A Medic in the Hell of the Hürtgen Forest | American Artifact Episode 109
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- Опубліковано 7 лип 2024
- Most WWII veterans would have told you that the medics were some of the bravest men who served in the war. In this episode, we're taking a look at some of the artifacts of a medic who served in the 110th Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division, which was nicknamed "The Bloody Bucket Division". We're also getting a rare look inside a German medical bunker that later served as an aid station for the 28th.
This episode was produced in partnership with The Gettysburg Museum of History. See how you can support history education & artifact preservation by visiting their website & store at www.gettysburgmuseumofhistory...
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Glad to see this battle is finally getting the attention it deserves. I visited that area along the Kall Trail from Vossenach to Schmidt going back to 1981-83 while stationed in Kaiserslautern. Made several visits back in 1990-2007. My interest was sparked by General Gavin’s book “On to Berlin” where he describes his own walk down the trail in 1945 when the 82nd was going through there. Also my father had served there with the 8th Division and was wounded there. He was carried as MIA for several months until the Army discovered he had been evacuated to England. I discovered something new everytime I visited that area and it absolutely lived up to Gen Gavin’s detailed description. Mestrenger Muehle at the bottom of the Kall Valley aside the stone bridge was functioning as a restaurant and I had the pleasure of dining there several times. Great beer and great schnitzel. In the later years I visited there I noticed that the battle was getting more notoriety by the number of pictorial poster along the trail and the number of plaques posted inside the restaurant, particularly by various veteran groups and the 28th ID. None of these where there when I first started my visits and my sense was the only ones visiting the area back then were German Volksmarching organizations. Glad to see people are finally realizing the historical import of that area!❤❤
I used to visit in the Hurtgen forest area in the early 80s (student in Koln) and again in the late 80s (stationed in Ansbach with 1st AD). You are correct, somewhat forgotten at the time but for Germans it is considered one of the battles in the West that they "won". Is the restaurant gone now? Looks like there are no homes or other structures on the lower part of the valley.
@@pmangeri Mestrenger Muehle was still open when I was there about 2005-6 or so. Not many people know it was back there. The road leading into the forest there was still an unpaved dirt road and as I recall there was only a small sign to mark it’s location. In all the years I visited there it was not unusual to find it closed seasonally. I have to assume the Muehle is the place where Gavin was referring to when he mentioned finding all the deserted litter cases a few months after the battle.
I battling right now in hell let loose
Erik Dorr's comments on the artifacts he brings to these battlefields is always appropriate. Much obliged to him and his attention to detail. These soldiers deserve all the focus we can put upon them.
And, I will just add to your writing about Eric in that how he shows such great respect to the soldiers and their families when he brings those artifacts that were so personal to them!
No 🎉
I’ve treated my share of trauma cases over the years but always in a clean, well equipped hospital with an excellent staff. The challenge of keeping men with complex injuries alive while under fire in field conditions would be more than daunting. So much respect.
Same here, but in both environments.
The Hurtgen forest had some hidden treasures. The Medical bunker was extremely cool. That Medic’s personal items donated to the Gettysburg Museum. Put a face on the place. Thank you Erik for sharing those items, and JD for the tour.
💯👍👊
Glad that you enjoyed it!
That combat medics badge is probably the most coveted award a medic can get, it means you did your job under fire. It's right up there with a combat infantryman's badge. As a matter of fact, a good medic in an infantry unit, you just don't mess with the infantry guys medic. He's the doc.
Excellent! I’ve said it before and will say it again… if you’ve ever served in the Army, Combat Medics ROCK!!
Liked the story about that armored bible. A trooper in Vietnam stored his letters from his mom and girlfriend in his helmet… the density stopped a round and saved his life! True story!
Loved the tour of the bunker…. Wow!
Thanks JD and Erik!
Wow
My grandpa use to tell a story of a fella in his outfit with the 1st division that had a bullet hit his steel covered Bible and glanced off. Shot was on a steep angle he always said I remeber.
My father served with the 28th division during this time. I only learned about this fact after my older sister passed away and I discovered his discharge papers. He never spoke a word about his service and I guess out of respect I never asked. He suffered a leg wound in France on Aug. 7 1944 so I cannot say whether or not he was at Hurtgen. The battle campaigns on his discharge papers show Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and central Europe. He was awarded (five) Bronze Stars, I don't know for what and a Purple Heart, along with some other things. We enjoy our freedoms thanks to the courage of all our veterans, but especially to men like these.
Thank -U for keeping the memory of one of the most horrific wars in history in the ‘public mind by honoring those who gave their lives for freedom !
For what you do ‘THANK-YOU .. 🙏👍👍
Start a conversation? No, I'd rather watch and enjoy with coffee. Thanks UA-cam👍
I play History Underground bingo. JD bumping his head (check). JD running into a spider web (not this time!) JD showing us some very cool places never seen (check). JD tripping over something (possibly?)
😅
Thank you for your service and your courage from a former Navy Corpsman with no combat. God bless
I served in the 28th ID 1/110th INF. I knew about the rich history of the division, but It’s awesome to see the places that made the history. I grew up in Gettysburg and recently found this channel. You guys do an excellent job! I wish I could go on these adventures!
So good to see both side’s medics treating the wounded together
Young men with family fighting and killing eachother😢
Having been a soldier and walked and studied the Battle of Schmidt (within the context of the larger Hurtgen battle), it is unbelievably sad that commanders gave up every mobility, air, and firepower advantage the U.S. Army enjoyed up to this point, and fed unit after unit into this infantry green hell.
finally a good series about the fighting in the Hurtgen Forest. I am well known in the area and have made a nice book with comparison photos. I searched for years with detectors and used it to set up a large collection of battlefield relics. Great that you pay attention to this dark period in history !
Very cool bunker. I've seen a few restored bunkers via UA-cam, but this was one of the best so far.
Hats off to Erik for committing the memory of another soldier to video 👍
Thanks! Most of the bunkers in the Hurtgen are all blown up. I was thankful that this one was still intact.
Thank you for honoring the men who fought in that awful place. Your videos are always so meaningful.
I appreciate that
Great video. Your cinematography and editing are some of the best I’ve seen on UA-cam. Thank you for your content. We share the WCK experience in Przemysl Slava Ukraini!
🙏🏼
Got my start in the 28th ID back in 1987 with C Co 1/111th Infantry. From day one, the officers and NCOs made sure that we learned about the WW1 and WW2 heritage the 28th had built. Pennsylvanians take their military service seriously.
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As a former army medic I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how things were done/set up generations before me. Couldn’t imagine the carnage these guys saw on a daily basis.
The numbers are staggering. For example, the 112th regiment of the 28th division went in to take the town of Schmidt with 3100 men. Over 2300 became casualties. Unreal.
Thanks George and all those other brave soldiers! You too jd and team. love you guys❤
Thank you for showing the 28th .it was my dad's division, he was in the 112. A member of a 3 man machine gun crew. Captured by a tank division and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp. Miss you dad.
That tour of the medical bunker was fantastic! Thanks for showing us the Hurtgen Forrest too, much appreciated!
Excellent video, I love this Hurtgen series! Very happy to see people preserving that bunker.
What a terrific video! Thanks for providing this great video on something so essential as aid station. I never imagined something like this? We need to thank whoever has preserved this structure! Love your videos, keep up the great work.
Great stuff! :) This serie of American Artifacts is becoming my new favourite on YT! Latest episodes are fantastic, Great work!
Great timing JD! Just in time for my break. The effort someone put in to preserving the bunker/first aid station is fascinating! Truly gives us a view of the conditions they worked in. Can you imagine all the injured crammed in there! Am sure they were bumping their heads off those doorways as well JD. Thank you for taking us along!
Great video! I love the village of Simonskall. It is such a pleasant place that it is hard to imagine the horrors that occurred in and around it, and especially up the slope from that beautiful little village.
JD bumps his head TWICE. Great start to the new year JD!!
Thanks for the great video. I have made many visits to the area and this was a trip down memory lane. In the early 2000s there was a small run down house on the bunker and the whole lot was badly overgrown. I see that it has been replaced by a more modern structure. The bunker has been greatly improved as well. Thanks again!
Watch your head! Doink lol. Hope it didn't hurt. It didn't hurt me. Lol I'm kidding. Thank you JD and Eric for sharing the history and the individual stories of the soldiers who fought, lived, and died for our freedom. God bless y'all
Always at work JD i hope you either prerecorded this or you had a good christmas/new year
I loved bunkers!! I used to drive my German grandparents crazy when we visited cities or went into the countryside (1970s and 1980s).
Thanks to you JD and Erik I'm still learning about the war and I'm 67. Very interesting and informative! Thank you!
Really great episode, the medical bunker visit was superb!
Great video JD very well done and it was nice to see the medic be honored, I was a field medic during my service in the army from 90 to 98 Thank you
An outstanding video. Erik's dedication to bring the artifacts back to their original locations is so incredibly touching. Thank you, Erik, for your passion and dedication to make the effort to do that. Incredibly fascinating information. Thank you so much, JD and Erik, for your passion and dedication to preserve the artifacts and keep our history alive. I am so touched by this video.
Great job, JD! I've watched this twice already
Thank you JD. It was so interesting!!!!!!!
So glad to see the Hurtgen Forest campaign getting recognition finally. I remember watching an HBO movie called "When Trumpets Fade" as a kid that took place in this bloody nightmare, and have been fascinated and awed by it since. Thank you for all you do!
I need to watch that movie.
The movie gave a fictionalized account of the battle at the bottom of the trail. It showed all the horror but in my opinion would have been much better had they used the real names and had adhered more closely to the historical account
@@geodes4762 well, it's a Hollywood movie after all. Don't see many examples outside of Band of Brothers and parts of The Pacific are that really portray things as they happened with no changes. I'd wager that there were still alot of vets alive at thst time, and that may have been part of the change as well.
great piece of history here in this story. thank you for sharing JD
Another great video! Thank you for sharing this history!
13:24 This episode confirmed as good. He bumped his head. He only bumps his head on the best episodes.
You know that JD is in bunker when he bumps his head! He is going to end up having a ridge on his head like a Klingon!😂 Great video JD and Erik! Stay safe guys, especially JD! Helmet anyone?
😅
Scar tissue can be somewhat protective after awhile. That’s essentially what calluses are.
Thank you for your great content !!!
Always such great info with your vids my uncle in WW2 went threw that area of Germany. I remember he talked about the killing fields for us, thank you
Killer video man! Thanks
I really appreciate the animation in the maps! Very helpful!
I appreciate all you and Erik do JD keep it up its great !
Great video, J.D. as always, you bring my uncles history to life with the 28th division. Thanks for recommending the bloody patch book when we talked at Achs.
I recently rented an old farmhouse. I came across the Box newspaper clippings which included a Selective Service letter from May 29th 1944. The gentleman's order to appeal for The Selective Service which is dated May 29th 1944. Also includes his Certificate of Fitness which is dated June 6th 1944. Which was D-Day as we all know. I want nothing but to get these information back into the family's hands . I appreciate everything you could do for me thank you very much
Another great Hurtgen related episode! Thank you.
Got a few more on the way. 🙂
That was amazing! Thanks
Great episode JD! Very interesting! I studied Medics in WW2 last year, this is a great addition to my reading!
Great stuff again! Thanks.
Cool episode. Enjoyed the bunker
Amazing video thanks JD love the explore of the Bunker & keep up the good work JD
always bumping that noggin'!!! LOL! Thanks for the great content! Can't wait for the next video!
Thank you, fascinating, yet sad
It wouldn't be an Episode of 'JD explores a cramped space' without a "Gosh darn it, I've just bumped my head!" 🤣🤣🤣
Any of the GMOH artifacts include a Bone Dome, helmet, for you to wear when exploring these kinda spaces? I fear one of these days yer gonna give yerself a TBI.
But, in all seriousness, once again you and Eric have produced some fine content and it's nice to see some of these lesser known battles and Units getting recognition too.
From a British Army Vet: thank you!:💚
My grandad was a paratrooper in the Army during WW2. I hate that I never asked him alot of questions about it. They really were the Greatest generation.
Great video , yes , those medics have really been heroes .
I'm fascinated at the construction of the cots.
I really enjoyed this.
Thank you sir.
I find this fascinating. I cannot imagine having to house in a bunker. Small, but equipped. I have a deep respect for all medics in wars. Thanks much for honoring Mr swartz? and all who served here.l
Been waiting a while to provide you with a pro tip for navigating low headspace rooms while wearing a cap:
Rotate it 180° so your peripheral vision can pick up on the hard stuff overhead 😅
Good idea 🤕
I was actually just thinking about congratulating you JD on not bumping your head recently….classic 😂 Stay safe! 🙏🏻
Ha! The "Days Without Workplace Injury" counter has just been set back to zero.
At Ft. Hood ( I was stationed there from 2001-2008, 1st Cav) our medics at the battalion aid station had up on their wall that painting of the U.S. and German Army medics working together during the truce...it goes to prove how significant that event still is nearly 80 yrs later that our current medics still acknowledge it.
Ouch!! I actually heard that head knock. That happen to me once at a south Lebanon outpost, nearly lifted a Sherman tank off the ground after hitting the barrel with my head, when I went to stand up, after picking up spent 50cal casings. Also happened numerous times at ancient ruins across the world. They tend to have low entry, exit ways. I'm around 5'9". Anyway, another very informative, interesting video from you. Thanks!
JD, Just going out the door for work..... Will watch when I get home.... Thanks ahead of fime......
By far my favorite bunker. If I could build a house on top of one this would be the one I would choose.. I totally agree that the Medics are the true heroes. Without their bravery who knows what the death totals would have been. Thank you both sharing this.👍😊
Nice job on the bunker!
Thanks!
Just brilliant 👍🇮🇪 Thanks for making these great films,,,
Great video. Had never heard of a medic bunker before!
Really enjoyed this JD. Good thing it was a medic center as after hitting your head twice you probably needed a bandaid! Are you extra tall? I think the medics are such hero’s as they were being shot at just as much as the other men just so they can help others. Great artifacts from Erik too. Thanks for all you show us. 🇬🇧
True heroes of this country.
Another great video, with reference to the metal bible, back in the 1990's Green Day released an album called Bullet In A Bible after visiting the Imperial War Museum in London and seeing a bullet in a bible that saved a soldiers life in the First World War
Incredible
If there’s one thing we can always be certain of in a History Underground video, it’s that JD will inevitably bonk his head on something 😂😂
He bunker! 😜 you should check out the fortress island of ijmuiden close to it there is also a part of the atlantikwall you can still go into and a schnellboot bunker or torpedoboot bunker i think you would like it!!
Hey , this was a great story, Thanks. Just a thought on an episode . How about an episode on food that the soldiers ate like C and K rations and how they would get meals when they were on go? Just a thought!
Damn, JD you trying to imitate Tim the tool man Taylor by hitting your head twice! Lmao Another awesome video. Thanks!
There are 1:50,000 maps for the area that show the locations of the west wall bunkers. Also in the US Army history green books, for the battle of Hurtgen and specifically for the Schmidt battle.
Wow. It looks like the men left yesterday in that bunker. Good restoration. So lucky you could see that one.
Been in the hurtgenwald too once when I was in the military. Got a tour from a German soldier that fought there. It’s a historical place to saythe least.
Your guide would have had an interesting perspective I would think. Though they had some advantages I’m certain it was no fun for the Germans either.
Happy New Year wishing you a Happy, healthy Safe 2024🤗🙏🏆💙
Can't believe how steep that hill was felt sorry medical people and armo vecilas can't wait for the next video mate
The hill going up the trail on the opposite side of the Kall River from Vossenach is indeed an “ass kicker” of a walk. Last time I walked it I was about 56 years old and I was thoroughly winded by the time I got to the point on the trail where JD pointed out that tank track. My car was parked back in Vossenach near where JD pointed out that cross that had been restored. It is a long hard walk from Vossenach to Kommerscheidt to Schmidt and then back!
The whole time I was making my walk I was thinking about the Colonel Peterson who was fighting in and around Schmidt when he was mistakenly ordered to report back to General Cota in Vossenach. As the story goes Peterson started down the south side of the trail from either Kommerscheidt or Schmidt during the night. He was wounded several times before he crossed the Kall River and made his way up to Cota’s headquarters several hours after he departed from the south side of the gorge. Cota was so distraught at the sight of Peterson and his physical condition, Cota reportedly fainted when he saw him.
If my memory serves me correctly, this is the first time you tried to take down a doorway with your head 😂 since the Pacific Theater videos. Hope you didn't raise a knot on your head. I appreciate this series on the Hurtgen Forest!
I would love to have a house with a bunker underneath! Appreciate your videos!
Very efficient building
Thanks JD and Erik. This is still the next best thing to actually being there. This was quite a build up for the Germans to make with all the bunkers in the middle of no-where with all their preparation/features. Makes me wonder how many more there are? Also the bring backs, especially with the medical items. We had quite a bit of training in the 80's and 90's with the US Army how to deal with some of the more nasty battlefield wounds. I never served in combat, but I still served. I have a Desert Storm Bible given to me in appreciation by a full Colonel Chaplain I served with, so they still are important for troops to have. Are those off limits bunkers set up for bats? Those vented gates look like a couple closed off mine entrances I've seen in the UP of Michigan for those critters to over winter in.
About the bats that's correct. Some of the bunkers that weren't destroyed got those gates in order to allow the bats to hibernate inside the bunkers and not been disturbed by any human visitors.
Thanks@@patrickbarney8650
Ah the first head bump of ‘24 👍 (well, uploaded anyway) and hope to visit all these historic sites one of these years
Tiny point of semi-interest, perhaps. In the medic's quarters, there is a covered shelf labeled "Lebensmittel." That was presumably for storage of rations or groceries or whatever they had to eat or drink.
JD do you edit all of these yourself? Just curious. Always so well done. Like I have said before, best channel on UA-cam. Between you and Erik, this channel is by far and away the best one.
Yeah, I do all of the editing. And filming. Thanks for the kind words.
@@TheHistoryUnderground even more amazing. Well done.
You the best !
JD, I’ve seen most of your videos. You could make a great bleeper reel of all the times you’ve bumped your head.
my Signal corps father[1923-2002]served with the eighth infantry division, in this forest
28th I.D. America"s Oldest Division founded by Benjamin Franklin 1747, General Pershing called them "Men of Iron".Least we Forget. Roll. On 28th .
Howdy J.D. and well done as always Brother. Another place now on my map that I will visit. What appeals most to me about this battlefield is it seems so pristine. Curious is metal detectors are allowed in this area? Keep up the awesome work, God Bless. Cheers