The reason why my machine gun didn’t fire during the night patrol was because it wasn’t loaded. There was no bullet in the barrel during our advance through France. We picked a frog kid named Reno. He was about 14 or 15 years old and wanted to fight ‘Le Boche’. I mean no disrespect, but that’s what we called the French in World War II, frogs. We fed him, gave him some clothes, and he helped us with the language. He was good company, and the GIs liked him.
Now hear this, he was indirectly responsible for my empty gun, and a prime example that children and loaded weapons don’t mix. Reno leaned up against the front end of a 30-caliber machine gun that was welded on the passenger side of a combat Jeep, and by some freak accident engaged the trigger, killing him. The captain immediately issued an order that all guns were to be unarmed when we were not in actual combat. I guess I forgot to rearm before the mission.
I’m not sure, but I believe that the French were called frogs because they ate frog legs.
We called the Germans, Krauts, Huns, Heinies and bastards.
Russians were Ruskies.
English were Limeys.
Americans were GIs.
*le boche was what the French called the Germans. It was a slur meaning cabbage head
Editor’s note: the unloaded gun incident Joe mentions refers to his account of a disastrous night patrol in Germany, early 1945. See the story Murphy’s Law. This story about Reno almost certainly happened in July or August 1944, in France.