A Soldier's Tale

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bergsjaeger
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A Soldier's Tale

Post by bergsjaeger »

I thought of doing something differnet as the AAR goes. Hope they don't move this and i hope at least some one likes it but if not everyone is welcome to commit. And keep in mind it takes awhile to move the story along. It may take me awhile to get another reply written out. But anyways here it is.

Bergsjaeger= mountain hunter
Last edited by bergsjaeger on Sep 10 2005, edited 2 times in total.
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bergsjaeger
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Post by bergsjaeger »

January 2, 2010

The world isn’t what it use to be 5 years ago. I have decided to start this journal because of the isolation and boredom here. Many things have happened here in Alabama since 2005. Most of it has been terrible to the me and other people in this state. People couldn’t cope with the burden and some had enough of it so they committed suicide. Even here in Centre there was more than 3000 that took their lives. The most disturbing thing that has happened to me is both my father and mother have died in the past 2 months from losing their battle with of all things the flu. I tried to help them the best I could but it was all in vain due to me being sick too and the winter was extremely cold and there not being enough propane to keep the heaters going. I barely myself lived though the sickness but am alive for now. The price of all petroleum products had sky rocketed last month to the point were I couldn’t even keep my truck running so I had to buy a sick thin horse that looked like it would kill over the next day but that was all I could find for the money I had. But after a month the horse can be ridden again. Most of my family have moved from the state to find work because there isn’t many here anymore. Most of the plants here that were open in 2005 are closed now and the people here don‘t have that much money anymore to pay for much. My brother has moved to Muscle Shoals last month because he heard that there was still jobs there and the housing was cheap and he needed to leave here. He brought along his wife , daughter, and twin sons. I hope they can make it in Muscle Shoals. He was the last of my family members that lived around here and with him gone I have no more family members that live close to me matter fact there is no one that lives less than 20 miles from me. The isolation is starting to get to me the only thing that helps is when I go hunting in the woods for something to eat and come March I will have to plant a garden again just to have something to eat through the winter if I have no luck in hunting anything and planting a garden is all I got to look forward to.
GLM

January 21, 2010
Been several days since I wrote in this journal. Mainly because I been still sick, luckily I’m about over the flu, and I been busy cutting some wood got a wood burning heater. It helps with the cold and I had to kind of borrow it from a house that been abandoned for 2 years. Got a letter from my brother yesterday. At least the mail system still works. The power and phone systems been out for a month now and it seems they will never come back on. They said on the radio “due to shortage in manpower and finance the systems won’t be functioning for a week” but that’s been 3 weeks ago when they said that. But anyways back to my brother’s letter. He’s doing fine now. Got a good job and a nice house. Good for him. But he also said he had to take a trip to Murpyeesburg,, Tennessee because the place he works needed parts of some kind. The strange thing was he was stopped at the Tennessee line by the Tennessee national guard and they said that no one from Alabama were allow to go into Tennessee. Strange. I mean Alabama and Tennessee been having problems but it shouldn’t concern the people from the states. My brother said that there was a lot of Tennessee military active going on across the Alabama and Tennessee line. Don’t know exactly what this means but surely Tennessee isn’t planning for a war with Alabama. Lucky my brother was smart enough to turn around and go back the way he came.
GLM

March 21, 2010
Been awhile since my last entry. There hasn’t been much news since last time. Haven’t even got a letter from my brother. And that worries me because there hasn’t been much news of any kind from people across the Tennessee river. The Alabama national guard has closed all roads going across the river. The reason for this caused a lot of rumors but the only way I heard any is from my radio, but I won’t be able to hear much more long because the batteries are about dead. A lot of people said its because of a terrorist attack others say that the Tennessee army has invaded but you would think someone would know why.

GLM

April 15, 2010
Well its confirmed finally got some more batteries. The Tennessee army did invade but was stopped at the Tennessee river. And that explains why I haven’t heard from my brother. All of the north side is in Tennessee’s hands except Huntsville its still held by some of Alabama’s garrison. But I doubt they will hold out if they don’t get help soon. And now I wonder when the draft be set in place.
GLM

April 20, 2010
Well the draft went into affect yesterday. All men age 18 and older. I hate to be them I thought but today I got my draft letter. I’m ordered to go to Birmingham by charter bus. Maybe they got me mistake by someone else. I mean I’m 27 years old. Surely they meant to get someone younger.
GLM

April 22, 2010
Here I sit in an apartment across from the Birmingham base. They picked me alright and I never be sure why and to top it off I got commissioned as a Lt. Now that’s strange I never been in the military so why did they give me rank. Was it because of my age? And now I got a platoon to train and command. What are these people thinking. The best I can show these guys how to farm. I mean I’m not cut out for the military right now. But on the good side I’m being trained too. The battalion I being sent to is the 1st light infantry. The guys there already have nick named the unit the “Cougars”. Funny that sounds more like a football team. I hope this is a good unit to be in. The unit was being formed up 2 weeks ago and its being trained for mountain combat. Not sure why I guess we be fighting in the upper areas. That be like at home when I be in the mountains hunting except this time it be other people instead of wild game.
GLM
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bergsjaeger
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May 1,2010
More than a week has past. The training my unit and I are going through is intense. I am dead tired but still training goes on. 20 mile runs is good exercise and a few more like those will either make me able to run forever or make me drop dead in my tracks. These men I will command seem to be the best. We have out paced all of the other units in our battalion. If we keep up the pace we could be done in 2 weeks. All of the men I will command are a bright and decisive bunch. Men? All of the guys in my platoon aren’t even old enough to buy a beer but they should be because they act like men my age or older. Guess they know what will happen if there is a war, think the reality of it made them more mature. All of the men think I been in the military awhile but what they don’t know is I been getting officer’s training as well as the basic all of them is going through. Now I have learned to command and getting the hang of commanding a platoon. Which is not an easy task for one first try at it. The guys in my platoon ask me all the time what did I do before all of this. They actually are starting a bet to see who will guess what my profession was. I think the pot is up to a 1000 dollars. I think I bet too considering I might be the only one that can guess it right because the only job I ever did was in construction but that was a long time ago. So I guess I was a farmer before all of this. I got to know the 4 sergeants is my platoon. They seem like capable fellows. Sgt. Mellows was this first one I meet when I got here. He’s a funny guy. Always joking about things. He reminded me of my father when everything was better. Then there’s Sgt. Cooper. Now he’s a strange one. He’s always talking about his M-16. He even named it “Betty Bop” . Not sure why but I need one a little crazy. Sgt. Taylor seems like a born leader. He even has his squad to run drills for 14 hours straight none stop and they still like him. He will be my second in command if I ever need one. Then there’s Sgt. Warren. I don’t know that much about him. He doesn’t like to talk much. Maybe things happen to him before he got here. He will be a loose cannon I think if he is too traumatized but he can tell his squad anything and they will do it.
Lt. GLM

May 13, 2010
Well hate to see this day come but glad too. Hate it because its my birthday but now even my birthday doesn’t mean much anymore. Still training but the unit is almost done with training. I have already got orders to move out with the rest of the 1st Mountain Division when all our training is complete. The orders read that along with the rest of the division we are going to Muscle Shoals. Well that is good news in away because I been wanting to see my brother and see if everyone else is alright. So that be the first thing I do when I get there. Like see my brother’s face when he sees me.
Lt. GLM

May 20, 2010
Well we have arrived in Muscle Shoals. Now its time to look up my brother because I already told the sergeants what was needed to be done. So I have some free time. Now if I can just find Hazel Street.
Lt. GLM

May 20, 2010 6:00 pm
More sadness today. Will it ever end? I wanted to see my brother but when I got to where he lived the place leveled. There was debris everywhere. Did the Tennesseeans do this? I had to ask. So I seen an old man walking by. So I ask him what happened at my brother’s place. He said it was bombed during one of the air raids during the Tennessee invasion . So I asked him about the people living in the house. He said no one survived. I nearly wept there. My brother and his family gone. I can remember looking up to my brother when I was little and all the memories I had growing up with my brother. His kids I can remember playing with them when they were little. I was their favorite uncle. Now I been wondering if I have anything to fight for. Now I do. Revenge. Not one of the Tennesseeans will get away with this. If there is a war I will make it a point to kill as many of the Tennessee soldiers as I can especially the one that ordered the air strikes over Muscle Shoals. But before anything else I had to see their graves. I made a promise to my brother while I stood there looking at his grave that I will stay alive and come back someday.
Lt. GLM

May 28, 2010
Well its official. Alabama is going to war. The date of the attack will be June, 2. The 1st mountain has been ordered to reinforce the 1st and 2nd infantry after they take the north side of the Tennessee river then help push on to Florence. Its so surreal because just yesterday I went up to the staging area which was on the river bank. I seen Tennessee military everywhere on the other side. How can we take that side with so much hardware looking back at us. June 2 will be a battle alright. I took the time to scan the other side with field glasses. At one time I wish I had my hunting rifle at the time. I seen a Tennessee colonel walking up the bank. I so loved to take him out. They will pay June 2. On the way back to camp I remember I told the platoon I tell them what I seen but now I’m not sure because what I seen might discourage any man.
Lt. GLM

June 1, 2010
Tomorrow morning is a big day. The Captain Silvers came by earlier because he wanted to go over the plan with me. He said that my unit will be one of the first to cross after the 1st and 2nd infantry. Not sure if it’s a honor or curse. But I’m ready either way as is the men. He said also that we are to move to Florence as fast as possible on foot because our humvees won’t be able to get across for 2 days. 2 days? That means we be out of transport for awhile it seems. But on foot. Well I guess the 20 mile runs were for something. At least we won’t be alone with 2 other battalions to help us. But they are garrison. Their not as equip or trained as the 1st mountain so it will end up us holding the line. The captain also said there be two other advances. One at Huntsville and the other will be to retake Scottsboro. The plan seems good but all we are going to do is retake Alabama’s land back. Not invade Tennessee? I guess there isn’t enough men to do that. I hope the other advances take some pressure off of us. As for me I’m hunting that colonel I seen the other day. Hope I can make it through this.
Lt. GLM

June 6, 2010
While I sit in the infirmary I guess I can update this journal. The night before the attack it rained for 5 hours. The Lightning striked all the time it rain and it was not the normal kind. It was colors of red and white. Didn’t know if this was a blessing or omen. The rain turned to fog during the morning of the attack as it has always during the summer time here. Well I thought this is good. It would give us cover. I got geared up and order the platoon to be quite as possible we moved down to the river bank. The 1st and 2nd infantry were getting all the platoon boats ready. When all of the sudden mortar attacks started to rain down on our side of the river bank. I yell out to my platoon to find cover. It seemed all of the 1st mountain had the same idea. When we got back into the woods. I checked to see if anyone was missing. Luckily no one was from my platoon but there was some missing from the other units. My unit looked scared to death but I stood up while the mortars still rained down. I had decided see what has happened to the 1st and 2nd infantry. This caused my soldiers to regain faith. I don’t know why because I was scared to death too. What I saw nearly made me vomit. There was dead everywhere. Total carnage. Bodies missing limbs. Some of the soldiers were yelling medic. So this is war. The ones that weren’t killed or injured from the 1st and 2nd infantry were still trying to load up the boats to get across a lot managed to but some were shot trying to. So the one’s that were still in the fight started crossing the river. The other side of the river opened up with more mortars and machinegun fire. A lot of the 1st and 2nd dead in the river. Out of 20 boats 5 made it across. It reminded me of the scenes from D- day. I was amazed and shaking at the same time. Here I am about to cross that. Then the order came from captain Silvers. The whole mountain division came alive. All of us came out of the woods. A lot of the men were screaming at the top of their lungs. We made it to the boats and started across. The gunfire was intense. There was soldiers dying all around me. I lost 10 of my own men crossing and I took a bullet through my left arm. Another bullet ricochet off my helmet But we made it across. Before we even got out of the boats Tennessee soldiers were rushing toward us. So the men of the 1st Mountain opened up while still in the boats. The fighting got so close that the ones that were out of the boats were in hand to hand combat. I managed to get out with just one arm and with the help of Sgt. Taylor. As we got ashore we joined the other soldiers in the fight. I had to stay back because I was fighting with one arm. I killed my first human being on that river bank. Shot him through the chest while he was about to stab one of my men. There was many more after that. The fight lasted more than an 30 minutes but we finally managed to control the river bank and the Tennessee units were on the run. So the rest of the 1st mountain pushed up the bank while I got patched up by the medic. Then I moved up to were the rest of the unit was. The unit moved on up toward Florence but we came under sniper fire. But we took out most of the ones shooting at us. By dark we were out side the Florence city limits and not a single Tennessee soldier was found. So the 1st mountain dug in and there was orders for all injured to make it back across the river to get medical attention. I didn’t want to go but I told by the Major Johnston himself to return to the infirmary . So here I sit. The 1st mountain is still dug in but now they got their humvees. The doctors said I be out in a week. They don’t know I’m planning to AWOL tonight. I want to get back to my unit. I have to find out if their ok and whose not with us anymore. But I know Sgt. Taylor will take care of the men till I get back . Luckily he’s still alive. My other sergeants were killed crossing the river.
Lt. GLM
Last edited by bergsjaeger on Oct 21 2005, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by bergsjaeger »

June 7, 2010
I’m sitting here back in the 1st Mountain camp. I ran into Major Johnston awhile ago. He asked was I released from medical. I told him I was. He laughed and said “Sure”. But then he said he had some grave news. Captain Silvers was killed yesterday by a sniper. Then he said he’s thinking about putting in a word for me to take Silvers’ place because of how well I performed during the river crossing.. Me commanding a company? Well isn’t this getting better and better? I had some more bad news from Sgt. Taylor too. My platoon had lost over 25 men including all of the NCOs except Taylor in the crossing but we did better than the other units. The total death toll was 400 out of the 1st Mountain but the 1st and 2nd Infantry was much worst. Out of 1400 men only 50 made it out alive. This is war it seems. But my God most of the 1st and 2nd were nothing but kids. Why did they have to be brought into all this. I’ll never understand it.
Lt GLM

June 9, 2010
Well word came today we will be trying to take Florence tomorrow night. Well that’s good at least we can hide some this time. There is also word going around about something called the World Market. Seems its something like the UN use to be. Where were they when Tennessee invaded. Wonder if they had any part in the invasion. Either way I don’t trust them. Heard that the other 2 advances are doing a lot better but they got artillery and tanks along with them. All we got is humvees. But they are keeping the pressure off us for now. Well Major Johnston did it some how. I be commanding the 1st company in the attack. I requested that Sgt Taylor take my place in the 2nd platoon.

June, 11 2010
Where do I start. Florence has fell but at a great cost. I still can hear the Major saying “fix bayonets” . I thought were we really going to get that close? The major then said “Charge”! as loud as he could scream. On a mile long line the 1st Mountain charged on foot and in humvees right at Florence. I was in one of those humvees. I thought at least I got something to protect me. Wrong because after the humvees moved just a 100 yards flares started popping up in the sky revealing us then mortars started raining down and Mg‘s from the roof tops of the buildings. One of those mortars struck my hummer on the driver side killing my driver and causing the hummer to flip over from the blast. I was knocked out for a second when I woke Sgt I saw Taylor looking down into the hummer at me asking me something as I saw tracers flying by him but all I could hear was bells. I think he was say “are u ok”? I managed to crawl out taking my gun with me. As I got out and stood up a bullet went by my head hitting Taylor in the helmet causing his helmet to fly off spinning. I went to him to see if he was ok this time. Lucky he was and he keep asking were his helmet was. I told him forget it as I dragged him up so we could rejoin the attack that was over 500 yards toward Florence by now. As we got closer to the 1st we begin to see bodies everywhere. Maybe someday I will get use to this but right now it still makes me sick. As we rejoin the fight the Major told me to move my company in a hook to the left through some hedgerows. As we came through the hedgerows another Mg across an opening started to opened up into the front of the group but there was so many of us and we were so close that we overwhelmed the 2 men manning the gun. Then I assembled what was left of my company and headed right for main street.
As we were turning a corner between two building heading toward main street one of the men hollered “tank”! But it was too late because a tank round went through the front men and blasting a hole through the building on the left beside them collapsing it on them. I had to fall back with the rest of the men even if it was painful leaving the buried ones. The ones in the tank will pay. I double back so the other building would cover us. We flanked the tank. It was still looking down the same way were it blasted the building. I had 2 men seek up on the tank and place C-4 on it. When they got back I told them to give the detonator to me. I clicked the C-4 off. The blast threw the tank on to its side. I ordered the men to charge the tank and kill anyone they see trying to get out. I seen a lot of flashes and a lot of shots. I think they wanted revenge too. We moved back to the collapsed building to see if we could find some survivors. All of them was crushed. No should die like that. All 15 of them were put in body bags. When we were done I heard a lot of foots steps coming up the road. I ordered the men to be quite and set up an ambush. As the men we heard come by we realized it was men of the 1st Mountain . We came out of hiding. They told us that the Tennessee was pushed out of Florence and are on the run. Major Johnston was coming up behind all the men. He looked at the tank and just smiled. He walked a few steps farther and stopped in a streetlight. A shot ranged out and the bullet struck the Major in the neck. I heard a lot of gun shots after this but they sounded distant but they weren‘t it was the men of the 1st shooting the sniper. Several medics rushed to the Major after the shooting stopped . For several minutes they worked on the Major but finally they gave up. The Major was dead. Now what will we do? We decided to move to the North city limits and dig in until orders came. Don’t know what we do now with the Major gone hopefully we get a new CO like the Major. Until then the XO Lt Folley is in charge. After we dug in I made a count of our casualties out of my company alone 30 dead. Out of the whole 1st another 150 dead with 50 wounded. If we keep this up the whole division will be wiped out. We need some replacements but if we get any I bet they be more kids.

Lt GLM
Last edited by bergsjaeger on Jun 16 2005, edited 2 times in total.
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June 13, 2010
Well yesterday was an awful day. Spent most of the day helping the other soldiers load the dead into trucks to be shipped back to Montgomery. Being in the mud didn’t help any. It rained all day. Heard they will get a ceremony of some sort. Well the 1st got some replacements. I was right they were all kids. What has happened to the men my age? It seems I’m the oldest one here in the battalion besides Lt. Folley, whose still in charge. It seems he be the new CO. Now I wonder who will be the new XO. Why do these guys have to go through all this. A lot of them talks about their girlfriends and what they will do when they get back home. Home? I wonder how my garden is doing? I bet its been thieved over. Well Sgt. Taylor has managed to get my company into the bet on what I did before the war. The pots up to 5000 dollars now. To beat it all Sgt. Taylor said “I wasn’t allow to bet“, and he added it would be cheating if I did. I asked him what would happened if I get killed before one of them finds out. He just laughed at that and said “I don’t have to worry about that“. That strange. I wonder what he meant? I have men in my company asked me all day long what I did. The men asked did I do nearly job it seems. I still waiting for one to asked was I a farmer. When that is asked then I let that one win the bet because I have got tired of saying no to the silliness. I know it keeps the men in better spirits but I’m not in the mood for some reason. It doesn’t seem any of us be going home anytime soon and it seems some of us will never come home alive. The Tennessee government won’t sign a ceasefire. Well they started it all to begin with. They should be glad we’re not taking their lands yet. It looks like the Alabama military is planning that. The whole 1st has been going through drills all day today. The 1st and 2nd battalion has been training together for some reason. It seems the naming of battalions is catching on because now the 2nd calls itself the “Coyotes”. The other 6 battalions in the division have been training together too. It seems the 1st and 2nd will be together on something while the rest of the division goes somewhere else. That kind of worries me. They are sending the bulk of the division away while only 2 battalions either defend Florence or attack somewhere else in Tennessee. The problem will be that the “Coyotes” are still way under strength and the “Cougars” are still a 100 men short. So hopefully if we attack somewhere it be a less threat than what the rest of the 1st might go through.
Lt. GLM

June 15, 2010
Got news about the units to the east. They have been stopped at Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. It seems that is where the bulk of the 1st is going. The question still is where are the 1st and 2nd battalions going? Don’t like this. I know the east group had national guard and engineer units but they also had light infantry, Abrams, and arty with them. What could possibly stop them? I have no idea but I bet I get an answer tomorrow. The bulk of the 1st is gearing up like they are getting ready to leave. It seems we will get orders too.
Lt. GLM

June 16, 2010
Well I was right again. We are ordered to move north to we run into the railroad tracks that run the length of Tennessee. Then head west following the tracks. West? The only major city is Memphis, Tennessee and it has a military outpost to the north. The tracks also run all the way to Memphis. Surly we aren’t going try and take Memphis with only two battalions? The rest of the 1st is going to Lawrenceburg. Hope they make it ok. As for the 1st and 2nd battalions, we are not sure what we are getting into but we are hoping General Harbarce knows what he is doing.
Lt. GLM

June 18, 2010
Well we made it to the tracks yesterday. Its funny, we never met any Tennessee soldiers all the way to the tracks. Now we are heading west like we were told. In a couple hours we will be at a railroad bridge. That is were I expect we run into some Tennessee soldiers. Surly they will guard that. There is also a water works on our side of the bridge. If its not guarded then we can take it along the way. Right now I think I dose off for the next two hours.
Lt. GLM

June 18, 2010, 6:00 pm
Well we took the water works 3 hours ago. We were heading to the bridge and were about to cross when the other side of the bridge lit up with gun fire. So the 1st and 2nd return fire. The fight last less than 30 minutes. The other side of the river went silent. So Lt. Folley sent 5 hummers across the bridge. One came back and said the way was clear. When I got across I seen hummers and men laying everywhere. Found out it was the 35th Tennessee Engineer battalion. Well that’s good not sure if we destroyed the whole battalion but its seems if we didn’t then we really hurt them. After both battalions were across. We stopped to check the area out. Found a lot of dead soldiers and some were still alive. So we had to take them prisoner. Maybe they can help find out what the Tennessee military is planning. We took an account to see if we hurt the battalion good, over 300 were dead 25 injured prisoners . The rest of the battalion are either dead or on the run. Either way we have took out a whole battalion without losing one man. But something has got to me. Most of the dead Tennessee soldiers were kids like in the 1st and 2nd battalions. So Alabama isn’t the only one with recruit problems. After this the 1st and 2nd moved on west while 2 squads out of the 1st moved the prisoners back to Florence. Maybe we won’ get into a fix after all.
Lt. GLM
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bergsjaeger
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June 20, 2010
We had to stop early because of all things we ran out of gas. Most of the gas was sent to the east army. The east army has been renamed the 1st Alabama Army. The 1st Mountain made it to Lawrenceburg yesterday and the 2 squads that left us 2 days ago made it back today. They said the 1st Mountain helped the 1st Army push Tennessee out of Lawrenceburg. The combine forces to the east is only 250 miles from Nashville, Tennessee. It be a dream to take Tennessee’s capital. Then maybe all this will end and these kids I command can go home. I doubt they will let me leave for sometime. I got a 6 year tour to go through while the soldiers that aren’t officers only have a 1 year tour. For now the 1st and 2nd battalions are sitting 300 miles from Memphis without gas. I hope there isn’t a counter-attack for awhile.

Lt. GLM

June 22, 2010
It’s getting crazy in this war. The 2nd battalion has got orders to go to Jackson, Tennessee to relieve the 1st Special Forces who captured the city the day of the war. Jackson is over 300 miles from where we are now. The 1st battalion is ordered to precede down the tracks toward Memphis. My God surly they aren’t planning to take that place with only one battalion now. At least we have got our units to full strength. Maybe the Ten’s are occupied with the 1st Mountain and 1st Army to deal with us. But Jackson is on the interstate that runs from Nashville and Memphis. That means if the Ten’s send reinforcements to Nashville then the 2nd is in one hell of a fix and there be no way we could get to them to help them. Hopefully the 1st Special Forces is still in good shape to fight. They will be the 2nd’s only help for now. As for the 1st I think we are marching to our doom. Maybe some of us will make it out alive.

Lt. GLM

June 24, 2010
A lot has happened in the past 2 days. Heard from a recon unit that the 2nd had made it to Jackson to find the 1st SF in bad shape. The 1st SF had to fight off several attacks but managed to hold Jackson but they lost half their men. So the 1st SF is going back to Birmingham for a break which they really need. As for the 2nd battalion they are to hold Jackson until new orders come. They maybe there for the whole war it seems. Yesterday the forward recon units in the 1st battalion ran into the Ten’s forward recon units for the 2nd Armor battalion. There was a fight but the 1st’s recon drove off the Ten’s recon but the 1st recon lost 10 men. Something tells me we're in for a fight soon and it be against tanks. Tanks? None of the 1st have ever went up against a whole battalion. The only tank I seen in this whole war was in Florence. That was in a city fight. We are right in the open. One tank could slaughter a lot of us. I don’t know what to think right now but Lt. Folley decided to dig in where we are for now. I guess to see what will happen. At least we be in foxholes instead out in the open.

Lt. GLM

June 26, 2010
Lt Folley was right about digging in because yesterday a patrol seen tank columns no more than 5 miles from here and it seems to be the whole 2nd Armor Battalion. I don’t like the odds but there is nothing between us and Montgomery. Our only help will be the 2nd Battalion but their to far to help us if there’s a fight tomorrow and besides its vital that they hold Jackson. Lt. Folley gave a speech today it was kind of inspiring. The speech was brought on because one of the soldiers asked “ should we retreat”? Lt. Folley just looked at the boy then said “Retreat to where son? We’re the only one’s that can stop the tanks there is no one else. If there is point them out to me and I considered retreating. Do you want the Ten’s controlling your lives with fear. I be ashamed if I thought that. I learned there is nothing to fear about a soldier with a gun pointing at you , a tank thundering after you, and a plane circling like a vulture. Why fear them? They bleed like the rest of us. Yes we might lose tomorrow or the next day and if I am to die tomorrow then I make sure its such an end that it will be remembered forever, and such an end that the Ten’s will fear any Alabamian they see. We aren’t promised to live forever. The second you are born your already dying. Do you fear it so much you will run from it? You will never outrun it. It will always catch you and it be when your alone with no one around to remember you. The second you realize this then you will learn running from something even if its your death is no use. I will hold no one responsible if they decided to leave but the ones that stay will be braver than the ones that are driving those cursed tanks and you will be remembered even after your dead. And I be damn if I let even one of those brutes come close to my home. My way of life. That‘s why I stay. What will we come home to. The life we lived before this or under some tyrant’s boot. I rather die before that happens”. With that he left. The soldier that brought that on was actually smiling. I think he finally realize why we are fighting. I was ordered to set my company on the right flank in the woods looking across a field that was probably a farm at one time. We dug in and the asking of my job started again. More no’s and it seems the guys are getting father off more and more of the answer I wanted asked. I told Sgt. Taylor earlier that I’m going to kill him when this is over. He laughed and said “ I could if the Ten’s don’t beat me to it”. He found his helmet from Florence and he still wears the thing with a hole in it. Said it was a lucky charm. The bullet missed his head by a eighth of an inch. I believe he’s lucky alright. Right now I got a headache for some reason guess its time to lie down for awhile . Be glad when I get a soft bed again. These foxholes are getting hard to sleep in.

Lt. GLM

June 28, 2010
I woke yesterday to all kind of commotion. The Ten’s had decided to attack the whole line. When I raised my head out of the foxhole I saw 6 M1’s 300 yards away barreling toward my company and me. I got up as quick as I could and told the company to stay down. I told the LAW troops to hold their fire until the tanks were within range. As they got within 60 yards of the company I told the LAW’s to open fire and fire at will. The first volley took out 2 of the tanks but other 4 tanks knew where we were. They started fire with their cannons hitting a 100 yards on my right side. I seen soldiers fly up out through the trees and land in the field. I hollered at the LAW’s to give them hell. Then I realized 5 more tanks were coming over the ridge 500 yards out in the field. The LAWs were firing like crazy at the front 4 tanks knocking out 3 more. The last one decided it was going to plow through the woods were we where. Lucky 2 of the LAW troops knocked out. Then the Ten’s that survived in the tanks started trying to get out. I told the rest of the company to open fire. As did I. It was a turkey shoot. We managed to kill 16 men. The other 5 tanks started to attempt the same thing the other 4 did but they started to fire before they even got a 100 yards from the ridge they came over. There was shells hitting all over us and Mg bullets were dancing over our head. A lot of men were getting thrown up by the blasts landing in their foxholes and the one‘s trying to get out of their foxholes were being hit by bullets. I hollered at the LAWs “take those things out”! but I realized the LAW team was killed by the bullets. I told the soldiers with me to help me get the LAW’s going. There 5 of us crawling out of our foxhole toward the LAWs as bullets whizzed over our heads. We managed to get the LAW launchers and crawl back to our foxhole. We loaded the LAWs up and fired a volley. We took out 2 of the tanks. The other 3 zeroed on us with Mg fire pinning us down. It seemed like forever and the Mg fire was so intense that the sound of the bullets passing overhead became so loud it was deafening us. No one of us attempted to get up. One of the men cracked and started crying for his momma. Then all of the sudden we heard a roaring sound. We figured the tanks were about to run us over. We heard a soldier said “It’s the air force, the air force is coming”! Sure enough it was the Alabama 1st a-10 Squadron coming over. The radio man with me gave me the mic. I told the air force to bomb the area in front of us and along the entire line.. 3 minutes later the other 3 tanks were being blasted and a lot of other tanks that was attacking the other companies. There was a deafen cheer all through the line. I lost sight of the a-10’s as they circle back to Alabama. Angel on our shoulders. After the fight we counted how many tanks were destroyed. There was over 40 tanks smoking in front of us and soldier laying all around them. In my company I lost 37 men and 24 injured. In the entire battalion 114 dead 56 injured. The 2nd Armor Battalion had lost 120 men. We haven’t received any new orders yet. We are still dug in in the same spot but I think we will head west again soon. Right now what’s keeping us busy is clearing the dead from the field and burying them all even the Tennessee soldiers. Even if I want to kill as many of them as I can the unit think they shouldn’t be left to feed wild animals and rot in the open.

Lt. GLM
In war destroy everything even the livestock.
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I'm enjoying this! Like the smell of napalm in the morning :) Keep it up!
- David
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bergsjaeger
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July 1, 2010
Well it’s a month into the war tomorrow. It seems we will win the war. I hope that’s true. Had some replacements come in. Still a lot of kids but one wasn’t. He was more my age. He was a husky fellow and goes by the name Victor Medan. I never want to get in a fight with him. He one that I would shoot before try to fight. He was put into my company and he’s a joking type and laughing all the time. I think he be a good addition. The replacements brought new orders and recommendations for the 1st battalion. It seems the unit has been noticed. Even my company. There will be 68 purple hearts, 15 bronze stars, 5 silver stars, one courage under fire, and one Dixie Star (I think it was like the Medal of Honor) that will be given to my company when we get back to Birmingham. I will even get 3 of the medals myself. The purple heart, a silver star and the courage under fire. They said I be getting the courage under fire because I had my company hold the line. I was told the 2nd company ran at the sight of the tanks. I never knew my company was holding the right flank by ourselves. Lucky we held on until the A-10’s came. Hope that doesn’t happen anymore because we have been ordered to hold our position until the 14th and 15th light infantry makes it here. Well it seems we will have two more battalions with us. There will be two others going to Jackson to help the 2nd battalion. I bet they are all green kids. Hope they can hold their own or they won’t do us any good.

Lt. GLM

July 4, 2010
This day would have meant something years ago but now its just another day it seems. The 14th and 15th finally have arrived. Looked like they been in a fight before they got here and they were. I overheard one of their major’s said that the remnants of the 2nd Armor had circled our position and set up an ambush for them. Glad it was only 10 tanks or so because the 14th and 15th as out in the open. They would have surly been wiped out if it wasn’t for the 1st A-10 Squadron coming to their aid. The 2nd Armor did manage to take out 2 humvees loaded with men and badly damaged 6 others. 20 men total dead and 25 others injured. I guess that’s not bad. Could have been worse. Now that the 2nd Armor is gone maybe we can move out without trouble. I still think we’re in for a mess. The outpost at Memphis probably has forces still there. If we come close to Memphis even with a recon or patrol then those forces might come out after us especially if Nashville falls. With 2 battalions fresh out of training and the 1st battalion still under strength we will be in real trouble if they do come out. What we need is at least have the 1st A-10 support us but I bet they are supporting the 1st Army and 1st Mountain right now. So I guess it’s a do or die now if orders come to take Memphis.

Lt. GLM

July 6, 2010
Well the 1st Army and 1st Mountain have finally encircle Nashville. They are bombing the place to hell right now with arty. Maybe it help with the assault into Nashville. Its funny I rather be in their shoes right now. We however are still moving to Memphis at a slower than usual pace. I don’t know what gives. We have moved only a 100 miles in the past 2 days. Maybe Lt. Folley is being cautious. I guess we all should. The Ten’s might be wanting revenge for wiping out most of 2nd Armor. Let them come I been wanting a fight since the 2nd got wiped out. I guess I get a fight when we get to Memphis.

Lt. GLM

July 12, 2010
I been celebrating some. Medan talked me into the celebration. Why we celebrating? Nashville fell 2 days ago. It wasn’t as bad as everyone thought it be. Course we lost over 5000 men in the assault. The 1st army lost 6 battalions. 2 armor and 2 light infantry and one each of engineer and national guard. The 1st Mountain on most lost the 8th battalion and lost over 600 men but the Ten’s lost 25 battalions, 4 air squadrons, and 3 helio squads. Their total death count was over 15000. The 1st Army is cleaning up the area while the 1st Mountain moves to Jackson. I think the assault on Memphis will come next because the Ten‘s moved their capital to Memphis. I guess that was expected. No wonder we were going that way. It be up to all of the 1st Mountain that is left to take it. As for the 8th they went back to Birmingham to be reinforce and hopefully relax some. Maybe the 1st A-10 will help in the assault but I’m not sure I heard they got beat up pretty badly in the fight. Either way I got to lie down for awhile I got a headache. Maybe I celebrated too much.

Lt. GLM

June 14, 2010
Well word came that the 1st, 14th, and 15th will keep moving west as planned. The 1st Mountain picked up the 2nd, 16th and 17th battalions at Jackson and are moving south east. The 2 groups are heading for one place. Memphis. We will be there in 2 days while the 1st mountain will be there in 3 days. That worries me some. We will be a day without any help from the 1st even if they come south east as fast they can go. So if the Ten’s want to make or break us any in this war it be when we get to the city limits of Memphis. Hopefully the 1st get the attention of any Ten units around Memphis while we move in unnoticed. The 1st A-10 won’t be helping either. We still might be in for a fix.

Lt. GLM

June 17,2010
I don’t know what to say. The battle for Memphis was something I hope I never see again. I’m alive but a lot of my men aren’t. They died brave with smiles on their faces. We made it to Memphis yesterday. We thought we had all the Ten’s fooled. So we set up camp in some woods looking across a open field with a view of Memphis and dug in for the night. Around midnight one of the soldier’s in an OP started hollering “their coming“. This woke me up and I seen flares passing overhead as I got up to look. Over 500 yards away I saw soldiers coming at us. They didn’t run at us at first but as the flares reveal them they charged at us screaming at the top of their lungs. I kicked the soldiers that were in the foxhole with me. I got them up as the 1st line started to open fire with Mgs and mortars. I told them to shot anyone that is in the field as I got out of the foxhole to check on the my mortar team. I was wondering why they haven’t fired any yet. They were still asleep. I jumped down into the foxhole with them and dragged on of them up and pointed across the field. I think he understood because his eyes got wide. Because the Ten’s had moved the distance of 400 yards and were getting close. He got the others up and they started firing as I ran back to my foxhole. As I got in bullets started to fly by. One just missed my ribs as it cut through my jacket. The men in the foxhole were laying down in the hole. Scared to death I guess. I just looked at them. I then looked back at the blob of Ten’s coming at us. Raised my rifle and started shooting into the blob. The Ten’s were falling everywhere as the 1st kept pouring into them with Mgs and rifles. As they got within 50 yards of me, our mortars started raining down on the front of the Ten’s. Every time some tried to go through the area of mortar fire they disappear into the sky and the one’s being hit by the mortars were throwing blood all around me. I kept shooting. After it seem like eternity the Ten’s fell back and I was still shooting them as they ran away until a mortar go to close to me. I was struck by shrapnel in my right arm and the blast threw me back against the other side of the foxhole. I slid into the foxhole holding my arm as one of the men with me hollered for a medic. The medic gave me morphine. I don’t know if I was knocked out or the morphine kicked in. I woke the next day still in the same foxhole with my arm patched up and the men that were with me missing. I got up and looked across the field. There was dead everywhere. Some were missing limbs and others were much, much worse. Over 400 Ten’s dead. With the 1st 14th and 15th with minor injuries like mine. The 1st Mountain had moved to Memphis during the night and were poised to attack. We attacked through all the dead right at Memphis running and with humvees as the 1st attacked from the north. All of the sudden the Ten arty opened up on us and the 1st. I saw shells hitting all in front of me as I ran. The men in front of me were being blown away but I keep running until I got past the kill zone. After I made it to a small hill just outside Memphis I stopped and formed up the rest of my company as other units rushed by. I moved my company to the left of the hill moving between some buildings. I then told the 2nd and 3rd platoon to clear all the buildings. As the 2nd platoon entered one building a arty shell struck the building. I ran into the building. Some of the platoon was dead the others were hurt pretty bad. One of the one’s hurt was Sgt. Taylor. I set the 3rd to help the 2nd out of there as I moved on with the rest of the company. We moved up until we were half way into the city standing beside a road with building on both sides. Still more arty rained around us causing men to disappear. Then all of the sudden the arty stopped firing. I took this as a bad sign. I sent the 4th platoon across the road to the buildings as I took the 1st platoon into the buildings close to us. We set up for an ambush. I was right because a lot of Ten’s troops started to come down the road. I had told the 4th and 1st not to fire until I do. I waited until the Ten’s were only 40 yards from me. I started to fire from a window in the 2nd floor of one of the buildings as the platoons started to fire from all kinds of places. The Ten’s had no where to go. They were on the road out in the open. A complete turkey shoot. The firing lasted 5 minutes but after it stopped a 102 Ten’s laid dead. Not one of them was alive. We left them there as we moved into the city as the 3 battalions from the 1st mountain came up main street. The other battalions had attacked the outpost to the north. After a brief fire fight on main street the Ten’s surrendered. The 14th and 15th were no where to be found. Later in the day we found out why. Both battalions were lost. They ran into two battalions who were set up for an ambush on the left side of the 1st battalion as we ran into the city. All the men of the 14th and 15th were killed. The 1st Mountain had lost over 2000 men with 200 injured taking the outpost. I have lost over a 100 men with 20 injured. The total death count for the Ten’s was over 5000 with 400 injured. We had to take the one’s still able to walk as prisoners and move them to Montgomery and as for the one’s injured we had to doctor them up with our medics until they are able to be moved to Montgomery. I heard we be going to the east next and help the 1st Army take out Knoxville. Well that’s good. Get rid of these Ten’s along the way and get my injured men better medical attention. But before we leave we have to clean the dead from the area. I will have to bury a lot of my men along with all the Ten’s.

Lt. GLM
In war destroy everything even the livestock.
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July 20, 2010
Well another day. We are moving east again. Heard the 1st Army has pushed all the way to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Tennessee government has moved there after Memphis fell. 1st Army has been ordered to take the area while we move north of Chattanooga toward Knoxville, Tennessee. The 1st Army maybe in for a fight. The Ten’s air force moved to a airstrip that is south east of Chattanooga. Tomorrow we can drop off the injured and the Ten prisoners at Florence. Then maybe we can move on faster. We got to get to Knoxville which is over 500 miles away and the only thing in the Ten’s way is the 1st Army. If they are attacked by the Ten‘s, there will be no help of any kind for them until we at least get to the interstate that goes from Nashville to Chattanooga. That will be at least 4 days from now.

Lt. GLM

July 23, 2010
Well we picked up some replacements while we were in Florence yesterday. Well finally they either ran out of kids or starting to take older men into service because all the replacements I got were either a year younger than me or older. Right now we are within a days drive from the 1st Army. They will not attack until we are east of them. They are sitting 70 miles from the bridge that will take them right into Chattanooga. Sgt. Taylor wasn’t as severe as I thought. The doctors said he be out in 2 weeks and he will be able to go home but I doubt he leave the unit. The rest of my men that were injured in the Memphis battle were about the same as Sgt. Taylor. Well tomorrow we will be east of the 1st Army. Maybe they can take the Chattanooga area without much trouble. As for us Knoxville is still a long drive to get to.

Lt. GLM

July 25, 2010

Everything was going according to plan. Except yesterday when 2 Ten national guard units rushing by us on the south side of the Tennessee river. They were heading to Chattanooga because the 1st Army was attacking the city. The Ten’s never made it there. The 3rd and 4th battalions went across the river at a ferry crossing. After half a day of chasing the Ten’s the 2 battalions finally caught up with them. A fight broke out but after a hour of fighting the men in the 2 Ten battalions were either dead , injured, or on the run while the 3rd and 4th battalions lost only one man. Now the 3rd and 4th are on the other side of the river moving east with us. Heard the 1st army has taken all the outline area of Chattanooga. By tomorrow the city will fall if the 1st can survive the air attacks that are making sorties out of that airstrip. As for us were still going to Knoxville. I never been there maybe it will be an experience.

Lt. GLM
In war destroy everything even the livestock.
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Post by Ladislav »

excellent aar. all your missing are screenies and it would be amazingly good!
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Post by bergsjaeger »

Thanx for the commits so far. I was wondering if anyone was liking this AAR and was it worth continuing. If no one liked it though i would have keep going. The hard part is keep going. If i told the whole story then it will go through 3 scenarios :o because the 1st light infantry has been through them all. :lol: thinkin about what to type has gave me headaches at times. But it will continue when i get a chance to. And as for screen shots i'm not sure they would work with this AAR. But will think about using em.
In war destroy everything even the livestock.
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July 28, 2010
For the past 2 days there hasn’t been many changes. We haven’t seen a single Ten soldier anywhere. I bet they are hold up around Knoxville. If that’s the case then I hope the 1st army can move up to help us finish off the Ten’s. The 1st army as taken Chattanooga as well as all the area around Chattanooga even that cursed airstrip. Heard it got bad yesterday. The Ten’s were dig in for a fight and their air force keep coming out bombing the 1st army. But after a half of a day Chattanooga fell. The 1st lost over 300 men. The Ten’s however lost over 5000. After the airstrip fell the 1st Mountain seen a lot of their planes fly over but they seem about to crash. I hope they do. We still heading to Knoxville and the 8th has finally been refitted and got all its replacements. So the 1st Mountain is full strength now. Seems Knoxville has become the 4th capital of the Ten’s and they still won’t sign a ceasefire. So we will keep fighting it seems. I will never understand the Ten’s. Why do they keep fighting. They can save a lot of men just by stopping the fighting but they won’t. Also heard that WM thing has gave equipment to the Ten’s. I knew they couldn’t be trusted. Wonder if we will ever have to fight the WM. Hope not it seems they run the show. If it came down to it we would fight them too. The only changes that has happened was a lot of soldiers got a higher rank. Seems the officer slots need to be filled. Lt. Folley was made a Major. Guess they couldn’t have a Lt. in charge of a battalion. Sgt. Taylor will become a Lt. if he decides to come back to the unit. Hedan was made a Sgt. I think he will take Sgt. Taylor’s place, well I should say Lt. Taylor. I know Taylor will be back. I was surprised when I got a promotion too. I will be a Captain. Guess they need a captain to run the 1st company. The only fear I have is the last captain was killed by a sniper. Hope its not bad luck. Right now my only worry is the base to the north east of Knoxville and us sitting less than 100 miles from Knoxville. There has to be more units at that base besides the 2 national guards that tried to go by us. Tomorrow we be going by Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Which is good considering the town’s in the Appalachian Mountains. Finally we can fight in a place where we are trained to fight at. The Ten’s will catch hell if they come after us there. Let them come. I don’t think the 1st mountain has shown the Ten’s our full potential yet.

Capt. GLM

July 29, 2010
Well we have found out we can excel in the mountains. After we went by Oak Ridge we set camp in the mountains looking to the south east toward where Knoxville is. Don’t know what the Ten’s were thinking. They sent 4 battalions of 2 engineer and 2 national guards at us in broad daylight out of their last base. We could see them over 50 miles away coming at us. So we set up for them. Had all the Mg’s in the front and all the mortars in the back with the riflemen in the middle. We knew they had to leave their hummers just to get at us. After 2 hours we heard the Ten’s coming up the mountain. When the Ten’s got within 50 yards of us, we opened up on them. Ten’s were dropping everywhere. The first wave was the easiest to push back. They had only 2 men out of a hundred run back down the hill. Then there was 5 more like the 1st but they added more men each time and all 5 meet the same fate. After the 5th try I think they got mad and sent what was left of all 4 battalions up the mountain. There was Ten’s coming at us on a mile long line. They keep marching up the mountain to us and we keep shooting them even shot some as they rolled back down the mountain. After they got a 100 yards from us their numbers were down to less than 3 squads. They started with a size equal to a battalion. The fight lasted less than a hour. 3 of the Ten’s battalions were completely destroyed while the 4th was mangled running back to their base. After the 4th left we when down the mountain to count the dead. There was over 1600 dead with only 2 injured. We lost only 3 men. We buried them all like we always do. Got word the 1st Army has made it to Athens, Tennessee without seeing a single Ten soldier. Well this fight is on most over it seems. In a couple days the 1st army will be set to attack Knoxville from the south west. While the 1st Mountain will attack from the North west. After Knoxville and the base close to then maybe all this will be over.

Capt. GLM
In war destroy everything even the livestock.
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July 31, 2010
Tomorrow will be a important day. About 70 miles from Knoxville, the 1st Army has circled Knoxville and took their last airstrip in the south east. Don’t know what the Ten’s air boys going to do now but I bet they will run out of fuel somewhere. Until then they are still dangerous. The 1st Mountain had been ordered out of the Appalachians. We are to move south east and encircle all the northern part of Knoxville. Tomorrow we will attack Knoxville and its outpost in the north east. Hopefully it will be nothing like Chattanooga. Seeing this is going to be the Ten’s last stand it will be worst than any battle yet. They got nothing to lose except their lives. I really don’t like this. We don’t even know what we are up against. It might even be the whole Ten army and we been fighting decoys the entire war. I hope that’s not true. Either way it seems tomorrow we will find out. But good news. Ran into Lt. Taylor today. He wasn’t fit to fight but he was determine to anyways. Still wears that same helmet with a hole in it. Keeps saying “I told u it was good luck.” If he just knew how lucky he was. When that arty shell hit it missed him by only 5 ft. What saved him was another man was in the way of the blast and shrapnel. That man was a mess. Maybe he won’t have many more of those close calls. The way he is though he might charge the Ten’s by his self.

Capt. GLM

August 3, 2010

A lot of times 2 days ago I thought I wouldn’t be here writing this. We came out of the mountains during the night. We made it to the interstate that ran from Knoxville all the way to the Carolinas. We were making good time but as we got within 20 miles of Knoxville, arty shells started to rain down all over the interstate. I could see hummers being hit and flying up into the sky maybe a mile in front of me. My driver had beat me to saying “ oh hell”. Major Folley came on the comm. And said keep going. My driver asked what should we do. All I could say was “ hammer it down”. So my driver floored the hummer. As we got close to the zeroed in area a shell just missed us but hit the hummer behind us. We keep going as the shells keep raining down. The barrage got so bad it was lighting up the inside of the hummer and it was like it was never night. We finally got out of the barrage after a lot of close calls. I looked around after we were in the clear. A lot of the 1st Mountain had made it through. I could never see how many never made it through because the barrage was still raining down. We continued down the interstate. After we got 5 miles we ran into a lot of Ten’s infantry. The 1st opened up as the infantry started coming out of the woods beside the interstate. We keep going down the interstate as my gunner and all the 1st gunners filled the road side and woods with bullets even if the Ten’s were peppering the hummers. I seen a lot of tracers go in front of my hummer. Then I started to see LAW’s pass by. All of the sudden we ran into Ten soldiers standing on the interstate. I told my driver to run them down. I noticed the other 1st units up front with us had the same idea. We plowed over several soldiers and broke through. We went more miles until we seen a sign saying “Welcome to Knoxville” We were on the outskirts of Knoxville finally. I could see arty flashes on the horizon. I figured either that was the 1st Army attacking or the Ten’s had the 1st zeroed. As we were making our way into Knoxville we came under fire from more soldiers. The soldiers were everywhere. One of the ten soldiers managed to put a bullet through the windshield passing between me and my driver and striking my gunner in the left leg. I told my company to follow me as we made turns through Knoxville. Everywhere we turned Ten soldiers fired at us. We finally found an alley way were no one shot at us. I told my company to disembark and follow me. As we left the alley way Ten soldiers spotted us and opened fire on us. I managed to get no one shot and retreated back to the alley way. One of my men found a open door leading into one of the buildings beside us. We went through the building as we went we made sure it was cleared. We went up the stairway to the roof. When I sent a squad up onto the roof to make sure it was clear a fire fight broke out. I sent the rest of the company up with me. We found the squad I sent first ran into another Ten squad. My squad dealt with the Ten’s without losing a man. I set the company all around the roof. Ordered them all to shoot any Ten soldier. 2 hours pass without a sign of any soldier even ours. We been hearing a lot of shooting going on 2 blocks away. Then all of the sudden we heard a lot of people coming down one of the roads. We seen over 300 Ten soldiers coming down the road toward us away from were the shooting was happening at. I told my men to “Give them hell” as they came to a cross road in front of the building we were on. We managed to kill a lot of them but the rest run into a building across the road. After a few minutes that building lit up with gun fire. Bullets were flying over our heads and I told my men to stay down and keep quite. After a few minutes the firing stopped. We seen the Ten soldiers come out of the building heading to our building. I told my men to open up on them. A lot more Ten’s laid dead. The rest finally got the idea to leave. As it got dawn we heard tanks rolling up the road. We weren’t sure if they were ours or theirs. So we stayed down until they came by so we could see who they were. As the first tank passed we seen they were ours. One of my men got up and started to wave. The tank noticed him and stopped. The gunner and commander of the tank came up out of the tank and said Knoxville was in Alabama’s hands. One of the men asked about the outpost and it too was taken. After the battle was over the death count for the 1st Mountain was 400 with only 3 injured as the 1st Army had 5000 death and 65 injured. The ten’s lost over 10000 men and 1000 injured. Tomorrow the Ten’s are to sign a unconditional surrender. The war is finally over. There has been many things I have seen that I hope I never see again. Hopefully there won’t be another war for awhile. As for me I got 6 years still to go through. Heard there was some kind of reunification vote going on. Seems the Wm wants Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia to become one country or something. Don’t know why. I guess we don’t have to worry about the Ten’s winning it now. Either way I be glad when the 1st Mountain is back in Birmingham. Those soft beds are calling me.

Capt. GLM
Last edited by bergsjaeger on Oct 21 2005, edited 2 times in total.
In war destroy everything even the livestock.
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Location: Woods Bend, Alabama,USA

Post by bergsjaeger »

I never have plan to go any farther than the AAR is now. I can go on but the thread be huge. :o Now what i need to know from anyone should i go on. Is it worth going on or not. if it is then i try to get something on here when i can and if it isn't then it won't bother me and i see the AAR as finished.
In war destroy everything even the livestock.
CrazyCarolinian
Sergeant
Posts: 19
Joined: May 03 2005

Post by CrazyCarolinian »

you should keep going this is one hell of an AAR
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