What happens if you leave your army platoon during combat and run away?

What happens if you leave your army platoon during combat and run away?


We had a guy in our unit who did that. I met him in his position during a firefight and he told me: “Man, I’m so scared!” Then he was gone.

The funny thing is that nobody noticed his absence. We had been fighting from the early morning hours, our unit got mixed up with other units, and people constantly got lost.

During WWII, approximately 50,000 US soldiers deserted from the battlefields. (Photo: NPR).

I only found out that he had disappeared because he told me about it. In the evening, he confessed to me. He said that he suddenly got scared from all the artillery shelling and the bullets zipping over his head and had run away.

After several kilometers, he had calmed down and realized what he had done. As it was late, he hadn’t tried to rejoin the fighting but had gone straight to our guerrilla base where I met him.

What can you do with such a guy?

First of all, I don't blame him too much. Soldiers are losing their nerves all the time, especially in a tough battle. We had complete squads who were suddenly “disappearing” from the frontline. A single guy going on leave during a battle is much less serious.

Still, you can't trust the guy anymore. What if he’s doing the same thing again? Therefore, in our case, we decided that he could stay with our unit, but not in a combat squad anymore.

We had two support squads that were working at our base and that is where we put him. He stayed there until the end of the war.

We were a guerrilla unit and made our own rules. A regular army unit will be much less lenient towards these kinds of people.

However, a regular army platoon probably wouldn't try to keep the frontline against several enemy tanks that are supported by infantry and artillery. What we did on that day required some extra nerves.

Even regular combat units have several options when they deal with soldiers who disappear from the frontline.

If the unit is still “cool” with the guy (for example, when he returns after a short time), there’s no need to file a report about the incident. On the other hand, if someone's gone for good, he won't avoid being court-martialed.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS:US Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmond.

Image
 RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS:US Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmond. Here is America's only soldier to ever receive Israel’s highest honor conferred on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.  77 years ago, facing the threat of immediate execution, he and his men displayed an act of courage and character that exemplifies what it means to take a stand against evil. US Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division, the “Golden Lions”, was captured by German forces at the onset of the Battle of the Bulge.  A native of Knoxville, TN, Edmonds was 25 years old. He had only been on the front line for five days when his unit was overrun. Edmonds' captors marched him east where he was transferred to Stalag IX-A, a camp for enlisted personnel just east of Bonn, Germany.  As the senior noncommissioned officer at the camp, Edmonds found himself responsible for 1,275 American POWs. On January 27, 1945, the Camp Com...
Read more

🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Honoring the Service of First Sergeant Floyd Talbert of Easy Company♠️

Image
 🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Honoring the Service of First Sergeant Floyd Talbert of Easy Company♠️ Floyd Merrill Talbert, of  Kokomo, Indiana, enlisted in the U.S. Army on August 24, 1942 at Fort Benjamin Harrison, located in Indianapolis, Indiana.  He was assigned to E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division at Camp Toccoa under the direction of Captain Herbert Sobel. Talbert made his first combat jump on D-Day. While in Normandy, he was bayoneted by Pvt. George Smith, who mistook him for a German. Talbert had been trying to wake Smith while carrying a pistol, and wearing a German poncho.  Also, Talbert jumped in Operation Market Garden in Holland, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne. Talbert had quickly risen through the ranks, making the rank of Company 1st Sergeant, he would later turn that rank in, when he thought he could do better to be with the men he had fought alongside of during the war, self-demoting to St...
Read more

🇺🇲 WWII uncovered: Three War Veteran: Colonel Ed McMahon of the US Marine Corps:

Image
 🇺🇲 WWII uncovered: Three War Veteran: Colonel Ed McMahon of the US Marine Corps: You may remember his signature line - "Heeeere's Johnny!! For nearly 30 years Ed McMahon was the co-host of the popular television series "The Tonight Show" with fellow World War II veteran Johnny Carson. While Johnny served in the Navy - Ed served with the US Marine Corps.  McMahon served with the Marines during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. According to the US Department of Defense: "In 1944, Ed McMahon was commissioned in the Marine Corps and earned his pilot's wings.  He became a Marine Corps test pilot and a flight instructor in F4U Corsair aircraft at Lee Field, in Green Cove Springs, Florida." "McMahon remained in the Marine Corps Reserve after the war and was recalled to active duty during the Korean War.  He was awarded six Air Medals for flying 85 combat missions over North Korea in an OE-1 unarmed observation aircraft." "Afte...
Read more

Sad Story Of African Powerful President Who Was Killed On Live TV Broadcasting.

Image
Sad Story Of African Powerful President Who Was Killed On Live TV Broadcasting. What makes watching a video of someone’s last moments different from reading about their murder? There is always something profound and heartbreaking about a dying person, no matter how many mistakes or sins they have made. We examine Mohammed Anwar el Sadat’s terrible murder in light of the aforementioned.As president of Egypt , Mohammed Anwar el Sadat was the one who was most closely guarded. In any case, he was guarded by at least four layers of security, including a group in charge of robbing the military during a parade of its armaments. But tragic events made him vulnerable, which led to his murder on October 6, 1981.The war between his country and Israel was ended by the Camp David Accords, which Sadat had signed three years earlier.  As a result, he infuriated his neighbors, who promptly removed Egypt from the Arab League. His crackdowns on Islamist organizations did not help, and he also aliena...
Read more

🇺🇲A Salute to Melvin E Biddle. Recipient of Congressional Medal of Honor and Hero of the Battle of the Bulge.

Image
🇺🇲A Salute to Melvin E Biddle. Recipient of   Congressional Medal of Honor and Hero of the Battle of the Bulge. Serving as lead scout during an attack to relieve the enemy-encircled town of Hotton, Pfc. Biddle aggressively penetrated a densely wooded area, advanced 400 yards until he came within range of intense enemy rifle fire, and within 20 yards of enemy positions killed three snipers with unerring marksmanship. Courageously continuing his advance an additional 200 yards, he discovered a hostile machinegun position and dispatched its two occupants.  He then located the approximate position of a well-concealed enemy machinegun nest, and crawling forward threw hand grenades which killed two Germans and fatally wounded a third. After signaling his company to advance, he entered a determined line of enemy defense, coolly and deliberately shifted his position, and shot three more enemy soldiers.  Undaunted by enemy fire, he crawled within 20 yards of a machinegun ne...
Read more

They Started Beating Him From 6pm Till He Died At 10am The Next Day They Shaved His Hair- Source.

Image
They Started Beating Him From 6pm Till He Died At 10am The Next Day They Shaved His Hair- Source. As reported by The Punch News, the source from the university said, “They started beating him from 6 p.m. until he died at about 10 a.m. the next day. The incident happened at ‘Shepherd Inn’. It’s like a lodge or a hostel now. They also shaved the hair of the guy before beating him. The university spokesperson, Femi Atoyebi, said, “What actually happened is that the deceased was alleged to have stolen a mobile telephone, but instead of reporting the issue to the university management, the expelled students could not control their emotions. Their actions led to the unfortunate death of the student. The university has taken swift action by handing over all the students involved to the Nigeria Police Force for investigation, with the assurance that justice will be served
Read more

Goering, an early member of the Nazi Party, suffered injuries during a failed Munich beer hall raid in 1923, leading to long-term dependence on painkillers.

Image
On May 9, 1945, Hermann Goering, commander in chief of the Luftwaffe, president of the Reichstag, head of the Gestapo, prime minister of Prussia, and Hitler's designated successor, was captured by the American Seventh Army in Bavaria. Goering, an early member of the Nazi Party, suffered injuries during a failed Munich beer hall raid in 1923, leading to long-term dependence on painkillers. After Hitler came to power, Goering was instrumental in setting up concentration camps for political dissidents. Known for his lavish lifestyle, he often changed uniforms and displayed his decorations, jewelry, and stolen art. After ordering German Jews out of the economy after Kristallnacht in 1938, he began policies of confiscating Jewish property and businesses. Goering's inability to win the Battle of Britain and stop the Allied bombing of Germany reduced his standing within the party. His egotism and close association with Hitler further alienated him from his fellow officers. As the war ...
Read more

On this day 10th March 1945.

Image
On this day 10th March 1945. 67 Germans tunneled out of a prisoners of war camp at Bridgend, Glamorgan, Wales, United kIngdom; all were captured within a week, including two who were caught by an unarmed girl working with the Auxiliary Territorial Service. From the outset, those in charge at Island Farm were acutely aware of the risk of escape by the prisoners and the potential risks that an escape would pose. Sabotage of vital war work was feared as the camp was within a mile of the munitions factory which employed 39,000 and in the heart of industrial south Wales which was so crucial to the war effort. Their fears were well founded. In January 1945, a tunnel was discovered and though the camp commander and guards realised that it was likely to be a diversionary tunnel, they failed to find the other. It was through this second tunnel, with its entrance in Hut 9, that the officers made their escape in March 1945. On 10 March, the German soldiers gathered in the hut to make their wa...
Read more

October 15, 1917, Dancer and spy Mata Hari is executed by firing squad.

Image
October 15, 1917, Dancer and spy Mata Hari is executed by firing squad.  Mata Hari spent much of her career claiming that she was raised as an Indian temple dancer. In reality, however, she was born Margaretha Zelle on August 7, 1876, and grew up the daughter of a haberdasher in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden.  Desperate for adventure, at age 18 she answered a newspaper ad and wed a much older army captain named Rudolf MacLeod.  His military career later took the couple to Indonesia, where they had two children, but their marriage was plagued by infidelity and domestic violence. Following the death of their young son, they moved back to Europe and divorced.  The 27-year-old Margaretha was left impoverished. In 1903, after losing custody of her daughter, she moved to Paris and looked to start over. “I wanted to live like a colorful butterfly in the sun,” she later said. It was in the City of Lights that Margaretha Zelle reinvented herself as an artist. Drawing on her ex...
Read more

Moment husband returns home, finds cheating wife in towel with another manChaos erupted when a husband returned from work and caught his wife in a compromising situation with another man.

Image
Moment husband returns home, finds cheating wife in towel with another manChaos erupted when a husband returned from work and caught his wife in a compromising situation with another man. The dramatic scene, captured on video and circulated on social media, has garnered attention for its intense confrontation. The video footage depicts the husband arriving at the scene to find his wife clad in nothing but a towel, accompanied by another man. Anguish and fury apparent on his face, the husband immediately confronts the alleged lover.Despite the wife’s pleas for restraint, asserting that no wrongdoing had occurred, the husband remains incensed. The alleged lover, also seen in the video, attempts to defuse the situation by pleading with the husband to allow him to leave peacefully. However, the husband’s anger knew no bounds, and he unleashed it by forcefully smashing the windscreen of the lover’s car. Throughout the altercation, the wife make frantic attempts to pacify the husband, but to...
Read more