rememberance of tank battle in cologne cathedral

On March 30, exactly 74 years to the day since Gen. His love and respect for his fallen general never dissipated. Smoyer, perhaps against all odds, survived the war and returned to Allentown, Pennsylvania. The son of a Polish rabbi who emigrated to the United States, he was memorialized when Denver’s Jewish community built the hospital that still bears his name.

Smoyer felt lucky to serve under such a fearless and beloved commander in the outfit Rose had dubbed “Spearhead” - so named for its habit of leading the American assault.

Barely more than a kid from a Pennsylvania steel town, he had never fired the new tank’s cannon, and here he was about to perform before a general whose legend grew by the day. The young gunner, 21-year-old Clarence Smoyer, fidgeted. They hoped its bulked-up armor and massive 90mm cannon could counter the Germans’ devastating Tiger and Panther tanks, hasten the advance across the Rhine River and bring World War II’s European conflict to a merciful conclusion. Maurice Rose, the Denver-raised leader of the 3rd Armored Division, stood among the anxious observers about to see a demonstration of the newest American weapon, a 46-ton behemoth called a T26E3 Pershing tank. DENVER (AP) - On a late February day in 1945, on a hilltop near the town of Stolberg, Germany, a nervous, curly-haired Army corporal prepared to put on an exhibition of artillery marksmanship for a group of senior officers.

Rememberance of tank battle in cologne cathedral