Veteran skied through the hills of Germany

By Teresa Stowell of the Daily Times staff
Friday, November 9, 2007 10:13 PM CST

World War II veteran Lester Reichert, of Johnson Creek, is pictured holding a photograph of the ski patrol he was a member of. Reichert is the fourth skier from the left in the photo he is holding. The skiers are pictured carrying their skis and rifles dressed in white sheets coming back from a patrol in Lammersdorf, Germany, in January 1945. At left, a newspaper clipping of the skiers pictures Reichert in the back coming down the hill. (TERESA STOWELL/Daily Times)

JOHNSON CREEK - When Lester Reichert was 18 years old and was drafted into the United States Army he never imagined his time in World War II would include skiing through the hills of Germany.

“It was something that had to be done,” Reichert, 82, of Johnson Creek, said. “The snow was so deep there was no other way to patrol but to use skis.”

Reichert was a member of the Intelligence Reconnaissance for the 310th infantry regiment of the 78th infantry division. In January 1945 Reichert's division landed in La Havre, France and made their way to the German front. That week a large snowstorm caused everything to come to a halt and the troops bunkered down near Lammersdorf, Germany. For a week and a half Reichert patrolled the hills of Germany not on foot as usual, but on skis as a member of the five man ski patrol.

“It snowed a lot that month and at one time there was 24 inches of snow,” Reichert said. “It was just like when we have a big snow storm around here. It sets the pace for everything. People hold up and stay in one spot until some of the snow melts.”

The men in Reichert's division where told to organize a ski patrol, because a regular patrol on foot would have been nearly impossible in two feet of snow.

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The ski patrol included five men, two from Wisconsin, one from Ohio, one from New York and one from Texas. The other Wisconsin man was from Wausau and he organized the group.

“The guy from Texas never saw snow before and the man from New York was from the Broncs so he never got out of the city to go skiing,” Reichert said. “I had downhilled skied a few times before as a child but back then no one had ever heard of cross-country skiing and that's basically what we did.”

Dressed in white bed sheets draped over their heads and bodies as camouflage the men carried their rifles while using their poles and skis to glide through the snow. The skis were strapped to their regular army boots and they wore their uniforms under the sheets. They patrolled the same area twice a day, once at night and once in the morning watching the Germans position and reporting back what information they saw through binoculars or their naked eye. Each of the patrolmen carried a rifle and one man carried a radio while skiing.

“It was about a three-quarter to one mile route,” Reichert said. “But it was awfully hilly. We looked around for the bed sheets from Germans who had left the area and left things behind. The Germans were stationed only about 200 to 300 yards away from us. You didn't dare shoot a squirrel or shoot at anything because you'd give your position away.”

Thursday afternoon Reichert, his wife Mildred and daughter Debra Brown, looked over some old photographs and newspaper clippings of Reichert on ski patrol. Reichert laughed as he read a caption under one of the newspaper photographs that pictured him and another man skiing down a hill, “Every patrol member is an expert on skis.”

Another newspaper clipping showed the men dressed in the bed sheets and skiing along the Siegfried Line, a line of defensive forts and tank defenses built by Germany. The newspaper photograph pictures the men skiing between the square pyramid concrete structures meant to slow down tanks. Another photograph taken of the five men coming back from patrol was printed in the Stars and Stripes magazine. Reichert was given a large copy of the black and white photograph. Underneath it, it read, “Ski patrol of the U.S. Ninth Army are shown from a prowl over snow-covered terrain on the 9th sector in Germany.”

After about a week and a half the snow melted and 310th division moved on with the goal to reach the Rhine River. Reichert was injured on March 2, 1945, when he ran over a tank mine while driving a jeep. That was the end of the war for him and he eventually ended up in a hospital in Paris, France.

“I got out of the hospital on May 7, V-E Day, and the crowds of people in the streets of Paris celebrating the war being over was just amazing,” Reichert said. “People were everywhere.”

After Reichert returned from the war he soon met his wife Mildred and while dating her he skied again for the first and last time since his days as a ski patrol member.

“My parents' farm was on a hill and when he came over one time I strapped on some skis and went down the hill pretty good I thought,” Mildred said. “Then I gave the skis to Lester and he sailed down the hill perfectly. Here I thought I was pulling one on him! He sure surprised me.”

For 40 years as Reichert's children grew up he talked very little about his experiences in World War II. Now as his grandchildren start to ask questions and take interest in his earlier years he's able to share some of his memories. Reichert attended the Johnson Creek Elementary School Veterans Day ceremony Thursday with three of his grandchildren.

“It was such a long time ago its hard to believe it really happened to me. Sixty years is a long time ago,” Reichert said. “There was only one other World War II veteran there. The whole ceremony at the elementary school was very nice. ”

Americans throughout the nation will celebrate Veterans Day Sunday honoring those who have served the United States.