The Stories/The Enemy I Knew/Fred Fields: Difference between revisions

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:The Stories/The Enemy I Knew/[[Fields, Fred D. (32878282)|Fred Fields]]}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:The Stories/The Enemy I Knew/Fred Fields}}
 
{{Story soldier
|soldier=Fields, Fred D. (32878282)
|name=Fred Fields
|photo=Enemy I Knew Fred Fields 1.png
}}


'''[[Fields, Fred D. (32878282)|Fred Fields]], Uehlfeld, Germany, XX Corps, Third Army'''
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[[File:Enemy I Knew Fred Fields 1.png|frameless|center|320px|alt=Enemy I Knew Fred Fields 1.png]]
[[File:Enemy I Knew Fred Fields 1.png|frameless|center|320px|alt=Enemy I Knew Fred Fields 1.png]]
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We were taken to a British freezer ship known to transport meat and joined a convoy of fifty other ships to Europe, but we couldn't see them because they were spread out so far. We lost ships, but we didn't even know it. I liked the idea that I was going back to fight Germany; it was in my plans that I could get back to where I came from and get some Nazis, but l was there to do the job I was trained to do, not just to settle old scores.
We were taken to a British freezer ship known to transport meat and joined a convoy of fifty other ships to Europe, but we couldn't see them because they were spread out so far. We lost ships, but we didn't even know it. I liked the idea that I was going back to fight Germany; it was in my plans that I could get back to where I came from and get some Nazis, but l was there to do the job I was trained to do, not just to settle old scores.


From a replacement depot in England, I went across the channel to another replacement depot in Paris and then to a suburb called Le Vésinet. where I got my shipping orders, I was sent the French-German border to loin my unit. 69th IPW in Domville, Alsace-Lorraine, outside Metz. We did our work there under the XX Corps. The men in my unit were Capt. Al Lithen, Lieutenant Wallach, Staff Sergeant W. Marry, Staff Sgt. Bornstein, and Cpl. Fred Reich. From there we went up to Luxembourg, then Belgium and then up to the Remagen Bridge breakthrough, where we of closest to the action. My first interrogation was in Metz, and I was certainly exhilarated to be able to do something of importance.
From a replacement depot in England, I went across the channel to another replacement depot in Paris and then to a suburb called Le Vésinet. where I got my shipping orders, I was sent the French-German border to loin my unit. 69th IPW in Domville, Alsace-Lorraine, outside Metz. We did our work there under the XX Corps. The men in my unit were Capt. [[Liethen, Alois J. (01056782)|Al Liethen]], Lieutenant [[Wallach, Kurt E. (36741911)|Wallach]], Staff Sergeant W. Marry, Staff Sgt. [[Bornstein, Siegfried (32805425)|Bornstein]], and Cpl. Fred Reich. From there we went up to Luxembourg, then Belgium and then up to the Remagen Bridge breakthrough, where we of closest to the action. My first interrogation was in Metz, and I was certainly exhilarated to be able to do something of importance.


I felt that my training was sufficient enough, our unit officer, a captain, was of German parentage and came from Wisconsin. His German wasn't very good, so much of the work was left to us refugees, while he was more in charge of administration, Certainly, my German background was pivotal to my ability to do an effective job. From the Germans, we had to get information on the strength of their unit, how many men they had, how many they lost, and where their last campaign was. We found out that a lot of men came from the Eastern Front, running tail from the Russians and were corning to the west to gain some kind of foothold and drive us back.
I felt that my training was sufficient enough, our unit officer, a captain, was of German parentage and came from Wisconsin. His German wasn't very good, so much of the work was left to us refugees, while he was more in charge of administration, Certainly, my German background was pivotal to my ability to do an effective job. From the Germans, we had to get information on the strength of their unit, how many men they had, how many they lost, and where their last campaign was. We found out that a lot of men came from the Eastern Front, running tail from the Russians and were corning to the west to gain some kind of foothold and drive us back.