Hank Zimmerman was born in Larksville, PA in 1925 and raised in a small town in the Wilkes Barre-Scranton area where coal mining was the primary occupation. When he was about 16 years of age after working in the coal mines himself, his family moved to Elisabeth, NJ. There he worked in Phelps Dodge, making copper wire and later, cable. When the war broke out, he wanted his father to sign that he could join the Army, but he refused to do so. At 18 he was drafted and after being turned down three or four times because of high blood sugar, he convinced the recruiting officer that he wanted to serve his time. On Dec. 30, 1943 he left for boot camp.

While training in Camp Croft, SC someone came into the barracks one day and said they were looking for volunteers for the paratroopers. Being one always looking for excitement, Hank decided this was something for him. At this time they were not assigned to a company. Upon completion of his training at Ft.Benning, GA (he did not train at Currahee, Toccoa) he was sent to England to await assignment to an outfit. Finally, in November of 1944 he was sent to Mourmelon, France where he was assigned to E Company, 506, 101st Airborne Division a company in need of replacements. Finally, one day the order came to load up on trucks. Is wasn't until they were well on their way that the were told they were going into Bastogne, Belgium.

On arrival they saw many soldiers leaving the area. They were a group of green soldiers who were fleeing the area commenting that the Germans had some outfits surrounded. Their comments were "Poor Bastards." Easy was trained to fight from behind enemy lines which meant they were always surrounded. Another comment from Easy was that "We are the reception committee." They took whatever ammunition and guns these men had since they hadn't had the time to get most of theirs prior to leaving Mourmelon. To say that they weren't scared would be an understatement. They were all on edge, but ready to do whatever had to be done

The weather was considered to be the worst the area had ever had. It set records. Temperatures were below zero and they were not equipped with proper winter clothing. In order to keep their feet from freezing, which many did despite their attempts, they would wrap them in burlap bags or anything they could find handy. It was a must to change their socks often to allow them to dry. On the photo left: Hank right and Popeye Wynn)

They found some German casualties, but all they could do was to stack them up until the ground thawed and they could be given a proper burial.

Major Winters, who was a captain at this point, was their company commander and a very good one as Hank says. They heard stories of how US prisoners were slaughtered by the Germans. After hearing this they were not above killing the Germans whenever they got the chance. Hank always had a good relationship with both Winters and Speirs. He did what he was told because he knew he was his superior and had more information than he had.

While in Bastogne and Foy they were running very low on ammunition and and other supplies. The weather was overcast with snow. Although this was a trying time, their spirits were high. His Sergeant, Walt (Blackjack) Hendrix (the right one next to Hank on the photo right) and Hank would harmonize "Paper Doll" singing as loud as possible to let the Germans know that they weren't getting to them. At one point they snuck into the pine grove where Easy was dug in, wearing white sheets. They stood out like a sore thumb making it possible for Easy to fire on them. They suffered heavy casualties.

While chasing the Germans through the woods and the fields, Hank came upon some dead German soldiers. He briefly stopped by one soldier who caught my eye. He appeared to be about 14 years old and Hank was only 19 at the time. He couldn't get over the fact that such young children and even some old men being 40-50 or even older, were involved in this battle.

He truly believed they survived during that time only because they they had the attitude that their time was up at any moment and they just lived from moment to moment. Their thoughts were mainly on how to keep their fellow men alive without regard for their own lives. This is evidenced by Bill Guarnere's heroic action to save the life of Joe Toye when he lost his leg in Bastogne.Another incident while Easy was dug in the pine grove, one of their guys was hit by shrapnel, losing his arm. When the medics picked him up, he very calmly asked if they would get his watch from his arm. His Dad had given it to him and he didn't want to lose it.

Hank's next battle was in Alsace, Germany, were they lost William F. Kiehn (army # 19114027) on February 10, 1945 and John A. Janovec (army # 36697136) in May 1945.

From there they were sent back to Mourmelon for a brief respite. After this they started their march across Germany, crossing the Rhine River. At this point there was very little German resistance. On April 29 they came across their first concentration camp, which was a work camp. There they found dead bodies and many who were nothing but skin and bones. These poor people wanted water and food desperately, but Easy had to ration it to them or they would have become ill from the sudden ingestion of food and water. This was a sight Hank was not prepared to see and he hoped and prayed never to see it again. Hank told me that the general feeling of the men at this point was one of disgust that one human being could do something like this to another. They all were very upset over these conditions. It was like a bad dream from which they would awake. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Although there were incidences of friendly fire killing their own men, fortunately Hank was never aware of it happening during any of the battles in which he fought. When they heard that Hitler had commit suicide, they were happy if this was indeed the case. However, may of Easy felt that he did not do this and that it was the body of someone that they found.

From this point they went to the Eagle's Nest in Austria. His sergeant sent Hank and others out to find transportation. They came across Hitler's car but it wouldn't run. They found other vehicles without wheels and finally they found a fire engine that ran. They stripped it and went through the streets of Berchtesgaden blowing the horn. When they got back to the Nest, they were told to take the engine back. They wanted "transportation." not a fire engine. They also found a cache of cognac stashed in a cellar. Some of the men had a good time drinking it. They weren't going to tell anyone, but the next day, it was common knowledge,

After the defeat of Germany they were all prepared to go to the Pacific, but before that move could be executed, the war in that zone ended too. At this time Hank re-enlisted as they were told if they did so they would return to the States earlier.

Hank's moral in life is to pray that some day this world will find true peace and that all men will stop fighting one another. "War is hell," he says. He prays and feels for all the young men today who are involved in the Iraq situation. War has turned him completely off guns. Although they do have a purpose in hunting, etc. it saddens him greatly that they are also used in so many wrongful ways.

By the war's end, the 101st Airborne was known as "The Battered Bastards of Bastogne."