The Pittsburgh Press (May 31, 1944)
Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
Somewhere in England –
I went out the other day with a tank-destroyer unit. They have been over here long enough to form an opinion of English weather but you can’t write it in a nice newspaper like this.
It was the first time in ages I had been with a combat outfit which had not yet been in battle. There isn’t so much difference as you might think. The really noticeable difference is their eagerness to “get a crack at the Jerries.” After they’ve been cracking at them a few months, they’ll be just as eager to let somebody else have a turn at it.
But outside of that they talk and act about the same as men who have been in combat. They cuss a lot, razz each other about their home states, complain about the food, take great pride in their guns, and talk about how they wish they were home, just as though they had been away for years.
This unit has been training together for nearly two years. They don’t yet realize what a terrific advantage that gives them, but they will realize it as soon as they are in battle.
They are a vast team of firepower composed of dozens of little teams each one centering around one gun. They have done it so long they know automatically what to do. They all know every man on the team and they know his personality and how he will react. They have faith in each other. Only those who have fought know what confidence that produces.
A typical gun commander is Sgt. Dick Showalter of Muncie, Indiana. I have a special reason for mentioning him. For while I was talking with a group of soldiers, he came up and introduced himself and said: “I married a girl from your hometown.”
Now things like that are always happening to me, except that nine times out of ten the people are mixed up. People will come up and say, “Don’t you remember me? I used to deliver papers at your house.” And it will turn out they lived in a town I had never heard of, and were thinking of two other fellows.
When Sgt. Showalter said he had married a girl from my hometown, I slightly arched my handsome eyebrows and said, “Yes?”
“Yes,” he said, “I married Edna Kuhns.”
I said:
Why, I was raised with the Kuhns kids. They lived just across the fence from our farm. I’ve known them all my life.
“That’s what I said,” said Sgt. Showalter. And then we left the crowd and sat on the grass, leaning against a rock, and talked about Dana, Indiana, and Muncie and things.
Sgt. Showalter worked in factories before the war. He has been commander of his gun for more than a year and a half. He is a small fellow, quiet, serious, conscientious, and extremely proud of his crew and of the way they take their responsibility.
One of Showalter’s best buddies in his crew in Pfc. Bob Cartwright of Daytona Beach, Florida. He is a cannoneer – a small, reddish, good-natured fellow.
When we met, I said, “What’s that you’ve got in your mouth?”
He grinned and said, “Chawlin’ tobacco.” Which was just what I thought it was.
He manages to keep well stocked by trading stuff with boys who don’t chew. Bob is very young. He didn’t know much when he came into the Army, but Showalter says he’s the best there is now.
As I said, the boys are very proud of their guns. They say they’ve had fine training and lots of practice on moving targets. They say that on direct fire they can hit a moving tank at about a mile and almost never miss. They’re anxious to get at it and get it over with and get back home.
They know it won’t be easy on the other side. They’re living rough now. But they know it will be lots rougher pretty soon.
They know, they’ll be on C and K rations, and they’ve had experience with them on maneuvers. But when I spoke of our best ration – the 10-in-1 field ration – they had never heard of it.
They have been working hard since they hit England. They’ve made long night trips and done a lot of practice firing and sometimes they have to work as late as 10 o’clock at night.
When I saw them, they were making preparations for moving overseas. It takes a lot of work to get your equipment ready for an amphibious move. They’ve worked so hard they haven’t had time to get bored. There are some American outfits that have been here for two years without action, and there are Canadians who have been marching up and down for four years. How they’ve kept from going nuts is beyond me.