KIA Leo Pichler 

 By Elmer G. Nicks 

Asst. Machine Gunner Hq 1st Batt. 

After General Patton broke through the ring around Bastone, we had expected to be relieved, but apparently things were a lot worse than we knew.  We were regrouped and put in the spearhead to attack the Germans that had surrounded us. Companies were down to twenty-five men or less and our machine gun platoon was like two squads, but we were expected to cover the same amount of ground.  We had attacked and moved into positions alongside a high railroad embankment with a dirt road. Running along both sides and with heavy planted forest on both sides of the railroad. Fighting in the planted forest brought a lot of terrifying experiences. You never knew what you would meet as you pushed through the heavy foliage.

We had found up to a point the night before and we had taken over some German positions. My hole was a typical German position very deep with a place to sit and stand, with only your head and shoulders barely out of the hole. It had been a rough day and a miserable night. Sub-zero weather, snow waist deep, constant mortars and artillery shelling. No food and only a fool would light a fire or smoke a cigarette. My feet had been killing me but I noticed the next morning they didn’t hurt anymore. I didn’t know until the next day the reason why they didn’t hurt anymore, because they were frozen.

Pitchler was the squad leader and gunner and I was the assistant gunner, his hole was also the German take over. The best I can remember his hole was between me and railroad, the next morning the Sixth Armored INF, started moving up through us, they were getting the point and the attack job. Apparently they came up in Halftracks and had to get out and take cover in the woods. I think it was a Battalion Headquarters Company because there were several officers and I believe one major that was killed by the bomb. As they were moving through our positions I was trying to heat a cup of water with shavings of a chocolate bar and thaw out a can of k-rations. I was burning the wax k-rations carton box cut in tiny pieces to do the heating. Several of the Sixth Armored INF plus one or two of our men, were crowded around my hole and the tiny fire trying to soak up all the heat and to heat a cup of water for coffee, when I got through. I saved the wax cartons as I found that they really were priceless many times for a small fire to heat water and thaw out cans of food.

I was aware of the big explosions, bombing and strafing that was going on, on the other side of the tracks to our right rear, but after awhile you don’t pay too much attention unless it is affecting you. Then the bomb hit. When I regained my senses, I found a blown off tree in my hole and bodies on top of me. By the time I got out of my hole, I could see a huge crater, trees blown down and many casualties mostly dead everywhere. I noticed something I had never seen before, some the men’s faces were blown out like toy balloons. I started helping with the wounded with tourniquets and morphine. We could not use most of the morphine as it was frozen.

I asked one of the survivors where Pitchler was and I was told had gone up on the railroad tracks with a panel to signal the P-47’s. I climbed up cautiously and found him sprawled on the railroad track. I checked him and he did not seem to have any outward wounds but with all the layers of clothes it was difficult to be sure.  xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We had learned to make the best of every condition. He was a leader and he always knew that I was right with him at all times. It was an unspoken feeling that we could always depend on each other. When he went up on that rack he knew that he would be shot at by the Germans and a plane diving at 400 mph could not tell an American from a German, but somebody had to get the identification panel up there so the planes would know and not finish us off.

That evening, as we were withdrawing, we crossed over on the other side. I could see the knocked out Sherman Tanks, the Anti-tank gun, many dead Germans sitting hunched over in a machine gun emplacement. A second look and I could see that the back of his head was gone. He was defending the large Anti-tank gun that was dug in the side of the embankment and was also the lookout. He had a whistle in his hand and apparently would use it for a signal to the Anti-tank gun. I walked over and took the whistle out of his hand. Only the planes with bombs could have knocked out the defenses the Germans had built without sever casualties.

As one officer told us and all during our training, we were told we were supposed to equal to five normal soldiers and were getting extra pay for things that the normal soldiers got medals for. So do not look for sympathy and do expect it.

I spoke to Lt. Col. Cassidy later about Pitchler. I do not know if he even received a medal or not. I got the Colonel to name a lake after him after the war, but I doubt that the name remained after we left.

He deserves the Medal of Honor, he earned it.