ARDENNES

This is the Ardennes in nineteen forty-four
Where good men perished by the score.
In these snow covered barren fields
Death is the only crop they yield.
The naked barb wire our only shield
But a mightier sword did we wield.

For days we have been forced to retreat
An American army faced with defeat.
Now we have formed a defensive line
To retreat farther we must decline.
When the brass upstairs gives us the sign
We will force the Hun back across the Rhine.

No hot food no warm place to lay
Just a muddy hole in the ground where we stay.
We have formed a new line with new men and supplies
And when the Germans come over yonder rise
They are in for a big surprise.
This is the place of their demise.

As our artillery begins to fire
The enemy now knows our power.
As thousands of shells race through the sky.
Thor said smite thin enemy, Make him cry
Bare they sword, Cause him to die.
Their advancement farther you will deny.

As the Hun tried to cross those barren slopes
Our gunfire stilled all their hopes.
Now our outlook is a lot more bright
Perhaps we can even sleep tonight.
But I think in the spring these fields will be a ghastly sight
When the warm sun melts those mounds of white.

And Thor laughed and drank a toast
To the sport he loves the most.
As a gentle snow begins to fall
Covering the wounded too weak to crawl
One of our guys had the gall
To say Merry Christmas Peace on earth to all.

Elmer Ake
 
 
 

BELGIUM

Death is your companion day and night
He stands by your side in every fight.
He revels in each exploding shell
He loves the acrid powder smell
Laughs as your friends are blown to hell.
And over the living he casts his spell.

A hundred and seventy men went down this forest tract
Now fifty of us are coming back.
Death stands in the shadows wearing a grin
He has all these souls riding with him.
And he can see the bad shape we are in
He knows tomorrow he will win.

We know the enemy at first light
Will come to finish up this fight.
It's best to meet him on open ground
Where our big guns can thin his ranks down
Without our cannon to roar and pound.
None of us will ever be found.

It's now morning the sky is overcast
We can see our enemy he is coming at last.
Now we can see his advance scouts.
About the same time our radio gives out
Today will be another rout
God really does favor the krauts.

But hundreds of gray clad figures are passing us by
If were surrounded then we will die.
Then the Captain says out of your holes and on your feet
Once more it's time to retreat.
If we move fast Death we can cheat.
And the Grim Reaper we won't have to meet.

Get up and fall back another mile or two
With just fifty men what else can we do?
We fall back each day and dig in each night
Too few of us to put up a fight
Thousands of the enemy always in plain sight.
The Battle of the Bulge is sure named right.
 

Elmer Ake
 
 
 

DRESDEN

When death came from the midnight sky
How many are left to question why?
Two thousand bombers came out of the night
And sowed destruction until morning's light.
And with the sun came a horrible sight
A thousand more bombers added to the plight.

The angels hid their face's and cried
While a great city flamed and died.
As the flames rushed from room to room
A hundred thousand souls went to their doom.
And Death on a white horse came and opened a tomb
And souls disappeared as down a flume.

As the city burned and the people fled
Higher and higher were stacked the dead.
Innocent victims in shock and fright
Saw their families cremate that night.
Too numb with fear to think of flight
A population perished with no chance to fight.

In the morning of the second dawn
With no more to burn,  the fire was gone.
Nothing but destruction block after block
The survivors walked around in shock.
Like a shepherd searching for his stolen flock
Or drowning sailors clinging to a rock.

The Conrads, Heide family and the Bruckmaier's
Did they all vanish in the funeral pyre?
The cleansing fires that burned day after day
And swept untold generations away.
Did those left behind bow their heads to pray
Before those mounds of ash and clay?

When our maker wrote out his master plan
Did he figure in the stupidity of man?
Or is man the master of his fate?
Are our hearts so full of hate
That our fellow creatures we would annihilate
And an entire city we would cremate?

The old Dresden gone these many years
Has vanished with the smoke and tears.
A new Dresden has now arose in its place,
A tribute to the human race.
Perhaps mankind could not erase
The spirit of Dresden without a trace.

Elmer Ake
 
 
 

COSSACKS

How many times before you cross that unseen line?
How many times before death reaches and says your mine?
You have survived many years of this war
And perhaps you never suffered a scar.
But you were Cossacks in a German army corps
But your war is not over, now you must face the wrath of Thor.

For in the Kremlin Stalin vowed they shall return
They are traitors and they shall burn.
These traitors, the name which Stalin applied
Were Russians who with the Germans were allied.
With treason they were being tried
Because they fought on the losing side.

Now treason is a most serious crime
All nations will hang their traitors anytime.
But these Cossacks were men of a different breed
They hated Russians and wanted to secede.
Now for their beliefs they had to bleed
Sacrificed to a dictators greed.

Then the devil came and whispered in Stalin's ear
Kill them all brother! Kill them all you hear?
And Stalin turned livid with rage
Went on a murderous rampage.
He screamed kill the Cossacks any sex any age
And these brave people about vanished from history's page.

In July an order came over the phone
Transfer the Cossacks to the Russian zone.
We had about five hundred of these men in our care
They were protected by the rules of warfare.
Now they were to face the Russian bear
It would end up a big nightmare.

So we packed up four hundred men, twenty truck loads
And turned the convoy east upon the road.
When the Cossacks saw where they were bound
That's when they all came unwound.
Started making a moaning sound
Started jumping out on the ground.

They knew they were going someplace to die
If they could escape they sure would try.
We didn't bare these men any ill will
But the guards had orders, shoot to kill.
Now to shoot unarmed men is a bitter pill
Like it or not we had a job to fulfill.

Every time the convoy got slower than it should
Cossacks would jump out and run to the nearest woods.
the ones that escaped had plenty of luck
It's hard to aim at a man from a moving truck.
They were running so fast they didn't need to duck
Maybe only three or four were struck.

Now the Russian zone was on a thickly wooded ridge
Just across from an old stone bridge.
On our side about twenty Americans had set up a road block
When we arrived we were in for a shock
A thousand drunken Russians were running amok
Our guards had their weapons on full cock.

Four Russian officers crossed over to our side
They were full of contempt they didn't try to hide.
With curses they herded the prisoners
Across to the waiting drunken murderers.
While a few prisoners jumped over the bridge girders
The rest of the men marched to their sepulcher.

The Russians didn't bother to hide the cold-blooded acts
And we just stood and observed the facts.
What I saw still lingers to this day
The shooting and screaming won't go away.
War is a dirty gruesome game to play
And in the end the traitors had to pay.

When word of this reached the United Nations in San Francisco
They said send no more Russians home that don't want to go.
It's a shame the Cossacks couldn't have gone back home
And toppled old Stalin off his throne.
It would have been nice to hear that devil moan.
For all his sins he must atone.

Elmer Ake