 |
Chaplain Gerhardt J. C. Gerike |
 |
His Church Service Hit By Battle
Chaplain Gerike entered service in March 1944 from Corder,
Mo., where he had been serving Zion Lutheran congregation.
After training at Harvard University, he was assigned to the Ninth Armored
Division, Commanding General John Leonard. The
Ninth was located at Camp Polk, La.
The Chaplain was greeted with "Hello, Chaplain, Let's
get you POM qualified." The division was
preparing to move overseas and did leave in August 1944.
The division moved to Fort Dix, N.J. When they were ready, they boarded the Queen Mary
and set sail for Scotland. Services were
conducted by the chaplains almost daily at various locations on the ship.
Landing in Scotland, the division boarded trains for the trip
to Tidworth Barracks in southern England. There
the division was equipped with vehicles and all necessary gear. They boarded LST's and crossed the channel.
The division landed at Omaha Beach and moved inland in
France. From there they moved through Paris to
Luxembourg to move into the front lines. Division
headquarters were located at Hoelenfels. Division
Trains and the band were headquartered at Sacul. The
MP company was quartered in Mersch, Combat Command A and B and R (reserve) were on the
front lines facing Germany.
Chaplain Gerike conducted a variety of services on Sundays
and weekdays until the assigned units had been covered.
He visited CCR troops on the line, bringing spiritual and other supplies to
the men. From some of the locations, the
Siefgried line could be seen. With field
glasses, the German soldiers could be observed coming out of their bunkers and doing their
morning routines. The chaplain also did some
translating from German into English at various times.
It was December and plans were being made to celebrate
Christmas. It was to be a special Christmas
shared by the GIs and the local residents. The
varied Christmas traditions were to be highlighted.
All this suddenly went up in smoke - the smoke of battle. The German last-ditch offensive was begun. Somewhere this description originated: "Hey,
there's an old man with a pitch fork coming across the line...Check that! It's a pioneer
patrol coming...Oh, (mild expletive) the whole German Army is coming!" And it was.
The Battle of the Bulge was begun and the Ninth Armored
received it's blood bath. Eventually, band
members, cooks and clerks were sent into the lines to blunt any attack aimed at the city
of Luxembourg.
Meanwhile, troops of the Ninth Armored were engaged in fierce
fighting. Units were overrun, they regrouped
only to be overrun again. The weather was
foul. There was snow on the ground. Freezing temperatures prevailed. Visibility was lousy.
Worse yet, no air support. Planes
could not fly in such bad weather.
Massive troop movements plugged the narrow roads as they
tried to make their way to Bastogne. There the
German offensive finally ground to a halt when the Americans refused the offer to
surrender with the famous "Nuts!" "Nuesse?" The Germans didn't know what to make of that.
Meanwhile the Ninth Armored had moved to the Metz area where
they received replacements of men and material to be prepared to spear head a drive to the
Rhine. Chaplain Gerike traveled with a forward
aid station. Elements of the Ninth Armored captured the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen on
March 7, 1945.
Allied Forces moved to a pre-determined line drawn up by
allied politicians and waited for the Russian forces to move into Berlin. Many GIs were unhappy about the situation. The subsequent blockade of Berlin seemed to
indicate that they had reasons to be unhappy.
The end came on May 8, 1945, in Germany and August 1945 in
Japan.
Chaplain Gerike, who had been commissioned as a First
Lieutenant, received his captain's bars in 1945. He
was also awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service.
In addition to the Ninth Armored Division, the chaplain
served with the First Infantry Division, the Fourth Armored Division and returned to the
states with the 90 Infantry Division.
He landed, after a very stormy crossing which included a fire
in the galley, on Dec. 25, 1945. He was
assistant train master as troops were moved from the Boston area to St. Louis and
Jefferson Barracks in 1946.
The Ninth Armored received battle stars for the Ardennes,
Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns.
The information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to MOGenWeb to make it available online.