134th Infantry Regiment "All Hell Can't Stop Us"

T/Sgt. John E. "Gene" Weick

Company B

Photo of S/Sgt. Weick taken before leaving the U. S.

An Account of the Battle outside St. Lo supplied by Steven Weick as told by his father John E. "Gene" Weick.

The following is the true unabridged version of what happened that day outside St. Lo. In no way does this unabridged version take away from the courage shown by my father during battle. If anything it enhances his devotion to his comrades and the will to save someone else before himself. Earthen hedgerows with brush and trees planted on them surrounded the meadows in France. In the meadows normally were piles of brush and branches cleared from the fields. The Germans would place machine guns in each corner of the fields and fire tracer bullets above the heads of the on troops. Then when the troops got into the middle of the field the hidden machine guns in the brush piles would open at waist level. Here is his account of what happened that day. I am trying to word it exactly as he told the story to me. This is a diagram of the meadow that the unit had to fight across.

CLICK HERE to see maps of the St. Lo area indicating the position of the 134th Infantry Regiment July 15 - 18, 1944

"As we approached the field we could see machine gun fire coming from the corners sweeping the entire field. We saw men down in different areas of the field and other men attacking across the field toward the machine gun nests. The 2 of us started across the field when the guns turned their attention toward another group of men. We made it within grenade distance of one nest when a 3rd hidden machine gun opened up on us from a clump of brush and branches. I remember having a grenade in my hand pulling the pin when it felt like someone hit me in the shoulder with a sledgehammer. I was knocked to the ground and my partner fell on top of me. He said "Gene I'm hit!" I could only respond "Me too."

Once we were down the machine guns turned toward other men attempting to cross the field. Any movement we made was prompted by new gunfire in our direction. My right shoulder was numb and my partner had been hit 4 times between the knees and waist. He was in very bad shape and quickly passed out. I noticed 2 of my men slowly moving toward the hidden machine nest. When the gun turned toward their direction I gathered up my comrade in my arms and headed back toward the rear hedgerow.

I heard a yell and knew the gun was turning in our direction but the bullets never came. Quickly glancing behind me I saw that the 2 men for my squad had tossed a phosphorus grenade into the brush pile making it burst into flame and silencing the machine gun. Meantime the guns on the corner of the field were swinging my way. By this time I had made it to the hedgerow.

I knew I could never get over the hedgerow with him in my arms. As I looked down I also saw that in my frozen right hand I still clutched the grenade, the pin removed. I shoved my partner over the hedgerow and with my left hand started to pry my frozen finger from around the grenade. I could not go over the hedgerow with a live grenade in my hand because if it went off many of my comrades could die. I finally got my fingers loose and tossed the grenade as far as I could with my left hand, which wasn't very far. The explosion alerted the Germans to my position and brought both guns toward me. As I jumped over the hedgerow dirt and tree branches sliced down and thrown up but the German guns covered me.

A medic was on the spot attending my wounds and I saw my partner being carried off. I never saw him again. I don't know what ever happened to him. Because of my wound I was sent to England to recover. I finally returned to my unit around December 1, 1944 just before the unit crossed the river into Germany. During my recovery I was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart and promoted to TSgt. I returned as a platoon leader. I had a hard time finding many of my friends from the unit. We had been spread out and many were with Company C or the 101st Airborne. We finally got regrouped before we made our strike across the river into Germany. But, that is another story."

For his bravery in this action, Sgt. Weick was awarded the Silver Star Medal

T/Sgt. Weick was also awarded a Bronze Star Medal for the heroic rescue of his wounded comrades from a minefield near Hilforth, Germany on February 26, 1945.

Supplied by Steven Weick as told by his father John E. "Gene" Weick.

My father related this story to me in the summer 1992 while we were in Falls City for a family reunion. This was the first time I had ever been to Falls City. We visited the courthouse and the memorial for the men who gave their lives in the war. My father pointed out all the names of his hometown friend that were on the memorial.

This incident where he won the bronze star is detailed in the unit history book "134th Infantry Regiment Combat History of World War II" , (Chapter 10 of the book). John Weick was a Platoon Sgt. at this time and lead his platoon against the town. He said he lost 9 men going across the minefield. After achieving their objective and securing the town he and his men returned to the minefield to gather his wounded. At the minefield he was told that he could not enter the field until the minesweepers arrived to clear the field. They were not scheduled to arrive until the next morning. Meanwhile he had eight wounded men in the field that would not last the night. He asked for permission to enter the field and retrieve his men. After much debate he was granted permission. Two members of his platoon volunteered to assist him on retrieving the wounded from the field. These 3 men repeatedly entered an active minefield and recovered all their fallen comrades.
John Weick related this story of the retrieval of one of the soldiers from the minefield.

"The soldier was a young 19-year-old replacement from Louisiana. Heaven help me if I can remember his name. Over the years the names have faded but the faces will live with you forever. When he joined my unit I like him right off. He was bright, funny and had bright red hair. He was also very fast because he was a track star in high school. When I got to where he lay in the minefield he was in shock. I bent to pick him up and realized that both of his legs were basically gone from the knees down. He never said a word or showed that he was in any pain. As I started to carry him from the field I started to cry. By the time I got to the medics I once again had myself in control but everyone could tell how much it had affected me. I placed him in the care of the medics and returned to get another of my men. By the time we had got all of our men from the minefield it was time to move out. I never saw that brave young man again."

T/Sgt. John E. "Gene" Weick, with grandson Bruce John Weick, 1992

Thanks to Mr. Steve Weick, son of T/Sgt. John E. "Gene" Weick, for these photos and information. His father lives in Roseburg, Oregon.