It’s December 1944 on the northern outskirts of Bastogne Belgium, near Longchamps, 20 year old Private Leopold Martin from Lewiston, Maine is hunkered down in a foxhole.

For weeks, he fights hunger, pneumonia and frostbite as mush as his platoon is fighting the German shelling and siege. Food is scarce. He was able to scrounge scraps and potato peels from locals for his buddies because he speaks French. They refuse to surrender to the Germans, the weather gets better and Bastogne is finally relieved. Pictures are taken, 8 men from Company C, 502nd PIR, 101st Airborne Division are the only ones not wounded, killed or taken prisoner from a company of 120 plus that first jumped into Holland.

Found on the back of this picture of him in a foxhole from December 1944 was written, “Some Bastogne hero?” Why would he write that? Why would he not be proud that he and his fellow survivors were all awarded the Bronze Star Medal for the Bastogne defense? I never knew exactly why but knowing the man that was my father, I can easily say that he felt he was not a war hero but just a scared 20 year old trying to survive an awful situation. Seeing maiming and death all around him and yet he made it through with only a little frostbite and pneumonia but deeply buried mental trauma was there also.

I posted the foxhole photo a few years ago on Triggertime forum. A Belgian sent me a google streeview of the location today ( he noticed the distinctive treeline in the background.) The same treeline was still there! It was Northwest of Bastogne near LongChamps..exactly where the 502nd was located in other articles I have read. Reading the book “The last first sergeant” by Layton Black 502 Co C (my father is mentioned in it a few times as a machine gunner) – getting trenchfoot in foxholes was a big issue. I had recalled years ago, my dad had told me the most important thing to have was dry socks….he said he always kept a second pair under his shirt close to his chest then swapped them back & forth – I didn’t fully “get it” until I read that book. And finally, no sleep & shelling – I had no idea how miserable it must have been.

Fast forward 60 plus years, retired 1st SGT Leo Martin (20 years of service) who rarely talked of WWII or Korea action that he saw. He never went to military reunions or sought out his WWII buddies. At age 84, as a new assisted living resident, he is invited to ride the small bus from the facility as part of the Veterans Day parade in Knoxville, Tennessee. Knoxville puts on a great parade for veterans every year. The facility bus is decorated with flags waiving and has as its’ passengers 8 WWII veterans. The small bus is part of the parade. Leo Martin cried like a baby during the parade. All those years of avoiding war talk, war memories, missing parades and honors – all forgotten. Leo was emotional because the citizens of Knoxville were there thanking him and his fellow passengers for their service and sacrifice, it was not forgotten. That day, he truly felt appreciated.

Just finished your book, Comes A Soldier’s Whisper. My father, PFC Leo Martin, Co C 502nd PIR, has the same medals/ribbons as yours, wounded at St. Odenrode also, both at Holland and the Bulge. They had to be at the same places seeing the same things… and I sure would think he would have the same feelings your father did as written in his letters.

You and I have a deep desire to not let what these men did be forgotten. amazingly, my father did not talk much about the war, never attended reunions and such, but he re-enlisted after the war and served 20 years.

Thanks for what you’ve done in sharing your father’s experiences and feelings.

Leopold J. Martin (1st Sargent Retired US Army) passed away May 25, 2011 at the age of 86. He will never be forgotten…

~ Written by Gary L. Martin

“Rest soldier, sweetly rest;
Affection’s gentle hand shall deck thy tomb
With flowers and chaplets of unfading bloom
Be laid upon thy breast.”
~ Author unknown

COMES A Soldier’s Whisper remembering history and our fathers one day at a time….

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Photo/Text Source: Gary L. Martin