The Ultimate Grind: “The One-Man Stand” at Holtzwihr Lauren Young December 6, 2017 Articles, Veteran Inspired 4,704 When it comes to your coffee choice you have a plethora of options, however I think we can all agree not all coffee is made the same. The kind we produce goes above and beyond the call of duty of what coffee should do for it’s consumer, and this is why for each grind you will see a story of a person or battle that did the same – went above and beyond the expectation and made s*** happen. These events, and men and women have inspired us to make coffee that rises above the norm, and proves not all coffee is created equal. The hero we have chosen today is more than likely familiar to most: MOH Recipient: Audie Murphy and the Battle of Holtzwihr January 1945 It’s been called “the one-man stand at Holtzwhir” and for good reason. The mission for the 3rd Infantry Division was to advance through Bois de Riedwihr which is a forest that connects two important (and heavily armed) villages; Reidwihr and Holtzwihr. Securing that forest was essential to the success of their advance and Murphy knew that losing it was not an option. Of the 120 enlisted men in B Co. only 18 remained, Murphy being the only officer still alive. They spent hours in the night making ineffective attempts of digging foxholes in the frozen ground, the only perk was the continued movement kept them from freezing, and kept them alive until dawn. Murphy describes being relieved they were not attacked in the night, and took advantage of the time he had to set up a defensive placement for the inevitable German attack on their position. The men watched as six heavily armored German tanks and 250 German infantrymen in white suits approached. They blended so well the American troops didn’t see them until they were only a mile out. The few resources the American’s had proved ineffective against the tanks, and the one tank destroyer left had managed to get stuck in a ditch with its occupants fleeing and retreating toward the forest. At this point Murphy knew that the efforts of his 18 (maybe less at this point) men could no longer hold, and he ordered all of them to fall back. The Texas native remained in his position calling for artillery fire on the location and completely depleting his carbine ammunition toward the German advance. He saw out of the corner of his eye a .50 caliber machine gun on top of a burning tank destroyer, though he knew the flames could potentially reach the gas tank and munitions, creating his own demise, he took the risk anyway. The only time he took a break was to reload or call for artillery over the field phone. At one point, the battalion headquarters were concerned of the proximity, asking Murphy of the German position to which he replied, “If you just hold the phone a minute, I’ll let you talk to one of the bastards.” With the level of smoke billowing and the sounds of battle, the Germans couldn’t hear the .50 caliber let alone see where it was coming from, this allowed Murphy to continue the hail of gunfire, driving the German infantry back. As the German foot soldiers retreated, so did the armored vehicles as they knew they would be useless without them. Murphy watched as the German advance flipped a U-turn, and his field phone went dead. He dismounted the burning steed that kept off the advance and headed back toward 1st Battalion headquarters bleeding profusely from an old wound. Her wasn’t far from the turret he used when he heard the tank explode… His refusal to give in, and put lives at risk saved the mission and led to the eventual withdrawal of German occupation from Holtzwihr, securing American victory.
