WAR IS NEVER EASY, and sometimes victory requires a lucky break. Think about that moment in March 1945 when the U.S. Army managed to seize a bridge over the Rhine—a major river and an operational obstacle of the first order. No one on the Allied side thought getting across was going to be easy. And then suddenly they did just that! As elements of General John W. Leonard's 9th Armored Division approached the river on March 7, they saw to their astonishment that the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen still stood. Hardly pausing for breath, they rushed toward it. The Germans set off explosives, and eyewitnesses actually saw the bridge lift off its foundations—then settle back down again, intact. Soon the U.S. Army was pushing everything it could across the bridge, establishing a powerful bridgehead on the Rhine's eastern bank, and preparing for a thrust into the heart of Germany. That quickly, a terrain barrier that might have held up the Allies for weeks had been overcome. General Courtney Hodges, commander of the U.S. First Army, wasn't the ebullient type, but he couldn't contain himself: "Brad," he shouted over the phone to his commanding officer, "we've got a bridge!" General Omar Bradley, commander of the U.S. 12th Army Group, responded with one of the war's great comebacks: "Hot dog, Courtney—this will bust him wide open."
No comments:
Post a Comment