Introduction
"My name is John Cieply. I was with the Second Infantry Division, 38th Regiment. We shipped out of Swancia, Whales on the eve of the [Normandy] Invasion. When we got out to sea, they said the Invasion was on…definitely!"
Introduction
"My name is John Cieply. I was with the Second Infantry Division, 38th Regiment. We shipped out of Swancia, Whales on the eve of the [Normandy] Invasion. When we got out to sea, they said the Invasion was on…definitely!"
D-Day
What did you see?
"At day-break, we could see the flotilla of ships. It's hard to believe that there were that many ships! The initial landings of the division that assaulted the beach started and we finally dropped anchor. We saw most of the invasion, but it was from a distance."What happened next?
"Then the following day, in the evening, we landed. The landing craft that we were on, was like a huge raft, with big outboards on it. [We] rode right up to shore where the trucks could drive right off."What were the beaches like?
"I noticed on the beach, that the dead were just lined up in rows. Almost like cordwood. Row upon row, upon row, just lined up—waiting for the grave registration, I suppose, I don't know. Then we went up the hill, and we saw shell holes all over the place."What happened next?
"We finally got near St. Lowe, and there was a hill over looking the area: Hill 192. It was our regiment's objective to take that hill, because it overlooked everything in the area. We finally—I don't know how long it took but we finally— took that! And when we got to the top of that hill, you could see clear to the beach. That's how good the view was that hill. So right after that, the bombers came over. And started to blast St. Lowe."Battle of the Bulge
What did you experience during your march arcoss France?
"It was just day after day [of walking] about the third day—we never slept—we were almost dead on our feet, walking in our sleep. Because we needed…we had to get some sleep. We were moving in a sunken road, and I was going to sit down. They says, 'Don't sit! Don't, don't sit down. Don't sit down!' I says, 'I can't help it!' I sat down and just like that, I was sleeping. But I only slept a couple of minutes, I woke up and they was already way up ahead. I had a heck of a time finding my outfit!"Did you stay in France?
"They moved us to Belgium, and we were spread out real thin, there in Belgium. And we spent a month and a half or so; then they decided that there was nothing in front of us, so they decided to move forward. They got a brand new division from the states: The 106 division. They took our positions, the second division's position, and they pulled us out and took us up north. We were supposed to take some dams, on a river, before we could advance; so that they [the Germans] wouldn't blow up the dams on us."How did you encounter the German surprise attack?
"We started pushing for two days, took some pillboxes, and the about the third day, we heard just hell break loose! An artillery barrage that you couldn't believe. When news got back [to the commanders] they said, 'Pull back! Pull back! Pull back!' "How did your outfit fight back?
For two days, we just seesawed back and forth. I don't know how many tanks we destroyed there! Then the officer says, 'We can't hold these positions, we've got to pull to higher ground.' So we pulled back about a mile to Elsenborn Ridge. We dug in our positions there, and that's where we stayed until the weather cleared and the air force started hitting the German tanks."After that, you were able to move forward, pushing the Germans back?
"Then slowly, we started pushing forward to retake our positions that we had previous to the battle. And from there it was just sloggin'! Day in and day out in the snow!"Did you encounter any one with shell shock?
"I remember one of the rifleman, he came back and kept talking about seeing snow snakes on a fence post. He said, evidently…I don't know if he was making it up or weather he was just trying to get out of there. Anyway, they send him to the First Aid [station as a mental case] and the doctors knew what he was up to; so they made him litter bearer… in the deep snow! He wasn't there but one or two days when he decided that he wanted to go back with his outfit! The following day, he bagged a tank with a bazooka."What was the overriding emotion during the Battle of the Bulge?
"It was, it was terrible. It just…You was ready to give up, give up ya' know, say, 'I don't care what happens, anymore.' The artillery starts coming in, you used to duck, ya' know, now you didn't care whether they hit you or not."What was the worst part?
"Between the shells and the snow, I don't know which was worse! It was hard to describe."
