Staff Sergeant Alfred Bell served as a Tank Platoon Sergeant during World War II. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge as a member of the famous Spearhead Division.
In this episode, he recounts the Battle of the Bulge. During the battle, Bell commanded all five tanks in his platoon. When the company-wide radio communications weren’t working, he left his tank on foot and fought across the battlefield to the aid station where they had battalion-wide communications. Bell still wasn’t able to contact his company with that radio, so he fought tooth and nail to protect the aid station as it was evacuated. By nightfall, Bell had lost an eye, a large portion of his left hand, and most of his fingers. Due to his severe injuries and massive blood loss, he faded in and out of consciousness, and woke up a few days later in a hospital in France. Bell spent the next two years recovering in a hospital in Texas, where he underwent many reconstructive plastic surgeries.
To learn more about the evacuation of this aid station, and Sergeant Aurio Pierro, who was mentioned in this episode, listen to our interview with Pierro.
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Alfred Bell was born to an impoverished French Creole family. He was forced to quit school in the 8th grade due to the great depression, and left home at 16 to work in the Civilian Conservation Corps in Yosemite National Park.
After the war, Bell’s injuries left him unable to work with his hands. His mother was able to send him to college instead, which was previously unimaginable.
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