Bloody Roads to Germany: At Huertgen Forest and the Bulge - An American Soldier's Courageous Story of World War II - Tapa dura

He never planned on becoming a leader—or a hero...

In November 1944—Sergeant William Meller was just twenty years old. Very soon into the fighting in Huertgen Forest, he found himself promoted to squad leader by attrition, since every single officer in the rifle companies had already been killed or wounded. Meller and his men, living in freezing foxholes and armed only with rifles and a few machine guns and grenades, fought against the Wehrmacht's battle-hardened soldiers and its juggernaut Panzer tanks, all while under withering barrages of artillery fire.

The bravery and determination of Meller and the soldiers of Meller's 28th Infantry Division allowed them to survive what would become the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought in its history. But they would get little respite from the carnage. Almost immediately, they were sent to fight the Germans in the densely forested and bitter-cold Ardennes. Again, Meller and his GI's were vastly outnumbered and out-equipped in the fight which would soon become known as the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler's final offensive. The vaunted Wehrmacht threw everything they had in their arsenal against the American dogfaces.

This is the true story of a man in combat who continuously adapted to his circumstances with grace and courage, ultimately transforming himself from an ordinary young GI to a leader who helped show his soldiers, by example, how to survive war.

William F. Meller graduated from Gettysburg College in 1947 with a BA degree in liberal arts. Meller and his wife raised a family, and he enjoyed a successful business career. Now retired, he lives South Carolina.