Would you believe I once returned a gold ring to a very dumb German soldier? Our troop was holding a defensive position in the Hurtgen Forest, Germany. It was night, and this sad sack decided to surrender at night. Now that's a very big no, no. I didn't shoot him because I didn't want to give away my position, and he was too close for me to throw a grenade, so I held my rifle on him. As he neared me, he kept grabbing at my rifle BBL, pushing it aside, begging me not to shoot him.
"Bitta, Bitta," (Please, please.) "Nix geshezin". (Don't shoot.) While I was prodding him to where my Sergeant was, he tried the best way he could in pigeon German, to tell me he was Polish and that he was inducted into the Army against his will. While this was going on, I noticed he wore a gold ring, so I took it. Why? Because corporal's wages at that time were $64 a month, and most of it was going home to my momma. That's why.
Now get this once, I get him back to our command post and he sees I'm a softy and I'm not going to kill him, so he starts begging me for his ring back." Bitta, bitta, myna mootie", pointing to his naked ring finger. How ironic. First, he was begging for his life, now for his ring. Well, that night he was one lucky Pole. I let him have both, even though I knew the troops in the rear echelons would also get a gift from Corporal Joe Negri.
Editor’s note: ‘BBL’ was technical slang for ‘barrel’.