Lt. Colonel Matt Konop’s diary, December 16, 1944: "What an awakening! The sky was red as the heavy enemy guns shelled our division area, including our Command Post at Wirtzfeld." They all wanted to believe it was just a retaliation for the 2nd Infantry Divison's attack on the German border. But what about those rumors German tanks roaming in the woods? Nonsense. That was just the 106th Division seeing ghosts. Those green horns of the 106th were fresh from the US, a division that included high-IQ intellectuals and artists like Kurt Vonnegut. What did they know about combat? It was just another Saturday with the Germans on the run. General Eisenhower was at a wedding in France, Hemmingway was drinking in Paris and actress Marlene Dietrich was entertaining the troops just a short drive from Matt Konop's sleepy Command Post. And when he turned in that night, all seemed calm.