By Wendy M. Fendrick ~ Stoughton Press Staff Writer
The Stoughton Press - Holiday / Winter 2010 Edition  www.stoughtonpress.com

            

When Roland Metzler notified his local recruiting office and expressed his desire to serve his country in 1943, he had no idea that; # 1- he was already one step away from being drafted and # 2- he was about to embark on a journey that would enable him to save the lives of many of his fellow soldiers.

Roland N. Metzler was born on June 17, 1924 in Stoughton.  Roland attended High School until his senior year when his English teacher failed him for not being able to spell. This prompted the young Metzler to leave school and, ironically, work full time as a printer for the Courier Hub.  He held this employment for a few years before the war, and then again, for a few years when he returned from the war.

Metzler was inducted into the United States Army on March 12, 1943, at Fort Sheridan, IL. The young soldier’s first taste of active duty began when he was shipped to Oran, on the coast of Africa, after completing basic training. Metzler had been trained as a 37 mm anti-tank gunner, but it soon became apparent that these bullets were useless, as they bounced off the heavy armor of the German tanks. With no formal training, Metzler was then moved into position of mortar squad. Typically, the rifle company was the first to arrive at the battle sight, clearing the path for the mortar squads.

Metzler recalls one of the nights he was on duty in Italy at Angio Beach, when he heard the “swoosh noise” of German mortar, followed by an explosion which knocked him backwards. The young soldier could feel where the shrapnel had grazed his helmet. By daybreak it was discovered that the enemy mortar had missed his foxhole by a mere foot!

When asked if he was scared, the WW2 vet replied, “You’re always scared; until something starts happening and then you seem to know where you’re at.  Anybody who doesn’t think they’re scared; they’re lying to ‘ya.”

In the two years Metzler served his country overseas, he was engaged in five major battles. They were at Naples-Foggia, Southern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe.

Metzler recalls the night of September 13, 1944 while on duty in France, when he detected Germans nearby. He fired to prevent them from determining his position, at the same time waiting for an answer so he could approximate the enemy position by the flashes from their weapons. When he did see fire, Pfc. Metzler sprayed the sector with his Thompson submachine gun. The altercation left two of the enemy dead and forced the surrender of two more. This heroic action earned him a Bronze Star.

Another time in France, this time on Jan. 15, 1945, in the dead of winter, Metzler jumped from his position of safety to extinguish boxes that had been set fire to by the enemy. These boxes contained white, phosphorous ammunition. Metzler carried the flaming containers, one at a time, to a nearby stream, only to discover the stream frozen over.  Acting quickly, he then carried sand bags from the mortar installations 25 yards away and extinguished the flames; all the while being in the midst of enemy fire!  His fearless actions, “saved a stack of ammunition from catching fire and prevented a conflagration which would have revealed his companions positions to the enemy,” reads the citation that earned Metzler the Bronze Star with the First Oak Leaf Cluster citation. All in all, Metzler’s decorations and citations include: 3 Bronze Stars, one with the 1st Oak Leaf Cluster, GO443 Inf. Div. 3 one European African Middle Eastern Theater ribbon with 1 Silver Battle Star, 4 Overseas Service Bars, Good Conduct Medal, GHO171 Hq.30 Inf. Distinguished Service Medal, Croix De Guerro Bronze Arrowhead, and the Distinguished Unit Badge with Bronze Star.

Metzler was in Salisburg in 1944 when “everything broke loose with shells and mortar.  We thought we were getting a counter-attack.  We didn’t know what was going on at the time.”  What they thought was “counter attack” was in reality, the French army celebrating the end of the war.

Post WW2 found Pfc. Metzler driving a jeep and traveling around quite a bit. He saw up close, Hitler’s hideout in the mountains of Salisburg, Austria. “Our division, the Third Infantry Division,” Metzler wrote in a letter home, “was the first outfit to enter Berchtesgaden and Nurnberg. My battalion, the 3rd Battalion of the 30th Infantry, raised the flag at these two cities, conducted and participated in the first parade on Hitler’s noted Nazi parade ground.”

Pfc. Metzler returned to Stoughton after he returned home from the war. He worked a few more years at the Hub, and then, much to the surprise of his English teacher, I would imagine, Metzler joined the work forces of Madison News Inc. He remained there for 26 years.

It was in Stoughton that Roland Metzler met Betty Nelson. The two were married in 1951. Six beautiful children were born as a result of this union. Tragically, the Meltzer’s suffered the unbearable loss of burying one’s own child, when their son was fatally struck by a car as he crossed the street. Their son was 19 years old.

Roland and Betty live in a lovely home where pictures of their six children, nine grand children, and seven great- grand children (one on the way) are proudly displayed.

Also, displayed is a picture of the young Metzler standing atop a mountain in Austria. Surrounding this picture are Metzler’s medals and decorations he earned when he, in spite of his own fear, acted above and beyond the call of duty saving the lives of the young soldiers in the 3rd Battalion of the 30th Infantry- not once, but twice, in far away and war torn France.

We thank you, Roland, for your acts of valor and we thank God that you are here to share your story with us.  It was an honor to meet you and tell your story.