After cruising through Bad Reichenhall, Miller's Battle Patrol and the 1st Battalion ran into some resistance at a mountain pass. Some SS troops were defending the pass, a natural defile that could have held up the battalion indefinitely. The Cottonbalers simply backed up, set up their artillery and fired away at the SS, who melted back into the mountains. From there the Americans hit a few roadblocks and mines but nothing really serious.

In the east, L Company led the 3rd Battalion down the autobahn. The commander of L Company, Lieutenant Sherman Pratt, had risen from the ranks to become an officer. Bright, articulate, upbeat and blessed with great resolve, he had found opportunity in the Army as an escape from economic privation and family problems. He had joined the 7th in 1939 and immediately took to military life.

By the time the regiment entered combat in North Africa in November 1942, Pratt had risen to sergeant. For the next 212 years he served with the 7th Infantry in various NCO jobs. At Anzio he was severely wounded by German artillery, but he managed to return in time for the breakout and liberation of Rome. Eventually his superb battlefield leadership led to an opportunity for a commission, and he took it. He quickly rose from platoon leader to command of L Company. Pratt was the very embodiment of those 7th Infantry veterans who had fought their way across two continents, in the process suffering tremendous adversity. He and so many other survivors wanted Berchtesgaden as a reward for overcoming that adversity.

National Archives

Troopers of the 3rd Division question recently surrendered German troops on the road to Berchtesgaden. As they advanced, the 'Cottonbalers' from the 7th Regiment moved cautiously, suspecting a German ambush along the road to Hitler's retreat. Fortunately for them, resistance was almost nonexistent.

Now, as morning turned to afternoon on the 4th, Pratt and his company rolled cautiously down the autobahn. 'After an hour or so we had covered almost 10 miles, or approximately half the distance to the objective,' Pratt reported. 'The going, however, was weird and scary. I was most apprehensive. The hills on both sides of the gorge were steep, and we were confined in a very narrow and restricted area.' In other words, the terrain was ideal for an ambush and, for all Pratt knew, plenty of SS troops waited around the next bend. The only excitement came when an American tank opened up on a German armored car and blew it up. The column proceeded unmolested all the way to Berchtesgaden, arriving there at 1600. 'Berchtesgaden looked like a village from a fairy tale,' Pratt said. 'Its houses were of Alpine architecture and design. Some had gingerbread decorations.'

Pratt's group got to Berchtesgaden shortly after a platoon from the 7th Regiment's Battle Patrol entered the town at the head of the 1st Battalion at 1558. There were some German soldiers in the town, but they were in no mood to fight. Isadore Valenti, a medic with K Company, wrote, '.50-caliber machine-gun carrying jeeps and half tracks took up positions inside the square, bagging the entire enemy force in one quick move.' Valenti and the other Cottonbalers captured 2,000 enemy soldiers. 'The streets were lined with German officers and a few noncommissioned officers and other ranks as well,' Major Rosson recalled. 'The officers were in their gray long coats, with side arms and baggage, awaiting orders.' Among the prisoners was Hermann Göring's nephew Fritz. The younger Göring presented himself to Heintges, who had come into town with the 1st Battalion. 'He surrendered to me in a typical military fashion,' Heintges remembered. 'He took off his belt with pistol and dagger and handed it to me in a little ceremony in the square right in the middle of Berchtesgaden.' After the surrender Göring and Heintges went into a local Gasthaus and split a bottle of wine. Heintges then asked Göring why he remained in the town. 'He said that he had been left behind to turn over his uncle Hermann Goring's administrative headquarters and all the records,' Heintges remembered. The Cottonbalers found the headquarters to be a complex of one-story buildings. Inside were the records for the Luftwaffe.

As soldiers of the 1st and 3rd battalions began exploring the town, Lieutenant Pratt took one of his platoons and some tanks on a mission to 'liberate' Hitler's home on Kehlstein Mountain a few miles outside of town. A complex that included an SS barracks and the homes of other high-ranking Nazi leaders surrounded the Führer's house. 'We were winding our way up the steep and winding mountain road,' Pratt recalled. 'The air was clear and crisp with almost unlimited visibility. We rounded a bend and there before us in a broad opening lay the ruins of what had once been Hitler's house and the SS barracks.' The Royal Air Force had bombed much of the complex on April 25. Pratt and other 7th infantrymen dismounted and began poking around the buildings. 'Everyone in my group was struck into silence…by the significance of the time and place. After all the years of struggle and destruction, the killing, pain and suffering…here, for sure, was the end of it.' Pratt and his men engaged in some minor looting and then went back into Berchtesgaden. A few other Cottonbalers inspected the elevator shaft that led to the teahouse atop Kehlstein Mountain.

At the same time, Valenti, the veteran medic who had seen a great deal of tragedy and heartbreak over the past two years, also explored Hitler's house and some of the buildings around it. 'We couldn't believe what we saw. The walls were covered with shelves and the shelves were stocked with all kinds of wines, champagnes and liqueurs. The food bins were well stocked with a variety of canned hams, cheese and two-gallon cans containing pickles.' Valenti and his friends sat in Hitler's great room, where he had once entertained heads of state, and drank his wine. Before the war, Valenti, the son of Italian immigrants, had been a coal miner. He never dreamed he would get to see something like this. He persuaded a buddy to take a picture of him lounging on the hillside next to Hitler's house.

Pages: 1 2 3 4