EDITOR'S NOTE: Emerson Johnston

EDITOR'S NOTE: Emerson Johnston, a World War II veteran from Geneseo who died March 21, 2017, was an Army veteran who landed on the beaches of Normandy during the Allies' D-Day invasion and later fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Mr. Johnston recalled his experiences in the Battle of the Bulge in this story published Jan. 29, 2015, as part of an a series of stories commemorating the campaign's 70th anniversary and the role many local veterans played. Services for Mr. Johnston were March 25. He was 94 years old.

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Emerson Johnston didn't even know about the Battle of the Bulge until he returned stateside.

Yet, in the winter of 1944, the Geneseo man was smack-dab in the middle of the battle, the Army's largest land battle of World War II.

Moving east toward Germany, about six months after landing at Utah Beach during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day, Johnston and his unit, a reconnaissance squadron attached to the 4th Cavalry Division, found themselves in an undesirable position in Hurtgen Forest.

"There's a river over there, the Roer, and it had a big bend in it, and we go there and found no ways to get across the river," said Johnston, now 92 years old. "We were in the bulge of that river and that's where I thought they came up with the name."

A pair of bridges flanked Johnston's position in the river's bend; one to the north and one to the south. Unbeknownst to him and his fellow soldiers, the German army retained control of the southern bridge, made use of this control and, within a day or two, had encircled their position.

"We figured they were going to starve us out and they could do that, we didn't have that many supplies," said Johnston. "I know a lot of units were fighting the Germans, my outfit wasn't. My outfit was told to stay the hell out of it and let the soldiers fight it. We're the scouts -- stay out of it. Let them do their jobs."

Soon after being encircled, Johnston got word that he and his unit was free to head south and cross the bridge.

"This big army came up from the south, I think it was Patton's, and he just wiped them out," said Johnston. "No trouble at all for him and we just walked out."

Though the Battle of the Bulge -- named for the Germans' initial advance that created a "bulge" in the American lines in northern France -- is one of World War II's most scrutinized battles, Johnston's wartime experiences extend far beyond Germany's last ditch offensive effort. In the words of Johnston, "We had some good days and we had some bad days."

'They were just like us'

Though he confessed that, after 70 years, he's forgotten a lot of what happened in Europe, a couple of things remain firmly entrenched in Johnston's mind.

One day, Johnston and a half-dozen soldiers were billeted in a post office up on a hill. Their high position afforded them a commanding view of the surrounding valley and the small schoolhouse at the foot of the hill.

"We could see these Germans going in and out of this school and we couldn't figure out what the hell was going on," remembered Johnston. "We could have picked them off if we wanted, but we thought 'Well, it's just going to blow our hiding place.' "

Finally, Johnston's group decided they wanted to know what the soldiers were doing. Sticking close to one of his linguistically-inclined buddies, a Polish guy named something like Claude or Claire, Johnston and his squad went down the hill and cornered one of the German soldiers.

"This guy had a towel around his neck and we go 'Ah, now we know.' These guys are taking turns going into the school and taking showers," said Johnston. "Well, we wanted this too."

Using his linguistically-inclined Polish friend as a mediator, Johnston's squad and the Germans worked out a deal.

"He (German soldier) called five or six others of his unit and they came down and we all met one another just like it was in this room," said Johnston. "We agreed in the morning, you can have the showers, in the afternoon we get them."

Though everyone at the meeting was carrying a gun and there was a war going on between their respective countries, not a shot was fired.

"We never had a problem," said Johnston. "They were just like us."

'About as bad as it can get'

During his time in France, Johnston and his fellow soldiers would often stop at a still-intact home seeking a roof over their heads for the night.

"We'd knock on the door, somebody would come to the door and we'd say 'We're not going to hurt you, but we want a place to sleep,' " Remembered Johnston. " 'If you'll give us one room, you can have the rest of the house to yourself, but if we catch anybody trying to signal a German soldier, we're going to shoot all of you.' Nine times out of 10 it worked."

Every once in a while, though, the threat did not work.

"One girl one night I remember she went to a window and she tried to signal one of the German soldiers and we had to shoot her. It wasn't me but I saw it happen," said Johnston. "There were a lot of such things as that when I was in the war. That was about as bad as it can get when you see a young kid get killed for nothing. She had found a boyfriend and she didn't care if he was German or not."

No animosity

Johnston didn't want to go to war. He had a good job at Kodak when he was drafted in 1943. He didn't want to kill anybody either. In fact, Johnston's failure to hit any enemy soldiers during his first actual combat situation brought about a sharp lesson from his sergeant.

"My sergeant came over to me and he said 'Come here,' " said Johnston. "There was a foxhole over there and there were four dead Germans in there. He said 'Shoot them,' and I said 'They're already dead.' He said 'Shoot them.' After that, I didn't have a problem shooting at somebody."

Even though serving in war has definite negatives, such as the conscious thought that you could die today -- "You don't know what you're getting into every day. Every day is different day" -- Johnston said, if he could, he would not go back in time and make it so he was never drafted.

"I have been honored in so many ways, everybody has been good to me since I got home," he said. "I always told everybody, 'I didn't leave anything over there I have to go back over for.' "