. >> i'm richard k. hawkins. i was a first lieutenant with "a" company 345th infantry division. it was necessary for complete cooperation between various branches of the army. and since it was necessary for the infantry men to attack on foot, seize the ground and hold it it was also necessary for artillery to neutralize these positions before the infantry men jumped off. it was a wonderful show of cooperation between these different branches. >> we got through gechlt ilenkierken and we got on the road we thought was taking us straight to berlin. we felt great and were pretty excited about being in the war. after we had gone about 500 yards up the road, the 88th started coming in. all of us tried our best to dig into the ground. we used our hands to just try to claw the dirt, trying to dig in. in the meantime these shells were coming into the trees and bursting all around us and our friends were being hit and we were screaming for medics. this lasted, it seemed for about half an hour. i suppose it lasted for about five minutes. >> i am fritz kramer. i was with the 84th divisioner