This following appeared in the IN DC Journal that can be found on the Internet. You can read the article in it’s entirety by clicking here.


June 01, 2004

INDC Presents:
National World War II Memorial Dedication Weekend

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Meet Cpl. John Micik, who served on an M-10 tank destroyer in General Patton's Third Army in Europe, in what he describes as "very dangerous places.

"I never expected to come back alive. I was a gunner, but you had to know everybody's job; one guy got knocked off, you had to take his place. We had three inch guns on 'em, with armor piercing shells, and boy, we hit a German tank and the top blew right off!"

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An M-10 tank destroyer in France.

"The only thing I can say is, thank God we came back alive. I never expected to come back alive for what I went through. I got a few scratches, but I ain't gonna call 'em wounds (laughs). When we hit their tanks, we got 'em. The big (German) tanks, they (were) thinking they were the best, but we outshot 'em."

On the drive to relieve Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge:

"Oh, that was terrible. We tried to do the best that we could though, you know? Everybody was on the alert; all we had on our minds is 'are we gonna make it?' (We fought) all the way till the end of the war.All I can say is, thank God I came back alive."

Thank you, Mr. Micik.