G.I. risks himself to help wounded German

Joe Salzano 
8th Infantry Division  

Steve,

Awhile back I sent two stories that I thought would be of interest.Thought I would relate further on those trying times.

Prior to entering the Army I served as a merchant seaman at the beginning of the second World War. Job opportunities for teenagers at that time were scarce. I was able to secure work on Norwegian, and American Merchant Marine ships. One particular incident convinced me that I should seek a change in my line of work. I served on the S.S. Dorchester, a cruise ship converted to a troopship. The ship was staffed by four chaplains. One Protestant, two Catholic, and one Jewish, very decent and honorable people.

During my last voyage on this vessel we came under German submarine attack in the Davies Straight off the Newfoundland coast. Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard vessels went on the offensive, dropping depth charges to ward off further torpedo attacks. I had been in the galley getting some food and there were some small holes in the metal plate in front of the serving counter, and while waiting I put a finger in one of the holes, and when the alarm sounded had difficulty extracting my finger. There was general confusion and I had no life jacket. The ocean waves were very high in that body of water, and ice cold. I decided at that moment to seek an alternate means of income by joining the U.S. Army upon reaching port in New York.

On the very next voyage the Dorchester was sunk by a German torpedo. Due to the lack of life jackets which I had witnessed on my prior voyage, there was a great loss of life. The four chaplains heroically gave their life jackets to our soldiers, held hands, prayed and went down with the ship. The Dorchester was sunk by U-223 commanded by Karl Jurgan Wachter. Six hundred and seventy-three lives were lost.

The U.S. Congress recognized the heroism of the chaplains and awarded appropriate medals, and there is a statue of them in Philadelphia. Always thought their story up till the time of their passing would make a great and inspiring book and film. Some information on the Dorchester can be obtained on www.uboat.net. While I escaped the fate of those on the Dorchester I had no idea at the time what severe challenges lay ahead of me.

I later served with an infantry unit in the battles that swirled across Europe during that time and I will recount a particular incident. When fighting from house to house I entered one house and encountered a badly wounded German soldier who had been shot in the stomach. A young German girl asked if I could help, there were also some badly frightened old Germans in the home. So I went back to our positions across open fields under fire and obtained a stretcher, went back under fire and gathered the older men to carry the stretcher. The young girl took a piece of white cloth and with some child's water color paints painted a red cross and tacked it to a stick. All the way back to our positions the Germans tried to pick me off not knowing I was helping one of their wounded. Bullets zinged past and it's a wonder that I ever made it back. I caught heck from our C.O. for endangering myself to save a wounded German soldier. Then to top it off one of the German civilians who had placed a pillow under the wounded man's head came to me and asked if I could get his pillow back. It was near twilight and I was extremely tired and hadn't eaten all day and recommended that he donate the pillow to his countryman.

In this context it must be said that one of the most difficult times in the chaos and destruction of war can occur on a very personal level. When an opposing soldier looks into your face, and asks you to end his suffering. It is one of the saddest events in a young soldier's life. Nor does it easily pass from one's memory, not at the time or all the years that follow. There is solace in prayer, and I hope that our future sons will not have to face such traumatic decisions.

Regards, Joe.

Joe Salzano