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

·35 min·3 clips

Hal Urban fired three rounds into a German soldier who never moved—he was frozen to death with a grenade on his chest.

Host Greg Corley interviews Sergeant Hal Urban, a veteran of the U.S. Army's 11th Armored Division who fought in World War II. Urban recounts his experiences as a .50 caliber gunner during the Battle of the Bulge and his brief role in liberating the Mauthausen concentration camp. He describes enlisting at 18 after Pearl Harbor and his initial training on anti-aircraft weapons, where he learned to field-strip guns blindfolded. Urban's unit landed in France just before the German offensive and was positioned near Bastogne, where he recalls the constant artillery fire and tree bursts. He shares a stark memory of firing at what he thought was an enemy soldier, only to discover it was a frozen corpse holding a grenade. The brutal cold meant surviving on frozen rations and sleeping in the snow without fires, a reality that replaced any initial sense of war being a "game." Urban was wounded by shrapnel near Chenaux, Belgium, and endured a painful surgery without anesthesia in a crowded field hospital. He credits Allied material superiority and German fuel shortages for the eventual victory, while fearing the powerful German Tiger tanks with their 88mm guns. After recovering, he returned to his unit and officially shot down a German plane, confirming a kill required an officer's verification. In a tragic case of mistaken identity, his crew later fired on a damaged Allied B-17 bomber, mistaking its engine fire for a German jet. Urban's division pushed into Austria, where elements of it discovered Mauthausen; he went AWOL to see the camp and gave K-rations to two emaciated prisoners. He learned that local civilians were forced to help bury hundreds of corpses, and he states that General Patton had ordered troops to take no SS prisoners alive after the Malmedy massacre. Post-war, his squad was assigned to hunt holdout SS forces in Bavaria, where they occupied a lodge once used by Hitler. Urban suffered from recurring nightmares for decades, including one of being forced into an oven by SS guards. He later met a Mauthausen survivor who credited the liberation with saving his life, and he returned to the camp for a 60th-anniversary ceremony. Now over 100, Urban expresses pride in helping win the war but voices strong concern about modern work ethic and flag desecration. The episode maintains a direct, oral history style focused on firsthand recollection. Listeners interested in vivid, personal accounts of frontline combat and liberation will find this compelling. Those seeking broad historical analysis or who are sensitive to graphic wartime descriptions may find parts of the narrative intense.

As heard by us

A Battle of the Bulge veteran recounts wounds, Tiger tanks, and a return to the front line.

Sergeant Harold Hal Urban's account keeps close to Army life, moving from enlisting after Pearl Harbor to missing the Air Corps because his eyes were not 20-20, then on to the relief of three meals a day after a poor Depression-era childhood.

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Why you'd press play

You hear a Battle of the Bulge veteran treat three meals a day like a small miracle.

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