I can remember another situation that sticks in my mind. One was this man whose grave we found in Normandy. He was my platoon guide.
When you marched, you had a platoon going down the road in a column of threes, and you had the squad leaders at the head of each squad, and you had the assistant squad leaders at the rear of each squad. I, as a lieutenant, was ahead, and right behind was the platoon guide, and they guided on him, where he went, they followed him. He was about the third in command. There was a lieutenant in command of the platoon, and the platoon sergeant was an assistant second in command, and the guide was third. He was a nice fellow. He was a county agent somewhere in Kentucky, had an education. And we got in one situation through this hedgerow, and he took the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) that big rifle with a tripod out there, and he was firing it, and he got killed right there… they got him… just bang, he dropped dead.
And that had me upset… and uh, oh, I don’t know… it was just… just kind of, that… I think that was one of the hardest losses I had was that guy. I really liked him and he was really… he really helped me, and he was for me. Some of those non-coms had come in from the old Second Horse Calvary out of Fort Riley, Kansas. They were old regular army, and they were kind of opinionated. They had been that rank for probably years, and I was a damn 90-day wonder out of OCS (Officer Candidate School) you know, I didn’t know nothing, and I was green behind the ears, probably five or ten years younger than they were. But this kid was just, he was just super… and that hurt me to loose that guy.
What was his name?
Cundiff,… But anyway … that’s enough for now. When I think of him, I could cry, and I don’t want to cry.
Ralph Cundiff
Rank: S. Sergeant
Date Of Death: July 6, 1944
Kentucky
Unit 330 Infantry 83 Division
Decoration: Purple Heart
Serial # 35497961
Lawrence L. Chittenden, My Father's War
