Today is December 21st. 75 years ago my Dad was still up in the Hürtgen Forest, but as the day progressed things began to change quickly. The day started with routine mortar support of infantry trying to advance on the Roer River.
But,this was clearly a ruse as the unit had received orders to detach from the engagement and move to an assembly area. The battalion diary reads “Company D fired 71 rounds of HE and 34 rounds of WP, observed fire, on Untermaubach to support an attack by the 330th Infantry”
But, after dark Company D moved to an assembly area in the town of Brand, Belgium. Dad remembers packing up the equipment for the move and traveling in the dark on icy roads. The move to Brand was only a 11 mile drive from Gey,
but remember that changing the direction of an army’s advance by 180 degrees is a logistical challenge of the highest order.
Yesterday I said that I would tell you how a short stint with a radio may have saved Dad’s life. You may recall I mentioned members of the mortar battalion would be assigned to the infantry as forward observers to direct the fire. Dad would periodically take his turn in this role
and strap a radio on to his back. Late in the war he recalls wearing the radio and coming under fire.. He felt a sharp pain in his back. The radio, but not Dad had been shot. Bits of radio penetrated Dad’s back causing superficial wounds.
He refused medical evacuation, not out of heroism, but concerned that if evacuated he might be assigned to a less experienced and less reliable unit. Here is a picture of the type of radio he used. You can easily see how it protected him 
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