MG-42 Laid Down INTENSE Fire As He Ran Across an Open Field | Battle of the Bulge

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, at the age of 17, Vernon Staley tried to join the military. However, his father refused to let Vernon join as he wanted him to finish high school.
After graduating from high school, Staley was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was assigned to the 70th Infantry Division, where he served as a combat medic. The 70th Infantry Division spent nearly 90 days in combat during the final days of the European Theater.
In December 1944, upon arriving in France, Staley was assigned to Task Force Herren. Task Force Herren played a role in fighting the German winter offensive-Operation Nordwind.
Staley took part in a rescue operation of the 276th Regiment, which had been captured by German troops. During the operation, Staley was pinned down in a field. After making it to safety, Staley was assigned to tag the dead soldiers.
In July 1946, Staley finished with the rank of Private First Class. He was awarded a Combat Medical Badge.
Interview recorded on May 12, 2023
00:00 Intro
02:09 Family Background
02:35 Pearl Harbor Attack
03:50 Drafted
7:30 Arrived in France
08:21 Deployed to the Rhine River
09:25 Battle of the Bulge
10:33 Crossing an open field under MG fire
14:43 Tagging the dead
15:53 Man jumps on grenade
17:12 Dodging an artillery shell
19:30 Other medic's who were killed
20:08 Horrible prison camp conditions
23:50 Patton's MP's take his car
25:58 The war is over
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[@americanveteranscenter]

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[@majcorbin]

DAVENPORT IOWA DAD JOKE of the day [Q] what is the most mentally deranged INSECT,known to humankind? [A the LUNAR-TICK's,of course

[@StoicBarber]

Finally a Medic story!!! I was a medic too in Iraq 07-09 with the 25th inf out of Hawaii.

[@johnreinburg859]

Were you in 2nd Stryker Brigade? I am not a Medic, but I was in the 556 Signal Company.

[@StoicBarber]

@@johnreinburg859yes, i was with 1-14in Bco 1st platoon. 🤙. I have a video on my page of a foot patrol i was on in Sadr City.

[@charleslennonbaker]

@@StoicBarberhey mates, Doc B 1stID HHC 1-16 INF MECH Med Plt Evac Section Iron Rangers, DUTY FIRST!!! RIP E.D. Case [SF] and James Lee [75 Rangers] your missed by your Iron Ranger Medics brothers.

[@anti-antifamclovin7627]

WWII vets are very humbling for me. I faced nothing in Afghanistan compared to what they went through. We're not going to have them here much longer and the world will be worse off when they're gone 😢. Thank you to this man and all the other heroes that stood tall in the face of danger! I don't even want to imagine what the world would look like without their sacrifices

[@dotell3359]

You sir are 100% correct on WW11 vetreins. To me they are all heroes. I want to Sault you for serving. My dad fought in the Pacific jumping from island to island and got wounded on Okinawa. I fought in Vietnam 1967/68/69 thank you again from one veteran to another. Take care of yourself. 21:45

[@zacharylucchetti3038]

You can’t compare the two conflicts because they were two different wars my friend. Your struggles and their struggles are balanced because it’s an uneven scale from the start. I’m sure that some of them before they passed looked at the war in Iraq/Afghanistan and shuddered at the thought of rolling around gambling on IEDs, lugging all that weight we now carry in combat, not knowing who your enemy is. Technically speaking, COIN is a nearly impossible battle to beat. Yet you all continued for nearly my whole adult life.

[@terminallumbago6465]

@@zacharylucchetti3038What is COIN?

[@alericc1889]

@@terminallumbago6465 Counter Insurgency....

[@elihenley6982]

I love how your name is anti anti fascist when the people you’re talking about admiring were literally anti fascist fighters.

[@aIex1337]

Crazy to think that we're the last generation to hear these heroes stories in person. ALL WWII veterans alive are a minimum of 94 turning 95 assuming they were born 1928, enlisted at 17 in 1945. Less than 3% of these heros are still alive.

[@jsp7410]

It's weird to think we were the last to Know WW1 Veterans, going to be WW2, and possibly Korea. My grandpa was in the Korean, and Vietnam Wars. He knew a Civil War, and Spanish American War Veterans.

[@tomjeff1743]

@@jsp7410 it's so important to record their stories.

[@aIex1337]

@@jsp7410 Exactly. Last WWI COMBAT veteran was Florence Green who served in the Royal Navy and didn't pass until 2012. 98 years AFTER the conflict erupted.

[@danielaramburo7648]

Medics are the bravest soldiers. You expose yourself to heal wounded soldiers.

[@ivanlowjones]

His memory recollection from 1944-1945 is better than mine from 6 months ago.

[@gillmallcott3658]

I was a medic in the Australian Army 1965/67 during the Vietnam War.When you live through what he experienced it’s way outside the norm and you never forget what you go through and unless you experience what they went through the average person would never under stand .God bless all vetrans.

[@rikijett310]

Sir, it would be an honor to shake your hand. Thank you endlessly for your service!! May God bless you always!! ✝️🇺🇲

[@donaldwrightson]

Thank you for your service,Mr. Staley!!! God bless you and all who served in WW2!!!!

[@dotell3359]

From one veteran to another I salute you sir with the highest respect. 26:52

[@beauteoussounds1156]

Vern is one of the nicest men I’ve ever known! So great I discovered this interview. It’s been years and years since I last saw him. He was one of our customers at a chrome plating, machining shop I worked at. It was a tough job for me and he was always a gentleman and a good shoulder to cry on. He had great stories but he never told me about his time as a Medic. So impressive!❤

[@richardthornhill4630]

Thanks to all our Veterans who served.

[@joelpierce3940]

Thank You for your service Sir. I am ashamed of how our country is squandering you, and your comrades sacrifices.

[@pleasantdaddy]

Amen

[@imablock16]

wasn't trump the one who called vets cowards and losers?.....yeah he was you can find the video of him saying it on the deck of a aircraft carrier after having a vet give him his purple heart.....crazy...

[@WhichSideOfTheMasonDixonLine]

Amen, but not our kids. We raised them tough, but fair and straight up. I couldn’t be more proud of them. Their maternal Grandfather served in the 9th AAF, 346 FBG, 107th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, P47 Thunderbolts, 42-45, ETO, Trinidad-Ardennes. Sad, he died from a massive heart attack in 1966. Her mom never dated or remarried. They were at Bluefield Theater on 7 Dec 41 when they stopped the movie and announced the attack. They married 21 December 41 and he left on 2 March 42. She passed in 1983, so our kids never got to know them. I pray they know what fine grandchildren and great grandchildren they have and that they watch over them from Heaven.

[@joelpierce3940]

@@imablock16 I said nothing of Trump, or any one individual. We are turning into a tribal society. Both political parties use division to garner support. My father was a WW2 veteran, and the country was way more unified back then.

[@imablock16]

@@joelpierce3940 someone else had the comment is gone now.

[@MrSpeedysChannel]

So glad you are recording these stories, it's so important people hear these.

[@markjamison9677]

He has a great mind and well spoken for his age . Honorable man wealth of history .

[@danielabbott9312]

Thank you sir for your sacrfice.

[@charlessaint7926]

I did training at Fort Leonard Wood. That's where they train combat engineers now.

[@xvsj5833]

Thank you for your courage and service to our nation ❤✌️🇺🇸

[@Solhai]

It means a great deal to be able to listen and be told such a candid account.

[@roddydykes7053]

That story with the confiscated green Mercedes is interesting, adds some real typical 18-year old shenanigans to all the horrific stuff they had to go through

[@mitchellculberson9336]

Thank you for your service to a FREE and grateful nation.

[@charliebryce3783]

They are truly humbling and it's so important to record as many of their stories as possible before they're all gone.

[@lenoralascala4359]

My father and his friend were in the bulge. Among other campaigns.

[@banjo1241]

Thank you, sir!

[@knine8154]

Our own country seems to be our own worst enemy at this point. Semper Fi

[@jshepard152]

Seriously

[@anlerden4851]

Thank You so much for your service Dear American Sir.🙏❤🤍💙💪👍

[@sparky5916]

Truly proud proud of you Sir!!God bless you!!

[@chillis28]

Much respect Sir!

[@kearnsey64]

Thanks for your service!!❤❤❤

[@joeritchie4554]

Thank you for your dedicated service. Love you. You are a hero.

[@alicemcpherson7961]

Thank you for your service Sir. We are all indebted to you.

[@xochitl9161]

Bless all you Heroes. Thank you.

[@angelicacabiles6918]

Thank you for your service ❤

[@teddygunzbarno2102]

I have so much love for medics because they save lives instead of talking lives god bless you sir❤ ps this man is sharp as a tac

[@CombatCoulture]

He's still sharp as a Tack, thank you for your service Mr. Stanley...

[@christinepeniaranda8484]

I worked for a ww2 army medic. What a treat everyday to spend time with him.

[@LyonThroy-RSA]

Salut Soldier. Respect.

[@RadicalEdward2]

16:41 It’s mind boggling to think that a training officer made such a fatal mistake like wiring all of his grenades to his shirt. It sucks that it happened to him but still. I hope he didn’t teach other soldiers to bundle their grenades like that.

[@Anon-greyman]

It's insane to me how in the midst of a mortal conflict between armies, a Man has the ability to hold fire on medics, sparing them. In a moment where it's kill or be killed, they could just not fire upon a medic. Absolutely intriguing.

[@MrJohnnyW1]

His memoirs, especially of places, are amazingly detailed. I live near his combat zones. He mentioned Wingen-Sur-Moder, Puberg, Stiring-Wendel, Saarbrücken and Kaiserberg. At Puberg you can also find the only cemetery on Google Maps that he probably had to reach across the open field. The mentioned stream is also nearby. The prison camp he mentioned between Stiring-Wendel and Saarbrücken could have been near the main cemetery in Saarbrücken. Are there any pictures from his time there?

[@rileylabski]

There is a debt to this generation that we as a country can never repay. I am a veteran myself and just stand in awe of the caliber of service that these people gave to defend the nation and frankly the entire world from the jaws of fascism/authoritarianism. God bless every one of them.

[@BurtSampson]

11:54, nice

[@PrestonMescher]

My grandfather loyd c mescher, staff sergeant seen the Rhine Ardennes the battle of the bulge received purple heart with cluster and silver star 3rd armoured division salute to all Americans and peace and serenity is yours... Americans are bad ass ...

[@dougwilson6778]

Thank God and God bless " the greatest generation"

[@jtuds]

What’s up with his opinions on the third army? Did they have a reputation?

[@mikeloghry9521]

SALUTE !!!

[@tomjeff1743]

Patton - we were fighting the wrong enemy. And then they assassinated Patton

[@williamstokely9589]

May God bless this true American warrior and patriot. I wonder if he was any kin to the late Layne Staley of Alice In Chains lol.

[@jamescole8049]

These young TikTok kids need to be made to listen to these guys stories in school. They’re so far removed from the reality of why they have the freedoms they enjoy.

[@gavinkarnage]

is it possible to speak to a surviving sanagalese tirailleur veteran?

[@17cmmittlererminenwerfer81]

90 days? Sure that's tough, but man... I knew Germans who were in combat in WW2 for three years without a break. No leave, ever. The only way they'd get rotated home is when severely wounded. Otherwise - it was fight until you die. Unimaginable.

[@brianellis3697]

They started it...

[@chocolatefrenzieya]

It's safe, but I'm not coming out to get you! Ha! This is not very encouraging!

[@tomjeff1743]

Read Other Losses by James Bacque. Read Britain instigated WW1 and WW2.

[@tomjeff1743]

American and British bombing caused all the starvation in the POW & labor camps.

[@johndilday1846]

Nope. The starvation was deliberately done. As were the war crimes and the Holocaust.

[@tomjeff1743]

@johndilday1846 The original facilities included hospitals, music halls, swimming pools, delousing, etc. Why would they delouse the inmates (as is done today in prisons and the military) if they intended to starve them? Lice carry typhus, which is a major cause of death in POW camps everywhere along with malaria as in the Japanese camps. Seems you have thrown logic and commonsense out the window. The drumbeat of propaganda is difficult to resist. Sort of like wearing a mask alone in the car or submitting to an unproven vaxx, which is now known as the clot shot.. My eyes were opened by David Irving's books and James Bacque's, among others.

[@knunyabeasewhacks8744]

Such is the price of War.

[@tomjeff1743]

@knunyabeasewhacks8744 yes. The Germans could have done better, especially after they saw what was done to them during ww1 (with the german zionists bringing the US into it) and its aftermath.

[@darylsice2155]

????

[@tomjeff1743]

The Creature From Jekyl Island. The banks make huge money in war.

[@realwealthproperties5671]

He is so interesting and Hilary. I love this guy! Thank you for this interview. I really enjoyed it.

[@94jimmy5]

Hero's every one. Thank You for your service. Freedom isn't free.

[@victorr2698]

Respect him for what he did but he’s terrible at telling stories. He was all over the place

[@roddydykes7053]

You tell a better story at 90 years old