In one village, a German civilian met the GIs with a white surrender flag and escorted them to a large wooden building, where they found a room full of German Luftwaffe personnel eating supper.[1]

The airmen said they were hoping to surrender to the Allies because in a day or two, they were going to be transferred to an infantry division—a certain death sentence. With no fuel left for their planes, their war was over anyway.

Phil and his men spent their nights in German houses, giving the indignant owners five minutes to clear out. The GIs had no sympathy for them at all.

In France, American GIs did not forcefully “requisition” French houses for overnight stays and camped outside in tents because France was an ally. The situation was different for Germany, viewed as a belligerent adversary.

After eight months of constant combat while battling merciless Germans through France, the men reveled in the creature comforts of electricity, hot water, flush toilets, soft white toilet paper, and clean, comfortable beds.[2]

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[1] Larimore, At First Light, 220.

[2] Ibid, 220-221.

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