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Veteran's Story: He fought in Europe, returned home and raised a family, retired; now he talks about war
Journal Photo by Jennifer Rotenizer
Bryce Paschal, who turned 84 on Monday, weighed about 125 when he was deployed to France in the winter of 1945. He was singled out by a sniper on his first day but survived and made it through the war.
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Published: November 11, 2009
Pvt. Bryce Paschal arrived in France in the winter of 1945 as a replacement infantryman for an Army division already in combat.
On Paschal's first day with the 16th Infantry Regiment of the Army's 9th Infantry Division, a sniper in a tree began shooting at him as he was crossing a field. He dropped to the ground and made himself as small a target as possible until a tank came through and shredded the tree with its .50-caliber machine gun.
As he stood up, he was thinking that, if his first day was like this, he wasn't looking forward to whatever was to come.
Paschal -- who celebrated his 84th birthday on Monday -- is one of about 23.2 million living U.S. veterans being honored today, Veterans Day, for serving their country in the military.
More and more in recent years, at his wife's urging, he has been sharing his experiences with family members.
As for his time in the infantry, Paschal said, in the weeks that followed his first day, he was in combat almost daily as the Allies moved east. Confusion was his constant companion.
"Ninety-five percent of the time, we didn't know what was going on," he said. "I didn't know what day it was -- what time it was."
Paschal spent a lot of time on his feet. It was cold, and after he waded across a stream, his pant legs might freeze. He might get some relief by putting on a fresh pair of socks that he kept stashed in his helmet, along with toilet paper.
At the time he weighed about 125 pounds, and the M1 rifle, a gas mask, bandoliers filled with ammunition, rifle belt, grenades, canteen, bayonet, spade and other equipment that he was carrying often felt as if it weighed as much as he did. If he got lucky, he might get a ride to the next village on top of a tank or hanging on to a half-track. The job of clearing out the village fell to him and his fellow infantrymen. Opening the door to a basement, they had to worry about such things as whether the top step had been booby-trapped.
"You hollered down to see if someone is down there," he said. "If you heard a noise, you threw a grenade."
Depending on where night found them, they might sleep in a house, in a tent, or if they were being fired on, in a foxhole. If he could find a suitable cover for the foxhole, he used it. One night, he and his foxhole partner pulled a door off a house to make a roof.
At times, Paschal felt as if higher-ups cared more about protecting tanks than infantrymen.
"They could replace us a lot easier than they could those tanks, and it wouldn't cost as much," he said.
On March 7-8, the 9th Division captured the Ludendorff Bridge (also called the Bridge at Remagen), which allowed the Allies to establish access across the Rhine into Germany.
Some weeks later, Paschal was in Leipzig, Germany, when an explosion threw him through a fence. When he came back to consciousness in an ambulance, he found that he couldn't use his right hand. By the time that the shrapnel injuries had healed and he had regained use of his right hand, the war in Europe was over.
For a time, he thought that he might be sent to the Pacific. But he ended up being assigned to the 3617 Quartermaster Truck Company, and he spent the months that followed driving a tractor-trailer, delivering food, equipment and supplies all over Europe.
His time driving the tractor-trailer had its own harrowing experiences. His truck had no defroster, and he remembers the time he drove down a mountain in the Alps unable to see through an iced-over windshield and worrying about the trailer sliding off the side of the mountain and taking him with it.
"I kept one foot outside ready to jump," he said.
Paschal was the fourth of James David and Decie Paschal's five children, and, before he was drafted into the Army in October 1944, he had spent his life working on the family's farm in Chatham County. After he was discharged as a corporal in August 1946, he came back home and took whatever jobs he could find.
"Jobs were scarce when I got out," Paschal said.
Eventually, he ended up in Winston-Salem working for the U.S. Postal Service. For the final 20 of his 31 years with the post office, he worked at the Waughtown branch. He and his first wife, Virginia, had three children, and, when the children were growing up, he often held such second jobs as working for a paving-and-roofing company.
During those years, he said, he was too busy working and taking care of his family to give much thought to his time in the service. His first wife died, and, 15 years ago, he married Bonnie, a widow he knew through their church -- Konnoak Baptist. He began talking about his experiences only after she encouraged him to talk, not only for her benefit but also for the benefit of his children and nine grandchildren.
It's important, she said, for everyone to know what World War II veterans such as her husband lived through. Seeing Europe on television today, she said, it can be hard to imagine him driving by villages that had been leveled and having to guess which road to take because all signs had been destroyed.
"You would have to keep your bearings north, south, east and west," he said. "Europe was really tore up."
kunderwood@wsjournal.com
727-7389
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