As our bus pulls into a main square in Frankfurt, buildings are ablaze and collapsing in ruins all around us; Pick and shovel crews are pushing dump carts along the streets as they clear away huge heaps of rubble.

Bombed out buildings in Frankfurt

Tensions rise suddenly as the workers catch sight of us getting off the bus in our flight suits. They shake their fists at us, as if they think we’ve just been shot down in the raid and are responsible for all this flaming destruction.  Several laborers abandon their carts and start coming toward us, brandishing those picks and shovels like a lynch mob. Sgt. Schmidt immediately realizes their murderous intent.  He tells me in German, “Tell your men to form a tight circle and look down at the ground. We will protect you,” Obviously he doesn’t want us to be seen looking around as if we are gloating over the damage. You never saw four guys get into a tighter circle in such a hurry when I tell them what we have to do. We’d all heard horrible stories from other Americans about flyers who’d been pitch forked to death by farmers after they parachuted to earth.
Now Sgt. Schmidt orders his soldiers to take positions between the enraged workers and us. Then he shouts, “Halt!” in a stern, commanding voice and the workers do stop coming - just long enough to hear what he is saying. He tells them we have not bombed their city, that we were taken prisoner a month ago in France. He says he is taking us to prison camp, and that he is responsible for our safety. I’m sneaking a peek as he adds, “If you try to harm these men, we will shoot.” Evidently a dozen or so workers either don’t believe him or couldn’t care less.
They start moving toward us again, teeth gritted and hatred blazing in their eyes…

Frankfurt after an Allied bombing raid