John Fletcher


	- John Fletcher - United States Army - ETO 54th Armored Infantry Battalion, 10th Armored Division, 3rd United States Army "Tigers"

	While serving with the 10th AIB, John participated in the Ardennes, the Rhineland and the Central Europe Campaigns. He writes: "When we approached the Saar river, the Germans were across the river in an elevated position. We laid down some smoke to cover our crossing, but the wind kept blowing it away. We then decided to cross at night. The Germans guessed where we were, and laid in a heavy artillery barrage. Probably 88's, no mortars. The man ahead of me was the first gunner, carrying the bi-pod. I was carrying the barrel and the man behind me, an American Indian and recent replacement, was carrying the base plate. The man ahead ran and jumped into a ditch and I hit the ground where I was. He was very badly hurt, but lived for several years in and out of army hospitals. I ran forward to the river, jumped into the boat, and made it across. Those of us left crawled up the hill, through terraced vineyards, under heavy machine gun fire. The man with the base plate lost his arm from shrapnel. Without the bi-pod and base plate, the barrel was not much good. I was never wounded, and I will never know why. The casualty rate in the 10th was 78%. When the Germans attacked in the Ardennes December 16, 1944, the 10th was fighting in France with General Patton's 3rd Army. CCB (Combat Command B) was not committed so we went north into Bastogne, split into 3 teams, and hit the German army about 5 miles beyond Bastogne. Being greatly out-numbered, we were forced back into Bastogne and then we were joined by the 101st Airborne." John continues... "We first hit the Germans outside of Wiltz (on the map there is a Rue de Wiltz). After very heavy fighting, my unit was forced back into the small town of Marvie, which is on the perimeter of Bastogne. We were attached to the 327th Glider Infantry, and the night before Christmas we retreated to the city of Bastogne. Marvie is in a depressed area, which helped us because the German artillery was going over our heads."
	"The photo you have was taken in Oberammergau, Germany, in May,1945. The 10th Armored was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on our way to the Brenner Pass to cut off German troops returning from Italy, when the war ended. My unit was stationed for several days in Oberammergau, in a house near the main square. We dismounted our weapons in the back yard to clean them, and someone took pictures. We later moved down the mountain to Oberau."
	In the photo at left, John is standing on the left in front of his Halftrack, with Jesse Switek This photo was taken in Oberau, Germany in 1945. Jesse developed a broken ear drum and was sent to the rear. After getting fed up with the Replacement Depot, he volunteered, and was sent forward to re-join the 54th AIB.
	Oberammergau Germany, May 1945
John goes on to describe a couple of miss-fire procedures that he had to endure: "One interesting fact about mortars is that when a round misfires in the barrel, it has to be removed (very carefully). This means you detach the barrel from the base plate, and tip it forward until the shell slides out. You place your hands on the rim of the barrel and catch the shell before it hits something and explodes. At one time in Europe we got a bunch of defective shells colored blue, rather than olive drab, and had to slide quite a few of them out. Also, since our tracks were heavily loaded with high explosives, a number of members of our unit chewed tobacco (or snuff) rather than smoking. The men at the back of the track had to duck when one in the front spit."
John has returned to the Ardennes twice since the war. The first time he returned was in 1978 with his wife and four children, and again with his wife in 1994.
	John in Marvie, September 1994. "The stone building to the rear was once the 327th Glider Infantry Headquarters."
	The road to Marvie... "Bastogne is behind the camera."
	Looking toward Marvie from the Rue de Wiltz. "This is the view the Germans had when approaching Marvie."
	German attacks and the US defensive perimeter, 18-26 December 1944. Courtesy of: "Bastogne the Road Block" Copyright 1968 by Peter Elstob. Ballantine's Illustrated Battle History of World War II. ( Book #4)
	The Bastogne Historical Center has numerous artifacts depicting the various uniforms, maps, weapons and a large full-scale diorama on display.
Today, John is an active member of the 10th Armored Division Association.
	Bastogne survivors, 1988 Reunion. John is on the far left, with "Duffy" Duffield on John's left. "Duffy found a Belgian Flag when we were there and his wife stitched all our names on it. He sent it to the Mayor of Bastogne after the reunion."
	For further reading of the 10th AD's wartime history: A Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge by Charles B. MacDonald, published in 1985. "On page 467, there is a map that shows where our 3 teams were when we first 'attacked' the German Army on December 17, 1944. The team names are Desobry, Cherry, and O'Hara. I was with Team O'Hara."