Annotation
Gerald Vernon Leopold, known as Gerald V. Leopold in the Army, was born in Frankfurt, Germany in August 1923. When he was four years old, his family moved to Dusseldorf. He went to grade school and middle school, or gymnasium, from 1933 to 1936 when he was transferred to a school for Jewish elementary school students. The Jewish students were not well treated in the Nazi public school system. He was soon sent to London under the Jewish Community and was billeted there with a Dutch family until 1938. He was recalled to be interviewed with his family for immigration visas to the United States in June 1938. The family sailed to New York in July 1938 aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam. The family then moved to Detroit where they settled. He entered high school in September 1938. He graduated in January 1941 but could not afford college so he went to work as an apprentice in a tool shop then as a mechanical draftsman. He worked there until he was drafted in June 1943. He wanted to enlist but could not because he was considered an enemy alien. He was trained in Camp Wolters, Texas as a radio operator. After 17 weeks of basic training, he was selected to attend the Army Specialized Training Program, or ASTP, at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Only three months after he started, the program was scrapped because the Army needed replacements for casualties suffered at the Salerno beachhead in Italy. All the engineering students were sent to the infantry and Leopold went to the 99th Infantry Division. He was originally assigned to Company B, 394th Infantry Regiment. He shouldered a Browning Automatic Rifle, a BAR. He went through exercises and repeated basic training. When regimental intelligence learned that Leopold spoke German he was transferred into reconnaissance as a translator and radio operator. The regimental S2, intelligence officer, was a guy named Kriz [Annotator's Note: Major Robert Kriz later commanded the 394th Infantry Regiment]. Kriz handpicked the men for the I&R Platoon [Annotator's Note: Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon]. He learned to spot, direct and fire mortars, artillery and machine guns. They also trained extensively conducting reconnaissance patrols. Kriz oversaw all of the training. Lieutenant Bouck [Annotator's Note: First Lieutenant Lyle Bouck. Bouck’s oral history is also available on the Digital Collections website] was the platoon leader and Sergeant Slape [Annotator's Note: Sergeant William A. Slape] was the platoon sergeant of Leopold's platoon. Leopold's platoon was one of several platoons that made up the 394th Regimental Headquarters Company.
Annotation
Vernon Leopold and his outfit [Annotator's Note: I&R Platoon, Headquarters Company, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division] shipped overseas. After several weeks of sailing they reached Liverpool then went by train to southern England where they were bivouacked on the grounds surrounding a castle. They stayed there for several weeks during which they were re-equipped. Then they were shipped to France by LST, Landing Ship, Tank. They travelled by truck across France toward Germany. On the third night they stopped by a French farmhouse. Leopold had the chance to speak French to the farmer. Since he is somewhat fluent in French, the farmer invited him and the platoon to stay in his barn. The regimental commander [Annotator's Note: Major Robert Kriz] asked Leopold to take care of billeting the entire Headquarters Company, 394th Regiment with the farmer. The farmer also offered to help the soldiers. Leopold, the regimental commander and two body guards scouted the forward areas to look at the German lines. The group consulted with various unit commanders they encountered. It was well below freezing and snowing very hard during this time. Leopold's feet froze because he was only wearing the light boots he had been issued. Even though he could not get better protective footwear, he was quartered where the regimental headquarters was set up so he had daily access to medical aid which helped his feet recover. On 10 December [Annotator's Note: 10 December 1944], the I&R Platoon was assigned to hold a portion of the right flank, replacing another battalion. The outposts were a series of foxholes covered by lumber. Lanzerath was the town near them and they could see the town of Losheim from they were dug in. The troops were billeted in log cabins where they were in the foxholes for four hours but could return to the cabins. The area was quiet. They had improvised a defensive warning system by setting traps with hand grenades and trip wires to guard against enemy infiltration. Several days of uneventful activities occurred. Leopold listened to German radio activity. He manned a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a jeep. The jeep was hidden in a deep hole where it was protected. On the night of 14 or 15 December, a radio operator from the radio platoon who had been assigned to them had to be sent to an aid station. Leopold was ordered to accompany the man back by Bouck [Annotator's Note: First Lieutenant Lyle Bouck. Bouck’s oral history is also available on the Digital Collections website] since his feet had previous problems and he had not seen a medic for several days. The medic at the aid station ordered Leopold to stay at the divisional rest camp and let his feet dry out for about ten days. There was no room for him at the divisional aid station so Leopold had to be driven to the corps field hospital. Casualties were streaming in at the corps hospital. Since he was fully dressed, an officer sent him even further back to the Army medical aid station. Leopold did not like this. He was becoming more removed from his unit and felt that was not a good situation for him. Nevertheless, he was placed on a casualty train headed into France and away from the front. It was then that he heard through Armed Forces radio news that the Germans had attacked. He knew exactly where they had broken through. He knew the German assault had to be in the gap in the Schnee Eifel, precisely where the 99th Infantry Division was located. Leopold felt bad about not being in the action, but he felt it was Divine intervention that saved him. He was in hospitals in Paris, Normandy, Cherbourg and then flown to England on New Year's Eve for treatment. He was a bed patient there. Friends from his childhood in England visited him and cabled his parents to let them know that he was not missing in action and that he was ok. Leopold was in the hospital in England until 5 February 1945. After being released, he was sent to a casual company for reassignment. The Army had lost 100,000 casualties during the Battle of the Bulge. To replace them, the Army transferred service people from all branches of the service, including the Air Corps, into the infantry. This included drivers, clerks and others with previous basic training. These individuals were trained to be riflemen. The equivalent numbers of casualties were transferred into those vacated service positions. Leopold was transferred to the Air Corps and sent to the 2nd Air Depot in England. Leopold was set to be transferred to the Pacific, but when it was learned that he could speak German he was transferred to Headquarters, United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe under General Spaatz [Annotator's Note: USAAF, then USAF, General Carl Andrew Spaatz, also known as Tooey]. Spaatz needed German speaking translators and interpreters. Leopold went to intelligence duty in Paris then back to London before returning to the United States and being discharged at Wright Patterson Field, Ohio in February 1946.
Annotation
For Vernon Leopold, being from a Jewish background was unpleasant in Germany as there had been latent anti-Semitism even before the Nazis came to power. Leopold encountered it in school at an early age. He still had friends and got along but when the Nazis took over, the Hitler Youth did not accept anybody but Aryans. He was classified as a non-Aryan because of his Jewish faith. He was fortunate because his father had served in the German Army in World War 1. He was a sergeant when he received a battlefield commission after his unit captured a particular hill in Poland. His father was injured but after recovery volunteered for the German Air Corps. He became a flyer and an observer but was shot down and became a prisoner. There were some advantages to his father being a decorated officer in World War 1. That prestige meant his father and his family received some preferential treatment, even though they were Jewish. Eventually, things got worse and his father's friends told him it was time for him to go. That was when his family sent him to England to go to school and preparations were made for the family to go to the United States. From 1933 on, the Nazi propaganda got harsher to the point that it affected the way Leopold was treated. His bicycle tires had the air let out of them and he was beaten up a few times. Teachers were not a problem until the end of his time in Germany when the prejudice could be felt. Leopold told his parents that he refused to go to school there anymore. He went to a different school that had teachers forced out of their jobs by the Nazis. He attended that school for six months while arrangements were made to send him to school in England under the auspices of the Jewish Community of London. Starting in October 1936, he stayed with a Dutch Jewish family while studying in England. Leopold's parents obtained visas and left Germany on 8 July 1938 and went to New York. They travelled to the United States aboard the Dutch ship Nieuw Amsterdam. They landed in New York on 20 July then moved to Detroit in late August and settled there. In the United States they were initially classified as enemy aliens. His father had to surrender his officer's sword and bayonet which were from World War 1. They also had to disconnect their short wave radio. School was not a bad experience for Leopold. He experienced some prejudice but there was prejudice against other minorities as well, not just against the Jewish kids. Leopold graduated high school in January 1941. After school, he went to work. He started as an apprentice tool maker then became a draftsman. He did well until he was drafted. Because of his classification as an enemy alien he could not enlist. He even tried to volunteer to be drafted but could not. He had to wait until he was called up.
Annotation
Vernon Leopold was trained as a radio operator at Camp Wolters, Texas then went into the ASTP, Army Specialized Training Program. The ASTP was discontinued due to the need to replace losses suffered at the Salerno beachhead in Italy as well as in North Africa. Leopold ended up in the 99th Infantry Division which was then at Camp Maxey, Texas. It had just returned there from Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi, where they had taken part in the Louisiana Maneuvers. Leopold became a member of Company B and was issued a Browning Automatic Rifle. During the training program, the regimental headquarters learned that Leopold could speak German. When the training was complete, the regimental intelligence officer, Major Kriz [Annotator's Note: Major Robert Kriz was the commanding officer of the 394th Infantry Regiment], asked Leopold if he would like to transfer to the regiment's Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon. He went into the platoon and acted as a translator because of his knowledge of German. There were men who spoke other languages in the platoon as well. Major Kriz also wanted the men to be in good athletic condition. Kriz was training the men to conduct missions like he had learned in combat in North Africa. The platoon had good leaders. Sergeant Slape [Annotator's Note: Sergeant William A. Slape] was the Platoon Sergeant and the Platoon Leader was Lieutenant Bouck [Annotator's Note: First Lieutenant Lyle Bouck. Bouck's oral history is also available on the Digital Collections website.]. After their training, the division shipped out on a Liberty ship from Camp Myles Standish. They were packed in like sardines in the hold of the ship. The one thing that stands out about that voyage was being told that he was going home to Germany. After arrival in England, they were billeted in Quonset huts surrounding a castle. They trained there and played sports. Even though they brought their own equipment with them, they received brand new guns, jeeps and other equipment. They then shipped to France aboard Landing Ship, Tanks, LSTs. In France, he got a chance to practice his French. A French farmer offered Leopold's platoon the opportunity to sleep in a barn. As a result, the regimental commander gave him the job of quartering the whole regiment. The platoon moved out the next day but Leopold had to accompany the colonel and several others on a reconnaissance of the front lines. Because it was snowing and he did not have overshoes, Leopold ultimately contracted frost bite. While based at the command post of the 394th Infantry Regiment's Headquarters Company, Leopold was able to care for the frostbite on his feet. After three weeks, his unit was redirected to the southern flank of the division where there was a gap in the American defenses between the 99th Infantry Division of the V Corps and the 3rd Army, which was under the command of General Patton [Annotator's Note: General George S. Patton]. They were told to report everything that moved because it was a quiet sector except for the V-2 buzz bombs. The V-2 bombs were not a problem unless the engine stopped and they fell from flight. The majority of the buzz bombs were aimed at Antwerp but many of them failed and landed on the troops in the front lines. Leopold's platoon was ordered on patrols and to man foxholes and watch and report what position the Germans were in. It was training for what would come later. On one night patrol near the Siegfried Line they were tasked with capturing a prisoner. Leopold carried an SCR300 radio on his back. The patrol was to enter the town of Losheim. He was told to go forward and tell the Germans to come out. He approached a foxhole. His heart was in his throat. He called out in German for the Germans to come out but there was no one there. They spent the night in those positions and then returned to their outfit before daylight. Another patrol he went on, which took place before the one he just described, he had a terrible cough and his platoon was afraid he would give away the position. To prevent a cough, he stuffed snow in his throat so he did not cough.
Annotation
Vernon Leopold joined the I&R Platoon [Annotator's Note: Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, Headquarters Company, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division] after talking to Major Kriz [Annotator's Note: Major, later Colonel Robert Kriz was the commanding officer of the 394th Infantry Regiment] about it. He was transferred from the rifle company to the I&R Platoon. Nearly the entire platoon had been handpicked by Kriz. Kriz had reconstituted the platoon after the Louisiana Maneuvers. Kriz brought in Bill Slape [Annotator's Note: Sergeant William A. Slape] as platoon sergeant and the very capable Lyle Bouck [Annotator's Note: First Lieutenant Lyle Bouck. Bouck's oral history is also available on the Digital Collections website] as the new platoon commander. This is well described by Alex Kershaw [Annotator's Note: Leopold is referring to the book The Longest Winter by Alex Kershaw]. Included in the training schedule set up by Major Kriz were throwing grenades, spotting and directing artillery fire, firing the .50 caliber and other machine guns. They also learned map making and reading and communications. Leopold had difficulty with the obstacle course during their physical training. Otherwise, the 25 and 30 mile marches and overnight exercises were not a problem. The simulated battle condition training with live fire was not a problem. The D series maneuvers taught the units to cooperate with one another. The training was superb. Leopold was not harassed by the I&R guys but he would be picked on occasionally for being clumsy. They would play tricks on him but no more so than other fellows. These were usually led by Milosevich [Annotator's Note: Risto Milosevich. Milosevich's oral history is also available on the Digital Collections website]. Leopold was peculiar to some of the others. Many of the guys had never seen a Jew before. He also had to deal with some not understanding how he could serve in the US Army even though he was from Germany. One of his buddies, a guy named Reuter, got selected for the OSS [Annotator's Note: Office of Strategic Services, predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency] because he spoke German. That pissed off Leopold because he could speak German better than him. After the war, he discovered how dangerous the OSS missions were. At that point, he knew how fortunate he was not to be selected. Because of the anger over this incident, Leopold went to divisional headquarters and requested a transfer. The regimental sergeant felt Leopold had gone over the officers' heads. Leopold was chewed out. Leopold recognized that he had done wrong. After doing this, Leopold never regained full favor with the officers, other than Bouck, and feels that it was because of this that he was never promoted. He remained out of favor with his superiors until his command of various languages in Europe won him favor when he could get things accomplished for his superiors.
Annotation
Vernon Leopold and his friend Jim Fort, who was another radio operator and original member of the platoon [Annotator's Note: the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, Headquarters Company, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division]. While training in England, they went to London on a three day pass. Leopold knew the city because he had lived in London. Leopold and Fort toured Piccadilly Circus in the dark. At times they were propositioned by the Piccadilly Commandos [Annotator's Note: Piccadilly Commandos was the nickname given to the prostitutes who plied their trade in Piccadilly Circus]. They did not take any of them up on their offers. After their experiences in Piccadilly Circus, he and Fort had a meal in a fine restaurant where they met a lovely, refined English lady who also solicited them for sex. They did not take her up on it either. Instead, they quickly made their way back to their hotel room. The next morning there was a surprise encounter with a beautiful maid in their hotel room. When Leopold and Fort were in the restaurant the night before and were propositioned by the young lady there, they decided to leave after Fort asked her what the deal was and she told them how much they would have to pay. Fort died of cancer about two years before this interview. Fort reenlisted after the war and became a professional soldier. He and his buddy also visited some of Leopold's relatives. While in London, Leopold and Fort went to visit Leopold's father's cousin, Siegfried, who was an employee of the Dr. Scholl's Company. His cousin gave him two or three cans of Dr. Scholl's foot powder since he was in the infantry. This became a joke with his buddies in the platoon. After returning to the platoon, Leopold had to give the guys a detailed report of the three day pass. It was quite an experience.
Annotation
Vernon Leopold arrived on the Belgium and German border at the village of Hünningen. They took over a farm house that the family had evacuated but was still full of their pictures and mementos. In the mornings, Bouck [Annotator's Note: First Lieutenant Lyle Bouck. Bouck's oral history is also available on the Digital Collections website] would come in and give them their individual assignments for the day. They arrived in that position in early November [Annotator's Note: November 1944] and remained there until 10 December. Their position faced the dragon's teeth [Annotator's Note: dragon's teeth were reinforced concrete anti-tank obstacles] of the Siegfried Line, about 300 or 400 yards away, which was just beyond Losheimergraben. During that time, the sector was relatively quiet. Each day they would be assigned duties so the I&R Platoon [Annotator's Note: Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, Headquarters Company, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division] got combat training under combat conditions. Occasionally, there would be an assignment to go on patrol to gather intelligence, but generally the platoon had very few patrol assignments. Other groups would go toward the German lines in order to attempt to capture an enemy soldier to gain information. This was successful enough for the division to establish that they were facing a lightly trained and inexperienced Volksgrenadier unit. This area was right on the Belgian border with Germany. There was snow on the ground and with the pine tree forests it seemed like a Christmas tree setting. Leopold was thankful for every day that was quiet. There were distant shots to the north but it was almost like garrison duty. They sharpened their skills through training on the front lines that did not involve too much danger or risk. There were a few occasions where the I&R Platoon became exposed and were fired upon by German snipers near the American foxhole outposts opposite the Siegfried Line. Before the Battle of the Bulge assault by the Germans, Leopold's unit reported metal clinking sounds on the German side of the lines but were told not to worry about it. Leopold could not only hear the clanging noise but he also picked up German communications. The thoughts were that the Germans were out of breath and the US was gaining steam so a German offensive was not anticipated. Leopold left the lines on the day before the offensive began on 16 December [Annotator's Note: 16 December 1944]. The sniper fire they received prior to Leopold's exit from the front was not very accurate. It was accurate enough that he dare not stand up to relieve himself for fear of the rounds hitting close by. During this same period, he had a patrol incident where he tried to suppress his heavy cough by eating snow to ease the throat irritation. He had to suppress the cough so as not to give away his unit's position to the Germans. This patrol behind enemy lines went off without incident even though his life was on the line. He learned that each day had a life of its own.
Annotation
Vernon Leopold saw the evidence of German activity in his sector when he went on patrol. Seeing boot prints or other indications of the German presence heightened his senses. Fear was with him under those conditions but he learned not to dwell on it. It was a moment by moment existence. After he went to the hospital for his foot problems, he kept up with the status of the I&R Platoon, even after the start of the Battle of the Bulge. He knew of Malmedy and other Belgian towns that were in the news because he had been there before the war. He knew exactly where the German spearhead went. The assault went right into the Losheim Gap where his 394th Infantry Regiment's I&R Platoon was defending. He followed the progress every day. He knew who was in each foxhole. He did not realize they had been overrun. After multiple tries, he managed to contact an I&R Platoon member named Fernandez who managed to escape with only three others from his unit. Fernandez was made sergeant and told Leopold to return as quickly as possible. The rest of his unit was missing in action. Leopold would not have the chance to rejoin the I&R platoon.
Annotation
Because of the frost bite problem with his feet, Vernon Leopold was given limited service for six months after his hospital stay. He became a replacement in a service battalion after his recovery. He replaced a service individual sent in haste to become an infantry replacement in the Battle of the Bulge after casualties mounted. Leopold was assigned to the Air Corps, and it sounded as if he would be shipped to the Pacific. With his language and communications background, he was picked to stay in London with Air Corps Intelligence. He had a fine time during his stay in London but was soon sent to General Spaatz’s [Annotator’s Note: General Carl Spaatz, also known as Tooey, was the Commander of the 8th Air Force in Europe] headquarters in Paris. In Paris, he was assigned to translate German documents in order to cannibalize technology that the Nazis had developed. He and an officer would also go on assignment to what was later to become Soviet occupation territory to locate German scientists. The scientists would be offered a contract with the United States. Leopold and the officer would fly the scientists to Paris before the Soviets discovered them. He transferred to Munich under the same assignment. He was well quartered. It was very different than what he had experienced before. He later set up a library system in Paris to catalogue the technical information that had been gathered. During this time, he worked with civilian experts who were given simulated officer status. The military people referred to them as feather merchants. The collected information was subsequently shipped to Dayton, Ohio for analysis. He guarded the shipment in transit because he was a former infantryman. The information was shipped on a Liberty Ship to Boston. Leopold remembers his first banana split in Boston after years of being outside the United States. The library of information took three weeks by freight to Dayton, Ohio. It was at Wright Patterson Field that he was discharged in February 1946 because he had a high number of points.
Annotation
Vernon Leopold vividly remembers the positions of the foxholes and emplacements that his platoon [Annotator's Note: the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, Headquarters Company, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division] occupied which overlooked the crossroads town of Lanzerath, Belgium prior to the onset of the Battle of the Bulge. The foxholes had all been dug before Leopold got there. They were large enough for two men to occupy and they were covered with logs for overhead protection. The logs were then covered with dirt and snow. When not on watch the men were able to go into the log cabin to sleep and warm up. There were about ten men assigned to each position. They also had a machine gun set up and manned all of the time. There were hand grenades strung between trees with wire strung to the pin so it could be pulled from the foxholes or tripped by an infiltrator. One night a deer set off one of the grenades and was killed. One of the guys in the platoon dressed the deer but it was still hanging up outside when the Germans broke through. The terrain was such that the foxholes were in an arc overlooking the clearing and a stand of trees. In front of their positions was a rail line that ran toward Honsfeld to the west and to Losheimergraben to the north. Hünningen was not far away either. The trees were all pine and the aroma of pine, smoke and snow was nice. The weather was snowy and cloudy with a temperature of 28 to 32 degrees and the snow was somewhat slushy. Sounds could be heard from afar. The villagers in Lanzerath were not to be trusted because many of them were ethnic Germans. Many had sons in the Wehrmacht [Annotator's Note: the German military]. If they had long flagpoles, Leopold knew they were Nazis and had flown the swastika flag before the Americans came. There were exchanges with the German population but the I&R Platoon did not steal from the villagers. The town was very small. Leopold and the others from the platoon would venture down into it regularly. The aid station and kitchen set up was in the adjacent farm village. The fields were all fenced and they used the fences for hanging trip wires.
Annotation
Vernon Leopold feared being captured because he was German. He did not know of the death camps but he knew that the men who had left Germany were not going to be treated well. He knew of Colonel Skorzeny [Annotator's Note: SS Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny's] and his German soldiers who spoke English and were dressing as American troops to confuse the Americans in the Battle of the Bulge. Leopold also knew that the SS under Peiper [Annotator's Note: SS Standartenführer Joachim Peiper] were in the area. If he had been captured with his I&R Platoon it would have been bad for him. Being Jewish, he could have ended up in a death camp. If he had escaped the platoon's capture, there would have been danger for him because he was only a recent immigrant to the United States and his German background might have put him at risk. He would not have been able to answer the American soldiers' test questions about ball games and so forth. He might have been shot as an infiltrator. It was fortunate in many ways that he was sent back with his frost bite problems. He feels he would not have survived the war had it not been for Divine intervention in preventing him from fighting near Lanzerath during the German offensive.
Annotation
Vernon Leopold provides a description of his fellow soldiers, the commander and non-commissioned officer in his I&R Platoon. Lieutenant Bouck [Annotator's Note: First Lieutenant Lyle Bouck, Jr. was the commander of the I&R platoon, Headquarters Company, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division. Bouck's interview is also available on the Digital Collections website] was a great guy. Bouck was concerned with each man every day. He represented the soldiers and their welfare. He became concerned about Leopold's feet. Bouck and his first sergeant [Annotator's Note: Sergeant William Slape] had a slight friction between them. Because Bouck's tenure in the Army and combat experience were less than the first sergeant, Bill Slape, the tension between them was noticeable. Leopold goes on to describe several different members of his I&R platoon. Although some are more memorable than others. [Annotator's Note: Leopold smiles as he describes one of his buddies, John Krieger]. He had never been able to contact Krieger so he thought he was dead. When a Parade magazine article by Jack Anderson about the platoon came out, Leopold could picture the exact location of each foxhole. He went back in time. He fought that engagement through Anderson's article. Why This Man Should Not Get the Medal of Honor [Annotator's Note: this title of the article was given by Vernon Leopold] was the article published in Parade on 26 March 1979 [Annotator's Note: this publication date is according to Leopold]. Through the article he discovered that Lyle Bouck was a chiropractor in St. Louis so he called him. Leopold told Bouck that he probably would not remember him but Bouck was quick to say they thought Leopold had not made it. Bouck then followed up by asking how Leopold's feet were.
Annotation
Vernon Leopold only really remembers the members of the I&R Platoon [Annotator's Note: I&R Platoon, Headquarters Company, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division] who he had a lot of contact with. Those are primarily the men who trained together in the United States. One of his particularly good friends was the good natured James Fort. Fort had fiery red hair and a Southern drawl and was intrigued with Leopold's background. Fort was also a radio operator like Leopold. They went on several passes together before they left England. Bill James was not always Bill James. His name was originally Tsakanikas. The guys in the platoon called him Sac. While in the hospital, Tsakanikas decided to drop his last name and use his middle name, James, as his last name. From then on he went by William James. Tsakanikas spoke Greek and that is how he ended up in the I&R Platoon. He was a linguist. Sam Jenkins was a tall and lanky guy who came from a strictly Anglo Saxon family in Texas. He was a college graduate who had been in the ASTP [Annotator's Note: Army Specialized Training Program]. He was a very good guy and a good buddy. Louis Kalil was of Lebanese background and came from Indiana. He was an original member of the I&R Platoon that Major Kriz [Annotator's Note: Major, later Colonel Robert Kriz was the commanding officer of the 394th Infantry Regiment] had raised. All of the guys in the platoon were good guys. Aubrey Magee was the leading athlete of the platoon and came from McComb, Mississippi. Magee had never met a Jew before he met Leopold. Leopold and Magee would talk religion. Before he was naturalized, Leopold changed his name from Guenter Olaf Werner. Leopold chose the name Gerald Vernon Leopold. Since changing his name he has gone by Vernon. Risto Milosevich had a very superior attitude. He was very athletic and of Serbian background. He liked to play tricks and practical jokes.
Annotation
[Annotator's Note: This segment begins with Vernon Leopold describing some of the men he served with in the I&R Platoon, Headquarters Company, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division.] George Redmond was from Virginia and was one of the original I&R Platoon members. He was a squad leader, as was Krieger, in the platoon. Initially, there was a bit of a cleavage between the college boys in the platoon and those who had not gone to college. That did not last long. After Bouck [Annotator's Note: First Lieutenant Lyle Bouck. Bouck's oral history is also available on the Digital Collections website] took over, the men quickly became friends. Jordan Robinson was the oldest man in the platoon at 35 years old. He was an outdoor type and was nicknamed Pappy. Cervola was from Minnesota. He and Robinson knew how to survive outdoors. James Cervola was of Finnish descent and spoke Finnish. He was one of the ASTP [Annotator's Note: Army Specialized Training Program] guys. After deploying overseas, Cervola became the platoon's barber. Sergeant Bill Slape was a Sergeant York or John Wayne type leader. He was a professional soldier. Slape had a very commanding personality which caused him to clash with the lieutenant [Annotator's Note: with Bouck] on occasion. Leopold has very little recollection of Vic Adams. Carlos Fernandez was a tall guy from El Paso, Texas. He spoke Spanish fluently but never identified as a Mexican or a Spaniard. There were some Italian prisoners at Camp Maxey and Fernandez was surprised that he was able to communicate with them. Fernandez was a very good guy and was one of the guys Leopold corresponded with while he was in the hospital. Francovitch [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling] was a little guy. He was one of the guys who were evacuated along with Leopold. He was also an original member of the platoon. Robert Lambert was a sergeant who had been in the ASTP like Leopold. Lambert worked as a liaison with the message center. After the war he was a financial officer for Portland Cement Company. Sam Oakley was their driver and was an original member of the platoon. He also took care of supplies in combat. Major Kriz [Annotator's Note: Major, later Colonel Robert Kriz was the commanding officer of the 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division] was very memorable. He was very official but he could sit down and talk man to man with his men. He listened to what Leopold had to say. The men all liked him. Kriz knew how to pick men and had a good eye for people. After the war he became the mayor of a town. Kriz died not long before this interview. Colonel Riley commanded the regiment. He was more inclined to garrison rather than combat duty. He was ultimately relieved of command and was replaced by someone else.
Annotation
Vernon Leopold ended the war at Berchtesgaden in US Army Air Forces intelligence. He felt it was his personal victory over the Nazis. He was sent to Munich and while he was there he visited what was to be the Redoubt Area [Annotator's Note: The Alpine Redoubt was to be Germany's last stand area with underground bunkers and fortified areas in the Alps but no serious effort was made by the Nazis to implement this plan]. Leopold took the opportunity to visit Hitler's [Annotator's Note: German Dictator Adolf Hitler] home at Berchtesgaden which overlooked the Alps. Leopold found files in the Redoubt Area that were shipment orders for ovens that were to be shipped to the extermination camps. They also found shipment bills for Zyklon B poison gas canisters for the camps. Leopold had a hard time processing what he saw at first. These were business records kept by the Nazis. When they went across the Channel to Europe the officers removed indications of rank and all members of the division took the division patches off of their uniforms before they went into combat.
All oral histories featured on this site are available to license. The videos will be delivered via mail as Hi Definition video on DVD/DVDs or via file transfer. You may receive the oral history in its entirety but will be free to use only the specific clips that you requested. Please contact the Museum at digitalcollections@nationalww2museum.org if you are interested in licensing this content. Please allow up to four weeks for file delivery or delivery of the DVD to your postal address.