This is from "Battle: The Story of the Bulge," by John Toland.
In a remote secluded area in the Ardennes south of the town of Meyerode, Belgium stands a monument built by Belgians dedicated to Eric Fisher Wood, Jr. Executive Officer of "A" Battery, 589th Field Artillery Battalion.
On December 16, 1944, the Battle of the Bulge broke furiously on the Ardennes front. The four (105 mm M1) howitzers of Battery A, 589th Field Artillery Battalion, 106th Infantry Division, were emplaced in the rear of the little village of Schlausenbach on the northwestern slopes of the Schnee Eifel, supporting the 422nd Infantry Regiment of the same division.
The 2nd SS Panzer Division and 6th SS Panzer Army were breaking through the American lines. The commander of "A" Battery, Captain Aloysius J. Menke had been overrun at his forward Observation Post and taken prisoner. Lt. Wood became acting battery commander. Through a gaping hole torn in the northern sector of the 106th Division's defense positions, the Germans were swarming around the left flank and rear of the infantry. Three German tanks pushed along a road, one leading and two others off the road in the draw. Lt. Wood, from his command position, shouted commands to his No. 1 piece gunner, John Gatens, who with two shots destroyed the lead tank. No. 1, was the only piece in the entire battalion which could reach the tank. The lead tank destroyed, Wood then ordered all four guns to fire on the remaining tanks that were below the hill. He did this with high elevation fire and one powder bag instead of seven. The remaining two tanks were disabled. He then swept the woods around him with short-cut fuse, breaking up the enemy's infantry support.
By nightfall the battalion was ordered to fall back. Wood, and the men of Battery A tugged until they freed their howitzers from the icy muck and loaded eighty-three rounds of ammunition for each piece in their trucks. Battery C however never got out. Battery B escaped ahead of A, and the two outfits fumbled through the dark over a narrow corduroy trail, while the enemy, with white phosphorus shells, hunted for them. They reached their new positions by dawn
The Germans were bursting through in force the morning of the 17th. The battalion commander ordered the outfit to move out again and push through Schönberg and west toward St. Vith.
On the 18th of December, the battalion pulled trails and headed for Schönberg, along with the two infantry regiments, the 422nd and 423rd. Wood got two pieces rolling and sent a third howitzer, with a crippled truck with them. "I'll meet you west of Schönberg," he told the section chief, Sgt. Barney M. Alford, "if I get there." The last howitzer was stuck so Wood stayed with its crew to get it out. By now krauts had overrun Battery B, and its howitzers were abandoned, leaving only four of the battalion’s original twelve.
The three howitzers sent ahead by Wood (the only ones of his division that made it out) crossed the Our River to fight again. They were the only artillery available to hold the right flank of the 82nd Airborne Division at the "Parker's Crossroads" (a delaying action on the northern shoulder of the Bulge that allowed the defense of the Elsenborn Ridge) effectively stalling and dooming the German offensive.
After freeing the stuck howitzer Wood and the twelve man crew rolled down a steep hill into Schönberg, Belgium. A German tank stuck its nose out, but then disappeared into the village. Germans pursuing them fired on them. As they raced through the village, immediately in front of them another German tank appeared. The situation was hopeless. The other men in the truck raised their arms in surrender, but Eric ran dodging bullets as he disappeared into the forest.
Later that afternoon a Belgian woodsman, Peter Maraite, in the woods near Meyerode cutting a Christmas tree, saw two Americans, one was a big man with single silver bars on his overcoat. He had a pistol. The other was smaller and wore no insignia of rank. He was armed with an infantryman's rifle. Peter took the two Americans to his home, fed them, allowed them warm themselves and dry their clothes. The villagers warned them that the country between Meyerode and St. Vith was full of Germans. This did not seem to discourage them. Woods said, "I'll either fight my way back to my outfit or I'll collect American stragglers and start a small war of my own."
For weeks the villagers heard sounds of gunfire from within the dense forest. Germans patrols were sent into the forest, but none returned with prisoners. Daily, wounded Germans came out of the forest. The Germans gossiped, "Those damned bandits were like ghosts, you never knew when a bullet might come your way." Days went by until the middle of January. The Americans had begun slashing back through the area, the Germans were on the run. When the Germans left, the people of Meyerode combed the woods. In a dense thicket southeast of Meyerode they found the body of an American officer, with single silver bars. Near him lay the bodies of seven German soldiers. They all had been killed at about the same time. An American graves registration team later fixed the time of death to be about 22 January, 1945. The American body was that of 1st Lt. Eric F. Wood, the leader of the small band of American guerrillas that had been harassing the Germans. He still had in his clothing, his papers and 4000 Belgian Francs, a sum that any German looter would not have overlooked. It seems that 1st Lt. Eric F. Wood, Jr. died as he lived - a free man, taking with him the last of his pursuers.
Please watch this video about Eric Fisher Wood, American Hero.
H/T: bkmck
