out from behind a building to
cross an open place, the gun hit us in the right sponson and the tank started
to burn all at once.
Before I could get the hatch open and get
out, I got burned on the hand and face. When I got out they began shooting at
me with machine guns, so I jumped down and took cover behind a pile of dirt.
I saw Corporal Clingerman and T-4 Harrell
get out, and I saw Sergeant Hayward crawl away on the ground, but he was hurt
in the legs.
The ammunition began to explode as soon as I
got out of the tank, so I crawled away as fast as I could. I didn't see Private
Billy Wolfe get out of the tank. I was at the aid station and then taken to the
hospital, so I never saw him again."
Madeline: ... found out in the middle of April, and he had written letters. Then Mom, he wrote home wondering why he hadn't heard from Billy, and that letter of Peg's that he had gotten, about not to worry. And he said he knew there was something wrong, that he hadn't heard from him for so long.
Madeline: ... found out in the middle of April, and he had written letters. Then Mom, he wrote home wondering why he hadn't heard from Billy, and that letter of Peg's that he had gotten, about not to worry. And he said he knew there was something wrong, that he hadn't heard from him for so long.
Maxine:
January 14, there was a widow lady, and her only son was killed. It was like
quotation marks, ours was the last house in the lane and hers was the first.
The road was a mile long, and the very first house, the lady there lost her
only son in January, and then in March, our house was the last one on the road.
It seemed like it was quotation marks.
Madeline:
And Mom went, when we heard about the first son being killed, Mom went to visit
her, and Mom told her, "You've had your problems. Mine are coming."
She felt like something was going to happen to one of the boys.
A.E.:
Tell me a little bit about Billy as a boy. He was born...
Maxine:
May First, 1926.
A.E.:
You were both two years...
Madeline:
Younger.
A.E.:
What happened that he would have graduated with you?
Madeline:
Well, he started school, it was the...
Maxine:
They had to have a quota, it was a little one-room school, and they had to have
so many to enroll in order to keep it open.
Madeline:
And the first year he went, one of the bigger bully boys at school pushed him,
he was going down the hill to get water for the school, and one of the older
boys pushed him off of the platform that the cistern was on and broke his leg,
he broke his hip, so that put him back a year. And then another year he had
pneumonia. So then we caught up together in school.
Maxine:
And they carried him home, Hubert and Mom. Hubert went home after Mom, across
the river, they had to go down the hill and take the boat, go across the river
and walk to the house and get Mom, then they had to cross the river again and
go up the hill to the schoolhouse, and carry him home.
Madeline:
We had to take a boat across the river to go to school, and church. We had
services three times on Sunday and we never missed a Sunday. That was our
entertainment, the church. And school.
(This
was the North Fork of the Shenandoah)
Maxine:
Oh, you would be amazed. Daddy never had a car, and we had to walk everywhere.
We would walk everywhere to get groceries, Daddy would walk to get groceries.
And our church was on the other side of the river and so was the schoolhouse,
so we had to cross the river. Daddy would either take us in a boat, he would
test the ice in the wintertime to see if it was thick enough for us to safely
cross, we would walk on the ice, or we would wade in the summertime. And we
always put our shoes on after we got to the road.
Madeline:
Daddy worked for farmers, and then he worked for the Highway Department, he was
a heavy equipment operator. Then he went to Bowman Apple Products, and then he
went to the Navy Yard, and then went back to Bowman. He retired at the age of
78, he was the night watchman at the end. The dry house, isn't that what he was
in charge of? Where they made pumice.
In the Norfolk Navy Yard he was a pipe fitter.
A.E.:
Did Billy have a girlfriend?
Maxine:
No. They all liked him, but he was shy, and he was interested in hunting,
trapping, fishing, see, we lived on the river and that was his life.
One time, he trapped a skunk, and he cleaned
himself up and went to school, and the teacher wouldn't let him in the school.
Oh, he hated that teacher. That's the one that gave him the C-plus on his
essay. But she didn't like him, because he came to school with skunk on him.
But no, he had no girlfriends.
Madeline:
Now after he went in service, I don't guess he had time.
A.E.:
Was there a rivalry between Hubert and Billy?
Madeline:
Oh, no.
Maxine:
Their greatest joy was to wrestle each other down, and pick on each other.
Billy was quick, and he could box, he loved to box, and Hubert would get the
giggles, and he would just lay there would giggle and Billy would get the
better of him.
One time Billy came home from school, and he
always had a little grin but he wouldn't grin that evening, and finally we
found out he had a tooth knocked out boxing at school. With Neff Crisman,
the Neff you read about in the letter.
A.E.:
He had all that Civil War memorabilia. Where would he get that?
Madeline:
In the cornfields. He would thin corn for farmers. That's what he did.
During school, of course we had three gardens at home, there were seven of us,
but to make a little spending money he would thin corn.
When they plant it it gets too thick, they
would pull a certain amount of them up so the others would grow big.
Maxine:
And when we'd walk home from school, get off the bus and walk home, he'd always
say "Twins, carry my books, I am so tired." And then he'd get between
us and lean on us, we carrying his books and he had an arm around each one of
us, and he'd lift his feet up. He just picked on us!"
A.E.: How old was he when he was drafted?
A.E.: How old was he when he was drafted?
Madeline:
He was 18.
A.E.:
You said he had wanted to enlist but they wouldn't take him.
Maxine:
He wanted to get in the Air Force, but he was too near draft age that they
wouldn't allow it, I guess. His school principal wrote a letter of
recommendation, but it didn't turn out that way.
Madeline:
So he said he'd just wait, because after Hubert got in he just wanted to get in
so bad he didn't know what to do.
A.E.:
Was Hubert drafted?
Maxine:
He was drafted. He went in the month before Billy did, July. He spent his 21st
birthday on the boat going over to Germany. We have a letter from Billy saying
that his big brother was 21 today and he was on his way overseas.
A.E.:
He was very close to his mother, I guess.
Maxine:
He always told her that when he grew up he was going to build her a rock house
out on the hill, and he was gonna name it Odd Rock Hall.
Madeline:
He was just a kid. Oh, he'd get after us. Oh, the twins, if he couldn't find
his socks or something he'd run get the mop and he'd swear we used it to mop
the floor with his socks. He had a great sense of humor.
A.E.:
Your mother was very religious?
Madeline:
Yes. We were a very close family, and we remember Daddy carrying us, one under
each arm, to go to Sunday school. We didn't miss church. It was the
entertainment, social life. Our mother was a Sunday school teacher for years,
our sisters played the organ for church.
A.E.:
You had three sisters...
Maxine:
The two of us had three sisters, and two brothers. We were the youngest.
The oldest, Gigi, her name is Geneva but we
called her Gigi, she went to business college, and she left home -- she was all
of our instructor, she planned our...She went to New York, and then she went
from New York back to Portsmouth, and worked in the Navy yard. But she planned
all of our lives. She wanted us all to have a better education and like that, so
she started out and went to business school. Then the sister that just passed
away, her name's Peg, she was already enrolled to go in nurse's training in
Winchester when she ran off and got married. That was the end of her schooling.
Madeline:
Oh, that tore Mom up...
A.E.:
Who was the sister who Billy asked in the letter if she was married.
Madeline:
That's Mary. When she got out of high school she went to nurse's training in
Winchester, and she was an R.N., and then she worked in Winchester a while and then
Richmond, and in Norfolk. She ended up in Norfolk, as a supervisor of a floor
in Maryview Hospital.
Hubert went to diesel school, and that was
it until he went in the service, and then he came back and went to business
school locally, and then he went to Ben Franklin University in D.C. and
graduated from there, he was a CPA registered in the state of Maryland,
Virginia and D.C. Had his own business.
He retired in December of '79 and March 13
of '80 he passed away. Of cancer. They were doctoring him, he thought he had
good doctors, and they were trying to get his blood pressure, he had high blood
pressure and they couldn't get it regulated, and found out he had colon cancer.
A.E.:
And he never talked about the war?
Madeline:
You could tell, though, like he was
lost when he came back. If anybody would mention it he would walk off. He just
wouldn't talk about it.
And the letter that he got from Fuller, he
just told us just a certain amount, he didn't tell us in any detail, because he
knew it would really upset Mom.
A.E.:
So she never saw the letter.
Maxine:
Oh no, she knew nothing about the letter.
A.E.:
Tell me about those 38 years. He was listed as missing all that time? During
that time, you said your mother continued to write letters to him. How would he
come into your thoughts?
Maxine:
All the time. You just wondered what happened to him. Was he alone? Did anybody
see the smile on his face? What happened? Did it happen instantly? Did he need
somebody? It was just a jumble. You just wondered where he was, if it was out
in an open field. You just wondered if he was near a building. You just
wondered what the situation was, and there were no answers.
Madeline:
Just a void that you couldn't fill, just nothing to put with it. You just were
out there seeking, but that's all.
A.E.:
Would you often go look through that memorabilia, or were they put away?
Madeline:
Mom packed them away, and we found them after she passed away. Once in a while
she would show them to Maxine and I but she would never discuss it with any
other members of the family. I guess it was because we three were together. Of
course Mary was there when she got the telegram...
Maxine:
She was there temporarily for a week or so...
Madeline:
But we, like they always said, we held down the fort, Mom and Maxine and I. We
had a little farm like.
A.E.:
When the telegram came, what happened?
Madeline:
Well, Mary walked out the lane...
Maxine:
It was the most beautiful day, March the 27th, I remember what I had on. It was
downright what you'd consider summertime. And we had gone to school. Once we
went to school, nobody called for us, we didn't have a telephone at home,
that's the reason the telegram was delivered by mail.
Madeline:
We had gone to school, and it was about noontime, and our sisters, Peg and
Mary, came to the door. Well, somebody knocked on the door and one of the
classmates went and answered the door, and they wanted the Wolfe twins. Well,
right away we didn't know what in the world, because nobody ever called for us.
Once we left home we never heard from anybody till we got back. And they wanted
us, so we went out...
Maxine:
Mr. Ritz, the principal...
Madeline:
...and our two sisters were there and told us, and we were just numb. We came
back in and just began to gather up our books, and our principal was teaching
our class, civics that day, and he knew it was something wrong, and he went
out, and when he came back in, he walked us out the door and told us to stay
home as long as we needed, and he was crying. And after we left, we learned
that he had called all the classes into the auditorium and had prayer...
Maxine:
And dismissed school.
Madeline:
Mom in the meantime walked down the river, alone, and called the neighbor to
bring the boat across and take her over to her home, and Mom spent the
afternoon, Miss Cleda Clinedienst, and Mom spent the afternoon with her so she
wouldn't have to be alone till we got home. And then we went after.
Maxine:
And walking back up the river was terrible, with Mom. I mean, it was just like
we were lost.
A.E.:
You went directly to Cleda's?
Madeline:
We came home first and then walked down the river.
Maxine:
'Cause it wasn't right, Mom wasn't there. She was always there for us. And when
we knew what had happened and she was gone, why we had to go find her. We knew
where she was but we had to be with her.
A.E.:
You said you remember what you were wearing?
Maxine:
Saddle oxfords for one thing, brown and white saddle oxfords. And white
anklets. And we had what they call broomstick skirts that were yellow with ...
Madeline:
...rag dolls around the bottom. And white blouses and blue sleeveless sweaters.
Maxine:
You remember those things. The blouse had a little tie with strings out here...
Madeline:
It had lace...
Maxine:
And the skirts were just out of this world, it was a poodle skirt. A
broomstick, and it had great big rag dolls around the bottom. You know, you
remember those things. That was before your time!
A.E.:
And how had you worn your hair then?
Madeline:
Long, kind of curls here. Very stylish at the time.
(The
twins would have been 17 in March.)
end
of tape
Tape
2, next morning
Madeline:
...instead of accepting the full amount, I think it was $10,000, I have his
policy downstairs, and instead of accepting the lump sum, she chose to receive
the monthly payment, I think it was $42.80, something like that, at any rate,
she was very secretive about receiving them, and she would just put it in the
bank, she wouldn't cash it, because she said she just couldn't spend that
money. That's the way she was.
Maxine:
And then of course after her death, it went into her estate.
Madeline:
It was about $36,000 by then. I think that's what it was. She
received it from 1945 to 1977.
A.E.:
Let's just go over one more time the chronology of what happened after the 38
years. During those 38 years, how would the thought of Billy present itself?
Madeline:
Mom put them away, she tied them all up and put them away. And not long before
she passed away, she told us where they were, and she just wanted the two of
us, when we were alone, she said to unpack them, I don't know, I guess it was
because just the three of us were at home alone during the war, and like that,
and she just didn't seem to want to share it too much with the others. I don't
know why.
Maxine:
Well, I think, too, it was because you and Hubert and Billy and I were like a
second set of children almost. The others were older, and we were together all
the time.
A.E.:
How much distance, age-wise...There were you two, two years to Billy...
Madeline:
...two more to Hubert, three to Mary, a year and a half to Peg, and Gigi
was about a year and a half. She was 13 years older than us.
A.E.:
What year did your mother pass away?
Madeline:
1977.
Maxine:
On the 12th of February, and Daddy passed away the next February on the 14th,
just a year and two days. He was 89.
A.E.:
The first thing in the sequence of events was finding the letter from Fuller to
Hubert?
Maxine:
That was after Hubert's widow passed away, we got these letters. The family
packed them up and sent them to us, or we picked them up.
A.E.:
What went through your minds when you saw that letter?
Maxine:
It was just an answer to all the questions we had.
Madeline:
Hubert had just told us briefly that he had been killed and he was in a tank,
but he didn't go into any specifics on it at all, because he wanted to spare
us.
Maxine:
But then when we visited him after he had cancer, he said he had a lot to talk
to us about.
Madeline:
It was just two days before he died. He said "I want you all to have
Billy's letters. They're in my bottom desk drawer, on the left. They're tied
with a ribbon." He said "That will tell you a lot," and we just
wanted them so bad, but we couldn't ask for them right...
Maxine:
He said "Go in my office and read them." Well, with him in the
condition he was, we didn't have the heart to...
Madeline:
...and he tried to play his guitar for us, he couldn't, he was so weak, he said
"I can't do it now, but someday I'll play it for you."
Madeline:
But he wanted us to go in his office. He said "Just take them and go in
there and read them." Well, with him in the shape he was in, we didn't
want two sorrows piling up, so then, I called, after Zimmer got in touch with
us, we wanted those letters desperately, so Hubert's widow was away in
Germany. She took a trip. And I called her sister, Evelyn, and I explained to
her that we would love to have Hubert's letters that he had sent, if we could
have them. That a gentleman from New York had written to us requesting
information about our brother, and that he wanted to present us a plaque. And I
said we need those letters to know, so that we can write back to him and give
him information. And she said, "Well, I'll see what I can do. I'm going to
talk to Peggy," that was Hubert's widow, "and I will explain to
her." So she had, and we went down to Washington. Then Peggy had passed
away in the meantime, just between that conversation and then. And Peggy's
sister, Hubert's widow's sister, gave them to us, and we brought them home.
That's a longabout way to get them, but we got them.
A.E.:
The letter from Fuller to Hubert was in those letters? So that actually, you
were contacted first by Zimmer, and then you saw the letter. So even though
Hubert died in 1980, you didn't see the letter until...
Maxine:
Did she hold that letter that long, Peggy's relatives? She died in '81. But I
called them and asked for those letters. Zimmer contacted us in '83. We
evidently went for a couple years before we picked those letters up.
A.E.:
So Zimmer contacted you first, then you saw the letter from Snuffy to Hubert.
When Byrl Rudd wrote that account in 1987...
Madeline:
I know that we wanted those letters desperately, and we didn't know how to go
about getting them without creating a little confusion. And when we heard from
Zimmer, that brought joy to us that that was a good way to ask for them. And
that's what we did. Then we went down to Upton Hill, Maryland, and picked
those letters up from his widow's sister. And that had to be in, she died in
'81, it must have been, then Zimmer we heard from in '83, it must have gone
that long before we picked them up.
Peggy died in June of '83. Well, then we
picked them up in '84.
A.E.:
You said that when he was close to death, Hubert said that he had a lot to talk
to you about?
Madeline:
He said he had a lot to tell us. And he also said, not long before that, that
when he got well, we were going to Germany. He said "As soon as I get
well, we're going to Germany and retrace all of this." That's what his
plans were. He didn't get well. But he said "I want you twins to have the
letters. In the bottom left hand drawer of my desk." But we had to wait
from '80 when he passed away until about '84 to get them.
A.E.:
And that set the whole chain of things in motion. And that first reunion you
came to, in Niagara Falls. You met Fuller there?
Maxine:
Yeah, we met him.
Madeline:
And he was standing there, we went in, we didn't know who to look for, in the
lobby were all these tanker hats moving around, so we knew we'd found the right
place. We just went up and introduced ourselves to a couple, I don't think we
found John Zimmer right off. But we were standing there talking to someone, and
Frank Fuller walked over to where we were, and just talked a little to us.
Maxine:
He said "I'm the one you all been looking for."
Madeline:
And we wrote to him, he would never answer us, did he? We wrote him a detailed
letter, and he never answered.
A.E.:
After the reunion?
Madeline:
Before the reunion, to let him know we had this letter. But then he never
mentioned it, in none of his letters.
And we were a little bit leery of sending
Griffin a copy of his letter. That's the first time we copied the letter and
sent it, and we felt "Well, he knows about it, how's he going to
feel?" The confidence that he had with our brother, that we were sharing
it, but then we figured, it's been so long ago, and it's history, and they need
to know.
Maxine:
We felt really shocked about it. We thought that we'd be betraying a confidence
or something like that. I don't think we are.
A.E.:
What was the emotional feeling that you had, you described it as a letting go,
or putting it to rest.
Madeline:
Oh, every time we'd get a letter, it just added more, see, we dug up all of
these things that Mom, we opened her boxes and all and dug it all out. We had
kind of forgotten things that we read in the letters. But we read all of the
letters, and it was very emotional. Especially as she and dad had both passed
away and didn't know. Because I think they would have felt better if they had
known somebody that knew him, had been
in contact, instead of always wondering what happened. But each letter you'd
get would describe a little more to you, and somebody in the letter would
mention somebody else, and that just got your heart to pumping, thinking that,
it just got on a roll...
Maxine:
Every week we heard from somebody.
Maxine:
Back during the war, I wanted to tell you that, it's neither here nor there,
but when our brothers were overseas and in the service, we wrote to 17
different classmates and friends, Madeline and I did, and we were always
getting handsful of mail.
Madeline:
And our mail carrier always said he didn't know what was going to happen to us
when they all come home at the same time! He always said that. But they were
friends of the family that had gone into service, and our classmates. And then
some of the boys' friends would write. Hubert's and Billy's friends would write
to us.
Maxine:
And I should have saved the letters from the other boys. We threw them away.
That just breaks your heart. At the time you think, well, it's excess luggage.
Madeline:
But we do have the complete little carrying case, blue satin with a little
kimono in it that one of the service boys sent us from Japan. It's in a fancy
little carrying case. Then from Belgium we had a pair of satin shoes with
feathers, and all kinds of Chanel perfume, and a scarf. We still have those in
the attic. I have them all tagged, too, because I thought years to come,
somebody, when they go to clean out my house they'll wonder what in the world
that was for. It has a history behind it.
A.E.:
Did you have any ancestors who fought in the Civil War?
Madeline:
Oh yes. And our great-great aunt fought the Indians off down here near
Woodstock. They were attacking the family. They killed her husband and her
brother, d she had two little children, and she killed one with an axe.
That's history. I have the story, written. It's a document.
Lieutenant Fuller's letter:
"To PFC Hubert L. Wolfe Jr., Company M, 310 Infantry, APO 78, 14 July, 1945,I hardly know how to start this letter, as you don't even know who I am. Anyway, Lieutenant Seeley, the adjutant of our battalion, received a letter from you asking the facts about your brother, Billy Wolfe. As I was his platoon leader and was there when he was killed, he has asked me to try to give you the information you requested.Captain Sheppard has already written your mother, but perhaps he has not told her exactly how he died. But I am trusting that since you are a soldier, I can tell you the true facts, and then perhaps you can tell your folks what you think they ought to know.To start off, our battalion has been attached to the 90th Infantry Division since July 3rd, 1944, which as you probably know is in the Third Army. My platoon, the second platoon of C Company, 712th Tank Battalion, was attached to the second battalion of the 357th Infantry Regiment.Your brother joined my platoon on the 4th of March while we were driving to the Rhine River, following up the 11th Armored Division. We drove to a town called Mayenne, and then changed direction and started driving to the Moselle for the second time.On the evening of March 14, we crossed the Moselle and found that the infantry that had preceded us had gotten into a jam and lost over half of their men and gotten cut off, so we were called upon to rescue them.We succeeded in reaching the town where they were, and cleared it okay, and stayed there the rest of the day, and stayed there the night of the 15th. Then, on the morning of the 16th, we were told to attack the town of Pfaffenheck, which was about 2,000 yards north of where we were. The TDs started into the town first, but as they rolled over the crest of a hill, the lead tank destroyer was knocked out by an anti-tank gun. They withdrew, and succeeded in knocking out the gun and another.We were then ordered to try to enter the town, and by going down a draw, I managed to get into the east side of the town.Your brother was in No. 2 tank, which was commanded by Sergeant Hayward, with Johnny Clingerman as gunner, William Harrell as driver, Koon Moy as bow gunner, and your brother as loader.As I said, all of the tanks got into the town okay except No. 3, which encountered a 40-millimeter AA gun, which killed the tank commander.We took all but three houses, when the infantry got stopped by firing from the woods east of the town. (line missing)... into a firing position. I sent the second section along the backs of the houses, while I took the first section into an orchard. My tank was in the lead, and the tank your brother was in was on my left flank, slightly behind.Just after we had passed an opening between two houses, my loader told me No. 2 tank had been hit. I looked over, and the men were piling out, and the tank was blazing. The shot had went through the right sponson, puncturing the gas tank.I didn't know then how many men had gotten out, so I tried to get my tank into position to rescue the men, but as I moved into position, my tank received a direct hit through the gun shield, killing my loader. Fortunately for the rest of us, my driver was able to move the tank before the Heinies could fire again.After giving Clingerman first aid and getting the rest of the boys calmed down, I took my gunner with me and we crawled out to where Sergeant Hayward lay wounded. I found that he would have to have a stretcher to be moved. I went back to get the medics, and then I learned from the rest of the crew that your brother never got out of the tank. As the tank was burning all this time, we could not get near it. I don't know if you have ever seen one of our tanks burn, but when 180 gallons of gas start burning, and ammunition starts to explode, the best thing to do is keep away.When I got the medics back out to Sergeant Hayward, I found he had been killed by a sniper. The other section of tanks finally took care of the Heinies, and we secured the town.Your brother's tank continued to burn all that night, but in the morning we were able to go out to investigate. We determined that your brother had been killed instantly, as the shell had hit right above his seat. There was nothing visible but a few remnants of bones that were so badly burned that if they had been touched, they would have turned to ashes.As for personal effects, you could not recognize anything because the intense heat and the exploding ammunition had fused most of the metal parts together.The accident was reported to the GRO of the 357th, and as we moved on to the Rhine the next day, I didn't think anything more about it until two weeks ago when I received a letter from the Third Army asking for information. I sincerely trust that by this time they have everything straightened out. If you ever get into the neighborhood of that town, the tank may still be there. The town of Pfaffenheck is about 13 miles south of Coblenz on the main autobahn that runs straight down that peninsula formed by the Rhine and the upper Moselle.Maybe I have told you more than I ought to, but I really would like to help you in any way that I can. Your brother was very well liked by all the rest of the crew, but he was so doggone quiet that we hardly ever knew he was around. Of the other members of his crew, William Harrell is still with me, as is Koon Moy. Clingerman lost his eye and had his legs filled with shrapnel and is now back in the States. That was the worst day I had in combat. I lost three tanks, had four men killed and three wounded. But that is the way things went. It might be interesting to you that in the town there were seven anti-tank guns, one 40-millimeter antiaircraft gun, plus plenty of determined SS troops. We counted 92 dead Germans and had 23 prisoners.I am enclosing a snap one of the boys took which has your brother on it. I will also try to draw a sketch of the town, so if you ever get there you can find the place.Incidentally, you will have to use your judgment as to how much of this story you want to pass on to your mother.Don't forget, if I can be of any further help to you, I will be more than glad to hear from you at any time. There is no use in trying to tell you how sorry I feel, because you have been through the same things yourself, so I'll just say so long and good luck.Francis A. Fuller, First Lieutenant.
 |
| Lt. Francis "Snuffy" Fuller |
No comments:
Post a Comment