SEARCH RESULTS

Arnold Whittaker

---

Most Germans knew it. The end was getting near and, as long as you didn't run into any SS troops, the fighting was minimal. Arnold Whittaker had made it down to Czechoslovakia and, in the last week of the war, a German Tiger tank stood between him and some refreshing beverages. (6:19)

---

When Arnold Whittaker got to the front at the Battle of the Bulge, he saw mounds in a field heaped with snow. As he got closer, he realized that each mound was a dead GI. Someone's buddies were now just a chore for the support troops. (3:09)

---

Patton had promised that the 5th Division would be there in 24 hours. There weren't enough trucks so Arnold Whittaker and the rest of the infantry had to ride 100 miles on top of Sherman tanks to get to the Ruhr Valley. On the way, the news spread. There's a giant flask of cognac that's been liberated by an enterprising GI on a certain tank. (6:21)

---

Arnold Whittaker was awarded a Bronze Star and a Silver Star for his actions at the Battle of the Bulge and subsequent actions. The Bronze was for carrying a wounded man to safety under fire. The Silver came later when he became agitated at the hesitance of his squad leader and stormed a German stronghold by himself. (7:00)

---

Arnold Whittaker got to tour Paris before he shipped back home. He was preparing to tour Japan, not in a good way, when the surprise announcement came. The war in the Pacific was over. He wrote of his experiences in the European campaign in his book, "Foxhole Promises." (3:49)

Art Fox

---

He was working towards a civil engineering degree when Art Fox entered the Army. His enlistment allowed him to finish the school year, but after after the Allies began the push across France, all the college students were taken into the infantry. (4:31)

---

At Fort Jackson, preparing to go overseas, Art Fox managed to get into the engineering battalion of his division, which was great because he was an engineering student. The training was hard but he enjoyed beach time in South Carolina on the weekends with his newly muscled frame courtesy of Army basic training. Finally, they sailed. (4:56)

---

They were driving to Southampton in blackout conditions when Art Fox was awakened and told he had to drive the truck. He was the designated assistant truck driver but he was never told and had no idea how to work all those gears. But he made it and soon the 312th Combat Engineers were moving across France. Waiting out the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, he attended a moving Christmas Mass. (4:14)

---

He thought he had it made. Art Fox had found a box spring and he figured he would be comfortable for the rest of the war. It didn't work out. The conditions were tough that winter in Europe, sleeping on snow and bathing in a helmet. At least the cooks tried to keep them happy. (3:12)

---

He liked the Belgians because they would actually let you speak your bad French to them. What he did not like was all the mud on the chewed up roads. Art Fox was a Draftsman but he became a construction foreman, digging ditches to drain the water. At the Rhine, he was surprised to be included in a reconnaissance mission, but it was a rewarding experience. (4:20)