Post by floydragsdale on Sept 19, 2014 19:47:07 GMT -5
Hello Folks
The first 14 days of the Bulge campaign were very hectic for the 424th Regiment.
The front lines were very fluid during that period. My memory reminds me of the short daylight hours and long nights. We were short on sleep so much of the time. When the troops should have been resting they we were hiking a great deal of the days and nights.
The body can get so drained of energy that a soldier would go to sleep while walking. I recall that happening to me at least several times.
On one occasion, I dozed off to sleep and strayed off the road into a ditch and fell on my face. Another time we were hiking in a column of twos along a road and I (fell asleep) wandered from the right column to the left one. One of my fellow soldiers wearily said, “Ragsdale, get on the other side of the road where you belong”. I remember saying, “Just push me and I’ll move over.”
A person’s legs just continues walking, nevertheless, the body takes over and requires some sleep
There were times when the ground was so muddy that a soldier simply couldn’t lay down, or sit down. So, three or four of us would form a huddle, put arms around each others shoulders, lean forward and snooze for a short while.
Sometimes Yankee ingenuity came to the rescue during the war.
Floyd
424th Regiment
The first 14 days of the Bulge campaign were very hectic for the 424th Regiment.
The front lines were very fluid during that period. My memory reminds me of the short daylight hours and long nights. We were short on sleep so much of the time. When the troops should have been resting they we were hiking a great deal of the days and nights.
The body can get so drained of energy that a soldier would go to sleep while walking. I recall that happening to me at least several times.
On one occasion, I dozed off to sleep and strayed off the road into a ditch and fell on my face. Another time we were hiking in a column of twos along a road and I (fell asleep) wandered from the right column to the left one. One of my fellow soldiers wearily said, “Ragsdale, get on the other side of the road where you belong”. I remember saying, “Just push me and I’ll move over.”
A person’s legs just continues walking, nevertheless, the body takes over and requires some sleep
There were times when the ground was so muddy that a soldier simply couldn’t lay down, or sit down. So, three or four of us would form a huddle, put arms around each others shoulders, lean forward and snooze for a short while.
Sometimes Yankee ingenuity came to the rescue during the war.
Floyd
424th Regiment
