As brutal warfare raged between German and American forces in the Hürtgen Forest during World War II, Pvt. William H. Edwards ventured out on a night patrol with five of his comrades. Edwards was a member of the fierce 4th Infantry Division, the “Ivy” division that had been the first U.S. unit to hit Utah Beach on D-Day. He was also a married man with six children. He had everything to live for and was more than ready to fight the Germans.
Yet Edwards would soon find himself immobilized and at the mercy of his enemies—who, far from showing any mercy, tried to transform him into a tool to kill his own comrades. The incident was noted in the 4th Infantry Division’s official history. The fact that Edwards survived this terrifying ordeal owed to sheer willpower.
WOUNDED
The night patrol’s probe through the ominous Hürtgen Forest went quietly at first. Yet as the G.I.s sneaked closer to the German lines, Edwards stepped on a mine. The forest was a perilous maze of deadly mines—made even more difficult to detect, let alone disarm, due to thick undergrowth and uneven terrain. Edwards was one of many men who ran afoul of hidden German explosives during the battle.