Marshall was well aware of this and he was very tired of running around in World War One uniforms. "I got tired of this crap," he said. "I decided to change my vocation." He was transferred to the Headquarters Company as a Military Occupation Specialist. He gave tests for Officer Candidate School and other specialist schools. "I put in for Adjutant General Candidate School," he added.
On May 8th, 1943, he passed the test for Officer Candidate School. Marshall was then a bit thin and was declined as underweight. His commanding General ruled that if he was good enough to serve in the Army, he was good enough for OCS. The quota for this school was full by the time the General made his ruling, so Marshall did not get in. They told him to try again. "My attitude was, 'up yours!'"
He applied for and was assigned to Military Intelligence training at Camp Ritchie, Maryland. The course was to last for three months and he describes it simply as, "Plain Hell!" He graduated in October of 1943. The training was as an Intelligence NCO (non-commissioned officer) with the rank of Corporal. He was trained to collect and interpret information on enemy activities.
One fascinating thing about the school was that all the personnel taking the course were stripped of rank during the course. He took the course with officers up to the rank of Major and various ranks on NCO's. They all went through the course as equals and he enjoyed this a great deal.
The concept behind the training was that 90 percent of all intelligence data was obtained from POW's (prisoners of war). The idea was to question them as soon after capture as possible, when the shock of battle provided the best time to obtain information by interrogation.
These men were assigned to IPW teams as soon as they could be brought back from the front. Marshall was also trained in photo interpretation. He explains that it was possible, for example, to study a picture taken from an airplane for clues. A muddy road bearing the marks of tracks of a certain width and distance apart indicated a particular type of vehicle or tank. It was known what units had these things and in what strength. It told them the size and type of unit hidden from view by camouflage. This was very useful in determining what forces would be needed to destroy the target.
It was just this sort of information that alerted the Allies to the missile development center at Peenemunde which was then quickly destroyed by bombing from the air. It was also the way the British discovered the launching ramps on the channel coast that sent thousands of V-1 buzz bombs at London. Clearly, Intelligence is a very useful unit in war and peace. It is also the source of such information as how large enemy armies are, how they are organized and equipped and even the tactics of specific generals.
Marshall learned Italian and then they surrendered. This became a useless talent at that moment. He learned Morse Code and the plan was that this should take ten hours. It took him four extra. The intriguing thing is the trick he was given to finally accomplish this. the idea was not to listen to dots and dashes, but to the combined sound they made as a letter. This is much the same way people understand speech.
He was somewhat disappointed to be sent back to San Francisco for assignment to an "S-2" or intelligence unit at a Battalion level. This was soon over as a train carried him to Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky. He was with the 417th Field Artillery Group and this contained four Battalions of 155 Millimeter Howitzers. He was in the Headquarters S-2. It is interesting to note that the career change did not get him out of the artillery. He was wearing proper World War II attire now and this certainly made him feel more like part of the war effort.
They went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma as school troops to train officers in artillery operations. He remembers this as a very hot summer.
It was broken by an alert for overseas deployment. They were sent to Fort Hood, Texas. He recalls that they were there for Christmas and New Years . . . on maneuvers in freezing cold. There was more military intelligence training for him. He got to see captured German equipment taken in the North Africa Campaign. School troops there were dressed in German uniforms. They were taught the skills of infiltration and operations behind enemy lines. British Commandos taught them the fine art of dirty fighting.
Another train ride to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey followed for embarkation on a troopship. The vessel was British and her name was Arrowa. She had hauled meat from Argentina to Bermuda during peacetime. The thousands of troops crammed aboard slept on hammocks in the holds. They came up on deck for meals. This had little appeal due to seasickness and the menu. Cooked cabbage was a major part of the fair and it caused further stress on very upset digestive tracts. Marshall found that he could buy a box of Hershey bars from the ship's store and survived on these. It was a fairly smooth crossing and he did not suffer seasickness like some of his comrades.
The voyage lasted about ten days, so she was faster than the Liberty ships and slower than the Queen Mary. Half a dozen Corvettes screened the convoy as the anti-submarine escort. These ships were based on prewar whale catcher designs suitably modified. The could do 17 knots (about 20 miles per hour) and were 200 feet long. they were not as big, fast and powerful as the American Destroyer Escorts, but they were about the minimum to do the job. The British were really strapped and it was important to spread the resources as far as possible.
The convoy split in two as it neared the coast of Ireland and he was very unhappy about this. It left half as many targets to choose from for the enemy. They landed at Avonmouth on the Bristol Channel coast. There was a short stay at Camp Barton Stacey. "Wherever the hell that was," said Marshall. They did get to London on a pass for a day and a night. One last fling before they hit the Continent.
He recalls visiting St. Paul's Cathedral. A German bomb had landed and failed to go off. It was disarmed, but still in place when he was there. He got to see the changing of the guard at Westminster Palace, but they were in battle dress instead of the colorful attire of peacetime.
Once back at camp, they were alerted for a channel crossing. The "D-Day" landing had already been made and the beachhead was established. Allied forces were breaking out the beachhead. They went from Southampton to Le Havre in France.
He was shocked to find that the French in Le Havre were quite unfriendly. They went in groups to use the public bathhouse, as it was unsafe to go alone. Some Americans had been attacked by the French people. The reason given by Marshall is that the Germans had employed these people to help build the defenses on the coast. They had paid them and treated them pretty well. Things were not so comfortable when he was there. Food was scarce. This is not the way it is usually shone and Marshall feels it is very important to record this strange resentment for history.
He reached the area of the Battle of the Bulge shortly after it was over. We must await a better eyewitness to this and D-Day. He remembers that was Easter morning when they pushed the Germans into Germany. It was bitter cold and said to have been the coldest winter in 50 years.
Marshall was in the back of a typical "Deuce and a half" Army truck, doing his best not to freeze to death. He had an Army overcoat and a sleeping bag. They were constantly on the move and he could not keep warm.
He recalls a little side trip, delivering a Captain's luggage to King Leopold's Summer Palace in Belgium. They reached a railway were Germans POW's were being unloaded and marched 10 abreast through the street. They literally had to stop until the procession passed. They followed it a little way before heading toward the palace and enjoyed a good laugh as the local populace gave them a big hand for conquering all those Germans. The little diversion was soon behind them and the returned to their outfit.
They passed through Achen, Germany on the way to Cologne. The Germans were to the east and the Americans to the west. Marshall's outfit was supporting the 82nd Airborne Division. The river Rhine was between the opposing forces.
The American artillery positions were physically in the backyards of local homes. German housewives watched them from the open kitchen doors of their house as they loaded, aimed and fired the howitzers at the German Army to the east. It is hard to imagine that they could do this in the midst of an invasion of their country.
They displayed no fear of the Americans or worry about the counter battery fire from German artillery.
Allied units proceeded to encircle the Germans in the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket. "We took so many prisoners that we broke the German's back," said Marshall.
General George Patton led the charge across Germany. "With our blood and his guts," said Marshall. "We were hell bent for Russia. He was nuts. Ike (Eisenhower) told him to go as far as Pilson in Czechoslovakia and stop." He took the 20th to Pilson, with the 22nd in reserve in Bavaria. This took them to the end of the war in Europe.
One of the things he kept as a momento was a set of special order for German-American relations. These had been written by General Omar Bradley. He also has a propaganda leaflet by the Germs that sought to suggest that someone was taking care of the home front while GI's were needlessly dying fighting the Germans. We have included these to help clarify the relationship.
A new assignment was planned for Marshall, before the shooting stopped. He was sent to Counter Intelligence School on April 25th, 1945. He was trained to go after Nazis after the war. The Nazi political system was based upon tiers, starting with block captains at the first level. They were after those who were at the third tier or higher. "The Germans were the greatest informers," said Marshall. "It was their chance to get even." The majority of them were rounded up fairly quickly. The Americans worked in groups of five, one of which spoke German."
He remembers Grafenwohr Panzer Training Camp, where they found a huge German railway gun. (You got to check out Railway Gun WEB Muesum and Palpatine's German Railroad Guns Page for further details. The size of this gun is just mind boggling!!) These things fired shells big as those of a battleship and sometimes larger. They were used in laying siege to cities during an advance. The huge shells could level a city block with one shot. The gun was so big that it had to travel on railway tracks.
The Command Headquarters for this American sweep was at Lavenisch at the mansion of an industrialist. It was commanded by General Gavin. He remembers passing the General on the grand staircase. He was uneasy about being around the big brass, but the general was a nice guy and said, "Hi, Corporal!"
The time in Bavaria and the relief at the end of hostilities was followed by the realization that the war in the Pacific was nearing the Japanese home islands. There were no illusions about an easy end to that conflict. A million American casualties were expected. Experienced combat troops from the European Campaign were to be sent to help overwhelm the other enemy.
"I had been in the Army for five years by then," said Marshall. He thought, "Another thirty years! I'm doomed."
They were taken by tuck convoy to Le Havre in France. It was a somber group of Americans who pondered leaving Europe. It was like getting out the proverbial frying pan and into the fire. They were taken to Camp Chicago Redeployment Camp. They were to board an American ship called the Marine Devil and pass through Camp Chaffe in Arkansas on the way to the invasion of Japan. The atomic bomb was dropped before they left Le Harve.
Surviving the invasion would probably leave them stuck as occupation troops for a while. It looked like a long war, even then. They were halfway across the ocean when the second bomb was dropped and the Japanese surrendered. "Now what?" wondered Marshall.
They were taken to Camp Miles Standish near Boston, Massachusetts. From there, they traveled by train to Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois. They arrived at two o'clock in the morning and a Colonel in an assembly hall advised them they were to be discharged. Everyone was tired. He said a few words, and told them to go home. There were all civilians after the obligatory waiting line for hours to process the paperwork.
He tried the G.I. Bill for a year and half, but got sick of it and quit college. He went back to International Harvester for 25 years. Marshall finally got married at the age of 40, to a lady who had served the Marine Corps during the war. The unusually long military service had delayed many aspects of his life. He decided to change his vocation again after many years at International Harvester and opened a Tastee-Freez in Marengo. He kept this for 18 years before retiring.
You're fighting for home. Out here you think and dream of the bright tomorrow, of the day when you will be free to plan the future of your own.
Well, that's something to think about, but you'd better get your teeth into realities.
You hope this will be the last round and you'll be lucky to come through. But there is only one thing certain: that this will be the heaviest fight. Those who defend their very homeland with honor, who fight the invaders in the ruins of their fathers' houses and on the courtyard of their beloved ones always fight stubborn and to the end. And so fight those who for themselves and for their children face nothing but death or the life of slaves who will be told by foreign invaders what to think, where to go, what to do.
You hope War will be over soon. It has been promised to you again and again. You know it isn't true, it's all over -- all, but the fighting. And if one day the war in Europe has come to and end, the you'll be shipped to the Far East - if you are among the lucky ones who survived! Already now casualties of World War II are five times as high as those of the last war.
You hope that one day you will continue at home the life you lived before. For a better America, for a greater future, that's what you're told you're fighting for now. Don't forget that you will then share the fate of fifteen million American soldiers returning home and asking for jobs, and of over twenty million now engaged in war-production. They all will search for solid jobs that don't blow up over night. Reconverting your lives from war to peace will be nothing but a run and instead of the four freedoms you'll face what is ripening now at home: inflation and high prices, unemployment, depression and need.
I need not speak of your past accomplishments, other than to say you have reflected great credit upon yourself and your command.
We are now fighting on German soil, and we are in contact not only with soldiers of our enemy but also civilians of Germany. As conquerors, we must no consider our relations with the people of Germany.
It is imperative that you do not allow yourself to become friendly with Germans, but at the same time you must not persecute them. American soldiers can and have beaten German soldiers on the field of battle. It is equally important that you complete the victory over Nazi ideas.
To guide you I have issued these special "battle" orders. The may appear to lead along a narrow path, but they are NECESSARY. You personally must prove to the German people that their acceptance of Nazi leadership is responsible for their defeat, and that it has earned for then the distrust of the rest of the world.
1. To remember always that Germany, though conquered, is still a dangerous enemy nation.
a. It is known that an underground organization for the continuation of the Nazi program for world domination is already in existence. This group will take advantage of every relaxation of vigilance on our part to carry on undercover war against us.
b. The occupation forces are not on a good-will mission.
2. Never to trust Germans, collectively or individually.
a. For the past century, Germany has sought to attain world domination by conquest. This has been the third major attempt in the memory of men still living. To many Germans, this defeat will only be an interlude - a time to prepare for the next war.
b. Except for such losses of life and property suffered by them, the Germans have no regrets for the havoc they have wrought in the world.
c. The German has been taught that the national goal of domination must be attained regardless of the depths of treachery, murder and destruction necessary. He has been taught to sacrifice everything - ideals, honor, and even his wife and children for the State. Defeat will not erase that idea.
3. To defeat German efforts to poison my thought or influence my attitude.
a. The Nazis have found that the most powerful propaganda weapon is distortion of the truth. They have made skillful use of it and will re-double their efforts in the event of an occupation in order to influence the thinking of the occupational forces. There will probably be deliberate, studied and continuous efforts to influence our sympathies and to minimize the consequences of defeat.
b. You may well expect all manner of approach - conversations to be overheard, underground publications to the be found; there will be appeals to generosity and fair play; to pity for victims of devastation, to racial and cultural similarities, and to sympathy for an allegedly oppressed people.
c. There will be attempts at sowing discord among Allied nations, at undermining; at inducing a reduction in occupational forces, at lowering morale and efficiency of the occupying forces, at proving that Nazism was never wanted by the "gentile and cultured" German people.
4. To avoid acts of violence, except when required by military necessity.
For you are an American soldier, not a Nazi.
5. To conduct myself at all times so as to command the respect of the German people for myself, for the United States, and for the Allied Cause.
a. The Germans hold all things military in deep respect. That respect must be maintained at all times or the Allied Cause is lost and the first steps are taken toward World War III. Each soldier must watch every action of himself and of his comrades. The German will be watching constantly, even though you may not see him. Let him see a good American Soldier.
b. Drunkenness will not be tolerated. Penalties will be severe.
6. Never to associate with Germans
a. We must bring home to the Germans that their support of Nazi leaders, their tolerance of racial hatreds and persecutions, and their unquestioning acceptance or the wanton aggressions on other nations, have earned for them the contempt and distrust of the civilized world. We must never forget that the German people support the Nazi principles.
b. Contacts with Germans will be made only on official business. Immediate compliance with all official orders and instructions and surrender terms will be demanded of them and will be firmly enforced.
c. American soldiers must not associate with Germans. Specifically, it is not permissible to shake hands with them, visit their homes, to exchange gifts with them, to engage in games or sports with them, to attend their dances or social events, or to accompany them on the street or elsewhere. Particularly, avoid all discussion or argument with them. Give the Germans no chance to trick you into relaxing your guard.
7. To be fair but firm with Germans.
a. Experience has shown that Germans regard kindness as weakness. Every soldier must prove by his actions that the Americans are strong. This will be accomplished if every soldier treats the Germans with firmness and stern courtesy at all times.
b. Firmness must be tempered with a strict justice. Americans do not resort to Nazi gangster methods in dealing with any people. Remember, your fair but firm treatment of the German people will command the proper respect due a member of a conquering nation.
Send any comments to Marshall Johnson