William A. Hines

First Interview:

- My interview with Mr. Hines occurred on January 12, 2003

- I received a letter an August 27, 2003 from Mrs. Pennie Medley, daughter of William Hines, informing me of his death on June 28, 2003

- I was deeply shocked and saddened by this news, as I had spent about 3 hours on the telephone with Mr. Hines in January 2003

- With the death of Mr. Hines we’ve lost an invaluable part of history concerning my grandfather, Corporal Joseph R. Calabrace, and the actions of the 30 CRT in WWII

- William A. Hines was awarded the Silver Star for his actions in the ETO

- Mr. Hines Served in the 3PL

- He remembers Joe Calabrace, but did not work with him often

- Recalls that Calabrace drove an M-8

- Said that "Calabrace was not tall, solid built man, a truck driver, and he worked in headquarters. He was industrious. I went to church with him in the States before Europe, and in England. He was always neat and clean. He knew what he wanted to do and did it."

- Hines was a PVT, PFC, and later, a T4

- Said "the Recon was fun but didn’t want any surprises."

- Recon had its own HQ or CP separate from 30ID HQ

- Recalls being at Camp Atterbury, Indiana

- Remembers that there was "a sub scare" a German submarine that was reported to be among the troop convoy on the Atlantic crossing

- Corporal (T5) Clifton W. "Dutch" Cox was an M-8 driver for a time, and later drove supply trucks because "he was scared." Mr. Hines did not want to expound on this claim out of respect for Dutch Cox

- Believes that LT William T. Juett became a professor of history at Georgetown College in Kentucky

- Stated that LT Juett "was shot in the ass while taking a shit in France. He later went AWOL in France, drank a little, womanized, and was later court-martialed and busted down to the rank of Private, was supposed to spend some time in jail, but received a suspended sentence…provided that he served three years as a private."

- Hines’ granddaughter, Morgan Medley, was at the time of the interview an Air Force ROTC student at Saint Louis University. He told me that she wants to be an astronaut

- Hines stated that 30 CRT was, oddly, the last elements of the 30ID to go over to Normandy

- Said that the 30 CRT "did not work as a recon unit until after St. Lo, where we worked with the 120th Infantry Regiment. We spent a month with them."

- Recalls that PFC John G. Smedberg was captured by the Germans, and that he was a "young, big, and muscular boy."

- First SGT Louis C. Stuart Stuart was "short, had a deep voice.

- Story: Hines rode in the turret of the armored car and the platoon LT fired the .50 Caliber. He remembers spitting tobacco juice over the side of the M-8, and finally after enough times a GI pointed an M-1 at him and told him to stop (unknowingly, he was spitting on the guy)

- Remembers stealing a mess kit, which included spoons, knives, etc., and after he used it, he hung it up near a fire dirty. He felt bad about it but he desperately wanted to use utensils

- Recalls that CPT Cornelius was shot in Tournai "with a German burp gun."

- 3PL leader 2LT Neil P. Currey was hit and knocked out of action just after St. Lo

- Staff SGT Francis E. Scott took over for LT Currey, and "we loved SGT Scott."

- SGT Joseph L. Robertson later took over for SGT Scott after he was killed in Belgium

- Received shrapnel wounds in Germany, and was taken prisoner near Hamlein, Germany

- Story involving events of Hines’ capture: 30 CRT went into a village of multifamily dwellings. The buildings looked deserted from afar. Finally the first vehicle in the section began to receive fire at a barricade blocking the road.

Hines’ Jeep crashed into a ditch and they couldn’t get the vehicle out. The weapons on the Jeep were inoperable due to the crash. Hines’ noted that "a soldier is naked without his weapon." Hines volunteered to man a mortar to fend off the Germans. "A big firefight" ensued. 2LT Chester H. Prentice signaled a retreat and he began to run. What really happened was that his weapon was jammed. Some of the accompanying vehicles in the section tried to protect Hines’ downed vehicle and the soldiers who were on it. Once it became apparent that the Germans were too strong, the remaining vehicles began to pull out with some of the American soldiers running across a field on foot.

During the retreat the Germans knocked out a Jeep and one of the M-8s. It was during this retreat that Corporal (T5) Keith W. Pierce lost both of his legs when the Jeep he was ridding in was hit and flipped over. The entire 3PL had become "encircled." The Germans approached him, disarmed, and took him and "five or six other guys" up to a large stone mansion or small castle at the top of a hill. Hines’ was interrogated by a Germany Army colonel. In the room, "in the shadows" was an SS man—a captain—who was seething with anger. The American soldiers had been told by American officers to dispose of any "souvenirs" they might have collected in the event of imminent capture. Hines said, "of course…I didn’t listen, and it almost cost me my life."

In his pocket, Hines had a torn, red piece of cloth from a Swastika flag that he used for a handkerchief. When the SS captain emerged from the shadows in the room, he ordered some of the German soldiers to "turn out my pockets. When it was discovered that I was using the piece of German flag as my personal handkerchief—and it had snot on it—the SS captain pulled out his P-38 and was ready to shoot me. I shuttered, looking away from the pistol even though my hands were tied in front of me. The German colonel ordered him to ‘Stop!’ and he walked over and took the P-38 away from the SS officer. That German colonel saved my life, because that son-of-a-bitch was ready to shoot."

The German colonel ordered that Hines be taken out back with the other American soldiers to be held in a horse stable. Hines remembers that PVT Elisha V, Smith was with him there at the castle. The next day the US 2nd Armored Division liberated them at the castle by encircling the compound. The Germans did not immediately give their position up. Some brief shots were fired, and finally a signal came down from the castle that the German colonel wanted to meet with the American commander, also a colonel. When the German commander came down the hill from the castle with a small detail of security troops to meet the unaccompanied American colonel, one of the overzealous American soldiers aimed at the German colonel and shot him to the ground (Hines does not believe the German was killed). This was the same German colonel that had saved Hines’ life the day before. The German security detail guarding the German colonel were immediately taken prisoner, and the remaining German troops at the castle gave up shortly thereafter, without serious incident.