1 of 6: So many incredible stories from the #BattleOfTheBulge. Here's another.
Norbert Gubbels, a replacement soldier with 1st Battalion, 12th In. Regiment, 4th In. Division was resting in Luxembourg when the Ardennes Counteroffensive kicked off on Dec 16.
Norbert Gubbels, a replacement soldier with 1st Battalion, 12th In. Regiment, 4th In. Division was resting in Luxembourg when the Ardennes Counteroffensive kicked off on Dec 16.
2 of 6: Gubbels' Battalion was rushed into the fighting that day. During the struggle, Norbert came upon this enormous mansion where he found ~ 20 GIs taking refuge. (60 years after WW2, Norbert learned that the estate was the home of Rene Deltgen, Luxembourg's most famous actor)
3 of 6: The frozen bodies of dead German Soldiers lined the snow outside the mansion. On Dec 19, Norbert noticed a mortally wounded German stormtrooper writhing in agony. Norbert convinced his fellow GIs they had a moral duty to risk their lives to bring the injured German inside
4 of 6: Norbert and the GIs risked incoming fire to run 150 yards out to the man with a blanket and carry him inside. For the rest of his life, Norbert remembered the rosary beads the German trooper held. "He adores the same God I do, and here I am trying to kill him."
5 of 6: Without getting graphic, we'll say that the German corporal's wounds were gruesome. He could not be saved. Norbert allowed him to die in dignity: he bandaged the wounds & gave the man morphine & a shot of Brandy. He prayed w/ the enemy combatant until he died that night.
6 of 6: Norbert Gubbels (here at 88) lived a long, happy life after the war, raising 10 children with his wife Rita on his Osmond, Nebraska farm. He left the limited bounds of this world five years ago at the age of 89.
