In a heartfelt conversation with Kim Munson, World War II veteran Wayne Field shares vivid recollections of his time in the 6th Armored Division during one of the most pivotal times in history. Wayne provides a gripping account of sneaking behind enemy lines, surviving German artillery, and witnessing the liberation of concentration camps. His stories offer a unique glimpse into the battles that were fought both on the front lines and within.
SPEAKER 02 :
World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and our other wars and conflicts. America’s fighting men and women strapped on their boots and picked up their guns to fight tyranny and stand for liberty. We must never forget them. Welcome to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Munson. These stories will touch your heart, inspire you, and give you courage. We stand on the shoulders of giants. Here’s Kim Munson.
SPEAKER 06 :
And welcome to America’s Veterans Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteransStories.com. And the show comes to you because of a trip that I took in 2016 with a group that accompanied four D-Day veterans back to Normandy, France, for the 72nd anniversary of the D-Day landings. Returned stateside realizing that we need to know these stories. We need to broadcast them and archive them. Hence, America’s Veterans Stories was born. But we have such a treasure trove of interviews that we thought it might be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear history from the men and women who lived it. Thrilled to have on the line with me, Wayne Field. He is a World War II veteran. Wayne Field, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 06 :
So you are a World War II veteran, but let’s start at the beginning. Wayne, where did you grow up?
SPEAKER 04 :
I was born on Eastern Long Island in East Hampton. In those days, it was farmland. Okay. And then my family moved to the southern tier of New York State near Beginton, New York. And I grew up mostly on a farm in that location.
SPEAKER 06 :
And do you remember where you were when you heard that Pearl Harbor had been bombed?
SPEAKER 04 :
No. I guess I was entering my sophomore year in high school. I was kind of young.
SPEAKER 06 :
You were very young at that time. Oh, yes. So do you remember what was happening in the country at that time, the conversations? Could you feel that there was a change after Pearl Harbor had been bombed?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it seems like all of us young boys were anxious to join in and help win the war. Somehow or other, we knew we had to win the war.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. And so when you graduated from high school, what did you do after that? Did you enter the military at that time?
SPEAKER 04 :
Someone came to us when I was a senior in high school and gave a talk about something they called the ASTP, Army Specialized Training Program. I was only 16, and I was 17 just a few days before I graduated. And this Army Specialized Training Program was a new thing for them. But for those of us who were too young to become on active duty, they said we’d get our choice of colleges, our choice of subjects, majors. That sounded really good. Mm-hmm. That choice turned out to be I had received orders to report to a place called Alfred University in western New York State. And I studied engineering. That was my choice.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s like the old Henry Ford quote that you can have any color of car you want as long as you want a black one. So you could have any choice that you wanted there as long as it was engineering. So what happened? Go ahead.
SPEAKER 04 :
Probably very good because quite a few of us went to college like that. But after one semester, the program folded, and we all went into basic training. I think it was a good way to get a bunch of people into the Army.
SPEAKER 06 :
It sounds like it was a very interesting recruiting concept. So you’re in the Army now, Wayne. So what happens then?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, after I turned 18, I went to basic training down in Camp Hilo, Georgia, Macon, Georgia. I don’t know why they put Army bases in the rottenest section of any state. It’s never a nice area. We were loaded with white sand and red clay, and that’s… Anyway, I had 13 weeks of basic training in Georgia and then went up to New England and Uncle Sam gave me… I got a cruise across the channel, and I got a tour of France and Belgium and Luxembourg, Germany. And then after it was all over with, he paid me $50, a little bit more by then. But I got paid to take another cruise back to the United States. Didn’t I have a nice Uncle Sam?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, it was. I think that there might be more to the story, Wayne Field, than just the cruise. So let’s start with the cruise across the Atlantic. What year was that? When did you take that cruise across the Atlantic?
SPEAKER 1 :
1944.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. Now, was this before or after D-Day? Before the boat.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. And you’re 18 years old, is that right? Or 18 or 19? I was 18, yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
I was a very… I hadn’t grown up, really. But I would say that those of us who were in that category had… up fast or we died. And I’m very fortunate that I grew up fast.
SPEAKER 06 :
And there were some that grew up fast and then also died as well. Oh, yes. So you said then it was after D-Day that you were then, did you land in England? Is that where you were at?
SPEAKER 04 :
Landed in England and then went across the channel and in France joined the 6th Armored Division. I think it was about Nancy, France. It was rather interesting. Nancy was where I joined the combat outfit. And Nancy happened to be the girl that I kind of liked back home.
SPEAKER 06 :
So very fortuitous then that that would happen. So tell us a bit about an armored division. If you were talking to a young person today, what is an armored division exactly?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, we didn’t have companies. We had troops. It was taken after the cavalry. In fact, we were the 86th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron. There were a thousand men in the squadron. We had quite a few. A division is a lot of men. And I was in reconnaissance. They were the guys who went through the lines after dark, trying not to be seen or heard, just to find out what’s back there. So then the Army knows what to do.
SPEAKER 06 :
So kind of like a spy, huh?
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s about it. And I think it’s one of the most dangerous things over there because we didn’t have any… We weren’t to fight. We were there just to observe. Although sometimes we did have to do something in the way of fighting. The problem is, if we ever start firing weapons, then they will know exactly where we are. And we didn’t want that to happen.
SPEAKER 06 :
So you were behind enemy lines. So how would they train you? I’ve got to think, for me, Wayne, that I would be… scared and that probably my knees would be knocking and my teeth would be chattering and that I’d give myself away. I mean, is that a relevant comment or what was going on in your mind?
SPEAKER 04 :
I was trained in heavy weapons infantry, but I never saw one of those heavy weapons after I got overseas. And as far as fear, I can’t say that some of them may have had fear. I didn’t have any. I didn’t know I was fearless, but I didn’t even have time to think about it.
SPEAKER 06 :
So you were trained to do a job.
SPEAKER 04 :
If I needed to do something, I did it. I was rather fortunate. As a buck private, I led a lot of charges from volunteers in the outfit whenever something needed to be done, and if I was there, I did it. So that helped me to grow up real fast.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, so volunteer. I’ve had several veterans that have said that they learned not to volunteer, but it sounds like you did volunteer for things and that you did grow up doing so. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 04 :
It was all part of, we recognized, we the young kids that were there, we recognized that, hey, this is dangerous. We’ve got to win this war. And so we wanted to do everything we could for the United States to win the war or for our allies to win the war.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. So, Waynefield, you are in reconnaissance, which means you’re sneaking behind enemy lines. Tell me, like, the first time you did that, what was your preparation and what happened exactly that night?
SPEAKER 04 :
No preparation. And there were a lot of things that we hadn’t learned. We learned quickly over there, but we hadn’t learned in training. As opposed to those who started with the organization and went through a lot of training, and they were a lot better off than we were. I used to wonder why it was that the regulars, the original people in the organization… never seemed to care much about being friendly with us. I found out later why. The replacements were the ones who, because of their training, and younger probably, they were… They had more casualties. And these older guys, when I say older, I don’t necessarily mean in age, but length of time in the 6th Armored Division, they were trained properly. And they knew that we were going to be dying in droves, and we were. So that’s why they didn’t want to make friends with us. I understand.
SPEAKER 06 :
Because it would be easier for them if they didn’t know you well because of what was very possibly going to happen to some of the guys, right? Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. I generally drove a Jeep to Europe, same Jeep all the way across. And most of the time, I had two newer replacements with me, For training. So they were always with me, and I was the trainer.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, so you have been in England. Why and when then are you moved over to the European continent? When did that happen?
SPEAKER 04 :
I was in England, so I landed in Liverpool and took a train down to Southampton and then almost immediately got on a, I almost refused to call it a ship. I still call it a boat, although the Navy doesn’t like that. uh but it was then we sat in the on the in that boat waiting for a pilot to take us across the channel there were a lot of minds out there and someone who knew the knew how to get across the channel was the one who had to guide the boat anyway The invasion had already taken place. So we landed at Le Havre, France, and got on a train. And I don’t know if you’ve heard of 40 and 8. They had them in World War I. There was 40 men or 8 horses in the boxcar. And I can tell you, with 40 men, we When it came nighttime, we kind of laid down on the floor. But there wasn’t room for all 40 of us to lie down. But we found a place that, let’s say, as we settled, it kind of pushed to the side a little bit, so we had room to sleep.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, and so this is transporting you, what, across France, or where are you at now at this time? Across part of France. Okay. So how many days were you… So how many days were you in this box car then?
SPEAKER 04 :
I don’t remember. Not really too many. It just seemed like it.
SPEAKER 06 :
I’m sure it did seem like it.
SPEAKER 04 :
We did. The train went forward, and apparently there were some places where the tracks were not usable, so the train backed up and went a different way.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. And where are they trying to get you to? Where are they transporting you to, Wayne?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I guess they knew where we were going, but we didn’t. But that was to Nancy, where we joined the 6th Harbor Division. Okay. I do recall… And I believe it was right after I joined the 6th Armored, I was in the back seat of a Jeep, and we had a convoy headed towards the front. The both sides had usually zeroed in their heavy weapons on the curves in the road, because if there’s vehicles driving, you’re going to slow down there.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, anyway, we came to a curve in the road. And the shells started coming in. Now, I didn’t have any training in those things. Everybody else, everybody in every vehicle jumped out of their vehicles, headed for the ditch so they could lie down and be less of a target, except one person. You know who that was? Was that you? That was me. And you know, when you sit there, those shells seem like they’re moving fast, but they’re not. You can sit there and watch the shells come in and watch them land and explode. Fortunately, none of them came to the Jeep I was in, but I watched them come in. And then afterwards, they gave me a nickname of Churchill. They said, except for me,
SPEAKER 06 :
Did it seem like slow motion as you were watching these things come in?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, it was. As soon as it came into sight, I could see them. Big shells come in and hit the ground and big explosion.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, did that ever happen again? Because my question would be is if it ever happened again, did you get out and get into the ditches like everybody else or did you sit through the attack again?
SPEAKER 04 :
I didn’t have any time like that again, but I think I would have just sat there, probably. I don’t know. It didn’t occur. It’s hard to know. I became a—then I joined the 6th Army in reconnaissance, and I drove a Jeep. Well, a lot of the young kids like me didn’t know how to drive, so that was one of the things that I was teaching these two other replacements— If something happened to me and they couldn’t drive, where would they be? So one of the first things I did was teach them to drive that thing. Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, hey, Wayne, let’s go to break. This is Kim Munson, America’s Veterans Stories. I’m talking with World War II veteran Wayne Field. He was with the 6th Armored Division in the European Theater. We’re going to go to break, and we will be right back. Join us at Grand Lakes 14th U.S. Constitution Week, September 15th through September 21st. Grand Lake U.S. Constitution Week is the premier celebration in America of the world’s greatest governing document. The week-long event includes events that educate, promote, and celebrate the U.S. Constitution in picturesque Grand Lake. Constitutional expert Rob Nadelson kicks off the event with his discussion regarding ancient Rome and the Constitution. Nationally recognized scholar Jonathan Turley will deliver the keynote on Saturday, September 20th. For more information, visit GrandLakeUSConstitutionWeek.com. That’s GrandLakeUSConstitutionWeek.com. The Center for American Values is located in Pueblo on the beautiful Riverwalk, and it was founded for several reasons. One, to honor our Medal of Honor recipients, and they do that through over 160 portraits of valor of Medal of Honor recipients. But additionally, they are teaching these foundational principles of honor, integrity, and patriotism through many of their educational programs. and also their On Values presentation. So for more information about the center, go to AmericanValuesCenter.org. That’s AmericanValuesCenter.org. And a sponsor that I greatly appreciate for America’s Veterans Stories is Hooters Restaurants. They have locations in Loveland, Westminster, and in Aurora on Parker Road, and great specials Monday through Friday for lunch. And for happy hour, great place to get together with your friends to watch the sporting events and just have some great food. In particular, their fish and chips and their nachos are delicious. I hear that their fish tacos are quite good as well. So again, thank you to Hooters Restaurants for their sponsorship of the show.
SPEAKER 05 :
RE-MAX realtor Karen Levine helps bring to life the individual stories of our servicemen and women. With her sponsorship of America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Munson, Karen honors the sacrifices of our military and is grateful for our freedom. As a member of the National Association of Realtors Board of Directors, Karen works to protect private property rights for all of us. Karen has a heart for our active duty military and veterans and is honored to help you buy or sell your home. Call Karen Levine at 303-877-7516 to help you navigate buying or selling your home. That’s 303-877-7516.
SPEAKER 03 :
All of Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Munson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmunson.com. That’s Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Veterans Stories. We are rebroadcasting some of the shows that we have recorded in the past because we have these amazing guests and these amazing stories, and we need to hear them. And so we thought that it would be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear our history and know our history because it is so important. So again, this is something that was recorded earlier, and thank you for listening. Welcome back to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Munson. I’m thrilled to have on the line with me Wayne Field, World War II veteran. He fought at Battle of the Bulge, but we’re talking about his different experiences. And before we went to break, Wayne, you were explaining to us that you drove a Jeep through a lot of World War II. Is there any stories that you’d like to make sure that our listeners hear about your experiences?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. At one point, I was leading the column of armored cars, tanks, Jeeps, half-tracks. I had no idea where we were or where we were going. But we came to a T where the column was to turn right. I stayed there at the intersection, waiting in case there were stragglers to make sure they went in the right direction.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 04 :
When I thought they were all there, I put the pedal to the metal and took off. About as fast as a Jeep would go. I don’t think it was more than 60, but still, it seemed awfully fast. Anyway, we drove out of some trees into wide open spaces. We’ve been barreling down a slight downhill into a village. Now, I didn’t know that the rest of the column had done the same thing, but they were fired on by a cannon, by a tank from that same village. So they went back into the woods. Well, I didn’t know this, and I was barreling down toward that village, and it must have been a real surprise to the Nazis that were there. As I approached the first house, I remember mentioning to the two replacements that were there, I said, look at that knocked out German tank and those kids playing on it. But when the turrets started turning around pointing at us, I said, whoops, that’s not a knocked out tank. Those aren’t kids and they’re not playing. I knew I had to get between the tank and me. And there’s no way I could have turned around and made it across that open area. So I just kept going into the village. Stopped at one of the houses. Well, it happened to be an apartment house. And not very smart. I parked the vehicle on the street right outside of the house I went in. So they had a pretty good idea of which house I was hiding in. We were hiding in. Anyway, we went into the house. And one of the things I wanted to do… The… Other two went to the basement to look for a hiding place. I went to the attic so that I could look around in the event that I got a chance to find a radio that I could put our frequency on and then tell our troops where their defenses were so we could get rid of them. Anyway, I was up in the attic. I came back down, very squeaky floor. The… It was as you entered that apartment, you’d go half a flight down one side or half a flight up the other side. And as you came in, the whole wall there around the stairs was glass. And I found out later that the house next to us, the one that could look through that glass and see us, was the SS headquarters. Oh, my gosh. I didn’t know it at the time.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, my gosh.
SPEAKER 04 :
I got over to the stairs. There was a little space between the up and the down side. I looked down, and there was a German soldier with what we called a burp gun. It was called a burp gun because it fired so rapidly that it sounded like burp, a burp.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 04 :
And all I can say is there was only one way that he didn’t hear my walking across that creaky floor or look up. And that was God was with us, even though he may not have realized it. I had a .45 automatic pistol in my hand. And that was a good shot. I could have killed him if I had wanted to. But somehow or other, it just didn’t seem like the right thing to do, to kill one Nazi and then have three of us get killed in return. So I just backed up a little bit and waited until he left the building. And then I ran to hide quickly, hoping they wouldn’t see me. The other two had found a real good hiding place under the bottom stairs, which were concrete. We sat there, sat on tin cans. You know, that sure cuts off the circulation after an hour or a few hours. Anyway, there was a German civilian in that basement also. I don’t know if he was the owner of the building, manager of the building, but he seemed to know what he was doing. There were no people living there except he was there. He was called to the next door to the building near, probably to be interrogated to find out where we were hiding. Well, one of two things had to happen. Either he convinced them he didn’t know where we were, he killed him. And I am seriously afraid that it was the latter. I’ll get to that in a minute. Oh, my gosh. Let me just think. A German civilian in Germany who probably gave his life for an American GI. Wow. Isn’t that wonderful? I mean, it’s wonderful for me.
SPEAKER 06 :
I just got chills when you mentioned that. Wow.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. Anyway, the reason I’m going to bounce to a different time area now, then I’ll come back. Later on, some of us were invited over to Germany, one or two representatives of about four or five divisions. We flew into Germany, into Frankfurt. And then the army had a bus for us. And the Germans themselves had places for us to stay and eat. So it was nice. And I had, because I knew I was going, I made arrangements with a German civilian that I was familiar with through email. They had a cab pick me up. And at the last stop, before everybody else got on the plane to come home, and then they took me down to a village called Hesich-Biktunah. That’s the village that I had driven into, that I wanted to go back to. I wanted to find a child, grandchild, somebody who had been told the story. And it seems like if that man had lived, somebody in that village would have known something about it. It seems I was welcomed, my wife and I were welcomed very much in that village, but nobody that I talked to at all had ever heard anything about what happened. That’s why I felt… That man didn’t live. Can you imagine not passing the story along after the war was over? I can’t.
SPEAKER 06 :
So, Wayne, if I’m following you, so this man knew that you guys were hiding down there. Of course, your Jeep is someplace out there in the street. So the Germans know that you guys are somewhere. And you think that this man probably gave his life to not tell them where you’re at. Am I following that correctly?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. He did know exactly where we were. And it was a good hiding place. We had one or more of the Germans were regularly coming down and searching. And they searched all over the place, but they didn’t look under the basement stairs. After a while, one of the times that they were down there, I spotted a carbine very visibly outside of where we were hiding. Apparently one of the other two had put his carbine there. As soon as that German… they belonged to. Oh, my gosh. They could have seen that and known exactly where we were, but they didn’t.
SPEAKER 06 :
Somehow it was almost like you were invisible. That is amazing. So how did you get out of there?
SPEAKER 04 :
After a while, I recognized with all their searching, eventually they will find us. So I knew we had to leave, and I knew nothing about what was outside. I just made the decision when to leave, and we left. We couldn’t go back where I came, or the jeep had been moved. We couldn’t go back the way we came, so we left further into the village and made a turn. Why we turned? Well, I would say that I think I was guided by God. Anyway, we went about a block, and I looked up a slight hill, and there’s the jeep. Well, The Germans were very good at booby-trapping anything they thought the Americans were going to touch. So I suspected probably the tube was booby-trapped. And I had the other two wait downhill a little bit, and I was going to start it in gear. It was quieter and quick. And I said, when I go by you, I’m not going to stop. You’ve got to get on while I’m moving. Now, I would have stopped, but I wanted them to move quickly. Anyway, it wasn’t we’ll be trapped. And they hopped on and we turned the other direction and went out of town. We didn’t see one German soldier. The first vehicle we saw was a U.S. Army two and a half ton truck loaded with gasoline. And the gasoline cans had been taken off the Jeep. We didn’t have any spare vehicles. can of of gasoline another five gallon can of drinking water and then we took off down the road not having any idea what’s in front of us which direction we were going we just went and eventually did find me the same outfit and i rejoined them and continued on Anyway, I think that’s kind of my favorite story.
SPEAKER 06 :
That is a story. That is something else, Wayne Field. Wow. Okay, so this was then before Battle of the Bulge then, right? Oh, yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. That was back in 1944. Okay. Wait a minute. No, that was in April of 1945, April 2nd. Okay.
SPEAKER 1 :
1945.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was after the bulge.
SPEAKER 06 :
That was after the bulge. So let’s back up a bit then. So was Battle of the Bulge, was that your first battle, your first combat experience, or had you been involved in anything prior to that?
SPEAKER 04 :
I had been involved in quite a few.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Why don’t you tell us about those?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, there was one of them that I thought of that… We were stopped at a—I don’t know why we were stopped, but we were stopped. We weren’t moving. And we had a—well, two things happened there. One, during a nighttime, we had one of the replacements who was on guard duty, and he gave—he was to give a password, and then the people who— to us were to respond. But he didn’t give the password. He simply opened fire on them. He didn’t know who they were. One of them had a flashlight passed into his belt. Well, our new replacement was a poor enough shot so that he shot the flashlight off the belt, but he didn’t hurt the guys at all. That’s a rather short story, but I don’t think I’ll forget it. Oh, my God. Some of our guys were out there where they could be seen. And the shots came from that farmhouse and gave one of them a million dollar wound. In case you don’t know what a million dollar wound was, he got hit in the fanny. Nothing serious at all, but he got to go back to England. That’s a million dollars. That was a million dollars. Anyway, when I saw that, it just got to me. So I called for all the volunteers, and I probably had about 20, 25 people following me. And we went out and charged that farmhouse stupid. It worked. A whole bunch of German officers. They didn’t have any men with them, just the officers. But when they saw us coming up there, they came out and surrendered. Nice. But anyway, that was one of the times that I remember leading a charge. And even though it was the wrong decision for safety, it was the right decision to get the job done.
SPEAKER 06 :
Think of the job, and it’s funny how that happens. That’s probably a big, a great takeaway, a great nugget of wisdom on that, Waynefield. So leading the charge, so this would have been before Battle of the Bulge then, right? Or I’m trying to get my time correct on this.
SPEAKER 04 :
My timing is off. I don’t know. I can remember events happening, but I don’t have a chronology.
SPEAKER 06 :
Not to worry on that then. How about one more story? We’re going to go to break. When we come back, we want to hear about your experience at Battle of the Bulge. So what is one more story that you’d like to share with our listeners before we go to break?
SPEAKER 04 :
It was kind of a little one. I don’t know why I was heading back to the outfit along a road in a Jeep. I was by myself that time. And I saw a Jeep on the side of the road with a guy, one of our soldiers next to it. I stopped and asked him what was up. He had his flat tire. I said, why don’t you fix it? He says, they’re shelling us. I said, well, they haven’t hit us yet. Let’s fix it. He didn’t want to fix it, so I did. And I fixed his flat tire. And then I don’t even remember whether he was in the same organization I was or not. But from the rumors that I got afterwards, he got a medal for changing a tire under fire. Wow.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, my gosh. That is that’s an amazing story. So, hey, Wayne, let’s go to break when we come back. Let’s talk about your experience at Battle of the Bulge. This is Kim Munson, America’s veteran stories. I’m talking with World War Two veteran Wayne Field. We will be right back. The official Marine Memorial is located right here in Colorado in Golden at 6th and Colfax. It was dedicated in 1977, and it is time for a facelift. And the USMC Memorial Foundation is working diligently to raise the funds to make that happen. And a great way that you can honor our military to say thank you to those people who have put their lives on the line or have given their lives for our freedom. is to support the USMC Memorial Foundation. And you can do that by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Veterans Stories. We are rebroadcasting some of the shows that we have recorded in the past because we have these amazing guests and these amazing stories, and we need to hear them. And so we thought that it would be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear our history and know our history because it is so important. So again, this is something that was recorded earlier, and thank you for listening. Welcome back to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Munson. I am honored to have on the line with me World War II veteran Wayne Field. And Wayne, really interesting stories, but Battle of the Bulge, you were involved with that. So set this up a bit for us on what was going on as you were becoming involved in Battle of the Bulge, Wayne.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, first I’d like to say that, as I understand, that winter in the Bastogne area in Belgium was the coldest winter to date that Belgium has ever had. And we had Southern uniforms.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Yeah, so it was not only cold, you did not have the right equipment. How did that happen, Wayne? How did it happen that you guys were there with Southern uniforms? How did that happen?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, we had the uniforms and we didn’t have others. Quite frequently, we didn’t see anybody except the front lines for sometimes months. During that time, we would scrounge around looking for leftover German food just to have something. I believe that the two were very close together. I can’t say which was first or when it happened. But the Germans were very short of fuel for their tanks and vehicles. And a tank uses a lot of fuel. So they needed to take the Pledge of Bastogne on the way to the… shore so they would maybe be able to get some supplies. They desperately needed supplies. They also knew that we had a fuel dump with lots of gasoline very close to where they were. And I think this is also about the time, the only time in World War II that I know of, that the Germans had taken some People that grew up in America, spoke perfect English, and put American uniforms on, and tried to redirect us from where we were headed by changing street signs and so on. I think all those things happened about the same time.
SPEAKER 06 :
I recall that, yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
So anyway, we were able to save… the fuel, or keep them from gutting the fuel. Hitler decided to give this a try as his last attempt to win the war. And so he came through the Ardennes Forest, which I guess our American brains had figured that nobody could get through there. So we didn’t expect anybody there. Well, he came through Ike, Eisenhower called for a meeting of the generals over there. And at that time, I was into Germany just a little bit down south. And Eisenhower wanted all the generals to bring their troops up to that general area. Not everybody to Bastogne, Bastogne and surrounding area. Patton told Ike that, yes, he’d have us there in three days. Nobody thought he would, but we got there. Anyway, we had to pull out of Germany and head north to get up to that area. And so we ended up with having a lot of manpower in that general area, so we were able to fight back. The airdrops of supplies to the Bastard area in some cases were a little off and the Germans got them. That wasn’t very good for us.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. So now, so the 101st Airborne, they are surrounded at Bastogne. So were you guys, so you and Pat, you were part of Patton’s Third Army, is that right? And you were heading up to try to rescue them? Or what was going on exactly, Wayne? Just a little more strength.
SPEAKER 04 :
We never got into Bastogne. We got to surrounding areas so that we can stop this. When I say we, I’m talking about more than one army. And we got to different places. And to defend them. And some divisions went on into Bastogne. 82nd Airborne was doing about as much as 101st. 4th Armored Division was pretty good, pretty heavy. And they had a good publicity agent there. So they got a lot of good write-ups. 6th Armored didn’t have much.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. You needed a good writer on that, huh? Yes. Okay, so as you were fighting, tell us a bit about what the days were like, what the fighting was like. Is there any individual stories that you can remember?
SPEAKER 04 :
No, but I know it was very, very cold, very snowy. And for quite a period of time, the skies were overcast. We could not get air support. We had air superiority, but we couldn’t get the planes in the air. Well, neither could the Germans, so that part of it was good. But when the skies cleared, oh, that was wonderful. We had more airplanes coming over to help us. Tremendous. We sure liked them.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, and the Battle of the Bulge was a long battle. It was like 40 days, right? I mean, it was a very long battle.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, from December to the end of January. Some people call it somewhere before the end, but there was fighting going on until the end of January.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 04 :
So after Battle of the Bulge… Oh, go ahead, Wayne. I was just going to say we had 80,000 casualties. It was the biggest land battle that the United States has had.
SPEAKER 06 :
Astonishing. Absolutely astonishing. So after Battle of the Bulge has been won, where did you go after that then, Wayne Field?
SPEAKER 04 :
We all… All of the troops headed out into Germany. And we had to… We call it take the German villages one by one. And as we come, we were the first ones through with most of the villages. Sometimes we just drove through and everything was great. But there was a problem there. They got to know what we were doing. And when they had us some villages, they just stayed quiet while we went through with all of our armor. came out afterwards to give a lot of damage to the infantry. But most of the time that didn’t happen. We didn’t run into very much in the way of somebody staying there and shooting at us. Because most of them were the natives, the people who lived there. They weren’t about to shoot at us. They were glad we came, even though we did ruin a lot of their homes, the whole villages.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, because of the bombing and all of that kind of stuff, right? Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. And if the Germans put up a resistance, our tanks probably demolished the buildings.
SPEAKER 06 :
So I would say that war, you know, that is a… Unfortunate consequence. Did you go to Berlin, or where did you go as you’re moving across Germany?
SPEAKER 04 :
We, all of our troops, were very anxious to continue going and take Berlin. We wanted to. We would have had casualties, but we wanted to take Berlin. Politically, Churchill and Roosevelt and Stalin got together and decided I can understand why, but we didn’t like it. So we just camped in an open field, 1,000 men, and that’s just the squadron that we were in. And we just camped there. We did get some hot food, though, every day, and that was a novelty.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, so Berlin, though, from what I hear, is that many Germans were hoping that they would be that the Americans would get to them first before the Russians because the Russians were very brutal. Did you hear any stories to that effect?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, they were very brutal to the Russians, and they tried to invade Russia. And Russia was simply, oh, the Russians were very brutal, yes. But the reasoning was the Germans were brutal to them first.
SPEAKER 06 :
And what’s your opinion on you guys having to wait and the Americans not taking Berlin? Have you given much thought to that, Wayne Field?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, politically, the three leaders wanted it done that way, so we had to accept it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Did you free any of the concentration camps?
SPEAKER 04 :
I was the first one. at a back door of one of the concentration camps. There were a few, when I said back door, one of the gates. And there were a few of the prisoners right there. But we knew better than to feed them. We wanted to. They were starved. But if you take a starving man and you give him too much food, he’s going to die. We didn’t want that. So they had given the food gradually, and so we left that up to those who knew what they were doing.
SPEAKER 06 :
Were you surprised when you were at the back door of that concentration camp? Were you surprised at what you saw? Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
At that time, I didn’t see the real bad stuff where they were burning up the bodies and gassing the inmates. We didn’t see any of that at that time. But the 6th Armored Division did, was the first one into one of the camps. I wasn’t part of that going in at that time. That’s probably when I was around at the back door. When we’re going to take anything, a village or that camp, we need to make sure we watch all of the entrances. And I was at a different entrance. So I never saw the main part of it until later.
SPEAKER 06 :
So you did see it though later?
SPEAKER 04 :
On one of the trips back to Germany, yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, okay. So not as the camps were being liberated then.
SPEAKER 04 :
But, you know, there’s one thing that I have to say about the Germans. Now, that German that I mentioned that I met, I believe he probably loved his country, but he didn’t like his government. I mean, he didn’t want that stuff going on. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have done what he did. And you think about the villages that were near these concentration camps. The people there may deny it, but they knew what was going on. You could smell it. They knew what was going on. But really, put yourself in that place sometime and think you’ve got a government like they had over there. You don’t dare let them know that you’re not in favor of it or they’ll kill you. So what do you do? I don’t really know. I’m glad I wasn’t. I didn’t have to make that decision.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and my understanding is that the SS, the Nazis, were so mean that, say, you may not agree with what they’re doing. And, you know, I think sometimes we may make a peace with ourselves that, okay, I can take a stand and what happens to me happens to me. But instead, what they would do is threaten your family or your children. And that is so cruel, I think.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. So you camped outside of Berlin. And so did you ever go into Berlin at all, Waynefield, or at all?
SPEAKER 04 :
No, I never did. Okay. Oh, I might say that I happen to be the squadron bugler. I’m the one who woke everybody up in the morning. One day, and oh, I would get up, the cook would wake me. I’d go out and climb up on the railroad tracks, which is above the whole camp, and blow the bugle. All the calls. First call in the morning. Everybody loved that. Yeah, sure. Anyway, one day, one day the cook didn’t wake me. At the time I needed to blow first call, I just got out of my tent. So I stood in front of the tent, very close to a lot of them, and I blasted that bugle. I’m sure the people who jumped out of their beds, out of their sleeping bags, because it was so close to them, that there was nothing else I could do. Anyway, I enjoyed that job.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s one way to get everybody up, Wayne Field. So, well, we are we’re getting close to the end of our time, Wayne. And so a couple of questions. What would you say to the young people of America today? What is the message that you would like to impart with them?
SPEAKER 04 :
I really don’t know. I would probably get into politics of the government of this country versus the a country that gives away everything, like Venezuela, it could be the richest company in the world. But it’s one of the poorest. People are starving down there and they’ve got more oil under their ground than most countries do because they’re socialists. And socialism on paper is the best form of government there is. To each according to his needs, from each according to his abilities. That sounds wonderful. It doesn’t work, though. Back in the 60s, the Gazette used to put on their front page every once in a while a little cartoon, a kid pulling a wagon loaded with adults. Underneath it, it said, when everybody wants to ride, who’s going to pull the wagon? And that’s the problem with socialism. There’s always somebody coming by with his hand out, not willing to give, but just take. That’s why socialism doesn’t work.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and ultimately, socialism has to come down to force. And one thing I think is important that people remember, that Nazi stands for the National Socialist German Workers Party. And socialism ultimately comes down to force, and that doesn’t work out for people. So, Wayne, your final thought.
SPEAKER 04 :
What’s that?
SPEAKER 06 :
I said your final thought, Wayne.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’m very thankful that I had an opportunity to fight in World War II. I believe that that is the last worthwhile war this world has ever seen. It was a necessary war. I think most of the ones since then have been political. But today’s wars are a real problem. They are countries fighting each other. They are people who want to kill versus those who don’t want to be killed or don’t want to kill anybody. And how do you fight that? I’m glad I don’t have to make that decision.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, Wayne Field, thank you so much for stepping up when you decided to do your duty. Thank you for serving this country. Thank you for standing against tyranny and evil in World War II. It’s just been a real honor to get to do this interview with you, Wayne Field. I am so grateful. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER 04 :
Kim, it’s been wonderful talking with you. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, thank you. So God bless you, Wayne Field. And thank you for joining us for this episode of America’s Veteran Stories. While some of the details may be a bit dated, the courage, sacrifice, and stories of our veterans never go out of style. For more incredible stories, past and present, check out our website. That is AmericasVeteranStories.com or catch new episodes each week. Until next time, thank you for listening and for honoring those who served. We indeed stand on the shoulders of giants. God bless you, and God bless America.
