 Home | Recent News | Sterling | Willard Duft 01 Sep 2006 Resident profile: Willard Duft |  | Resident Willard Duft holds a card displaying a prayer to “restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend,” given to him by Gen. Patton in 1944.
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Thousands of U.S. military personnel will spend the holiday season at war in a foreign land, away from their loved ones. Willard Duft of Sterling knows how that feels. Duft, who fought under Gen. George S. Patton Jr. in World War II, spent three Christmases at war, including one at the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium in 1944. “I know exactly what they’re going through,” he said of today’s troops at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. “It’s bad.” When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Duft was training in California with the 35th Infantry Division, 161st Field Artillery (comprised of soldiers from Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri). Christmas that year was spent in apprehension. was spent in apprehension. “As Christmas approached, we hid out in the bush,” he said, because it was uncertain whether Japan would attack the West Coast. “It was pouring down rain. We slept in pup tents overnight. New Year’s Eve we had to go out again. They were just being cautious.” Christmas 1942 didn’t prove to be much better for Duft, who recalled, “They were still kind of leery on letting us go home on furloughs.” That year, a buddy went with Duft to a local bar. There, they heard Bing Crosby’s hit song, “White Christmas.” “He and I broke down and cried a bit,” said the former corporal. Duft arrived in England as part of Patton’s Third Army, who vowed “we aren’t going to stop until we hit Berlin,” Duft recalled. “One morning I woke up and the sky was just black with planes, wing after wing just continued coming. I was about a mile from where they were dropping them (bombs in France). We went clear through France. We got to the edge of Germany and ran out of gas,” he said. “For two days we couldn’t move. The order came down from General Patton that everyone should do close order drills. I could understand why we’d keep doing that. It was so we’d keep active.” Christmas Day 1944 dawned bright, a beautiful day even though it was spent away from family and friends. “We cleaned up our equipment, the trucks and washed our clothes. Christmas Day we had a wonderful dinner,” said Duft. “The very next day we went to the Battle of the Bulge. We were up there three, four, five days and finally broke through.” For Duft and others who comprise the “Greatest Generation,” serving their country was simply their duty. “I was proud to serve my country. I volunteered to do it. I do feel sorry for them,” he said of those fighting the war today. “A lot get to come home, then they have to go back.” Duft, who enjoys living at the Manor, volunteers each spring to talk to Sterling High School history students about his experiences. He enjoys sharing his many memories. “I still have a Christmas card given by General Patton in Christmas 1944. I treasure that. I had it laminated and I carry it in my billfold. Everybody in our unit got one.” The business-sized card bears a message from the famous general to his troops, wishing them a Merry Christmas. It also contained “Patton’s Prayer,” which asked God to “… restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle …” Duft said oddly enough, the rain did stop. But it turned to snow during the Battle of the Bulge. “I was no hero over there,” Duft said of his fighting days. “The heroes died over there. I was lucky I came back.” He said today’s military must fight a much different war than he did. “We had the enemy in front of us,” he said. “They have the enemy all around them.” He understands as well as anyone that war does not respect dates on a calendar nor an empty chair at a holiday table. “The military can’t stop for Christmas,” he said.
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