Let’s go 60 miles behind German lines

GS Patton 2’s idea, but he had no idea LTC John K. Waters, his son-in-law, was in the prison camp.

LTC Creighton Abrams wanted to use all his Combat Command B, 4th Armored Division, so says

http://www.taskforcebaum.de/tfborg/s1.html

except maybe he didn’t: “What the hell is this all about?” he demanded. “It just doesn’t make sense.” (Rick Atkinson, ‘The Guns at Last Light.’)

Abrams first choice to lead the charge was LTC Harold Cohen, commander of 10th Armored Infantry Battalion. Cohen had a bad case of hemorrhoids, so command went to battalion S3, CPT Abraham J. Baum. Accompanying Baum was MAJ Alexander C. Stiller, one of Patton’s aides, 52 years old and a former Texas Ranger.

“Cohen joined the army in 1942 as a private. Two years later, he was a major and a Battalion Commander. He would eventually be promoted, in field, to Lt. Colonel.

“In addition to the Distinguished Service Cross, Cohen received four Silver Stars, three Bronze stars, three purple hearts, and the Legion of Merit.”

http://www.walb.com/global/Story.asp?s=5289650

“In 1945 a recommendation was made for a Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery during fighting. Somehow, it was lost. In 1996, General Abrams´s biographer mentioned Cohen´s story to Lt. Colonel Fred Borch, who reopened the case, resulting in the awarding of the medal.”

http://www.nmajmh.org/exhibitions/catalog-hallOfHeroes/cat24.php

Baum and Stiller were awarded the DSC for the attempted rescue.

“Born March 29, 1921, Abraham J. Baum dropped out of high school in the Bronx to help support his struggling family. He made patterns for women's blouses, which convinced the Army that he was an engineer, he joked years later. He enlisted shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.”

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/23/local/la-me-abe-baum-20130324

(There are enough Jews involved there to make a movie about a bunch of American GI Jews operating behind German lines …)