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Good Morning—But The Nightmares Never End: Read an Excerpt
We stood near the pontoon bridge that had been built by American engineers, but we were barred from crossing by the Russian soldiers. The American officers explained the situation. This was one of the sites for the exchange of prisoners—on Russian terms.
An American truck would pull up on the far side of the river and discharge its cargo of Russian prisoners repatriated by the Allies. As one Russian would start walking across the bridge, one Allied soldier would be allowed to start from this side, the two passing in the center. It was a slow, agonizing process that had been going on every day since the declared end of hostilities and was just like the rumors I'd heard in Luckenwalde. ...
...The Bailey bridge was constructed primarily for the crossing of tanks and trucks. It consisted of two narrow steel treads about 18 inches wide, attached to floating rubber pontoons for buoyancy in the swift river. The bridge swayed a bit with the rush of the current. With no railings or supports of any kind, the bridge presented quite a challenge to the one navigating it on foot. This was especially true for this old infantryman. I was so excited and yet so physically exhausted that I fell to my knees several times and had to crawl a few feet before I was able to regain my feet.
I would have crawled on my hands and knees if I would've had to, but somehow I found that last bit of strength to proudly walk to Freedom. I'm sure I must have had a helping hand from the Lord above. He gave me the strength to stand up and take those final steps across the river. Tears of joy streamed freely down my face as I made those last unsteady steps across the Elbe from captivity and death to Freedom and life. Stepping off on the other side, I stumbled and collapsed into the arms of two American soldiers. As they were supporting me, my eyes locked in on the most beautiful sight imaginable: A big, silver Timberwolf insignia emblazoned on the door of the truck. I was home, back among my own. I had crossed the Elbe River and was Free. ...
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