Nauth, a Rhine (Wisconsin) native, describes his experiences in the 4th Armored Division during World War II. Nauth talks about graduating from high school in Kiel (Wisconsin), working on his grandfather's farm until he found work at a chair company, and then being drafted into the Army before World War II. He mentions basic training at Fort Sheridan (Illinois), learning tank mechanics and maneuvers in Kentucky and Tennessee, and desert tank training in California. He left for England via Boston (Massachusetts) on a ship (once used for transporting bananas) in a convoy. Nauth arrived at Devizes (England) in late 1942 or early 1943 where he was assigned to be a small arms mechanic. Not long after arrival, he mentions being assigned as a half-track driver on LSTs and landing in France. His commander found out Nauth could speak German so he as assigned to liaison duty on the front lines. He details the effects of massive bombing near the Brest peninsula with the smell of the dead and "human beings and pieces of animals hanging" in electrical lines. Nauth describes his experiences during the assault on L'Orient (France) that forced him to "crawl out on my hands and knees." He temporarily lost his hearing as a result of shelling in L'Orient, which resulted in him being put on battle fatigue. Nauth mentions being a half-track command vehicle driver during the Battle of the Bulge and losing his musette bag. He later found his musette bag in a pile of GI equipment the Germans had thrown it in. Nauth talks about the cold 1944-1945 winter in Belgium and seeing General Patton riding in a jeep showing his white-handled revolvers. Nauth recalls stories of shooting chickens and a bull to eat and one incident of a French man taking Nauth and some friends to a steak meal they had prepared for him. He talks of shooting down a German plane that hit a nearby building killing nine civilians and reflects how that bothered him. Nauth describes several instances of artillery or plane bombardment and seeking shelter in local French farms. He discusses being in charge of German POWs, a shooting incident in Czechoslovakia after the war, and 4th Armored Division reunions. Nauth concludes by discussing his feelings regarding Germany's chances of winning the war and that later in the war his thoughts changed to feeling that he would never get out alive.
