GIs Leave Dillingen as Conquerors: Part 2.

Last week, we brought you Part 1 of a World War II newspaper article titled, “GIs Leave Dillingen as Conquerors: Bought City with Bravery and Pain,” written by Jimmie Cannon, traveling with the 90th Infantry Division. Today, we bring you Part 2 in the series.

“FERRY BRINGS THEM BACK

“They had crossed the Saar in assault boats. But in the windless snow they came out of the blazing town on a pontoon ferry pulled by a jeep on each shore. Infantry, tanks and tank destroyers returned on the ferry. One tank that faltered at the river’s brink had to be destroyed.

“For the 16 days of the occupation the greatest smoke screen since D-Day swirled over the Saar which runs narrow and shallow opposite Dillingen. The counterfeit fog exploded from 4.2 mortar smoke shells and concealed the erection of the jeep-drawn ferry and the passage of armor and supplies.

“The men of the garrison now talk of Dillingen as though it were a town in which they had lived decently and normally. They have the same pride in destruction that an architect has in creation.

“‘We fought like hell for that town and we were entitled to stay in it,’ said Sgt. Earl Thayer, of Fargoes Springs, Calif. ‘I hated to pull out and leave it for them. But we didn’t leave much. We busted every building in the town and then set them afire. It looked awfully pretty when it caught fire.’”

…to be continued