An Old Friend

National Archives

Sgt. Ted Collier, C Company's supply sergeant, came into the CP carrying a case of K Rations, for some reason Cpt. Palminteri loved the damned things. "Hey Skipper, you'll never believe what's out front."

Palminteri sighed and said, "Collier, how many times have I told you not to call me 'Skipper'?"

"Oh yeah, sorry Sir, but like I was saying..."

"Ted, your mouth is always running, get to the point would ya?" Palminteri said that with a grin. He liked his supply sergeant, but the man was one step above a pirate.

"There's an L.T. out front with two Kraut prisoners. One's a sergeant of some kind, the other looks like he should be in grammar school. The L.T. says he knows you so he brought you a couple of presents. I guess he means the Krauts."

Palminteri picked up his helmet and his carbine and said, "Says he knows me, huh? Well, I guess I need to see this for myself. Stow those rations under my cot, let's have a looksee."

When they stepped outside, sure enough, two Germans were sitting on the bench out front. Standing to one side, his back to Palminteri was a lieutenant, something about him seemed oddly familiar.

"Whaddaya got there lieutenant?" Palminteri asked the lieutenant's back.

That man said, "Sarge, cover these two guys for me, would ya?"

Collier unslung his Garand and said, "Sure lieutenant."

The lieutenant turned and said, "Miss me Cap'n?"

It was 1st Lt. Nathan Paddock.

Leutnant Manfred Sauer and Hauptfeldwebel Klaus-Peter Keller were both looking at the company's disbursing officer, Unteroffizier Hans Berthold. Berthold's arm was in a cast, he'd broken it badly two days ago. He should have been evacuated to the rear, but he refused to go.

"Herr Leutnant, if I go back, I may never get to rejoin the company again. Behind the front, everyone has gone insane, you haven't seen it, I have. The GFP and the SD are running wild, stringing up anyone they suspect of being away from their unit without orders." Berthold explained.

Keller pointed out, "You're wounded, that's obvious, and..."

"You don't understand Spieß, a gunshot wound is one thing, a broken arm, could be self-inflicted."

"But the Sani has the forms which..."

"The forms he has are out of date, we have new ones supposedly coming in, I'd be arrested in a second with those old forms."

"How do you feel about surrendering?" Sauer asked out of the blue.

"Sir...?"

"I know you Hans, you're not a fanatic, you're an accountant in civilian life, yes?" Sauer pointed out.

"Yes but..."

"You've done a fine job with the company, but frankly we have two choices, surrender, or die. Do you wish to die, Hans?"

"Certainly not Sir, but..." Sauer knew that Berthold had a pretty wife back in Rendsburg, a town in Schleswig-Holstein on the Kiel canal, he also knew that that wife was pregnant with their first child.

"I need you to go on a special mission for me. You'll be going with Grenadier Finkel." Sauer nodded towards Finkel who was waiting nearby. Finkel looked sixteen but was actually twenty-two. He was one of the company's marksmen and was a deadly shot with his scoped G 43 rifle. But he was also sick of the war. He had had a letter from his parents, both of them were terrified that he was going to be killed, he was their only son.

"Finkel, huh?" Berthold said, "Good man. He wants to surrender too?"

Now that Berthold seemed convinced, he was thinking that he might actually survive to see his wife again, he listened as Sauer brought Finkel over and briefed Berthold on the plan.

"What the Hell are you doing here Nate?" Palminteri said as he engulfed Paddock in a bear hug. "I thought you found some cushy job in the rear so you could be with your gal, what was her name, oh yeah, Beth, a nurse right?"

Palminteri's heart sank when he saw a cloud pass over Paddock's face.

"You're thinking of Beth McGee, she was Stephen Hernandez' lady friend. Edith Parsons, is my lady, they're both Army nurses, well, Beth was, but..."

"Ah Jesus Nate, did something..."

"She's dead Cap'n. Killed in a Kraut air raid while she was in London at some conference. Miles from the front, miles from the fighting, she still gets killed." Paddock's voice was low, there was a lot of pain in that voice. "Hernandez doesn't know yet, that's the other reason I'm here. To tell him."

"Man, I'm sorry Nate, but what's the real reason you're here?"

"I'm your new XO, I'm here to help you kill Krauts." Paddock was abrupt in his tone, as if to say, you can send me back, but I won't stay.

"Okay, okay. Now tell me about these two birds." Palminteri gestured at the two Germans.

"Now that's a story, can we go inside, the Kraut on the left speaks English. The one who looks like a kid, he's one dangerous son of a bitch, but it seems both of them are tired of the war. As are their battalion and company commanders." Paddock nodded his head at the German in the cast.

Once inside the CP, Palminteri looked at the English speaking German, "So, you speak English."

"Yes Captain, I do. I am Unteroffizier Hans Berthold, I was an accountant before the war for a firm which did extensive business in the United States. I have traveled to Boston, New York, and even Washington DC before the war. I am my company's Rechnungsführer, or disbursing officer." Berthold explained.

He continued, nodding at the younger man with him. "This man is Grenadier Kurt Finkel. We belong to the 5th Company, 2nd Battalion, of the 8th Panzergrenadier Regiment. Our battalion commander wants to finish this. He would very much like to surrender our entire unit."

"An entire battalion?" Palminteri's eyes went wide at that.

"We are really the size of a weak company, we have lost heavily since Köln, which I believe you refer to as Cologne. Most of us know that the war is lost, we stand a good chance of being killed to the last man before our leaders see the futility of continuing the war. It is time to end this." Berthold paused, then said, "Would you accept our surrender, if we can figure out a way to arrange it amidst this ongoing insanity?"

Palminteri's first thought was how good that would look on his record, might even make major from it, but he could also save lives. That would be fewer Krauts they'd have to fight in the long term.

"Yeah, I need to talk to my commanding officer, but I think he'll go for it. Winters!" He yelled out into the connecting room.

Cpl. Jacob Winters, C Company Communication Sergeant, popped his head in, "Sir?"

"Get on the horn to battalion, tell Major Josephson to come here fast as he can. We've got a surprise for him." Palminteri was excited about this.

"Surprise?"

"Ask him if he'd like to accept the surrender of a Kraut Panzergrenadier battalion."

"Seriously Sir?"

"Seriously, hop to it!"

"On it Sir!"

"Nate?" Paddock kept looking at the door.

"Sir, I have to find Stephen."

"2nd Platoon is down the street, turn left out the door, two streets down. Tell Stephen I'm awfully sorry."

"I will Sir. You figure out how to make that surrender happen. I'll gladly do the paperwork." Paddock set off to tell his successor the terrible news of Cpt. McGee's death.

Nate Paddock, when he had commanded 2nd Platoon, had written many letters to tell people he didn't know about the deaths of their loved ones. This would be the first time he would be telling someone he knew, and respected, of a death. The death of a lovely woman who deserved far better than this.

He did not think that there were many millions for whom the same could be said, but not one of them was as close a friend as Captain Beth McGee had been.

He wondered when it might be appropriate to tell the world of his proposal to Edith, and her acceptance. Conditional upon the end of the war.

Would this damned war ever end?

There were days when he felt it would last forever.

Like today.

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