about 300 yards before what first appeared to be a bank of dirt revealed itself as a Tiger tank, which began spewing shells. The tanks were finally brought up, but one was quickly destroyed by direct tank fire. The Germans rained down "88's" to push back the armor. The attack stopped in a sizable wooded area in front of the target, primarily made up of a sawmill and several houses. The company encountered heavy artillery bombardments, cross-fire from machine guns, and direct tank fire. The tree bursts were extremely violent; sharp fragments flew through the air. Germans were frantically attempting to save the Autobahn. Shells were bursting all around Lts. Richard M. Jones and Richard E. Neuman, Sgts. Whiteside, Donald G. Warner, Otties L. Zigler, and Pfc. Leonard Blitz as they were pinned down behind a pile of lumber. Surprisingly, nobody was hurt. A shell from an enemy tank was fired through a sawmill as some of the Fourth Platoon advanced toward it. They held out for about three hours before the enemy artillery worsened. The enemy attack, which consisted of 4 tanks and a Company, was driven off, but Fox withdrew to more favorable positions. The Company withdrew to the railroad spur and dug in; only about 50 men were left. The price was high: in the fierce fighting, Pfcs Federico Gurterrez, Gilbert A. Sandoval, Julious C. Pack, Harold I Hope, Clifford B. Kruse, Albert J. Harvin, Carl J. Katscha, Milton H. Roberts, Herbert W. Shwenk, Scott, Cecil O. Grabe, Gerald F. Gardner, Cook, -4 Vincent J. Manganaro, and T-5 Herbert Ferdman (Med Det) were all wounded. Pfc John Maskell Jr. was killed while giving medical attention to T-5 Ferdman. End of WWII Personnel biographies Captain James K. Bowman was born on 30 Nov 1911 in Evanston, Illinois. He went to Evanston Township High School and graduated from Lafayette University, where he was an intercollegiate swimming champion in 1943. He married Barbara Ann Spenser on 27 Mar 1943 in St Joseph, Michigan. James K. Bowman was killed by sniper fire on March 5th, 1945, leading an attack on Kuchenheim in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. When tank support didn't appear for the attack, he said, "The hell with the tanks; we'll take this damn town without them!" He is buried in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Plot: D, Row: 3, Grave: 31. His decorations include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purpleheart,