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Willie Lindsey

WWII | 23rd Infantry Regiment, 69th Infantry Division

Willie Lindsey was lead scout as the company was on the move. He got to an open field and stopped to plan going around the edges because you don't cross an open field. Incredibly, the young company commander decided to do just that. Bad idea. Part 1 of 3. (5:59)
After being pinned down by artillery in an open field, Willie Lindsey was sent by his platoon leader to try and connect with a sister company. He found them alright, under fire by a German machine gun on the edge of a mine field. After he took care of that, he was in a gazebo near a German house when he spotted a German soldier coming out of the house and heading straight for him. Part 2 of 3. (6:46)
After capturing a German soldier under unusual circumstances, Willie Lindsey took him and two civilians back to his unit's position. It had been an eventful day between nearly getting killed by artillery fire and single-handedly taking out a German machine gun crew. Part 3 of 3. (7:49)
Willie Lindsey found a map while going through an abandoned German airfield. This came in handy at a crossroads where he determined that the retreating Germans had switched the road signs. Incredibly, the inept company commander insisted on following the signs. (7:49)
The roads were full of German soldiers returning to Germany. Willie Lindsey's unit had pushed all the way to the Rhine, which they crossed on some improbable landing craft. When they were on the move, he was often lead scout, which was a rough life. (6:56)
When Willie Lindsey got to Leipzig, his unit had to take a huge monument complex where German soldiers had holed up. It was tough but they had help from their artillery. Another building taken in Leipzig contained a large arsenal of German small arms. (6:45)
After his friend and platoon sergeant Charlie Altmans was wounded, Willie Lindsey got a new sergeant who was from the Panama coastal artillery. This man knew nothing about infantry tactics and was bound to get get someone killed as the GI's pushed deeper into Germany. (3:57)
They could have reached Berlin easily, but the 69th Infantry Division was stopped at the Elbe River so the Russians could take the German capitol. That was OK with Willie Lindsey. It meant that they wouldn't lose any more men. After the first meeting with the Russians, patrols were started to keep tabs on the tenuous allies. (4:57)
The company commander was arrogant and rude. Willie Lindsey recalls how he humiliated a soldier needlessly, just one of the many things that made the enlisted men despise him. Three lieutenants decided to cook his goose. (4:53)
Willie Lindsey was on a troop train bound for Italy where he was going to ship out to the Pacific. When the atomic bombs were dropped, it was a train full of happy GI's. He had low points, so he stayed on in Germany, trying to learn his new job, mechanic. (5:31)