A Machine Gunner's War

Ernest "Andy" Andrews's company, part of the 1st Infantry Division, departed England on the evening of June 5 on the USS Henrico. Fighting in Normandy, Andy was nicked by a bullet and evacuated to England in late July when the wound became infected. For a month, Andy's squad defended a bunker position in the Siegfried Line against repeated German attacks, then after Aachen surrendered, the unit fought its way through the Hurtgen Forest to take Hill 232. Early on the morning of November 19, Andy engaged in his toughest battle of the war as the Germans attempted to retake Hill 232.

After surgery and a month convalescence he rejoined H Company in time to fight in the Battle of the Bulge. Breaking out from the Remagen bridgehead, Andy's squad stumbled on a German tank unit and Andy narrowly escaped getting killed. Andy's outfit ends the war fighting in Czechoslovakia, where Andy witnesses the German surrender in early May. Following occupation duty, Andy returned to the States in October 1945. The war shaped Andy's postwar life in countless ways, and in 1994, Andy made the first of three return visits to the European battlefields where he had fought.

This vivid firsthand account takes the listener along from Normandy to victory with Andy and his machine-gun crew.