Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:07 | As he crossed first the Moselle River and then the Rhine, Phil Pollock encountered white sheets hanging in the windows of every village. The war was going to come to an end. Before that happened, he got news of a special leave granted to every rifleman by General George Patton. Soon he was on a brand new troop ship eating real eggs.
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Phil Pollock's pacifist father would not allow him to enlist, but the draft took him in 1943. His first unit was eventually sent to the Burma theater but he wound up in a rifle company chasing the Nazis across France. He was amused when the Germans set up a loudspeaker system and "welcomed" the Americans.
It was their first day in combat. Phil Pollock's rifle company was beginning to move across France when a young platoon leader was shot and left for dead by the others. As the snow covered bodies were being removed, there was something different about that one.
The rumors of a German counter attack in the Ardennes forest proved true and after it was fully underway, Phil Pollock's unit was moved in and joined the Battle of the Bulge. He saw the widespread destruction in Bastogne, and his unit swapped positions with the Germans in a deadly dance before they were finally forced to retreat back to their homeland.
He was at home on leave when the war in Europe ended so Phil Pollock did not have to rejoin his outfit. Instead, he was sent to a special heavy mortar outfit training in Texas. Then came some more happy news.
