In the712th Tank Battalion's 11 months on the front lines of World War II, there were many significant events: Hill 122, the Falaise Gap, the light tank that ran over a string of mines, the battle with the 106th Panzer Brigade at Mairy, the Saar River crossing at Dillingen, the Battle of the Bulge. Tank recovery unit driver Eugene Sand was involved in all of these and more.
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Saturday, March 7, 2020
The Man Who Wasn't There
Yesterday upon the stair
I saw a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish I wish he'd go away
So begins the poem Antigonish by William Hughes Mearns, about a ghost in a village in Nova Scotia. According to theghoststory.com, it's the most famous ghost poem of all time. Who knew. Glenn Miller even performed it. In episode 32, I included audio from the driver, the assistant driver, the lieutenant and the loader of a tank that was knocked out in the Battle of the Bulge. Stanley Klapkowski, the gunner, is the man who wasn't there. This is his story, and a wild one it is. Warning: Graphic content.
Monday, March 2, 2020
Once Upon a Tank in the Bulge
At the 1992 reunion of the 712th Tank Battalion, I sat at a table in the hospitality room with four veterans -- Jim Gifford, Ed Spahr, Bob Rossi and Tony D'Arpino -- whose Sherman tank was knocked out on January 10, 1945. They reconstructed the details of that day, and spoke about other events in the war. There is some graphic content in this episode of the War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It podcast.
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