Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

By Jim Sterner

We were building bridges across the Rhine River ( same time period as the last story I related) and on a daily basis the bridge builders would build sections of a float bridge and put them together, but never complete the bridge, because to do so would require closing the river to boat traffic. The Rhine is a major transportation route, so in order to close the river, the United States had to pay Germany around $100,000 an hour while the river was closed.

The plan was to practice for five days and then actually complete the bridge one time for an hour on Saturday. The Battalion Commander thought it would be a great idea to have the families bussed out to the site on Saturday and let them watch the bridge closure, and to that end, the battalion built bleachers for the families to sit and watch.

So when Saturday arrived, three buses brought the families out. There were snacks and drinks available and every one sat down in the bleachers ready for the bridge closing.

When everything was in place and it was time for closing the river by adding the last section of the bridge, someone decided that to make it authentic, they would lay down a smoke screen.

Everything was so obscured by the smoke screen, no one could see the closing. The battalion had brought everyone to the site to see the smokescreen it so happened. What a great day.