Sgt. Hal Urban, U.S. Army, World War II, Battle of the Bulge, Mauthausen Liberation

Hal Urban grew up in a poor family hit hard by the Great Depression. Joining the military meant he would finally get three meals per day. He enlisted in the Army hoping to become a pilot, but less than perfect eyesight scuttled those dreams. He was trained on .50 caliber guns mounted on haltracks to protect American tanks and other convoys. Assigned to the 11th Armored Division, Urban arrived in Europe in late 1944 and was quickly sent to fight in the Battle of the Bulge.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Sgt. Urban explains what combat was like with his guns – the sounds, the smells and more. He also describes the bitter cold at the Battle of the Bulge and how that impacted him. Urban tells us how he was injured and missed the final days of the Bulge but returned to his unit after the battle.

Urban details what he saw during the liberation of Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria near the end of the war and how that experience remains very vivid by meeting people who were liberated and returning to the camp years later.

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Veterans Chronicles