the plane than to help anyone who could've possibly escaped that blazing pyre. Of the five crew
members we were able to "salvage" two. The other three were completely crushed, with their physical
parts strewn all over the field. In crashing the Heinkel 111, for that was what the plane turned out to be,
neatly cut through two hedgerows, several trees and knocked down a farmer’s apple crop. Much to our
surprise the plane was loaded with ammunition and other supplies and thus we deduced that he was
looking for some of his trapped buddies. Once more Goering could chalk up another plane in the "Lost
in Action" column.
On August 22 at noon we pulled away from the Gap and went into Corps reserve near a town
called Mormouille. There we cleaned things up a bit, getting ready for our rush across the rest of France
behind General Patton's powerful armor. After reaching our new positions some of the boys were sent
back into the Gap to see what we had really done.
The destruction started as we neared Le Bourg-St. Leonard, where there were all sorts of
knocked out vehicles, and wrecked houses. At a large intersection we were lumbering down the road
with all their heavy equipment, headed back for their designated bivouacs.
After passing through quite a stretch of woods, we arrived at a Ste. Eugénie, a town that was
badly shelled. There were all sorts of German wreckage around here, spreading all the way through
"Death Valley". The wreckage was so great that the only way we could get around was on foot. One
very good way of describing the scene that lay before us was that all we saw in front and around us was
a gigantic junkyard, one that would put any junk collector to great shame. The utter destruction of an
army was comparable to nothing before seen by any of us.
The next day or two brought in the official tabulation from G2. The following was chalked up
by this battalion alone: 34 tanks, 10 self-propelled guns, 43 horse drawn artillery pieces, 612 motor
vehicles, 321 horse-drawn vehicles, and all kinds of other equipment. This tabulation brought the 344th
out in front of all the outfits participating in the Gap.
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