-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
A monument situated off-road in the woods bordering the road Eschweiler – Wiltz indicates George O. Mergenthaler’s burial place. A panel explains the military situation on December 18, 1944 and the circumstances of George’s death.
The panels will be placed end of 2013.
Take the road from Wiltz to Eschweiler. 100 Meters from Café Halt crossing, take to the right, off-road. You'll see a monument. At the right backside of the monument stands an old tree which holds the cache at 2,50 m from the ground! Some climbing is needed!
Here a little explanation of what happended at this particular place.
On September 10, 1944, Luxembourg was liberated by the 1st US Army.
On November 18, 1944, the 28th US Infantry Division that had suffered many casualties in the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest south of Aachen (Germany), came to the north of Luxembourg in order to reorganize and refresh.
60 men of the 155 soldiers of the 28th Reconnaissance Company were billeted in Eschweiler. One of them was George Ottmar Mergenthaler, grandson of the inventor of the linotype machine. He became well known and beloved by the villagers.
On December 16, 1944, Hitler launched a surprise attack against the US troops holding the front from Echternach (L) to Monschau (Germ.). This became known as the Battle of the Bulge. In spite of being outnumbered, the American soldiers succeeded in delaying the Germans’ advance.
In the morning of December 18, 1944, to prevent encirclement, the commanding officer in Eschweiler ordered to retreat to the 28th US Infantry Division’s headquarters in Wiltz. A column of six vehicles took the shortest road to Wiltz by going south.
As the column passed the last bend before the “Café Halt”, it ran into an ambush. The Germans fired from every available weapon: rifles, machine guns, mortars and tank guns. The column was blocked and the jeep ahead of Mergenthaler’s was hit by a mortar shell. A German fired his machine pistol at the stopped vehicles. While Captain Lewis Meisenhelter, the company commander, Sergeant G. Raducovic, the driver, and Private Joe Vocasec, the mailman, took cover in the jeep, machine gunner Private George O. Mergenthaler fired at the attacker. Joe Vocasec hit a German’s hand. At this moment Mergenthaler’s machine gun jammed. George tried to repair the jam and ordered his companions to leave the vehicle. As the three soldiers ran for cover, George gave one more burst of gunfire, when his gun jammed again. The wounded German didn’t give up and stroke George’s neck. George slumped down.
After the melting of snow in March 1945, a villager found a soldier’s grave. Reverend Antoine Bodson identified the body as his friend George O. Mergenthaler. In presence of all the villagers, he buried the brave soldier in the cemetery of Eschweiler. In October 1947, George’s mortal remains were returned with 6.300 bodies to the U.S.A.
Sources: Pierre Eicher, Zum tragischen Tode von George Mergenthaler, in „Schumanns Eck, 1944-1945 Liberation Memorial“, Imprimerie rapidpress, Luxembourg,1994.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)