Stewart wrote in caps. This is an excerpt of his escape on December 17, 1944 as the Germans attacked at the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge:
THIS IS THE BRIEF STORY OF THE ESCAPE FROM BULLINGEN BY CHESTER KRAWCZYK, GEORGE MATANICH, MARVIN WESTBROOK AND STEWART BOONE. TOGETHER WE HURRIEDLY DECIDED TO TRY TO ESCAPE. BY THIS TIME GERMAN TANKS AND HALF TRACK PERSONNEL CARRIERS WERE SWARMING ALL OVER THE PLACE. THERE WAS AN INTERVAL OF PERHAPS 75 YARDS BETWEEN THE GERMAN VEHICLES AS THEY MOTORED DOWN THE STREET PAST OUR POSITION. BEFORE ONE UNIT WOULD COME OVER THE HILL AND INTO SIGHT.
WE, ONE AT A TIME, WOULD CROSS THE STREET. WE DIDN’T ENCOUNTER ANY DIFFICULTY AND ON THE OTHER SIDE JOINED FORCES WITH SOME 2ND DIVISION ENGINEERS AND FOR A WHILE FIRED OUR RIFLES AND CARBINES TO KEEP THE TANKS BUTTONED-UP. THE SIDE OF THE ROAD TOWARD THE EAST (FRONT) WAS HIGH AND WE COULD FIRE OUR WEAPONS FROM A STAND UP POSITION. AFTER A SHORT TIME ONE OF THE ENGINEERS TURNED TO ME AND SAID “THIS ISN’T GOING TO WORK. WE HAD BEST TRY TO GET BACK TO THE REAR AND REPORT WHAT IS GOING ON UP HERE”.
AT THIS POINT THE FOUR OF US STARTED OUR TREK BACK TO DIVISION ARTILLERY HEADQUARTERS. WE FIRST HEADED FOR AN OLD DELAPIDATED BARN ACROSS A FIELD. UPON ARRIVING THERE SAFELY, WE STRUCK OUT FOR A GROVE OF TREES IN THE DISTANCE. AGAIN WE ARRIVED UNSCATHED. OUR NEXT OBJECTIVE WAS TO REACH A BLACKTOPPED ROAD. AT THIS POINT, HOWEVER, THE TERRAIN WAS A DEFINITE ADVANTAGE TO THE ENEMY AS IT SLOPED UPHILL TO THE REAR.
SURE ENOUGH JERRY WAS WAITING FOR US. WE BEGAN TAKING ON GERMAN RIFLE FIRE SEEMINGLY FROM JUST ONE PERSON. WE WERE DEFINITELY GOOD TARGETS BUT, ONE BY ONE, WE MADE OUR WAY OVER THE HILL AND OUT OF TARGET RANGE.
FIRST, CHESTER. THEN MARVIN, THEN GEORGE. ALL THE TIME I AM PEPPERING CARBINE ROUNDS INTO A RAVINE WHERE IT APPEARED THE GERMAN WAS FIRING AT US, KEEPING HIM UNDER FIRE TO AID OUR ESCAPE.
NOW MY THREE BUDDIES WERE SAFELY OUT OF SIGHT, BUT WHAT ABOUT ME? IT RAN THROUGH MY MIND THAT JERRY WAS WAITING FOR THE GUY WHO HAD BEEN FIRING AT HIM. WITH THIS IN MIND, I BEGAN MY ESCAPE TO JOIN MY FRIENDS. I TOOK 2 OR 3 STEPS AND HIT THE GROUND. THEN, 3 OR FOUR AND HIT THE GROUND. AND SO ON AND SO ON, UNTIL I HAD REJOINED MY BUDDIES AND WE CONTINUED OUR ESCAPE. WE SOON REACHED THE HIGHWAY COMING FROM ST. VITH AND HAILED A G.I. GASOLINE TRUCK FULL OF EMPTY 5 GAL. GAS CANS. HE FINALLY BROUGHT HIS TRUCK TO A STOP AND YELLED, “HURRY UP AND GET UP ON TOP AND WE’LL HIT THE INTERSECTION AT 50 MPH”. WE HURRIED TO GET ABOARD. THAT VITAL CROSSROADS HAD BEEN CHANGING HANDS QUITE OFTEN BUT LUCKILY IT WAS NOW CONTROLLED BY THE AMERICANS.
CHESTER ALWAYS CREDITED ME WITH SAVING HIS LIFE AS ONE OF THE GERMAN’S RIFLE SHOTS PENETRATED THE MUD ON THE INSTEP OF HIS OVERSHOE. I HAD SEEN THAT ONE OF MY ROUNDS HAD SKIPPED ON THE BANK OF THE RAVINE INTO WHAT APPEARED TO BE HIS HELMET. LATER, I WOULD BE AWARDED THE BRONZE STAR FOR THIS MERITORIOUS SERVICE.
WELL, WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE OUTFIT?
WHILE STILL AT OUR BILLETED HOUSES, FRANK LUEBEN WOULD FIRE HIS THOMPSON SUB MACHINE GUN AND THEN RUN UPSTAIRS TO FIRE IT INTO THE GERMAN PERSONNEL CARRIERS. HE WAS REALLY REEKING HAVOC. HE WOULD LATER BE CALLED BACK TO THE REAR TO RECEIVE A DECORATION BY GENERAL MONTGOMERY FOR HIS BRAVERY.
FRANK LUEBEN AND GEORGE WADIAN CAME OUT TOGETHER IN AN ABANDONED 8 TON WEAPONS CARRIER WITH KAPUT RADIATOR STEAMING.
LIEUTENANT SHAMBLIN HAD BEEN BACK AT DIVISION HEADQUARTERS GETTING ORDERS FOR THE DAY AND HIS (OUR) JEEP WAS SAVED. *
I’M NOT AWARE OF THE ESCAPE ROUTES OF OTHERS, BUT WHEN THE DUST SETTLED AND WE REGROUPED, THERE WERE TEN MEN AND ONE OFFICER THAT ESCAPED TO CONTINUE THE BATTLE. WE ESCAPEES HAVE OFTEN BEEN REFERRED TO IN HISTORY AS “THE LUCKY ELEVEN”.
Out of his service battery of 70, four were killed, eleven escaped and the rest were captured. Stewart was the last one to die, so we often referred to him as “The Luckiest of the Eleven”. Stewart is on the left in the front row.
These soldiers weren’t so lucky. The Wereth 11 are eleven African Americans soldiers who were massacred by the Germans. Blacks were an oddity in a segregated army. These soldiers knocked on the door of a family of eleven. They invited them in and shared a meal. But when the Germans came, the soldiers left the house because they didn’t want any harm to come to the family. The soldiers were massacred nearby.
Eighty four men were killed and seven were able to play dead. They breathed into their sleeves so their breath was not detected.
Each corner in Belgium has a story. I found this to be interesting. It was a story about how quickly the advance was in 1944. General Timberlake left lunch on the table. The German leader Peiper ate it. The innkeeper was also involved in saving American lives.
https://www.liberationroute.com/de/pois/1881/battle-of-lingneuville
*Stewart would say that Lt. Shamblin jumped into the jeep that Stewart drove and yelled, “Everyman for himself,” and left him.
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