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Just Before the Battle, Brother:Don’t Be Scared of Being Scared, Veteran AdvisesBy Charles F. KileyStars and Stripes Staff WriterSgt. Sammie Slusher has something to say to American soldiers. His message is aimed chiefly at men as yet untried in combat; men who are asking themselves the same questions he asked before he first saw action.What is it going to be like? Wil: I be frightened? How will I react to killing people? Is the Nazi as cunning, as fanatical, as ruthless as they say he is? Are his weapons as good as mine?of t off t Mel Will 50 1 lead fire rollt into T Glo: Am froi RC.SI usher, who went into the North \African landings a | wide-eyed private ^ and came out ot ;Sicily months later j a battle-wise, hard- I bitten veteran de- j cerated with the j Silver Star and Purple Heart, frankly says you will be sejtred stiff.Your frame will tremble and your knees will knock.The sweat on your hands will be cold and clammy. Your lips and throat will be dry, your stomach upset and you’ll -wish you were a couple of thousand miles away somewhere in America. It -will be like waiting for the kickoff.Chances are you’ll be surprised how cool you are once you get “in there.”You will find you have a lot more know-how than you thought you did.You also may not have the desire toshoot and kill, but when you see your buddies—like the fellow sitting next to you now—bathed in blood anti grotesquely sprawled in death, you are likely to feel differently than you did when you started.What about the German?Slusher knows him—to :be an efficient soldier, so don't sell him short. He is better disciplined, perhaps, than his counterpart in any other army. His weapons and equipment are first class, but no better than yours, for the most part. In fact, you have a big edge on him in that you have many times more in quantity and in more than a few instances in quality.Sgt. Sammie Slasher§icingith.”son 8th 1 has r-old :e”— onlyW.Jerry’s Best WeaponsThe Nazi’s most effective weapons that Slusher encountered, and the kind you like to have on ypur side, are his 88mm gun and his automatic machine pistol. The first time you hear four 88s sound off you will think they number 500, but you will get used to them—like a number of other things. If you get your hands on a machine pistol you will want to know how it operates so you can use it yourself.Slusher warns: (1) Don't ever turnyour back on a German soldier ; (2) don't pick up anything unless you are absolutely sure it isn’t wired for “boom.”Jerries may not be as savagely fanatical as the Japs, but Slusher has seen some who preferred to starve themselves rather than eat the .food of “foolATE BREGERAmericans,” others who had to be forced to submit to medical aid.Most Germans, however, are divided into two categories: Those who are sick, sore and tired of war, but who will give their besL until trapped and then willingly surrender; and those you have to go in and dig out.The Nazis, according to Slusher’s calculations, probably are the most ingenious in laying booby traps. He can substantiate the reports that booby traps were placed on American dead in Africa. They were found also on fountain pens, cigarettes, toilet seats, water canteens, weapons, German cap badges likely to be picked up for souvenirs and a hundred and one other things.Here are a few tips Slusher thinks soldiers going into action for the first time should paste in their helmets.Take all the cigarettes, matches and fighters you can carry. You aren’t likely to find a PX in a fox hole. You have heard this before and Slusher says it again—socks, foot powder, cleaning patches and entrenching tools are “musts.” If you can tote more than one entrenching tool, do so.Slit Trenches Best Slit trenches offer more protection and are more comfortable, if properly dug, than foxholes. Dig one whenever you stop fci more than an h'our.Never get up where an enemy can see you. An artillery or mortar barrage inevitably follows. Keep the chin strap on your helmet open as often as possible to prevent concussion in a barrage. Stay away from trees during enemy mortar fire. They are used frequently as aiming points..Always keep your canteen filled with water and don't use it to wash wounds. Sulfa powder and gauze bandage will safely take care of a wound for as long as two days. In treating wounds of another man, use his aid packet. You might have to use your own sooner than you expect.A 22-year-old ex-mechanic from Willard, Ohio, Sammie isn’t a professional soldier. Well built, 'blond and. soft spoken, he is as homespun as anybody could be who came from a Midwestern town of 2,500. He wants to get home like everybody else, to the wife he married eight months before he came overseas.And his message to fellow soldiers is sincere.He knows there are men who will feel as he did before combat. He is certain they will know what to do when they have to .do it.Like the day at Djebel Marata, in Sedjenane Valley, when the main body of which' Slusher was a part was held up by a German machine-gun nest. Then a Pfc, .Slusher volunteered to take five men and endeavor to knock it out. One of his men was wounded in the attack. About 25 yards from the nest Slusher saw a head coming up from the emplacement. He ordered a volley, followed by a charge with fixed 'bayonets.When they reached the position, eight men, including a lieutenant, came out of the emplacement hands raised in surrender, The German _ whose curiosity moved him to show himself was found with his head almost blown off.The following day Slusher was wounded in tht: leg by shrapnel from an 88. Later he was decorated by Lt. Gen. Patton.That's Slusher’s message and stopr. If absorbed in the spirit with which it was given, it may save the adjutant a* little work in sending cables to next of kin come Invasion Day.
Newspaper Details
Northern Ireland Stars and Stripes
Belfast, Ulster, GB
Fri, Feb 04, 1944
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Dawson H.
USA 22 Nov 2024
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Northern Ireland Stars and Stripes
