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Respect peace, says Woodbury veteran, recalling the horrors of World War IIBy BOB SHAW | bshaw@pioneerpress.comPUBLISHED: November 11, 2016 at 10:14 am | UPDATED: November 11, 2016 at 4:17 pmQuoteSURVIVINGIn December 1944, on a cold and cloudy day in France, his unit was marching in a long column.No one knew that the Germans were launching the Battle of the Bulge — the last stand of Hitler’s falling empire. No one knew that the Germans were about to shatter the weakest link in the Allied line.And no one knew that the weak link was their unit."Never is war a good thing," said Jack Andrashko, 92, in Woodbury on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. The World War II army veteran served from March 1943 to Jan. 1946 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. All Andrashko knew, as he trudged along, was that the concentrated power of the Third Reich was suddenly exploding around him.The Americans scattered. Overnight, Andrashko huddled beneath what he called a “Christmas tree” with two other soldiers. “We had no blankets,” he recalled.In the morning, the two were so cold they could barely walk. But Andrashko was strong, having been through countless marches in his infantry training.They slogged forward, Andrashko in the center, with a freezing soldier clinging to each side of him.They lurched toward a farmhouse. Andrashko wondered what the stuff was — wood? — piled up to the first-floor rafters. He got closer, and then felt sick — they were the corpses of GIs.http://www.twincities.com/2016/11/11/respect-peace-says-woodbury-veteran-recalling-the-horrors-of-world-war-ii/
SURVIVINGIn December 1944, on a cold and cloudy day in France, his unit was marching in a long column.No one knew that the Germans were launching the Battle of the Bulge — the last stand of Hitler’s falling empire. No one knew that the Germans were about to shatter the weakest link in the Allied line.And no one knew that the weak link was their unit."Never is war a good thing," said Jack Andrashko, 92, in Woodbury on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. The World War II army veteran served from March 1943 to Jan. 1946 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. All Andrashko knew, as he trudged along, was that the concentrated power of the Third Reich was suddenly exploding around him.The Americans scattered. Overnight, Andrashko huddled beneath what he called a “Christmas tree” with two other soldiers. “We had no blankets,” he recalled.In the morning, the two were so cold they could barely walk. But Andrashko was strong, having been through countless marches in his infantry training.They slogged forward, Andrashko in the center, with a freezing soldier clinging to each side of him.They lurched toward a farmhouse. Andrashko wondered what the stuff was — wood? — piled up to the first-floor rafters. He got closer, and then felt sick — they were the corpses of GIs.
