Lionel Hap Metivier, Ph.D.

Transcription

1 They Live Among Us Lionel Hap Metivier, Ph.D. On December 16, 1944, in the final months of WWII, the Germans launched a tremendous counteroffensive against the Allies in the Ardennes Forest region of Belgium and France, in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. For the United States it was the bloodiest battle in Europe during WWII. The Germans threw more than 400,000 troops, over 4200 artillery pieces and over 1200 tanks against our troops. That action would very soon have a life changing effect on Lionel Hap Metivier. Eighteen year old Hap had just completed basic training at Camp Blanding, near Jacksonville, Florida. His unit had been trained and outfitted for battle against the Japanese in the South Pacific. They were expecting to be shipped out after Christmas. Everything had now changed. General George S. Patton s Third Army was being mauled in the cold, dark forest of the Ardennes. Hitler believed this last ditch effort could stop the invading Americans in their 1

2 march toward Germany. More troops were desperately needed to keep the Germans from overrunning our positions and pushing us back into the sea. Heavy, snow laden clouds were keeping Allied aircraft from supporting the troops. Hap was on leave at home in New Hampshire when he received a telegram ordering him to report to Boston. Once there, he shipped out almost immediately on the luxury cruise liner, Ille de France, along with approximately 10,000 other troops. This ship, an equal to the Queen Mary, steamed at full speed for 5 nights and four days, leaving any possible escort vessels far behind. A single torpedo into the ship could have changed the course of the war. Arriving at Le Havre France, the GI s were rushed to the railroad station where they were unceremoniously shoved aboard railroad cars and sent with all possible speed to the front. Three days later they were in combat against crack German troops in the coldest winter on record in Europe. Hap and his fellow soldiers arrived with only their summer uniforms. There were no winter uniforms waiting for them. The Allies were having enough problem getting food and ammunition to them, let alone clothes. Food was limited to C rations and K rations, except when they could scrounge a few eggs, or were able to shoot a goose or two. Fires 2

3 were forbidden because they produced smoke, which could be targeted by the Germans. Always inventive, the GI s heated the cans of their C rations on the engine manifolds of jeeps. After 10 or 15 minutes the food was hot enough to eat. The brutal back and forth, attack and counterattack, turned into a grim game of survival, not only against the Germans, but the unrelenting cold and snow. They had cotton uniforms, short sleeves, poplin field jackets, boots designed for the tropics, and no gloves. They were freezing. Most of the days and nights were spent trying to stay warm. Frostbite and frozen feet were epidemic. On the other hand, the Germans were very well equipped for the freezing temperatures. They had great winter clothes. Hap found a dead German soldier and took his heavy wool turtleneck sweater, even though that act could have got him shot had he been captured. Not being captured, it helped keep him alive. The GI s had scrounged blankets and quilts from bombed out farm houses in the area. They were wrapped in them day and night just trying to survive. You and I cannot even imagine the horror of the deadly game of hide and seek in the dark pine forest, played out on a stage of bitter, numbing cold. The knowledge that any minute a shattering artillery blast would find you, or perhaps the stuttering death rattle of a German 3

4 machine gun seeking out you and your friends. The battle dragged on for weeks, back and forth. The Third Army ultimately stopped the German advance. Clearing skies allowed Allied aircraft to bring their full deadly force to bear. The inexorable movement of troops and supplies to the front finally drove the Germans into retreat, back toward the Rhine. Many of Hap s friends were killed. It is estimated the United States lost 8600 killed and another 89,000 wounded. Hap s scars are not visible. His case of walking pneumonia resulted in a heart murmur still with him today. He has also dealt with the emotional scars. But there is another chapter to Hap s military service, much, much different from the first chapter. After Germany surrendered, many GI s were either sent to the South Pacific or allowed to go home if they had enough points. For a period of time Hap was sent to 4

5 Czechoslovakia, then he was told he was being sent to ski school. But since he had grown up in New Hampshire he already knew how to ski. After demonstrating his proficiency he was allowed to become one of the ski instructors. When Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945 the war was over. General Patton felt it was important to keep the troops remaining in Europe busy. He commandeered a Bavarian ski resort at Garmisch, the site of the 1936 Winter Olympics. It had been untouched by the war. Eibsee, a magnificent hotel below the Zugspitze mountain peak and on the shore of beautiful Lake Eibsee, would be the vacation home to 250 visiting GI s each week. Hap and four other American soldiers were selected to run the hotel and to teach skiing to the GI s on leave for their week in this mountainous retreat. In the summer, those war weary soldiers continued to come, but this time for water skiing lessons. Tennis, archery, golf, boating, and other activities also awaited the astonished GI s. By then Hap was a corporal, and the sports director at the resort. Those that had been through the meat grinder of the Bulge began to heal in the warm sunshine and beauty of Garmisch. For them it 5

6 became a place to thaw out, both physically and mentally. It was a retreat, devoid of death and destruction. The sounds, sights, and smells of war had disappeared except in the memories and nightmares of those who had been there. Those would take much longer to disappear, and for some the dreams would never be gone. One day they were told that General George S. Patton himself was coming to the resort for an inspection. General Patton, known by some as old blood and guts had quite a reputation for being a hard driving, brusque general who could be rough on soldiers. Hap and the other staff were told to be ready to meet the general. But Hap was on duty at the ski shop, wearing his ski clothes when the General arrived. As Patton and his adjutants marched into the ski shop, Hap snapped to attention, saluted smartly, and said, Corporal Metivier, sir! General Patton, complete with his shiny helmet and trademark ivory handled revolver, stared at Hap then said to him, And what the f k are you? How come you are out of uniform, soldier? Hap swallowed and explained that this was his uniform here at Garmisch. The General paused, then told his 6

7 adjutant to have the uniform issue fixed. The following week two German tailors arrived to make him a custom ski uniform in olive drab. After two years in Garmisch, a broken leg sidelined Hap, and eventually sent him home to civilian life and a series of new chapters in his life. The GI Bill allowed him to earn an undergraduate degree in English and History in New Hampshire. He taught and became a principal at a middle school in Rockport, Maine. With the aid of the female US Senator from Maine, Margaret Chase Smith, Hap applied for a Fulbright scholarship, which he received. That allowed him study Linguistics at the University of Michigan, and then to teach English to university students at Yamagata, Japan. When he returned to the states after 18 months he went back to the University of Michigan where he earned his doctorate. He stayed on there for 12 years as a professor. In 1969 Hap was lured away from the U of M for the State University of New York, at Brockport, where he developed their graduate program, finally retiring in He then went on to still another chapter, cofounding a consulting firm specializing in leadership, group dynamics, and team building 7

8 for schools and businesses, including Kodak, Xerox, and others. Hap is 91years young. He s seen more than most of us have or will. He has been renting in Pine Island Cove for five years now. He enjoys meeting with his friends at the Pine Island VFW and American Legion. He has more stories than you can imagine and he would enjoy sharing them with you. We are all fortunate that Hap survived the Battle of the Bulge, and now lives among us. by Steve Russell 8

9 9