Editor's note: This is the first in a series of interviews with World War II veterans. The articles will appear each day of publication through May 28.

*****

The Battle of the Bulge was the largest land battle of World War II in which the United States participated. More than a million men fought in this battle - 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans and 55,000 British.

Don Nichols, now 78, was right in the thick of it.

Nichols, then 18, was a recent Warsaw High School graduate. He sought entry into the Air Force in the summer of 1943. He ended up a Sherman tank gunner in the Third Army's 10th Armored Division.

"I knew I'd be inducted anyway," Nichols said of the draft greeting many young men in the early 1940s. He passed all the Air Force tests, but that branch of the military was overcrowded with personnel at the time.

From his home on Ra-Mar Drive, Warsaw, with his wife of 52 years and fellow World War II veteran, Sally, Nichols described landing in France with the 10th at Cherbourg, Sept. 23, 1944, three months after D-Day. At that time things were going well for the U.S. troops. Most of France was freed of German occupation.

Assigned to Maj. Gen. Walton Walker's XX Corps, the division became part of Lt. Gen. George Patton's Third Army. Nicknamed the "Tigers," a name the former football player knew well, the division followed up their training in the United States with more in Normandy.

The roads, and consequently the ride, were rough. Crews of five men - tank commander, a driver and an assistant driver, loader and gunner - bumped along unpaved country roads and over the countryside in a company of 118 Shermans. The tanks had a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour - downhill. Uphill, they crawled.

"They [the tanks] were noisy, hot in the summer, cold in the winter and rough-riding" Nichols said.

While some models had a stabilizer to keep the firing point level and a motor-driven turret, Nichols' tank was under manual control. The gun had to be hand-cranked into position.

"The gun was quite heavy. If you were on a slight cant, it took every muscle to move it."

On Nov. 2, 1944, the division came under fire at Mars La Tours, France. Later that month, the "Tigers" participated in the XX Corps' capture of Metz, and Nichols got his first taste of combat.

"We were to block any Germans coming into the Metz area and block any Germans from leaving. Part of the division went north, the others to the east. Nearly all of France was occupied by the Americans at that point, although the Germans still had strongholds blocking further penetration into Germany."

After fierce fighting, the 10th pierced the vaunted "Siegfried Line" and led the Third Army into Germany on Nov. 19, 1944.

Nichols' company was pulled out of Metz and had a side journey to Merck, France, on the Saar River, where German forces had set up a defense.

At one point his tank led the assault. Because of losses his company was pulled back for reinforcements and to resupply.

"We were expecting to go into the Trier-Moselle Triangle."

Those orders were abruptly changed when progress to the east was diverted. In the north, on Dec. 16, 1944, the Germans launched the Ardennes Offensive, known as the Battle of the Bulge.

Nichols' division, Combat Command R, was diverted up through Luxemburg to Bastogne, Belgium. The other two parts of his division, CCA and CCB went north and east.

"And we got east of Bastogne when we hit the German troops ... or they hit us. I knocked out a German tank at that time.

"We had to fall back to just outside Bastogne because the 101st hadn't yet arrived. We held that front until they did arrive.

"We set up again outside a little town, like Atwood, called Marve, after a couple of serious attacks in our area."

The main road going into Bastogne was just outside the village. The Germans would hold it, then the Americans would hold it.

The Nicholses have a scrapbook of the war years and Don can pinpoint the spot where the division task force commander had set up on an aerial photograph of Marve.

"It was contested a couple of times. We took it, then were forced out.

"I knocked out another German tank and my tank was knocked out. I was hit from 30 yards away."

The Germans' shot at dawn gouged out a large hunk of metal in the front of Nichols' tank, breaking the sprocket bolts. The transmission fluid line was hit and leaking. The tank could move, but slowly.

"None of the crew was hurt and at one point they left me to continue firing," he said. "I was just doing my job."

The tank was armed with a 105 Howitzer, called an assault gun. Also on board was a .50 caliber machine gun and two .30 caliber machine guns plus .75 mm or .76 mm rifles.

"It was quite a formidable company, if you think about it, 18 tanks and all that firepower.

"So I became a sitting pillbox for three or four days until the 4th Armored Division came in and broke the Bulge and started opening up the area so troops could come in."

Supplies were low for most of the troops.

"Fortunately, we had all our supplies up to date, full rations and ammunition. But it was getting so desperate with the ammunition we were limited to how much we could fire. I went through the bombing of Bastogne after the breakthrough of the 4th.

"I was apprehensive, at times. The only time I got worried was when we lost a tank.

"It was like going into a football game. A guy is nervous before the game starts. Then, a guy gets going, everything falls into place. That's my opinion, what I remember of it."

Eventually, support crews came in with a transport vehicle to take Nichols' tank back to Metz for repairs.

"My company went in with 16 tanks. They came out in 30 days with three tanks left. They had to stay two more weeks.

"I'm proud of the armored division, but you always have to keep in mind they have infantry with them. One can't work without the other - you have to be a team," he said.

More than 19,000 Americans died at the Battle of the Bulge along with 1,500 British and 100,000 Germans.

Nichols was one of 18 men in his company who came back unwounded.

"I was pretty fortunate all the way around," Don said.

Don had three brothers, and all four of Mrs. Nichols' children served in World War II and they all came home.

With Don being the youngest, his next oldest brother repaired aircraft in India. The second oldest served in the Carribean as and Air Force flight engineer. His oldest brother was in China, "fighting the communists."

Don retired from the Army Reserve after 20 years.

The Nicholses attend the Fighting Tigers reunion regularly. This year and next year may be their last meetings.

"Too many have died and others are too ill to travel."

This year's June reunion is in Washington, D.C., and the Nicholses plan to visit the new World War II monument where they are both registered.

Sally Anne McConnell Nichols enlisted in the U.S. Navy when she was 20. At the time, women couldn't enter the service any earlier without parental permission.

"We paved the way for the younger girls. But they probably had more comprehensive training than we ever did.

"I joined because it was just the thing to do. I knew only nurses and communications people went overseas. The training was very easy," the former WAVE said.

Sally was sworn in in May 1945 at the Board of Trades in Chicago. In June, she traveled by train to Bronx, N.Y., reporting for basic training at Hunter College.

"By that time they'd already had V-E Day," Sally said. "The United Nations had their first meetings at Hunter College. I remember Eleanor Roosevelt came through with a group of Arabs and we had a dress parade. They said to look straight ahead, but since I was guide on, I kind of glanced over."

The women marched everywhere and learned military protocols, but weren't called upon for much else.

Promoted to Storekeeper Third Class, Sally Nichols served in Mechanicsburg, Pa., at the Navy Supply Depot. It the time it was the largest Navy inland supply station.

She bunked at the base in nearby Harrisburg, Pa., and rode the half-hour trip to Mechanicsburg each day.

"The Mechanicsburg base is still there, still active, but Harrisburg has been shut down," she said.

Sally's office canceled Navy contracts, a billet she filled for 13 months, until July 1946.

"The war was over and I was given the option to leave. Of course, we served at the convenience of the government.

"The girls I ran around with decided to leave, so I decided to leave, too."

Sally's sister, Jane McConnell Chinworth, an Army nurse, also had returned home by that time.

Sally eventually donated her U.S. Navy uniform to the Kosciusko County Historical Society.

The Nicholses were married in November 1950.

When asked how long they've been married, Sally said, "Too long." Don said, "Forever," adding in a whisper, "She couldn't resist me." [[In-content Ad]]