Francis G. Doerle, Theriot:

End of the War
-Was able to take a break (a leave) in Paris
-Your time on leave depended on how much time was spent on the front and when it was thought you were needed again; could be 5-10 days off
-Served the whole time on the front line; didn’t take time off, even when his foot turned black, helped in unloading trucks
-Did a lot of patrols at outposts during the night to capture German soldiers for the CP
-Detailing the work of the CPs and importance of them

-Everyone carried a backpack and packed what they needed/wanted
-Dorele had 1-2 bandoleers of ammunition, dry socks, dry shirts, 2 grenades but nothing for hygiene
-Used the buddy system; your buddy was the runner for more ammunition; stayed in the foxhole with you
-At night in the foxhole had to know left from right and who was near you
-Never spoke but would whisper to catch each other’s attention when they heard something

-Going across Germany towards the end of the war, all the little towns and cities were bombed out and people were living in cellars
-The Germans were ready to surrender, the soldiers were either really old or too young; most of the SS were dead by then
-Dorele did encounter a SS trooper one night, “I’ll never forget it;” was standing guard at a hospital one night and there was a SS in there for treatment as a prisoner
-Had to lock the man up as was acting like a “lunatic” and was a danger to everyone around him—made sure everyone knew what he stood for
-Never really talked to German POWs; mostly dealt with guarding POW camps of Polish and French POWs
-Couldn’t speak French or German but understood a little bit, used a little dictionary

-They were told not to go into Berlin, stopped at the Elbe River; Americans were happy to let the Russians take Berlin and kill the Germans
-Mostly stood guard at the river to capture any German soldiers that escaped Berlin
-Thinks there was probably a lot of German death at the hands of the Russians when they took Berlin
-The Russians wanted Berlin as payback for what the Germans did to them

After the War (24:17)
-The US never had to worry about war happening on their soil; Pearl Harbor was just a onetime thing
-If war ever did break out on our land, there’s no way Americans could handle it like the Germans, Russians, and English did
-Too many nationalities and politics would cause problems and make it worse

-While at the Elbe River the Russians met them after Berlin; they drank and danced that night; Russians were dirty people
-Stayed there for a week or two after the war ended in May 1945; the German people came up to them and thanked them for ending the war
-They were pulled out and were told they were going home for 10 days and then being outfitted to invade Japan on November 1
-They came home on a luxury-liner ship, the “USS Crystalball;” a nicer ride back than going to Europe
-Dorele’s division was one of the first to go home from the war in Europe after the end

-Docked at Boston by afternoon, but was not let off the ship; next morning they could hear bands and noise from the shore

(39:25) Captain finally comes over the loud speaker and says that Japan has surrender
-The Captain then goes on to say that their division was going to be a part of the first wave in the invasion of Japan—they were the luckiest men alive
-“We’re going home boys, we going home”; they also weren’t let off the ship as they wanted to let Boston have a moment to celebrate without a division in the city
-Had the biggest celebration when they got off the ship; stayed there for one night before being shipped off to Fort Meade, Maryland

-Was asked to reenlist as a sergeant but Dorele had enough points to go home and he said no; Fort Knox got his discharge papers and pay
-Can’t remember what month he finally made it back; his wife and family knew he was back in the states but didn’t know when he was coming home
-Talking about life before the war; where his brothers and brother-in-laws were at; where his German gun might be at in the house

Cuts off mid-sentence

Transcription Begins:

Francis G. Doerle:

I took a leave and went to Paris for 5 days. Your time on leave depended on how much time you spent on the front line and much time they anticipated they would need you.

Almost from the day I went overseas I was in combat on the front line. Even when I got frostbite I still stayed on the front lines helping unload trucks. I spent many sleepless nights at the front on an outpost. But the night patrols were the worse. We had to go into enemy territory to capture prisoners and bring them back to the CP for interrogation. The first thing they would ask is what unit the prisoner was in, because the CP had maps of everything, and they had to know exactly where the enemy was. This was all well planned out. We had to be well organized because you are talking about people's lives. This was not something that the CP would take likely. They were very responsible people. They didn't get in that position being irresponsible. The CP was in a room or a house, or a tent. The CP was the brains of the outfit. You had command people and radiomen in there making the decisions.

I always carried one or two bandoleers of ammunition; that was about 8 clips each. I had a pack and carried dry socks and dry shirts, but no toothbrush; not even a bar of soap. And I always carried two grenades. Grenades were good for clearing out a building. You throw a grenade in there and back away, and that clears out the enemy. Any time you had a need for ammunition you would send a runner or a buddy to fetch more. We used the buddy system. At night your buddy was always in the foxhole with you. Ebiline was my buddy for awhile. They would send word down about where we could get supplies. They kept us informed about all that.

I always knew who was on my right and left at night. We never talked out-loud, but if you heard something you would say, "pist." You would whisper to get the other guys attention. George Allen was always on my left and a fella by the name of Mulberry was on my right. We were close enough to whisper.

When we finally got across to Germany, all the little towns and cities were bombed out. People were living in shelters. We went through a concentration camp and I remember seeing the crematories, but we didn't stay long. We kept moving. There were no prisoners there; the Germans had taken all the survivors with them as they moved farther east into Germany.

Towards the end they were leaving the prisoners there at the camps. And they were ready to surrender. They were ready to call it quits. It was a hopeless fight. The soldiers were either very young or very old. Most of the elite soldiers, the German SS, were all dead.

I ran into one SS trooper one night. I'll never forget it. I had to stand guard at a hospital one night and there was a MF in there. He was a lunatic. You couldn't conduct medicine in there with a crazy person like that, so they took him away and locked him up. He let us know that he was an SS, and what he stood for.

We finally stopped at the Elbe River. We were looking for that wine truck! We were able to take a breather and relax. But I bet there was a tremendous amount of German people in Berlin who were killed by the Russians. That was their payback. I bet they slaughtered the Germans in droves. They (Russians) saved a lot of American lives by doing that. We didn't have to go and take Berlin; the Russians did that for us. But those Russians suffered horribly during the war. The Germans did the same thing to them when they tried to take Russia.

We were fortunate. We didn't have mass murders like that. We had Pearl Harbor and a few ships sunk in the Atlantic, but nothing like those people in London and in Russia. I'll say this- American people would not have been able to handle what the French and British and the German people went through. This country would collapse. Things are different here. There are too many different nationalites.

I think that this was something that Churchill and Roosevelt talked about. I think that they decided that they had had enough. They wanted to save as many soldiers lives as possible. That's why they let the Russians take Berlin.

We met them at the Elbe. We danced and drank vodka with them (Russians). But they were filthy, dirty people. We stayed there for a week or two after the war ended (May 7th 1945).

The German families would come up and kiss our hands and thank us. They said they were tired of war and tired of Hitler. They said they couldn't do anything about him. They claimed that he took over before anybody could do anything. But as a long as the German people were living the good life, and were prosperous, and making money; they just let it happen. They just let Hitler do whatever he wanted because things were so good. We do that here in this country. Hitler came to power because he made things so good for his people.

They pulled us back because my division was scheduled to invade Japan. They were going to send us home for 10 days and then outfit us for a trip across the Pacific and we were due to hit the shores of Japan on November 1st. I came home on the USS Crystalball. It was a luxury-liner.

I've got a great story about that ride home. There were 10,000 soldiers on that ship, living the good life. Going over it was hell, but going back home it was great. I don't know why but they selected us to go back home first. We were one of the first divisions to get home, and the war (in Europe) had just ended. So I'm laying there on the deck, sunbathing, thinking about all of this, when all of a sudden a bird flys over my fucken head and shits right on my face. Ten thousands soldiers on the deck of that ship and a bird shits right in my face, "Splat!" I was sitten there in deap thought thinking about why my group was so special and this bird said, "shit on you." And he got me pretty good. I had to go down below and take a shower. It was all over my hair and my nose and it stunk. I never have forgotten that. Why me? Out of 10,000 men, he picked me.

So we land in Boston and they wouldn't let us off the ship. We stayed the night on that ship. The next day the captain comes over the loud speaker and said that Japan had just surrendered. He said, "Gentlemen of the 35th Infantry, this is General so and so. You men are the luckiest men alive today. I want to tell you that you men were selected to go in on the first wave on the invasion of Japan. Japan has surrendered. We wouldn't let you off the ship last night while all of this was going on. We were afraid that if we put a whole division in Boston it wouldn't be the same!" We started hooten and hollering like you wouldn't believe. Then he came back on and said, "Now we gonna let you all off tonight to celebrate and we want ya'll to act like American heroes. We want you all to be proud of what you have done. The war is over. And we're going home boys…we going home."

There was a humungus party that night. There were bands playing in this big warehouse with food and drinks and all the WAVES and WACS were there. It was a huge celebration. And we were the first division to get back to states after Japan surrendered. That was a madhouse. I only stayed there that one night. I went to Fort Meade Maryland to get processed and they asked me if I wanted to be a sergeant. I said, "Sergeant of what?" They wanted me to reenlist. But see I had enough points to get home quick. I was discharged at Fort Knox and then came home.

I got to New Iberia about 10 o'clock in the evening.

We were lucky that Truman dropped those bombs and ended the war.